Reputable Agents

[tennislvr8]

I am being quoted a price that is about $600 cheaper than most other agents. I am wondering if this is legit. Is there anyway I can tell if an agent is legit? 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, tennislvr8 said:

I am being quoted a price that is about $600 cheaper than most other agents. I am wondering if this is legit. Is there anyway I can tell if an agent is legit? 

Ask them to put a courtesy hold on the cabin and then have them send you a copy of Royals guest booking invoice for you to review prior to you making the deposit. Always make sure you get a copy of Royals invoice and not theirs.

 

it is absolutely possible that they can offer a price $600 less than Royal as they most likely have group space at a lower price.  Depending on the sailing I’ve seen group rates over $1000 per person cheaper than Royals site.    

[drsel]

I am being quoted a price that is about $600 cheaper than most other agents. I am wondering if this is legit. Is there anyway I can tell if an agent is legit? 

You need to see the reviews of this agent, especially the critical ones. I can't add anything else without knowing who you are talking about.

 

 

 

[ontheweb]

If you are wondering about how reputable the agent is, you might try the Better Business Bureau to see if there are complaints lodged.

[iancal]

-Get the details in writing prior to paying dime one.

-NEVER pay cash, always use a credit card.

-  only deal with TA's that have the cruise line process your credit card, NOT the TA

-Ask is there is a fee to the agency for cancellations or a fee for re-faring

-IF you book, you should have a formal invoice outlining the fare, any OBC's and your cruise line reservation number.  Log into the cruise line web site, look up your reservation/booking number in order to confirm all [pertinent details.   Note..we typically do not see our TA provided OBC's when we do this.

 

What is the price delta percentage?  Are other agents providing pricing at a discount to the the cruise line price.  Are you being added to a group and thus enjoying a group discount.  Is the cruise being booked in the same country.  There are sometimes price differences between countries.  We have saved money by booking cruises, vacations, hotels, etc. out of country  vs booking them in North America.

 

Why not ask that TA why specifically the price is so much lower?

 

Google the agency or TA to see if any red flags pop up.  

Edited January 23, 2020 by iancal

[drsel]

That's fantastic advice, iancal!
You really are an expert cruiser

Sent from my Lenovo K8 Note using Tapatalk

[tennislvr8]

On 1/23/2020 at 12:06 PM, iancal said:

-Get the details in writing prior to paying dime one.

-NEVER pay cash, always use a credit card.

-  only deal with TA's that have the cruise line process your credit card, NOT the TA

-Ask is there is a fee to the agency for cancellations or a fee for re-faring

-IF you book, you should have a formal invoice outlining the fare, any OBC's and your cruise line reservation number.  Log into the cruise line web site, look up your reservation/booking number in order to confirm all [pertinent details.   Note..we typically do not see our TA provided OBC's when we do this.

 

What is the price delta percentage?  Are other agents providing pricing at a discount to the the cruise line price.  Are you being added to a group and thus enjoying a group discount.  Is the cruise being booked in the same country.  There are sometimes price differences between countries.  We have saved money by booking cruises, vacations, hotels, etc. out of country  vs booking them in North America.

 

Why not ask that TA why specifically the price is so much lower?

 

Google the agency or TA to see if any red flags pop up.  

I took the plunge and did it. I used a cc and I checked a royal's website, it's there.  The invoice is a TA invoice not Royal invoice. The price is strange to me. We booked an inside room on Oasis of the seas, it was about $430 for each person but the taxes were $400. The total cost and about $1600, everywhere else had the same category for $2200.

How do you determine if the TA processed the payment or the if Royal did??? 

 

TIA

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, tennislvr8 said:

I took the plunge and did it. I used a cc and I checked a royal's website, it's there.  The invoice is a TA invoice not Royal invoice. The price is strange to me. We booked an inside room on Oasis of the seas, it was about $430 for each person but the taxes were $400. The total cost and about $1600, everywhere else had the same category for $2200.

How do you determine if the TA processed the payment or the if Royal did??? 

 

TIA

If you are able to check out your charges online, you can look and see if it is charged to the cruise line or the TA. If not, you can call the credit card company and ask who the charge is being billed to.

 

[tennislvr8]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

If you are able to check out your charges online, you can look and see if it is charged to the cruise line or the TA. If not, you can call the credit card company and ask who the charge is being billed to.

