rool Posted November 6, 2008 #26 Share Posted November 6, 2008 sandiani would like to know if you do manage a price reduction! my dec cruise on brilliance has gone down by £600! each! but thomas cook wont hear of it. will never use them again. in future will book direct with rcci. i even asked for an upgrade instead of price drop. they had cheek to ask for another £150 each! do let me know angelina46 That's a mirror image of my experience with the same company even though I quoted them the terms and conditions. They will state that their own T&Cs supercede RCCL and theirs only mention about price rises not price reductions. What I did anyway was to go onto the RCCL website and I noticed that there had been the price reduction and that the euro price for the cruise was substantially lower than the sterling price. Not only was it substantially lower I was also able to bag hump room 8102 on Brilliance with the larger balcony. The upshot was that I got the satisfaction of taking the business away from the TA, booked a better cabin direct and still saved about €200 after losing the initial £400 deposit. I now feel much more in control of the booking and I am confident that if prices drop or the fuel charge refunds work out that I will actually benefit from them. I hadn't used a TA for almost 20 years. I don't know why I felt it necessary to use them for a cruise, maybe being our first we wanted some hand holding, but I certainly won't be going back to one again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rool Posted November 6, 2008 #27 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Sandian,I think it's pretty typical of we British that we don't actively look for discounts whereas people in the USA do. We have only taken two previous cruises but I logged on to this website before our first to Alaska in 2007 and as a result of tips gleaned, managed to get the offer of a £200 a head price reduction on the cabin we'd booked or an upgrade. I booked direct with RCCL and booked the flights separately and reckon we saved in total somewhere in the region of £800! Our next cruise is to the Eastern Mediterranean on Brilliance of the Seas in March, and although this curise has been virtually sold out for months I check the RCCL website daily, and last week managed to gain a cabin upgrade to a DI cabin at £200 less than we were paying for the E1 we'd originally booked. Prices can fluctuate not just from day to day but from hour to hour - the offer on D1 cabins was only posted on the site for a few hours as there were only two cabins available. As one of those who was previously reluctant to seek discounts I'm enjoying playing this "game" especially as it can bring considerable financial benefits which in these difficult times are very welcome!!!! Good luck. We are doing an Eastern Med on Brilliance on March 30, Maybe we'll bump into you!!!! Be scared Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlords1 Posted November 6, 2008 #28 Share Posted November 6, 2008 sandiani would like to know if you do manage a price reduction! my dec cruise on brilliance has gone down by £600! each! but thomas cook wont hear of it. will never use them again. in future will book direct with rcci. i even asked for an upgrade instead of price drop. they had cheek to ask for another £150 each! do let me know angelina46 don't give up ! we had this problem 2 months ago and the TA didn't want to know , they told me if i bought a car and the price went down i couldn't bring the car back and get the cheaper price, i told them i would have had the car and driven it away i haven't had my cruise. With alot of phone calls and in the end demanding they rang RCL eventually they gave us the price drop, which was by the way £400. So please don't give in, thanks to these boards i knew even in the uk we were entitled to those price drops.The TA we are booked with belongs to thomas cook so you just need that right person to talk to. Keep fighting your case,let me know how you get on. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelina46 Posted November 6, 2008 #29 Share Posted November 6, 2008 unfortunately i paid the final balance just before the price went way down. otherwise i would have cancelled.lost my £200 deposit and re-booked direct.we are on the brilliance 7 dec. i really cant fight any more. it was stressing me out. i dont want it to ruin my holiday. but some good news, i had also booked on celebrity for next year. i got a price drop on that of £140! -same t.a.! so yes, it can be done! but they still wont hear of the brilliance one. strange. i will always book direct in future and my own flights. save so much! angelina46 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrspjotter Posted November 6, 2008 #30 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Hi - crikey you lot certainly know you're stuff! We are going on our first cruise on Explorer on 1st Feb 09 we have to pay for our hols on saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have no idea if the price of our cruise has gone up or down - there are 5 of us travelling so I can't make any online checks as you can only book for 4 people and we have 2 seperate bookings - any ideas how I check this out? We have booked with Thomas Cook - and it's a fly cruise package. Also Tortola has been dropped from our itenary and we now have a day at sea - only found out through one of these threads and still haven't been notified in writing - have been told by TA we won't get any OBC as it isn't classed as a significant change? