Let's talk about travel agents for a moment...

[Jancruz]

18 hours ago, HiFi43 said:

My TA agent is an Oceania Connoisseur Club Member (Top 20 in North America). If your agent has that title you’ll get exceptional service because she/he can get around many issues you might run into. They  don’t get that title unless they are really good and really experienced with Oceania.

And sell a lot of Oceania!!

Jancruz1

[Hlitner]

I agree the OP should find a different agent and agency.  What is described is just not acceptable.  We use several different agencies/agents and have been doing so for over 30 years.  My current favorite cruise agent is good, but she is also very busy.  I am low maintenance since I do most of my bookings on line (with her agency) so she does not normally need to spend much time on my bookings.  But when I have an issue, want repricing, etc. I normally send her an e-mail.  If it is truly urgent problem I will make that clear, otherwise I respect that it might take her a few days because of other priorities.  But what I demand of her agency (and the others with which we do business) is a "customer service" desk that can handle any question/problem without a wait.  So if something is truly so urgent that I need instant action, I can just hit the buttons for Customer Service and they will handle the problem while I am on the phone.

 

I also tease that agent that she is only as good as our last booking.   We shop around for the best deal (this can sometimes save us thousands of dollars on a single booking) and ultimately book with the agency (among our favored list) that offers the best deal.  This "loyalty" thing is simply ridiculous.  They should be loyal to me because I generate thousands of dollars of commissions every year.  That might sound harsh, but booking cruises is simply a business transaction.

 

Hank

[CarrieAP]

TAs are overwhelmed dealing with FCCs, flight issues, Covid travelers stranded out of country, ridiculously long phone hold times etc etc. My agent said her company had to put a 3 hour limit on hold times bc their lines are all being tied up! 

 

Our relationship is still fairly new and I’d been wondering if this is the best fit because she’s not as quickly responsive as I would expect. Last week however when we did connect I gained a better appreciation for how much she’s juggling. Also learned the agency has terrific support staff when we had some onboard issues so am reassured we’re in good hands.  

[roberts2005]

I found our current agent as a result of using a bidding site. I no longer use the bidding site, but can calculate the perks based on past cruises

[ak1004]

15 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 

I also tease that agent that she is only as good as our last booking.   We shop around for the best deal (this can sometimes save us thousands of dollars on a single booking) and ultimately book with the agency (among our favored list) that offers the best deal.  This "loyalty" thing is simply ridiculous.  They should be loyal to me because I generate thousands of dollars of commissions every year.  That might sound harsh, but booking cruises is simply a business transaction.

 

Hank

 

I completely agree with Hank about "loyalty". We have the same philosophy about cruise lines. We owe them nothing and they owe us nothing.

 

We just switched to TA who provides around 9-10% rebate on most cruises. The customer service has been good so far, and I doubt we will get more from other TAs, so probably will stay with her, but will keep our eyes open. 

Edited June 16, 2022 by ak1004

[CAG]

On 6/15/2022 at 1:01 PM, Jancruz said:

And sell a lot of Oceania!!

Jancruz1

I love my travel agent!  We have become good friends or should I say wonderful friends.  I have almost 40 cruises with Oceania (I'll get there in 2023) and she has booked all of them except my first.  I am constantly referring people to her and yes she is a Oceania Connoisseur Club Member (Top 20 in NorthAmerica).  I live on the East coast and she is on the West coast.  I have to be careful sending her emails on evening East Coast time, because she is up responding to Oceania from the west coast way too early in the morning trying to help me.  I am not out shopping for an agent to give me the "best" deals out of their well earned commissions, I am looking for the agent who is there for me though good times and not so good times.  Who looks out for me and works with Oceania to do the best for me. If we are ever on the same cruise together, let me tell you about my fantastic agent.

 

 

[mauibabes]

Ditto CAG, I am sure I too am familiar with your special lady and she is always capable of pulling off miracles, if needed. 
Enjoy that Free 40th,

Ciao, Mauibabes 

[pinotlover]

9 hours ago, CAG said:

I love my travel agent!  We have become good friends or should I say wonderful friends.  I have almost 40 cruises with Oceania (I'll get there in 2023) and she has booked all of them except my first.  I am constantly referring people to her and yes she is a Oceania Connoisseur Club Member (Top 20 in NorthAmerica).  I live on the East coast and she is on the West coast.  I have to be careful sending her emails on evening East Coast time, because she is up responding to Oceania from the west coast way too early in the morning trying to help me.  I am not out shopping for an agent to give me the "best" deals out of their well earned commissions, I am looking for the agent who is there for me though good times and not so good times.  Who looks out for me and works with Oceania to do the best for me. If we are ever on the same cruise together, let me tell you about my fantastic agent.