 

I am not able to see charges online, I will call the cc company today. Is it a bad thing if it's being charged to the TA and not Royal and if so how do I change that? 

[ontheweb]

It is a bad thing because if the TA goes out of business, you are out the money as the cruise line does not have it. Plus it would be a sign that the TA is not as ethical as they should be.

 

As to what you would do in that circumstance, I do not know. I hope someone else can answer that.

 

Maybe you should also ask you cc company how to set it up so you can check online, password protected of course.

[iancal]

I get an email advice whenever large amounts are posted to our credit card.  I  also log into our accounts on a regular basis.  At least once a week.  Sometimes more often when we are travelling.

 

Here is the logic for ensuring that the charge is processed by the cruise line.

 

1.  Credit card processing fees are paid by the company that processes them.  If the agency does it, they are paying 3-5 percent.  Why would they incur this if they could let the cruise line absorb that cost?  It raises a question as to what would be an agencies motive for doing this.

 

2.  A charge by the cruise line protects your reservation should the agency going bust.  You pay the cruise line since they are providing the product/service.  

 

When we book with a TA we do not get an invoice from the cruise line.  We get an invoice from the agency that lists everything....price, cabin, category, etc including the cruise line reference or booking number.  The TA invoice also list any TA provided OBC's or other incentives over and about the cruise line offering.   If we re-fare, we get another updated complete invoice to show the change whether it be price, OBC's, cabin number/cat...whatever.   Our on line TA typically sends this out within hours of any booking or change.   We log into the cruise line site with our reservation number to confirm that the cruise line booking data agrees with the TA invoice.

 

 We do business by phone and email  but we always insist on hard copy confirmation of the offer/price  and prompt hard copy confirmation of all details of the buy.    We are in the trust but verify group.

 

Edited January 25, 2020 by iancal

[Toofarfromthesea]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

It is a bad thing because if the TA goes out of business, you are out the money as the cruise line does not have it. Plus it would be a sign that the TA is not as ethical as they should be.

 

As to what you would do in that circumstance, I do not know. I hope someone else can answer that.

 

Maybe you should also ask you cc company how to set it up so you can check online, password protected of course.

 

If you paid the TA with a credit card and they go out of business you are completely covered, under US law and will NOT be out anything.  If you pay by check or debit card, OTOH, you become an unsecured creditor of the TA and will be lucky to get back pennies on the dollar.  This is a huge reason to always pay for deferred products or services with a credit card.

[drsel]

I took the plunge and did it. I used a cc and I checked a royal's website, it's there.  The invoice is a TA invoice not Royal invoice. The price is strange to me. We booked an inside room on Oasis of the seas, it was about $430 for each person but the taxes were $400. The total cost and about $1600, everywhere else had the same category for $2200.
How do you determine if the TA processed the payment or the if Royal did??? 
 
TIA

Which sailing date and port?

[tennislvr8]

Just now, drsel said:

15 hours ago, tennislvr8 said:

I took the plunge and did it. I used a cc and I checked a royal's website, it's there.  The invoice is a TA invoice not Royal invoice. The price is strange to me. We booked an inside room on Oasis of the seas, it was about $430 for each person but the taxes were $400. The total cost and about $1600, everywhere else had the same category for $2200.
How do you determine if the TA processed the payment or the if Royal did??? 
 
TIA

Which sailing date and port?

Oasis of the seas Aug 16 leaving from NY going to FL, Nassau and cococay 

[drsel]

Oasis of the seas Aug 16 leaving from NY going to FL, Nassau and cococay 

Oasis of the seas on 16th August inside cabin is $960 plus 147 taxes per person on my online TA website
Its cheaper on the 30th august $857 + 147 tax per person.
The price you are paying sounds really incredible

[tennislvr8]

Just now, drsel said:

Oasis of the seas on 16th August inside cabin is $960 plus 147 taxes per person on my online TA website
Its cheaper on the 30th august $857 + 147 tax per person.
The price you are paying sounds really incredible

It's really incredible. That's why I was so hesitant to book. I have no idea how the TA did it. The taxes and fees are incredibly high but I dont want to question it because its an exceptional price. This room is for my daughter and grandaughter, she didn't want a balcony with a 2 year old. We have a crown loft suite and our taxes and fees are considerably lower. Any thoughts on that? 

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