Family reunion cruise on Monarch

[CruisinMermaid]

I've arranged a group cruise for myself and 25 extended family members on the Monarch of the Seas for Spring 2009. We had planned on flying out a day ahead and staying in a hotel to avoid any problems with missing the ship because of delayed or cancelled flights. When I made the booking two months ago the travel agent said everything was set. Today, however, he's telling me that RCI hasn't decided yet if we will fly out a day ahead and stay in a hotel or fly the day of. I didn't realize it was RCI's decision. So, now I'm trying to ask him if the price he quoted us included a hotel stay and he's kind of blowing us off because our trip, according to him, is still far out. He said RCI will make the decision about 3 months before we leave. I'm sorry, but people have to work hard and save their money. Some of us like to know how much we'll be paying and not be surprised 3 months before we leave that a hotel was not included in the original quoted price.

 

Has anyone ever transferred a group booking away from a travel agent to RCI's group department? I'm honestly tired of dealing with this guy and would rather cut him out of the middle since it seems he can't do anything special that the group department can't do. He can't even offer us anything extra as far as GAP points go since RCI seems to control that too. Can anyone share their experiences?

[JJ2sail]

You would need to pay extra for custom air, to be able to pick your flights. Since your cruise is almost a year a way, your TA can't really give you any information, because there just isn't any to give. He should be able to give you some sort of a group on board credit though.

 

From what I have read here on the boards and my own expieriences, I usually book flights and hotels separately from the cruise, it's cheaper and you can stay where you want and go when you want.