Switch to Travel Agent?

[RTR 21-0]

We have our cruise booked and airline tickets purchased for May 2023.  I've been doing research on our ports including our stay in Rome and Hubs and I are thinking we would like more personalized excursions instead of using the ones offered by Celebrity (yes, I know the drawback to that insofar as making it back to ship on time) and to also work on setting up an itinerary for us in Rome to make the best use of our time while there.  I reached out to someone about handling that for us.  She said she has a great relationship with Celebrity and the first thing she would try to do is pull our booking into her agency's control.  That way she could add their agency's amenities and bonuses for our sailing, operate within the confines of our time in each port and possibly get us some OBC.  Sounds interesting to me but I would love to know if any of you have ever booked on your own then switched to using a travel agent?  Pros/cons?  If our booking is switched over to a TA would I no longer be able to access it online?  Who does the checking in, us or them?  We have only cruised Carnival and Royal and only once used a travel agent, our first cruise in '97.  TIA for your input and advice.  

[jelayne]

In order to move the booking it has to be within 30 days of the date you booked the cruise.  
 
We use a TA but not to plan our itinerary or book excursions or flights for us, we do that ourselves and often with others from the Roll Call for our sailing.  We have made many long term cruise friends that way.

Our TA provides us with group rates and about 10% OBC which is refundable.  They handle any changes we want, resolve issues and keep us from having to wait on hold with the cruise line. 

[cruzzzinma]

14 minutes ago, jelayne said:

In order to move the booking it has to be within 30 days of the date you booked

 

 

I think it is up to 60 days after booking you can move it to a travel agent.

 

We also get discounts from our travel agents but they don’t work shore excursions for us. For payments, cabin changes, price adjustment, the TA has to work with Celebrity. For excursions, speciality reservations, etc, you can call Celebrity. You still see your reservation on the Celebrity website and can book anything available under the “manage reservation” menu option.

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, cruzzzinma said:

I think it is up to 60 days after booking you can move it to a travel agent.

 

We also get discounts from our travel agents but they don’t work shore excursions for us. For payments, cabin changes, price adjustment, the TA has to work with Celebrity. For excursions, speciality reservations, etc, you can call Celebrity. You still see your reservation on the Celebrity website and can book anything available under the “manage reservation” menu option.

That was changed late last year, it is now 30 days.

[wrk2cruise]

Some TA's seem to be able to transfer outside the 30 day posted rule, not sure how, that's why I leave it to them.

 

[SUESEABE]

It's 30 days. Info on Celebrity site under FAQS - Reservation Transfer along with Form.

 

Bookings may only be transferred to a Travel Agent up until 30 days from creation if the request is made outside of Final Payment period and the booking is not paid in full. If a booking has a ChoiceAir ticket and the transfer request involves a change in currency we cannot accommodate a transfer. If you would like to transfer your reservation to a travel agent, please complete this form.

The Direct Guest to Agency transfer information above is applicable to U.S., Canada, Bermuda, and Caribbean bookings only.

[Loracpin2]

3 hours ago, RTR 21-0 said:

We have our cruise booked and airline tickets purchased for May 2023.  I've been doing research on our ports including our stay in Rome and Hubs and I are thinking we would like more personalized excursions instead of using the ones offered by Celebrity (yes, I know the drawback to that insofar as making it back to ship on time) and to also work on setting up an itinerary for us in Rome to make the best use of our time while there.  I reached out to someone about handling that for us.  She said she has a great relationship with Celebrity and the first thing she would try to do is pull our booking into her agency's control.  That way she could add their agency's amenities and bonuses for our sailing, operate within the confines of our time in each port and possibly get us some OBC.  Sounds interesting to me but I would love to know if any of you have ever booked on your own then switched to using a travel agent?  Pros/cons?  If our booking is switched over to a TA would I no longer be able to access it online?  Who does the checking in, us or them?  We have only cruised Carnival and Royal and only once used a travel agent, our first cruise in '97.  TIA for your input and advice.  

You don't need to switch to a Travel agent to book great personalized tours. On over 20 cruises in Europe, we met people on our cruise using the Cruise Critic link to  Celebrity Roll Calls - Cruise Critic Community. You can find it at the very top of the first page of these Celebrity posts. 

 

Through this link we met people who were on our sailings and started the process of researching the  private tours we were interested in. Usually the bookings were for groups of 6 or 8.

 

 

[pkster]

On 7/27/2022 at 8:08 PM, SUESEABE said:

It's 30 days. Info on Celebrity site under FAQS - Reservation Transfer along with Form.

