Frustrating

[babs135]

Friends of ours who live in the States booked an ordinary cabin on a Celebrity cruise (can't remember the ship) to the Mediterranean for April. The price has dropped so many times that having cancelled and rebooked they are now at Concierge level!! Never going to happen for us Brits. 

[john watson]

On 2/6/2019 at 6:28 PM, babs135 said:

Friends of ours who live in the States booked an ordinary cabin on a Celebrity cruise (can't remember the ship) to the Mediterranean for April. The price has dropped so many times that having cancelled and rebooked they are now at Concierge level!! Never going to happen for us Brits. 

 

In about 2010 I booked a Cunard and a Princess cruise through an American Travel Agent.  This meant paying significantly less than the same booking would have cost direct with a UK Travel Agent.  Shortly after this the major cruise lines, Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean International changed the rules and will no longer accept bookings from UK nationals through US Travel Agents.   However, the rules are somewhat complex and exceptions apply.  One is, as I understand it, because I am an established client of a said US Travel Agent I am allowed to book through that agent but only on the previously booked brands.  There are a range of exceptions which restrict UK citizens enormously but still put UK nationals into eligible candidates for booking which you might be able to check out.  One was that they would accept bookings where a UK citizen has a US address, I don't know if you need a US$  credit card to back up your booking.  Another exception (I cant remember them all) is that they accept bookings from UK citizens where you have an American Citizen in the cabin. If you go on the same cruise as two couples this might get accepted on paper. Might be worth looking into.  My original US agent offered up to 82% off.

 

Regards John

Edited February 12, 2019 by john watson

[John Bull]

 

We've booked thro a US t/a in the past, getting significantly better prices plus penalty-free cancellation up to final payment date. Port fees were an add-on and because payment is in USD it's at the risk of currency fluctuations. There's no equivalent of ABTA so pay only by credit card.

As John's post various US cruise lines have put up barriers to the practice. They're easy to overcome, but in the past few years the price gap seems to have narrowed and we now get the best deals with late bookings - about 6 weeks out - from UK cruise specialist agents  but that doesn't suit everyone.

 

JB 

[MicCanberra]

I have received upgrades due to price drops with US TAs  and Aussie ones. Of course it needs to be negotiated and must be before final payment occurs.