Dinner seating Mistake - Update (I am FURIOUS!)

[ewheelock]

Search is down so I cant find the original thread, but for everyone who wanted to know the outcome here it is so far -

 

 

Gixer, if you want to find your old post just click on your name and then on all posts by Gixer and you can find all of your old posts.

 

Glad that you got your early seating and I hope you can change from your ta to RCI.

[FanofFlorida]

I was just onboard Freedom, and there were several options to change to different dining times.

I wouldnt worry.... :)

[ehfl]

One more reason why booking directly is the way to go. What I don't understand is why people act surprised when the TA points the finger at the cruise line and the cruise line points the finger at the TA....they know this was stuff is going to happen...so why put someone in the middle, instead of going direct?

[travel guy]

the only reason to use them is because you get a bigger discount then booking direct, a situation i have never fully understood

 

MICK48DC,

 

sorry to hear that you have a negative perception of TA's.

Your opinion is one opinion. Here is another opinion. A good TA will save you time and possibly money, depending on the availability of group space. The key is to work with a good TA.

[Moeve]

Hey get your knickers unknoted!!! Early seating in the Med is the least popular one since those ports are so time intensive and most passengers want to use every minute they have in port. You could have waited till embarkation and stoped by the M'd. He probably would have given you a kiss for giving up your late seating spots and trading them for early.

[phoenix1181]

Hey get your knickers unknoted!!! Early seating in the Med is the least popular one since those ports are so time intensive and most passengers want to use every minute they have in port. You could have waited till embarkation and stoped by the M'd. He probably would have given you a kiss for giving up your late seating spots and trading them for early.

 

Hey............ Being able to change when they board wasn't the issue.

 

:( Reading comprehension is severely lacking around here.

[Moeve]

Dear Pheonix the OP did say she had accidently booked late seating - on the other hand perhaps you might like do a little more reading on these boards where you will pick up that RCCL is earnestly testing this Any Time Dining concept using existing hardware - this has us seeing that not all passengers are assigned a dining time when the current capacity for tradional dinning is full. They are setting a side large numbers of seats in certain parts of the dining room for the Anytimers reducing the number of seat available for the tradional guests. THAT has EVERYTHING to do with RCCL and NOTHING the TA can influence!! This is a direct result of too many of those b**hing about wanting anytime dining - it messes it up for many of those who perfer tradional dining. In many cases however folks who booked early were not aware there might be this option and once they get onboard they chose to give up tradional dining which frees up space now booked for the OP is she so wishes.

 

Once again the OP said she prefered Early Dining and in the Med that is the option least liked so there are always very good chances THAT exchange will work - the other way around however will pose a problem.

[sas80]

I must say....now I have seen everything.....

 

A simple thread about how OP is aggravated with their TA for claiming that early dining is booked solid a year early...and people are now jumping on other peoples back's because of what they interpret from posts...

 

<shales head> who'da thunk it?!

[phoenix1181]

Moeve, please put your glasses on. This had nothing to do with Any Time Dining and everything to do with a bad TA.

 

Fortunately, the OP worked this through with RCCL. Case closed..............

[Gixer]

Dear Pheonix the OP did say she had accidently booked late seating - on the other hand perhaps you might like do a little more reading on these boards where you will pick up that RCCL is earnestly testing this Any Time Dining concept using existing hardware - this has us seeing that not all passengers are assigned a dining time when the current capacity for tradional dinning is full. They are setting a side large numbers of seats in certain parts of the dining room for the Anytimers reducing the number of seat available for the tradional guests. THAT has EVERYTHING to do with RCCL and NOTHING the TA can influence!! This is a direct result of too many of those b**hing about wanting anytime dining - it messes it up for many of those who perfer tradional dining. In many cases however folks who booked early were not aware there might be this option and once they get onboard they chose to give up tradional dining which frees up space now booked for the OP is she so wishes.

 

Once again the OP said she prefered Early Dining and in the Med that is the option least liked so there are always very good chances THAT exchange will work - the other way around however will pose a problem.

 

You are totally missing the point - I was told by my TA that early was full and that even the waitlist for early was closed, I then recieved an email from RCCL telling me infact that early was available, that has EVERYTHING to do with my TA and NOTHING to do with RCCL - you got it the wrong way around.

 

And Im sorry if you disagree, but if I am told that eary is closed AND the wait list is closed, then I am to assume that switching onboard might be a little difficult as it is already totally full a year out, and 9pm is way to late for us. Switching to early onboard isnt always possible, I just recently read a post by 5Rileys that said while they were on their Liberty cruise in a Grand suite not even the consierge could switch them to early, so I think I had a right to get my ''knickers knotted'' when it was evident that the TA was being less than straight with me. You just made yourself look like a total idiot by the way, maybe you should read the entire thread next time before jumping in and getting it all wrong.

