Tell me why???

[wallygator]

OK here is my gripe? I hope someone can explain in a way that makes sense to at least me. I book a cruise thru a agent he/she works for a agency that books in blocks or groups. Now after I book I decide to make a change. If I call Celebrity they say sorry can't do anything unless your agent makes the request. It's me thats paying the fare, not my agent. A question all should ask themselves. What is the difference between booking in a group or directly with the cruise line? Should it be a problem to change?

 

And because thats the way it is not acceptable.

[frchteaze]

I'm completely guessing here, but given the late hour maybe this will do until someone who actually knows the answer comes along....

 

Perhaps it's a way to discourage us from using travel agents.

 

Or it could be a way to limit the calls X has to deal with, since I imagine many calls could easily be taken care of by travel agents. Even though most of us here are researching/info-seeking types who figure things out on our own very quickly, I'm sure there are a ton of passengers who call asking the same basic questions over and over.

 

Or it could be a way to keep us dependent on the TA. If we could handle all of our problems ourselves, why are we paying the TA?

 

I don't really know enough about the ins-and-outs of the TA/cruise relationship to know exactly why. I'm guessing the cruise lines like having TAs out there referring people to them and some loyalty has to be given to keep the relationship working.

 

I completely understand your frustration though. I had to make a minor correction to some information I noticed online (and the TA didn't catch) but a call to X only forced me back to the TA.

[wallygator]

I only want a little simple request. And yes maybe the cruise line wants to keep the calls down to them. Or maybe let the ta do the work and they(CruiseLine) get the cruise fare. I want to have a voice. If for instance I cruise soon and my agent is away or unreachable I'm sh---t out of luck. I just better make sure I make final payment?

[Nitemare]

The cruiseline pays the agent a commission to do certain work. You're asking the cruiseline to do that work instead of having the agent do it. Does that make sense?

 

And if you chose an agent who might be away when you have a problem, yeah, you could be $-it out of luck, that's why you should chose carefully to make sure you have an agent who can be reached when needed. Whose fault is that? Not the Cruiseline's, yours.

 

We're each responsible for the decisions we make. If you want to deal with your cruiseline directly next time, book your cabins directly with them! They get all the fare that way and will be happy to answer your questions.

[itsmlf]

In the first place you are not paying the agent......the price is the same whether you book thru the cruise line or the agent....and try calling the cruise line when you have a real problem....if its off hours you are out of luck. find a good agent you can trust and depend on..you wont be sorry.

[STUR]

OK here is my gripe? I hope someone can explain in a way that makes sense to at least me. I book a cruise thru a agent he/she works for a agency that books in blocks or groups. Now after I book I decide to make a change. If I call Celebrity they say sorry can't do anything unless your agent makes the request. It's me thats paying the fare, not my agent. A question all should ask themselves. What is the difference between booking in a group or directly with the cruise line? Should it be a problem to change?

 

And because thats the way it is not acceptable.

I am sure there is a Security factor invalved

 

Also that it is you making changes (This also takes the responsablity off the cruise line

 

Stur Dayton, Ohio

[Susan-M]

Wallygator - if you booked through an agent, then why not make the change through them? The agent is making money on the booking; it is their job to provide you with service on that booking.

You need to decide before booking whether you want to deal with the cruise line or an agent, but not both.

[hancock]

By booking through an agent, you have designated them as your representative in dealing with them. It takes you out of the loop. I don't like it either.

[Host Anne]

I'm going to give you a different response but until someone like Ocygypz checks in with a real answer, this is just one additional idea from my real job experience in dealing with blocks of rooms at hotels.

 

When blocks of cabins is held, they are "controlled" by the booking agent. In other words, the cruise line is "assigning" those rooms to an agency for the agency to then assign to its customers -- the cruise line does not assign nor change those the passengers in those cabins as they have been "given" to the agency. When changes need to be made to a cabin within that block, it needs to go through the agency so they can make the adjustments within their own block records. That's how we do it for land based hotels. While in the land-based business we aren't assigned specific rooms (except for suites sometimes), in the cruise world, I believe agencie are assigned specific cabins. We require all changes to a reservation to be made with us up until about a week before an event. It's the only way we can keep track of what is happening with the rooms in our block. I'm guessing that the cruise agencies operate somewhat the same way.

 

Then again...I could be totally wrong here.

 

By the way, I much prefer using a good TA to book and let them make any changes we might need throughout the course of the reservation. When something goes wrong, a good TA can save you.

[cruisintwinsmom]

It doesn't matter if it is with a block of rooms or if you booked an individual room with a TA, the cruiseline will not deal with the passenger, only with the TA. I think it is so that if any changes are made the TA is not left out of the loop. That way the TA, client and X all know what changes want to be done. It would seem like some changes wouldn't affect the TA (commission) but it would be too difficult to say we will discuss these issues, but not those issues, so all questions are off limits. Some phone calls to X may not have to make it to X, however, in many instances X still will need to be called regardless if it is the passenger or the TA. Just my opininion, but I think the bottom line is so that no changes are made without the TA's knowledge.

[ocngypz]

Tnanks, Anne.

 

When I am out of the office and not reachable, my clients either speak with my back-up buddy agent or any one of my customer service agents. There is never a time when a change can't be made to a booking.

 

Now, I know there are some online agencies who charge clients a change fee any time they want to make a change to a booking. Well..... that's because it is now in many instances beyond the realm of the clerk who processed your booking initially. So it goes to one of their "professional agents". At least that is what I read on all these websites.