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NorbertsNiece Posted November 6, 2008 #31 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Hi - crikey you lot certainly know you're stuff! We are going on our first cruise on Explorer on 1st Feb 09 we have to pay for our hols on saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have no idea if the price of our cruise has gone up or down - there are 5 of us travelling so I can't make any online checks as you can only book for 4 people and we have 2 seperate bookings - any ideas how I check this out? We have booked with Thomas Cook - and it's a fly cruise package. Also Tortola has been dropped from our itenary and we now have a day at sea - only found out through one of these threads and still haven't been notified in writing - have been told by TA we won't get any OBC as it isn't classed as a significant change? Hi, You're going to need to know how much you paid for the cruise side of your holiday; my confirmation invoice for fly/cruise thru a TA shows everything separately itemised. Then you can see if you can make a dummy booking for the same class of room without air and compare the price. Unfortunately there is no refund for a port missed off an itinerary. It'll be in the T&C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheridan318 Posted November 6, 2008 #32 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Hi guys hope you dont mind an Aussie joining in? we to booked through a TA and wouldnt you know it no reduction in price:( in fact she was quite rude and said they dont do that kind of thing once youve bought s something if you see it cheaper else where hard luck basicly :mad:but had the gaull to make us pay the differnce in the quoted price because of the fall in the dollar, we love cruising and guess which agent wont be getting any more of are business and we definatly wont recommend them to friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NorbertsNiece Posted November 6, 2008 #33 Share Posted November 6, 2008 G'day sheridan318, This story is repeated all over the world.... it's quite appalling that RCLs T&C are not reflected by the TAs who are more than happy to take the commission from RCL and the $ or € or £ from the customers. The only way to change that attitude is for us to walk with our feet...... ho hum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizanessie Posted November 6, 2008 #34 Share Posted November 6, 2008 For UK Cruisers...if you feel your TA is not giving you a price drop/refund that you truly believe you should get, you can phone RCCL UK's Resolution Team on this number 01932 834283. I am rather disturbed to read recently that so many of you are having problems with regard to price drops/refunds and I have brought this to the attention of the UK office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenrie Posted November 7, 2008 #35 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I have a different slant on this problem. My TA (the cook one) has got price drops for me over the years but last year when they phoned up for a drop it was RCCL Uk who wouldn't honour it. I was sitting there while TA argued with them so I know it was RCCL who wouldn't honour the drop. I must admit I have been very lucky with my TA as the girl who always deals with me is very knowledgeable and if she is not sure of something she will check it out and get back with the correct answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizanessie Posted November 7, 2008 #36 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I have a different slant on this problem. My TA (the cook one) has got price drops for me over the years but last year when they phoned up for a drop it was RCCL Uk who wouldn't honour it. I was sitting there while TA argued with them so I know it was RCCL who wouldn't honour the drop. I must admit I have been very lucky with my TA as the girl who always deals with me is very knowledgeable and if she is not sure of something she will check it out and get back with the correct answer. Hi Jewel :D Hope you are well :) You know the old saying here comes to mind...if you dont like the answer the first time...try again later and keep trying till you get the correct answer :D As a side note to any new CC UK Cruisers here please do not post your TA's name/agency as this is against CC rules and could result in a post/thread being deleted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emdia43 Posted November 7, 2008 #37 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I have a different slant on this problem. My TA (the cook one) has got price drops for me over the years but last year when they phoned up for a drop it was RCCL Uk who wouldn't honour it. I was sitting there while TA argued with them so I know it was RCCL who wouldn't honour the drop. I must admit I have been very lucky with my TA as the girl who always deals with me is very knowledgeable and if she is not sure of something she will check it out and get back with the correct answer. Some of the price cuts will have a disclaimer at the bottom that says * for new reservations only. Perhaps your reservation came under those conditions. If not, don't give up, try another RCCL agent- you'll probably get a different answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenrie Posted November 7, 2008 #38 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Hi Liz, We haven't cruised this year as I have had a few medical problems but will start looking again for something for next year. I kept hoping I would have got an invite to one of the pre-inaugurals on the Indy but with only 20 cruise credits it wasn't enough but one day my turn will come. My TA tried to get us the Senior discount on our Nov 07 Majesty sailing she spoke to a few different depts at RCCl but they wouldn't honour it I just said well it's nice to know that they think I am too young to qualify even though our government gives me a pension. Jewel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lushpuppy Posted November 7, 2008 #39 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Ok i was just about 2 pay final balance of our cruise for 4 travelling to nyc for explorer cruise. We booked a fly cruise but we are flying out 2 days