[sea-cruise]

Here in the States we have the Better Business Bureau. If your TA charges you a cancellation fee, perhaps you could research there to see if your area has a similar bureau.

Happy Cruising!

[PH8]

Here in the States we have the Better Business Bureau. If your TA charges you a cancellation fee, perhaps you could research there to see if your area has a similar bureau.

Happy Cruising!

But the TA might have their own cancellation/change fee.....the OP needs to read the fine print..........but truthfully,if its not that much,it would sure be worth it...

[Gixer]

But the TA might have their own cancellation/change fee.....the OP needs to read the fine print..........but truthfully,if its not that much,it would sure be worth it...

 

Yep - its 50 bucks to cancel, but that's a hit Im willing to take to get my booking back with RCCL directly. (still waiting to hear from RCCL about how to handle the switch because I dont want to lose our cabin)

[PH8]

Yep - its 50 bucks to cancel, but that's a hit Im willing to take

I don't blame you.

[sea-cruise]

Yes A fee as small as that IS worth it!!

[lvtotrvl1]

OK, I need to jump in here...not sure why though....As a TA I deal with cruiselines numerous times during each day. As posters have mentioned , you can call twice and get two different answers. Also, I'm not directing this at the OP , but there are always two sides to every story. Before everyone jumps on the TA, I really think you need to know both sides. I'm not sure why a TA would "lie" over such a simple change...wouldn't be worth the hassle that ensued. What may have happened is the TA finally got someone else involved to make the change. Due to the new dining on RCCL it is changing everyday as far as answers you are getting. This was not that big of a problem this far out from the cruise. Maybe the OP just needs to ask the TA to transfer the booking to RCCL. To be honest, from the tone of the OP , as a TA, I would be happy to give the booking away.
I agree , there are some bad TA's out there, but the TA bashers here on CC are the first to jump on a thread like this and tear the TA apart without understanding the conversations that have taken place and the specific situation that occured...

[FL_Cruiser64]

To the OP:
I like to clarify a point I always contend. I know I will hear a lot of arguiments from the TA community but legally a TA does not own your reservation.

A TA is nothing else then a care taker of your reservation.

When I looked for a TA and test drove a few to make sure I do get a good TA for our group cruise who doesn't mess up I went up the corporate ladder with RCI into their legal department. If I can dig the e-mail up I will post the exact wording but in a nut shell:

The cruise line co-owns the reservation up until final payment has been rendered but as long as a passenger complies with the payment schedule (i.e. down payment based on occupancy) the passenger has control over his reservation. The only one who can claim full ownership besides the passenger is Royal Caribbean. It doesn't matter if it is a direct booking or a reservation through a TA. TAs are sales agents and care takers. Just because the cruise line does not talk to a passenger while a TA is in use does not change the ownership. The notion that a TA owns a reservation is false and has no legal premise and if I should have any problems - ever- to transfer a reservation back to to Royal Caribbean because I was dissatisfied with a TA to inform the legal department asap. A transfer should take no longer than 24 to 48 hours.

They told me to send or fax my transfer (which is the same form) to the TA and (for record keeping sakes) to Royal Caribbean (transfer desk).

I've withdrawn a reservation 3-times from a TA without any problems. One company attempted to give me a hard time but my next e-mail was the copied e-mail I got from the legal department and the transfer was back with RCI the next day.

[FL_Cruiser64]

[quote name='lvtotrvl1']OK, I need to jump in here...not sure why though....As a TA I deal with cruiselines numerous times during each day. As posters have mentioned , you can call twice and get two different answers. Also, I'm not directing this at the OP , but there are always two sides to every story. Before everyone jumps on the TA, I really think you need to know both sides. I'm not sure why a TA would "lie" over such a simple change...wouldn't be worth the hassle that ensued. What may have happened is the TA finally got someone else involved to make the change. Due to the new dining on RCCL it is changing everyday as far as answers you are getting. This was not that big of a problem this far out from the cruise. Maybe the OP just needs to ask the TA to transfer the booking to RCCL. To be honest, from the tone of the OP , as a TA, I would be happy to give the booking away.
I agree , there are some bad TA's out there, but the TA bashers here on CC are the first to jump on a thread like this and tear the TA apart without understanding the conversations that have taken place and the specific situation that occured...[/quote]

I do not question the OP at all. And if you read my posting history I was always the first one to bash TAs. Believe me and you may not realize that but there are not "some" bad TAs out there, there are a lot of bad TAs out there. In my search for a good TA (and service was above all other benefits a criteria) I came across many, many, scummy people. More than good ones. In a way it solidified my opinion on TAs but on the other hand I found a handful good ones. TAs who are actually serving you. And believe me, my demands of service are not that big.

