Cruise Agencies

[StefanieMS]

We are no longer allowed to mention where we booked our cruise, even if asked. I am very sad to hear this, because I learned SOOOO much about choosing an agency on these boards. By reading the reviews of people who actually used them, I saved a lot of money. I feel bad for the new cruise critic members who will not have the same opportunity. It's too bad that Travel Agents trying to promote their agencies, seem to have ruined this for the rest of us.:(

 

 

Stefanie

[hstrybuf]

Luckily, I already have a great TA and won't have to rely on word of mouth to find someone. Still, it appears that we are only restricted not completely forbidden on what we can post in reference to specific types of agencies.

[tef43]

Perhaps this move will reduce some of the garbage/spam postings that have proliferated on the boards recently.

[halos]

That doesn't seem too fair. I can understand not being able to name a specific person at an agency, but now we aren't allowed to discuss agencies????? :mad: Isn't that what this board is for, to provide information??? I was thrilled to learn about the agency I used through these boards. It helped me a lot and saved me a ton of money and made my whole cruise experience start off on the right foot. I'd hate to think that we can't share the good TA info with new cc members.

[GoinCruisin]

It is sad that some of the agencies ruined this for the new members... but I would imagine that if a new member needed a specific name of an agency, and another member had done business with one and was pleased, the recommendation could be done offline through email/or IM... Sometimes you never knew what to rely on, as it could have been someone acting as an agent for the TA, or the TA themselves...

[glrounds]

I was under the impression that we could not mention a different agency than the one that was being discussed on that particular thread. :confused:

 

I can understand not mentioning specific agent's names. That would most certainly lead to every wannabee agent working out of her kitchen spamming our threads with phoney reviews of how agents were great to work with and got them outrageous prices, etc.

 

I don't think it was the Carnival boards(maybe Princess), but recently there was someone that was COPYING reviews that were very good and mentioned either an agent that got them a great price or an excursion that was terrific. This phoney then used the exact review as his/her review in an attempt to get more positive attention to this agent or excursion operator. I think he/she actually went so far as to CUT and PASTE the specific paragraphs and put them in other reviews about this port or agent. Gets an "A" for ingenuity, but unfortunately an "F" for ethics. :mad:

 

I would also GUESS that some of the advertisers on this site, which are travel agencies, may have voiced a complaint. I can't say I blame them. ;)

[tef43]

For anyone who missed it, the text of the modified guidelines may be found at the top of the page.

[Randy & Carmen]

I was under the impression that we could not mention a different agency than the one that was being discussed on that particular thread. :confused:

That WAS the rule Gary but it got way out of hand.....Real sneaky how some would do some things and made it hard for us to determine whether it stayed or not and then a thread would go on as others would get brave enough to say email or even a TA start posting contact info....It just got way out of hand and I thank Laura for doing this....It helps more than you know.

[babs275]

The problem is that it's now restricted to a discussion of "brick and morter vs internet" etc - that's like restricting a discussion to the merits of buying a used car from a "car lot or private party". Due to the ethical or non ethical business practices, both can yield positive or extremely negative experiences and you've now taken away our ability to warn people about the rip off artists.

 

Personally I have gleaned great info from these boards about how to go about buying my cruises - I feel that a great deal of the usefulness of a message board such as this one has now been lost since we can't share all of our experiences.

[StefanieMS]

I understand why there are new rules. I am just angry and dissapointed that some agents have out right ruined it for the new people who join these boards everyday. I would have NEVER found my agency, or been comfortable with them, if I had not heard both the pros and cons of using them from members on this board. It's a shame!

 

Randy, I sure hope they never stop us from sharing creative ways of getting alcohol on board. :D Then I will know that all hope is lost!

 

Stefanie

[Travel Angel]

I understand why there are new rules. I am just angry and dissapointed that some agents have out right ruined it for the new people who join these boards everyday. I would have NEVER found my agency, or been comfortable with them, if I had not heard both the pros and cons of using them from members on this board. It's a shame!

 

Randy, I sure hope they never stop us from sharing creative ways of getting alcohol on board. :D Then I will know that all hope is lost!

 

Stefanie

 

 

Personally I don't think it was ONLY the agents that caused this issue.....sure I am certain that there were some agents/agencies that SUGGESTED that their clients post the GREAT RATES they recieved on here, but then again a client may have gained in some form by doing so as well i.e. additional discounts for the advertising ???

 

Hard to say, but I am happy that we are on a MORE EVEN PLAYING FIELD NOW.

 

I know that I would have clients ask me if it was OK to post their comments on the service and rates we provided to them on these cruise boards and I would ask them not to do so unless they were doing it via email to someone who asked, just so I stayed within the boards guidelines and policies !

[kajsb]

Does this mean you are not allowed to pass on the e-mail address for a specific person in a port that the cruise might be visiting? From this board, I connected with a person in one of our ports who was extremely helpful with information on this port and help in booking a tour. She even offered assistance when I need to get prescriptions filled in this port. I did NOT book my cruise with her, just a tour. The information she provided, at no cost to me, was invaluable, and was much more in depth than any information provided by the cruise line.

[Cotton]

Ok, I'm a bit confused.

 

I just read Laura's announcement. I think I understand, but not quite sure.

 

Since this is the "Carnival Cruise Critic Board", I can still refer to my Carnival PVP (but certainly not by name), right?......as in: "My PVP said/did......,etc."

