How do you transfer a reservation from a travel agent to Celebrity?

[wanttoexploremore]

My sister booked a cruise for next April with her neighbor who has been a travel agent for years.   The travel agent is ill and closing her business.  My sister thinks it's OK to leave the booking alone because the agent's host agency will "take care of it".   I disagree and would like to figure out how to transfer it back to Celebrity.

 

Is this possible?  How do you do it?  

 

I really don't want to call Celebrity and wait on hold for hours.

 

Thanks!

[jelayne]

The TA has to agree to transfer the reservation back in doing so they will lose their commission. 

If the TA doesn't agree to transfer the booking back and if the agent isn't servicing the booking or is doing something wrong then Celebrity can take the booking from them.  

[upwarduk]

the agent isn't servicing the booking or is doing something wrong then Celebrity can take the booking from them.  

 

This is exactly what happened when Thomas Cook went bust in the UK last September.

Friends of ours had booked a cruise on Constellation, from Singapore to Dubai in January.

Celebrity took the cruise over and e mailed them, telling them of a new final payment date.

[K12Guy]

2 hours ago, wanttoexploremore said:

My sister booked a cruise for next April with her neighbor who has been a travel agent for years.   The travel agent is ill and closing her business.  My sister thinks it's OK to leave the booking alone because the agent's host agency will "take care of it".   I disagree and would like to figure out how to transfer it back to Celebrity.

 

Is this possible?  How do you do it?  

 

I really don't want to call Celebrity and wait on hold for hours.

 

Thanks!

 

I'm just curious if you are going on the cruise with your sister?

[cruiserchuck]

We dealt with a similar issue last year.  We contacted both Celebrity and the host Agency, and after the host agency agreed, the reservation was transferred to Celebrity.  

[Fouremco]

17 hours ago, wanttoexploremore said:

My sister thinks it's OK to leave the booking alone because the agent's host agency will "take care of it".   I disagree and would like to figure out how to transfer it back to Celebrity.

If your sister, who made the booking, is happy continuing with the same agency, why are you insisting on this change? What benefit to you seek to gain by transferring the booking to Celebrity?

[Life Buoy]

I'd imagine that you would lose any perks that were provided by your TA if you assigned the reservation back to Celebrity.

[mahdnc]

18 hours ago, wanttoexploremore said:

My sister booked a cruise for next April with her neighbor who has been a travel agent for years.   The travel agent is ill and closing her business.  My sister thinks it's OK to leave the booking alone because the agent's host agency will "take care of it".   I disagree and would like to figure out how to transfer it back to Celebrity.

 

Is this possible?  How do you do it?  

 

I really don't want to call Celebrity and wait on hold for hours.

 

Thanks!

 

Hi.  My wonderful travel agent, who owned a small travel agency, tragically and suddenly passed away in 2017.  With the new ownership came a new set of employees and the customer service was very bad.  I sent an email to agencychanges@rccl.com requesting that the booking for my next cruise be transferred to another agency I specified and I detailed the reasons why.  I did not receive any acknowledgement or reply, but in 7 days the new travel agent contacted me to let me know that the booking transferred over to her.

 

So that is my suggestion--send an email to agencychanges@rccl.com and state your request and your reasons. Good luck.

 

David

[Fouremco]

5 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Hi.  My wonderful travel agent, who owned a small travel agency, tragically and suddenly passed away in 2017.  With the new ownership came a new set of employees and the customer service was very bad.  I sent an email to agencychanges@rccl.com requesting that the booking for my next cruise be transferred to another agency I specified and I detailed the reasons why.  I did not receive any acknowledgement or reply, but in 7 days the new travel agent contacted me to let me know that the booking transferred over to her.

 

So that is my suggestion--send an email to agencychanges@rccl.com and state your request and your reasons. Good luck.

 

David

As it isn't the OP's booking, I doubt that she can switch it by simply sending an email.

[jelayne]

Since this is your sisters booking she would need to be the one to initiate and authorize the change. 

[mahdnc]

8 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

As it isn't the OP's booking, I doubt that she can switch it by simply sending an email.

 

Yes, the holder of the reservation should make/send the email request.

Edited May 19, 2020 by mahdnc

[bEwAbG]

I think your sister is right not to worry if the agent who is going out of business is affiliated with an established TA company that would take over the reservation.  What is your concern?

[wanttoexploremore]

Wow!  Some really interesting replies to my original post!

 

Perhaps I didn't provide enough details.  Please read on for clarification!

 

My sister is traveling alone for the first time ever and it is her first trip following the death of her husband.  She is very nervous and I want her to have the best possible experience. 

 

For those of you you felt the need to question what I expect to get out of it -- I want her to have the best possible experience!!! That's it.  My reasons for getting involved are that she has never been very independent, her  husband always took care of everything when they traveled and they worked with this particular travel agent for years.   She called me in tears when she learned that the agent was closing her business.

 

There are reasons to question how well the particular host agency involved will service her booking for her needs.  This is not a slam on travel agencies, host agencies or travel agents.  For purposes of the question of the process to transfer the booking, please accept that this is true.  

 

I realize that my sister will have to initiate any transfer.  I merely want to provide her with the easiest way to do so.

 

 

[mahdnc]

18 minutes ago, wanttoexploremore said:

Wow!  Some really interesting replies to my original post!

 

Perhaps I didn't provide enough details.  Please read on for clarification!

 

My sister is traveling alone for the first time ever and it is her first trip following the death of her husband.  She is very nervous and I want her to have the best possible experience. 

 

For those of you you felt the need to question what I expect to get out of it -- I want her to have the best possible experience!!! That's it.  My reasons for getting involved are that she has never been very independent, her  husband always took care of everything when they traveled and they worked with this particular travel agent for years.   She called me in tears when she learned that the agent was closing her business.

 

There are reasons to question how well the particular host agency involved will service her booking for her needs.  This is not a slam on travel agencies, host agencies or travel agents.  For purposes of the question of the process to transfer the booking, please accept that this is true.  

 

I realize that my sister will have to initiate any transfer.  I merely want to provide her with the easiest way to do so.

 

 

 

I am very sorry to hear about your sister's situation.  This message board is a good forum to ask your particular question.  When I look at it, most of the responses were geared towards answering your question. So hopefully you can talk to your sister and figure out what she wants to do.  It would be nice if you posted back afterward on how things turned out so that we can also learn from your experience.

[Wine-O]

There is basically no difference if the reservation is with the TA or with Celebrity.  The only reason I use  a TA is for OBC they provide me.  Your sister should be just fine right where she is at.  You can plan your air transportation, etc.  separately without using either the TA or Celebrity.  Now that you have your reservation, you can do everything else on your own.  That's what we do.  Our TA is just a conduit to get extra booking perks, and nothing more. 

 

If you have her booking Res #, you can even order her luggage tags for her, sign her up for the cruise connection party, etc.   🍷

Edited May 19, 2020 by Wine-O

[jelayne]

If your sister is traveling alone I would encourage her to join the Roll Call for her cruise.  She can begin to connect with others should she want company at dinner some evenings, to join a small group tour, or see some friendly and helpful folks who will be on the ship with her.