TAs on CC always bash those who are battling TAs and how bad the cruiser must be yet while YOU may be a good TA I can show you 100 bad ones for every good TA.

If the TA community would clean up their own industry maybe we would not have all those TA complains.

[lvtotrvl1]

[quote name='FL_Cruiser64']I do not question the OP at all. And if you read my posting history I was always the first one to bash TAs. Believe me and you may not realize that but there are not "some" bad TAs out there, there are a lot of bad TAs out there. In my search for a good TA (and service was above all other benefits a criteria) I came across many, many, scummy people. More than good ones. In a way it solidified my opinion on TAs but on the other hand I found a handful good ones. TAs who are actually serving you. And believe me, my demands of service are not that big.

TAs on CC always bash those who are battling TAs and how bad the cruiser must be yet while YOU may be a good TA I can show you 100 bad ones for every good TA.

If the TA community would clean up their own industry maybe we would not have all those TA complains.[/quote]


I will agree that you usually are the first to bash..and if you read my posts, I do not always back the TA's....however, when people are looking for the cheapest price you probably will find the "cheapest Ta". These discount TA's do not depend on repeat business, they depend on quantity of bookings" hence, customer service goes down the drain. They are typically order takers with very little industry experience, but are hired to answer the phone and book what people want at a cheap price. As the saying goes...you get what you pay for. Why do you think some agencies don't give away the cruise...they will be in business in a couple years...the discounters will fall by the waysides...with commissions as low as they are, they are not making enough money to pay the overhead... Bottom line is there still are always two sides to every story.

[PH8]

Ok,no need to overtake this thread with using a TA vs not using one.......and good ones vs bad ones.........

We just want to hear what happens with the OP....

[AF-1]

Canx your reservation and then rebook the cruise and choose the early seating

[TPKeller]

[quote name='Gixer'][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=black]Please let me know if you can ammend this mistake or if I need to cancel and rebook with someone else.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=black]This was their reply - [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=2] I understand that you are upset about the dining. I have called Royal Caribbean and they told me personally that both Early and Main is closed. I tried to put your family on a waitlist but, the waitlist is also closed. If you would like, please call RCCL at 1-800-398-9819 and asked. I am sure they will tell you also that the Early and Main is closed. When booking on line, it will always give you the options for dining until the booking and payment goes through on our end. Again, I apologize that you are disappointed with the dining. Like I stated below, when you arrive on board the ship, you may speak with Customer Service to see if anyone had cancelled their dinning option. I hope you have a wonderful day.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[/QUOTE]
At this point in the correspondence, I don't understand why you didn't follow through with your [B]stated plan of action[/B] to cancel and rebook. There are [URL="http://consumerist.com/consumer/complaints/complain-like-a-pro-in-10-easy-steps-319895.php"]definite steps to taking up an issue with a business[/URL], and just like raising children, you should never make a threat that you do not intend to follow through.

After your next reply saying basically "oh well, I guess I'll have to hope for the best" your TA got out his big "SUCKER" stamp and started redecorating your customer folder!

Theron

[cruisePRN]

Glad you got your early dining, 9:30 is a bit late with kids. What would happen if the dare goes down? Your TA probably won't be available :eek: which is another ood reason to keep control of your own booking. Just before final payment is due if a TA offers a OBC I will give them my booking because everything i wanted was taken care of by me, myself and I :D

[Gixer]

[quote name='TPKeller']At this point in the correspondence, I don't understand why you didn't follow through with your [B]stated plan of action[/B] to cancel and rebook. There are [URL="http://consumerist.com/consumer/complaints/complain-like-a-pro-in-10-easy-steps-319895.php"]definite steps to taking up an issue with a business[/URL], and just like raising children, you should never make a threat that you do not intend to follow through.

After your next reply saying basically "oh well, I guess I'll have to hope for the best" your TA got out his big "SUCKER" stamp and started redecorating your customer folder!

Theron[/quote]

My ''hope for the best'' reply was because I believed my TA when they told me late was full and the wait list closed - Is there any reason why I shouldnt have believed them? Do TA's generally make a habit out of being untruthful to their customers? If thats the case then it is something I was unaware of.

Anyway, the situation is now resolved, I have early seating, and I am in the process of dealing with my booking being transfered to RCCL, all's well that ends well ;)


lvtotrvl1 - with reference to your post, I was not looking for a cheap TA or a cheap price, I am sailing a 14 night Med cruise in an Owners suite, cheap doesnt factor into that equation.

[jen-ja-fer]

Glad to know it all worked out. I wonder if your TA just didn't want to deal with it?

Lessoned learned!