 

Bookings may only be transferred to a Travel Agent up until 30 days from creation if the request is made outside of Final Payment period and the booking is not paid in full. If a booking has a ChoiceAir ticket and the transfer request involves a change in currency we cannot accommodate a transfer. If you would like to transfer your reservation to a travel agent, please complete this form.

The Direct Guest to Agency transfer information above is applicable to U.S., Canada, Bermuda, and Caribbean bookings only.

Does anybody know what "The Direct Guest to Agency transfer information above is applicable to U.S., Canada, Bermuda, and Caribbean bookings only" means?  Does this mean that Europe cruises cannot be transferred to a travel agent?  Thanks in advance.

[Arizona Wildcat]

4 hours ago, pkster said:

Does anybody know what "The Direct Guest to Agency transfer information above is applicable to U.S., Canada, Bermuda, and Caribbean bookings only" means?  Does this mean that Europe cruises cannot be transferred to a travel agent?  Thanks in advance.

You must book your cruise/residefrom those countries.  Has nothing to do with where the ship goes.

[Peteymil]

On 7/27/2022 at 7:02 PM, jelayne said:

In order to move the booking it has to be within 30 days of the date you booked the cruise.  
 
We use a TA but not to plan our itinerary or book excursions or flights for us, we do that ourselves and often with others from the Roll Call for our sailing.  We have made many long term cruise friends that way.

Our TA provides us with group rates and about 10% OBC which is refundable.  They handle any changes we want, resolve issues and keep us from having to wait on hold with the cruise line. 

I would ditto those sentiments exactly.  I would add that our TA also was able to save us a nice chunk of money on the cruise fare, and addresses price drops.

It can be difficult to find a good TA, but once you do, the benefits are great.

[RosieRoo]

If you want to do private tours, you will find great information on the roll call for your sailing as well as on the ports of call boards. There are tons of private tour companies out there that will set up itineraries for you. Years ago we used Rome in Limo (not sure if they are still in business) and they worked with us to see as much as possible, even including tickets and special entrances into some of the more crowded places like the Vatican. 

[Lastdance]

On 7/27/2022 at 5:02 PM, jelayne said:

In order to move the booking it has to be within 30 days of the date you booked the cruise.  
 
We use a TA but not to plan our itinerary or book excursions or flights for us, we do that ourselves and often with others from the Roll Call for our sailing.  We have made many long term cruise friends that way.

Our TA provides us with group rates and about 10% OBC which is refundable.  They handle any changes we want, resolve issues and keep us from having to wait on hold with the cruise line. 

I want a TA who gives 10% for OBC and group rates for suites.  Is there a hint that you can share?  I know that we are forbidden to give this information, but very curious about both discounts.  I love my TA, but her refundable OBC has declined significantly due to the extra $400 with suites and the company for whom she works.

 

Many Thanks in advance!

Edited September 12, 2022 by Lastdance

[Oceangoer2]

On 9/12/2022 at 10:38 AM, RosieRoo said:

If you want to do private tours, you will find great information on the roll call for your sailing as well as on the ports of call boards. There are tons of private tour companies out there that will set up itineraries for you. Years ago we used Rome in Limo (not sure if they are still in business) and they worked with us to see as much as possible, even including tickets and special entrances into some of the more crowded places like the Vatican. 

Yes...we used Rome In Limo last year....very helpful and quick to communicate.

[Jim_Iain]

I'm from the U.S. and have been able to transfer  all cruises world wide to my agent.   I don't know what other country regulations are on transferring after booking.

[southernbreezes]

On 9/13/2022 at 1:06 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I'm from the U.S. and have been able to transfer  all cruises world wide to my agent.   I don't know what other country regulations are on transferring after booking.

I live in the US and use a travel agent in Canada because she is excellent. I did a transfer on 2 cruises over a year after I booked with Celebrity not sure what she did but she did it. After what I went through during COVID with canceled cruises and future cruise credits I would get different answers from Celebrity depending on who I talked to. I call or email her and she gets back to me the same day. Most of the time I call and she answers the phone.

[NantahalaCruiser]

35 minutes ago, southernbreezes said:

I live in the US and use a travel agent in Canada because she is excellent. I did a transfer on 2 cruises over a year after I booked with Celebrity not sure what she did but she did it. After what I went through during COVID with canceled cruises and future cruise credits I would get different answers from Celebrity depending on who I talked to. I call or email her and she gets back to me the same day. Most of the time I call and she answers the phone.

If the price had decreased or only increased slightly, the TA can always cancel and rebook at anytime prior to final payment and still provide an attractive fare with additional TA OBC.