earlier. So anyway i studied the package and realised our flight was £660. I checked price on ebookers and found same flight at £422! I called ta had to pay £35 each to change. But anyway i also up graded my mil cabin did all the changes and bottom line - £440 better off! So it does pay to do that little bit of research. This thread made me think so thanks all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lushpuppy Posted November 7, 2008 #40 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Hi - crikey you lot certainly know you're stuff! We are going on our first cruise on Explorer on 1st Feb 09 we have to pay for our hols on saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have no idea if the price of our cruise has gone up or down - there are 5 of us travelling so I can't make any online checks as you can only book for 4 people and we have 2 seperate bookings - any ideas how I check this out? We have booked with Thomas Cook - and it's a fly cruise package. Please read my other post. We are on this cruise and just saved £440! If you change your booking to cruise only check out flight price and book hotel online with 5 of you going i would bet you stand to win win even after paying the alteration fee. Please do check it out before you pay that final balance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NorbertsNiece Posted November 7, 2008 #41 Share Posted November 7, 2008 [FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=purple]That brings me to question does the price drop match issue only relate to up to final balance payment date? Do they give the price difference as OBC afterwards?[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emdia43 Posted November 7, 2008 #42 Share Posted November 7, 2008 No, I saw a reduction after I made final payment and obtained it with no problem. I always book direct with RCCL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazirus65 Posted November 7, 2008 #43 Share Posted November 7, 2008 [quote name='emdia43']No, I saw a reduction after I made final payment and obtained it with no problem. I always book direct with RCCL.[/quote] Did you get the refund as OBC or back to your credit card, the reason i ask is that the one i used to book with has expired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrspjotter Posted November 7, 2008 #44 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Thanks for everyone's advice - so can I just check, I can only get a refund if I phone up and try and book the same cabin now and find that it is being sold at a cheaper price? My problem is we are in a family oceanview and there are only 8 cabins on the whole ship and my guesses are they are all booked so if that's the case I won't get a refund unless there are any spare cabins the same at a lesser rate than I paid? Sorry for sounding daft - i'm all for saving some money but this is our fist cruise so it's all new to me!:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizanessie Posted November 7, 2008 #45 Share Posted November 7, 2008 [quote name='mrspjotter']Thanks for everyone's advice - so can I just check, I can only get a refund if I phone up and try and book the same cabin now and find that it is being sold at a cheaper price? My problem is we are in a family oceanview and there are only 8 cabins on the whole ship and my guesses are they are all booked so if that's the case I won't get a refund unless there are any spare cabins the same at a lesser rate than I paid? Sorry for sounding daft - i'm all for saving some money but this is our fist cruise so it's all new to me!:confused:[/quote] If you go to the RCCL UK website just now...look for your sailing and check the prices...if your category of cabin is showing as available ..check the price and if it is lower than price you currently have then you can phone (tomorrow) and request a price drop refund :D And dont worry you dont sound daft.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrspjotter Posted November 7, 2008 #46 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Thanks - just tried that and you can't get a quote online for more than 4 people so I guess i'll have to phone them tomorrow and see what they say - thanks for advice :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lushpuppy Posted November 8, 2008 #47 Share Posted November 8, 2008 mrs p j. The price on your cruise has gone way up! I have been following it closely. But please check out as i did the option of seperating your flight and cruise. Its a busy cruise theses not much left. I have a suite and 2 other cabins booked on this cruise. Believe me prices much more now than when we booked! Good luck see you on board! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lushpuppy Posted November 8, 2008 #48 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Mrs pl! Look out your thos book paperwork. On the breakdown you will have a flight price which i think will be around 695. Did ta give u discount? If so take that off. Where u flying from? Check online at ebookers for a quote. Add 35 per person alter fee from ta. Add cost hotel in newark which is around 100 per soon max but many cheaper for good hotel. With me so far? Take your time and write all down and work out costs. You should save quite a bit by doing this! Honestly its worth the effort! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floflegs Posted November 9, 2008 #49 Share Posted November 9, 2008 I'm hoping for a reduction. I've contacted my TA but she is off until Tuesday and we are away then on holiday. Maybe they'll be a nice surprise when we get home!:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandian Posted November 9, 2008 Author #50 Share Posted November 9, 2008 This info is great but one more ? am I right in reading that you can change your booking from a TA to RCI and if so how. Sandian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.