Can I change travel agents after a cruise has been booked?

[islandwoman]

Can I change travel agents after a cruise has been booked and deposited, but before final payment?  If so, how would I do that? 

I don't want to discuss the reason I want to change travel agents on a public forum, but I will say that it is not because I have found a better deal with a different agent.  Rather, it is because I no longer trust my current agent to handle my bookings. 

[1025cruise]

You will need to get your current agent to release the booking.

[Essiesmom]

And it will have to be released back to the cruise line.  EM

[islandwoman]

4 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

You will need to get your current agent to release the booking.

 

4 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

And it will have to be released back to the cruise line.  EM

In other words, "no".

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, islandwoman said:

 

In other words, "no".

“No” to your “no.”

it really depends on the cruise line and the legitimate reason why you want to retrieve your booking.

With our preferred cruise line, if you have been a victim of fraud by a TA and/or the TA has been negligent in servicing your account in some significant way AND refuses to release your booking back to the cruise line, you can formally request the line’s reservations supervisors to return the booking to their control 

[CDNPolar]

We did this once, because the agent that we were dealing with did not return calls, did not make the arrangements that we asked for (in writing) and was a nightmare to get hold of and get anything done.

 

Our cruise line informed us that we had to get the agent to willfully release the booking and that was extremely difficult but we finally got him to do it.  Our only saving grace was that he was a part of a larger well-known organization and we threatened moving our complaints up the ladder if he did not release the booking.  This finally worked.

 

We did not move the booking to another agent at that point we dealt directly with the cruise line.

 

 

[Hlitner]

Sometimes the only option is to cancel the booking and rebook with a different agency/agent.  This may or may not involve some financial penalty.

 

Hank

[MacMadame]

My suggestion is to get the new TA to do the research as to what is involved and to do most of the work.

 

IME, there are a lot of rules including a timeframe for transferring bookings to a TA (which screwed me over when I tried to transfer my booking) so it may not even be possible or it may be depending on the cruise line and what their rules are. This is why I suggest getting the new TA to figure out what is involved and guide the process. Make them work for that commission! 😄 

[jsn55]

The first few answers are incorrect.  It will probably not be easy, nor pleasant.  Several things to try.  Contact the cruiseline first for instruction, ask to talk to someone in charge.  If no help there, find a new travel agent and ask them for guidance.  Transferring the res back to your control might be easier, then you can transfer to the new agent.  I surmise you're in a small town or whatever, but you certainly don't have to 'accuse the existing agent' of anything specific.  Just state that you're dissatisfied with their service.  Last suggestion is to just ride it out and affiliate with a new agent after your cruise is over.  Good luck, and please let us know how it turns out.  We need to know these things!

Edited March 2 by jsn55

[YourWorldWithBill]

When I had a similar problem, I called the cruise line and told them that my TA wasn't contacting me, and described all the problems. They directed me to an email at their agency to send the details.

 

In my case the agency was a large one, so the next day a senior agent called me and worked very attentively with me after that. If that is not an option - that is, if your agency is fairly small - then I would suggest you still follow what others have suggested: contact the cruise line, tell them your serious complaints, and then see where it goes.

 

A lot depends on the cruise line, so you might get the best answer by posting on their board, if you're comfortable doing that.

[islandwoman]

On 3/2/2024 at 3:58 PM, jsn55 said:

  Good luck, and please let us know how it turns out.  We need to know these things!

The cruise line didn't want to talk to us.  They kept telling us to contact our TA, but after much time, effort, and persistence, we were able to get the cruise line to give us the information we needed to then get our TA to give us the information we needed, to fix the latest and most serious issue ourselves directly with the cruise line.  

At this point, it is not worth the trouble and aggravation to change the TA for this cruise (judging from all the helpful posts on this thread.  Thank you everybody.)  But we have found a different TA for any future bookings. 

[Mike981]

@islandwoman I'm sorry you have had to deal with this issue. I hope you have a wonderful vacation and it makes up for all of your headaches before your trip.