Or is that a no-no, as well? :confused:

[OhioJeff]

Cotton

 

 

I think you would be fine in saying "My PVP said....." As long as the content of your message is not recommending someone to use her for booking a cruise. But, then maybe I wrong :)

 

What Laura wants to stop is travel agents using cruise critic as a place to solicit new customers.As was mentioned some are very sneaky in doing so.

[kristikae]

Yes, you can talk about what your PVP said as long as no names are mentioned.

 

 

You cannot ask people to email you for your TA or PVP's name.

[Randy & Carmen]

Does this mean you are not allowed to pass on the e-mail address for a specific person in a port that the cruise might be visiting? From this board, I connected with a person in one of our ports who was extremely helpful with information on this port and help in booking a tour. She even offered assistance when I need to get prescriptions filled in this port. I did NOT book my cruise with her, just a tour. The information she provided, at no cost to me, was invaluable, and was much more in depth than any information provided by the cruise line.

We have a ports of call board that is loaded with information about ports and people there that you could check on....I guess I'm not sure what you mean by "person" in a port.....Who IS this person?....Is it a TA?....then the answer would be no....I know of a TA that recently tried to be "helpful" to others on here but was really just making the contact for future clients......she's no longer here....Hope that helps.

[basketsiam]

It is quite unfortunate that third party recommendations for travel agencies are no longer permitted. It is through such recommendations that I found my current travel agency....one that I have found to be price-competitive and reliable. It is also through this board that my husband and I have discovered the world of shipboard credits and upgrades. I think all of these discussions lead to healthy competition in the price of travel......I feel that since we can no longer discuss recommendations, the price for cruises will ultimately rise.

[OhioJeff]

It is quite unfortunate that third party recommendations for travel agencies are no longer permitted. It is through such recommendations that I found my current travel agency....one that I have found to be price-competitive and reliable. It is also through this board that my husband and I have discovered the world of shipboard credits and upgrades. I think all of these discussions lead to healthy competition in the price of travel......I feel that since we can no longer discuss recommendations, the price for cruises will ultimately rise.

The price of cruises will rise because people are traveling again.

This is a great and wonderful site but 80-90% of cruisers have never even heard about it. Plus they arent deleting the old posts. So the names of the agencies will still be on the board.

[basketsiam]

Yes, the law of supply and demand will certainly begin to effect the travel industry. Prices will rise as less cabins are available and more people cruise. However, I still believe word of mouth regarding pricing and reliability of travel agencies is essential, as is competition.......

[kajsb]

Randy,

 

The person I was speaking about is PVPam. As far as I know she is not a TA. I know she works out of the hospital right by where the Pride docks. All we booked was a tour with her help. But, she also gaves us a lot of literature for our trip to PV and we did not have to commit to a tour before this offer was extended.

[GoinCruisin]

The pricing will not rise due to not being able to post TA recommendations on CC... a very small percentage of people that cruise actually post on CC and of that small percentage, an even smaller percentage of those people don't already have a TA or a cruise booked... Although it would be nice, TA's and Carnival don't base their pricing on what another CC member got it for... everyone should always (regardless of whether or not you got a recommendation from someone else) do research into who we use when booking travel...

[dbcruzin]

Yes, you can talk about what your PVP said as long as no names are mentioned.

 

 

Does not PVP specify a certain line????

[dbcruzin]

The pricing will not rise due to not being able to post TA recommendations on CC... a very small percentage of people that cruise actually post on CC and of that small percentage, an even smaller percentage of those people don't already have a TA or a cruise booked... Although it would be nice, TA's and Carnival don't base their pricing on what another CC member got it for... everyone should always (regardless of whether or not you got a recommendation from someone else) do research into who we use when booking travel...

 

 

How many CC members are there and what is the growth rate on this site....maybe a host can fill us in on this.

 

And, I beg to differ with you about pricing based on what another member got it for. I received a $250 credit because I knew the specific price and agency someone used. The person I was dealing with checked it and matched it.

[Randy & Carmen]

Randy,

 

The person I was speaking about is PVPam. As far as I know she is not a TA. I know she works out of the hospital right by where the Pride docks. All we booked was a tour with her help. But, she also gaves us a lot of literature for our trip to PV and we did not have to commit to a tour before this offer was extended.

That sounds like a person on whatever port you go to....Wherever it is...COZ, Grand Cayman, etc......Why don't you post that info on the ports of call board.......It's like Paradise Tom (manager of Paradise Beach in COZ) actually posts a lot of good info on the Coz board.........You can email me if you need more help here.......Thanks!

[HOSKI]

ok I'm confused, what is legal?

Post: Has anyone ever used XYZ.com?

 

How are we to find out about the agencies out there that we want to research? I recently decided not to use the agency we have booked four cruises with and did a bidding cruise site but don't plan to always use them, where do I get my info? Other boards? Search the internet? This sets research back years. Now each poster has to do all their own searching instead of getting suggestions from others.

 

I've noticed lots of TAs "advertising" lately and even tour companies on the ports of call board. I can not believe they are ruining it for the rest of us. I wish we could think of some way to still get recommendations from other posters. I still look into the agency and don't book automatically because it has been mentioned here but now I lost my main source of info and will have to spend more time out of cruisecritic finding my cruises.

 

Also, are we not permitted to post a message if we had a bad experience with a cruise agency?