 

 

I know of zero Travel Agents that are OCC members. She may however be a top producing Travel Agent that works for an OCC member Travel Agency.

 

Otherwise, I generally agree with you.

 

 

[ORV]

11 hours ago, CAG said:

I love my travel agent!  We have become good friends or should I say wonderful friends.  I have almost 40 cruises with Oceania (I'll get there in 2023) and she has booked all of them except my first.  I am constantly referring people to her and yes she is a Oceania Connoisseur Club Member (Top 20 in NorthAmerica).  I live on the East coast and she is on the West coast.  I have to be careful sending her emails on evening East Coast time, because she is up responding to Oceania from the west coast way too early in the morning trying to help me.  I am not out shopping for an agent to give me the "best" deals out of their well earned commissions, I am looking for the agent who is there for me though good times and not so good times.  Who looks out for me and works with Oceania to do the best for me. If we are ever on the same cruise together, let me tell you about my fantastic agent.

 

 

Sounds familiar. 

[Rosroz]

Here in the UK the Travel industry is quite different they are governed by very strict laws ,, and they themselves are protected by strong employment laws you would be very lucky to get any extra perks they just don’t need to give you anything over and above , we the consumer are also protected by laws. However we cannot swap and change on a whim without losing our deposit etc..once we have booked we have booked , no cancelling at the drop of a hat.

It is legal to charge even credit card fees here and we don’t tend to be a lot loyal lot to our Agents .You may get a slightly better price but I mean slightly and they might throw in an airport lounge but that is it, however we do pay a lot less than our North American friends.

[CAG]

10 hours ago, pinotlover said:

I know of zero Travel Agents that are OCC members. She may however be a top producing Travel Agent that works for an OCC member Travel Agency.

 

Otherwise, I generally agree with you.

 

 

I apologize, it was poor wording on my part.  The agency is the OCC member and she works for the agency.  I just assumed that because she was part of the agency she was a member.

[pinotlover]

6 hours ago, CAG said:

I apologize, it was poor wording on my part.  The agency is the OCC member and she works for the agency.  I just assumed that because she was part of the agency she was a member.

No apology needed. The large Agencies, that are OCC members,  have numerous Agents working for them. Some of those Agents may be Oceania specialists, while others may be Regent or even other cruise line specialists. Therefore, it was previously important to find both an OCC member Agency, but also an Agent working for that Agency that specialized in Oceania. Industry turnover has been such in the past two years, it’s hard for anyone new to the system to get square footage.

[pinotlover]

My highly professional Travel Agent with which I have worked for years gave me a call late this morning. As typical, she was checking up on how everything went on our just completed cruise and to get some feedback.

 

I was surprised she called so soon and on a major holiday weekend. All I can say is Ssshh! 🤫

 

You don’t get that call from a Oceania phone rep you DIYERS! 🤫

[arl_nocaps]

My agent retired and I am not so happy with the replacement I chose.  How difficult is it to switch after

you have a deposit on a booking?   Besides making careless mistakes, I cannot even get my 

gratuities covered.  

[LHT28]

53 minutes ago, arl_nocaps said:

My agent retired and I am not so happy with the replacement I chose.  How difficult is it to switch after

you have a deposit on a booking?   Besides making careless mistakes, I cannot even get my 

gratuities covered.  

You would  need to cancel  or get your agent to release the booking back to O   but a new agent if transferred  from O may not get the commission

Be careful  check all the pitfalls before  hand

 

[arl_nocaps]

thanks for input,   i'll just keep nudging him for a year.

[mauibabes]

You can nudge, but use this time to find your new TA and as you draw close to sailing you and your new TA can plan your transition and any new bookings. Remember to use your time on board to identify a future cruise but always consider booking an additional future cruise (something toward the last possible available itinerary). The $250 deposit is a winner as is the On Board Booking discount AND the extra $100 SBC. Having a trip to swap for an additional cruise helps in your travel planning with a new TA. 
Good luck,

Mauibabes

[Nol2929]

We generally get an email reply within 24 hours and an out of office message which states the date/time she will be returning to the office. 

Not sure if this is another covid trend  but our original TA has moved on to a different career and so we are starting over with a new agent.