You won't believe what our travel agent DID!

[vacation fool]

Haven't seen any posts from the original poster of this thread. Today was to be the day she left on her cruise. Does anyone know what has transpired and if she did get on the ship:confused:

[Libra14]

I am sincerely sorry for your situation. I hope we can take the following information and share it so this does not happen to anyone else.

 

1) Book with your credit card and ensure the charge is made by the cruiseline not the travel agency.

2) Get your confirmation #

3) Either call or go online to the cruise line and confirm your booking #

4) Ask for a printed detailed itinerary to confirm what has been reserved

 

Good luck.

I wish I had read this thread before I booked. I went through cruise.com. I also went to carnival.com to see if my booking info was there and there was one booking number. This is all new to me. Should I call carnival just to make sure everythng is in order?

I truly hope everything worked out for the OP and she was able to get cabins to accomodate her. She needs to report that TA to the BBB and some other places as well.

[jcanino]

I came into this thread late, but I will agree that it seems like a fraud was perpetrated. A lawyer should be brought into the mix. I do want to clarify some things that were mentioned here. Not everyone uses a credit card. There are a lot of people that refuse to own one. If you do use a credit card, the charge should be from the cruise line. This is no help to you if you do not monitor your account and check your statements.

 

Not all travel agencies belong to IATA, ASTA and the like. IATA stands for International Air Transport Association. Unless a TA is a full service agency that issues airline tickets, they will not belong to IATA. ASTA is a trade association and the majority of travel agencies do not belong. Reporting a travel agency to CLIA will get you nowhere. CLIA's main purpose is to represent the cruise lines. So long as a TA has the money to join CLIA, it seems like that is all they care about.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I wish I had read this thread before I booked. I went through cruise.com. I also went to carnival.com to see if my booking info was there and there was one booking number. This is all new to me. Should I call carnival just to make sure everythng is in order?

I truly hope everything worked out for the OP and she was able to get cabins to accomodate her. She needs to report that TA to the BBB and some other places as well.

 

Hi Libra,

If you paid by credit card you can also check with them to make sure it was charged to the cruise line and not the agency.

 

I see you're new here. Welcome.:)

 

In the future you may want to avoid naming travel agents or agencies as more than likely your post will get pulled.

 

Bill

[Libra14]

Hi Libra,

If you paid by credit card you can also check with them to make sure it was charged to the cruise line and not the agency.

 

I see you're new here. Welcome.:)

 

In the future you may want to avoid naming travel agents or agencies as more than likely your post will get pulled.

 

Bill

 

Thanks Bill, yes I'm new here. going on my 1st cruise this April. Sorry about mentioning he the TA, didn't realize that was a no no.

I did call carnival and I think everything is ok, but will need to call back tomorrow to speak to the people iin charge of the booking numbers. Will also check my credit card statement as well.

 

Holly

[ifuonlyknewme]

Does anyone have any updates on the OP? I wonder if they made it on the ship.....

[Pegs222]

Does anyone have any updates on the OP? I wonder if they made it on the ship.....

 

The last post she made she said that she was going to confront the TA and demand that they get on that ship. Not so sure how much help that will be since the ship is full. But I hope they are on that ship and having the time of their lives.

[CrazieNCruisingGypsy2]

Does anyone have any updates on the OP? I wonder if they made it on the ship.....

 

Let's hope she's on the ship and can't update us!

[woodey]

if you register with Carnival right after you confirm your reservation with your TA you can see your booking # and stateroom # If you dont see the Information there get on your TA's butt. last year we waited untill the last second before we sailed to book our room# because we were hoping for free upgrades but we still had our booking#and a quarenteed balcony room it worked out great for us but we had been able to see the quarentees on there website.

[montekat]

Still waiting to hear if the OP and group made it on board. I sure hope so! What a nightmare.

[WuWei]

I sure hope they made it on the cruise, too! I never realized this could happen to people- I've always been lucky and booked with my TAs on base (they are great! We get past-cruiser AND military discounts, and our booking # in less than 15 minutes- even we when decide to go three days before a cruise!) But then again, we always book by credit card, as we do for all traveling, for the fraud-protection factor. :) I am hoping to hear a happy ending from this nightmare our OP went through....

[lvtotrvl1]

Want to keep this thread going...really want to hear the outcome...fingers crossed the OP got on the cruise!!!! Can't wait to hear back....

[7SEASSISTER]

like another one said, book direct THEN transfer if you like. 100% assurance direct from the cruise line

[tnrnchick74]

Sitting here munching on popcorn and drinking diet coke while waiting to hear about the OP. I've been watching this thread with great interest. What a horrible situation to be in! I sincerely hope they got something figured out.

[travelgarn]

I'm interested, too, in finding out the outcome! :confused:

[happy cruzin]

Maybe...just maybe...we have not heard from her because they made the ship afterall!!

 

Here is to hoping that she is kickin back with a DOD enjoying the evening :D !!

[mariemorgan]

I wonder if they are on board right now :rolleyes:

[reno3]

This is like watching a good TV show and at the end they say...

Tune in next week to see what happens:D

I hope they made the ship.

[Illinoisgal]

That or she strangled the TA and is now in jail :eek:

[Pegs222]

That or she strangled the TA and is now in jail :eek:

 

Or, she killed the TA and is running for her life :eek: She can come and hide with one of us ;)

 

I can tell you quite honestly, I would have done the same thing.

[CountryFox]

Me too.....I hope she made it on the ship.......cant wait to see if she did:D

[bnt]

I'm assuming she is on the ship. I can't wait to hear the details!

[BarbG]

Hope they're aboard and having the greatest of time...

[halos]

I was thinking the same thing. We always get our booking number in order to fill out our fun pass:cool:

 

 

Me too.

I've always had a confirmation number within 24 hours of booking.

To the OP...I am so sorry this happened to you.

 

This is good information for all new cruisers to know....once you book you need to expect that confirmation number immediately!!!

[katb85]

Well here is the update. We made it on the ship. The travel agent just wanted us to take our money back. We said no, that we had paid to be on the ship, and she had better figure out a way to do it. We ended up with several rooms with the pull down beds. We just switched everyone around so we had no more than 3 to a room. It worked out okay. The travel agent had to pay around $80 more per person to get us on the ship. She lost alot of money, but it served her right. We told her if we didn't get on the ship that we would contact the Attorney General. She wanted to meet us somewhere and give us cash that day. We wasn't about to let her off that easy. Besides, we looked forward to this cruise for months. The trip was wonderful. We were on the Sensation. Walked on the ship and celebrated with a Kiss on The Lips. Everyone was hooked on these drinks! The only problem we ran into was in the dining room. I wasn't assigned a table for dinner. My sister and I ended up changing tables and sitting with some other passengers. They were wonderful people. Some of the family was seated with the other group of people who had booked their trip through the same agency. They had around 6 who missed the ship. I think they just took their money back. All I can say is lesson learned. My stepmother said she will only book through Carnival, or look into a different travel agent. It was her fault for not getting a booking#, but she never dreamed that she would do something like this. I thought for sure she would send something to her cabin to make up for what she had done, but of course she didn't.