 

Then there are those one-two person internet "agencies" who do not have a customer service department... they are working from home. That does present a problem when you need to have something done in a timely manner and you just can't reach them.

 

There are times when making a change to a booking can cause problems with the fares. A savvy agent/customer service agent knows when to counsel their clients about the effects of the change.

 

There are times when even as an agent, the rez agent won't do something I want done. Grrr.... so I call my Key Account manager... and she pulls out the heavy fire power. No one - booking directly with any cruiseline - has that strength behind them.

[wallygator]

I want to make it clear my gripe is with the system. Not my agent. I understand there has to be some control. But I also know it is up to me to register either online or by mail my information to the cruise line. This is not done thru any agent. O well. I've vented enough. Thank you all for your responses. Have a great day.:o :p

[Spender Nui]

WALLYGATOR, I'm just curious to what the change was.

[cruisePRN]

This is the reason why I book directly when ever possable. Nobody will take of me better then me. When I see a fare change I call the cruise line and get immediate resolution or they tell me why I can't. I prefer to deal directly and not be kept in the dark.

[wallygator]

WALLYGATOR, I'm just curious to what the change was.

 

 

My agent did change my dinning from second seating to early. I then just wanted to be seated at the same table as our friends. Our friends and I have sailed together three times already. We meet socially while not cruising in fact we we be vacationing together for ten days in June. What happened is I booked a cruise. They not knowing booked the same cruise directly with the cruise line. She then tried to arrange it so we could dine together but we can't unless my agent arranges it. I'm sure she will. If she hasen't already. I would just like to sit with my friends on the cruise. Might seem petty. But not too much to ask 188 days before we set sail

[LEtue]

My agent did change my dinning from second seating to early. I then just wanted to be seated at the same table as our friends. Our friends and I have sailed together three times already. We meet socially while not cruising in fact we we be vacationing together for ten days in June. What happened is I booked a cruise. They not knowing booked the same cruise directly with the cruise line. She then tried to arrange it so we could dine together but we can't unless my agent arranges it. I'm sure she will. If she hasen't already. I would just like to sit with my friends on the cruise. Might seem petty. But not too much to ask 188 days before we set sail

 

You might want to have your friends edit their dining options on line to cross reference to your booking/reservation number. I was able to do this recently when I booked direct with RCI and my friends had already booked with an agent. There was a place where I could put their booking number in to link them to me. Of course they can also call the cruise line direct. Hope this helps.

[Sky Sweet]

In light of the fact that Celebrity won't deal with you directly if you book through a travel agent, it is a good idea to monitor your reservation on Celebrity's website. When I received confirmation for a cruise from my travel agent, I noticed it did not have the same cabin number that Celebrity had for us, even though the booking ID's were the same. If I had not checked the "my reservations" section of the cruise line's website I would not have been aware of this problem until it was too late.

[wallygator]

You might want to have your friends edit their dining options on line to cross reference to your booking/reservation number. I was able to do this recently when I booked direct with RCI and my friends had already booked with an agent. There was a place where I could put their booking number in to link them to me. Of course they can also call the cruise line direct. Hope this helps.

 

 

We tried to link to each other for dinning on Celebrity's web site it will not allow us to do that, we can put our reservation #s in but nothing more. They trid, I tried no luck either way. Unless the site was on the fritz.Thanks any way.:) :rolleyes:

[frchteaze]

We tried to link to each other for dinning on Celebrity's web site it will not allow us to do that, we can put our reservation #s in but nothing more. They trid, I tried no luck either way. Unless the site was on the fritz.Thanks any way.:) :rolleyes:

 

This might have to do with you booking through a TA also. I noticed that I wasn't able to do a lot on X's website until after the full-payment date had passed. It had something to do with the reservation still being under TA control until that time, then it was transferred into the X system. (Not sure if I have the correct language on that, but hopefully you get the point.)

[Host Anne]

We have done exactly what you want to do many times in the past with other passengers who either booked with other TAs or the cruise line. We've simply exchanged booking IDs among ourselves and then provided them to whomever booked our cruise (the TA or the cruise line) and they cross reference our requests. Once the bookings are linked, you can see it on-line in your reservation on Celebrity's site.

 

So, provide your Booking ID to your friends and aske them for their Booking ID. They should provide your ID to Celebrity direct and you should provide their to your TA.

 

We've done this on our past several cruises and have had no problems being seated with our friends. This is a pretty simple request that they normally get right.

 

Good luck!

[Lois R]

Hi Wally:) I have tried to link cruisemates as well and it would

not let me either.

What I did was call the Capt's Club. I gave them my friend's booking

number and presto, they linked it for us.

Now, I don't know If the site did not let me do it because I used

a TA or not.

I am quite sure you have sailed Celebrity more than once so

you would be a member of the Capt's Club. Just call them and I would

think they would help you as they did for me!

[wv4891]

Wallygator,

 

You stated that you book through an agent who buys blocks of rooms at a group rate. My agent also does that and, as a result, I get very good rates. I too must have my agent link all the dinner reservations together for whomever we wish to sit with, as a result of her group booking of my cabin. And, I am afraid, that is the way it is.

 

In the past, when I did not get these great rates and had an agent who did not book me at a group rate I was able to use the online link through Celebrity to link reservations. I prefer to save a few bucks, quite a few bucks, and go through a little bit of a hassle getting everyone's name and booking ID to give to my agent. The last two cruises it worked prefectly.