Buyer's Remorse

[EmilyM]

I went ahead and bought a Holland America Cruise through one agent, and now I notice that a different agent is advertising a much better cabin at the same price I paid for a MM! I called my agent, but because the better deal is not through Holland America directly, he said nothing can be done. Is there anything I can do? Thanks for any ideas!

[liv2cruise4ever]

Was this a TA or online agency?

[jimmy2x]

Sure - cancel your original cruise and rebook with the other agency.

[liv2cruise4ever]

My thoughts exactly......

[JDee]

Before you cancel, make sure your TA does not have his own cancellation fee. Some have a nominal fee, $25.00 or so, but others may have a hevty cancellation fee to keep you from switching....Good luck.....

[sail7seas]

You may have to pay the original agent a cancellation fee. Did they advise you if they charged such a fee if you were to cancel?

[Linda&Vern]

I went ahead and bought a Holland America Cruise through one agent, and now I notice that a different agent is advertising a much better cabin at the same price I paid for a MM! I called my agent, but because the better deal is not through Holland America directly, he said nothing can be done. Is there anything I can do? Thanks for any ideas!
Make sure you are comparing apples to apples -- i.e., TOTAL cost of cabin with port charges, taxes, fees, insurance, etc. etc. etc. I've seen prices I can't believe, but upon further checking the "advertised" rate does not include lots of things that usually bring the TOTAL PRICE up pretty close to the price of some other offers.

[jimmy2x]

"Make sure you are comparing apples to apples -- i.e., TOTAL cost of cabin with port charges, taxes, fees, insurance, etc. etc. etc. I've seen prices I can't believe, but upon further checking the "advertised" rate does not include lots of things that usually bring the TOTAL PRICE up pretty close to the price of some other offers."

This is excellent advice. Like many of us did not know the "ropes" for booking on our 1st cruise and used a small local agency. After finding out that we could save hundreds of dollars by using one of the larger agencies that specializes in cruises only, wound up settling with the 1st agent for $50 - well worth it. My best advice is to try and find a cruise agent with whom you can develop a long term relationship and trust to get decent pricing. Once you do this I suspect that you will find that it is not worth it to change for a few bucks.

[EmilyM]

Thanks for all of your responses! I shouldn't have been so vague in my first post. I did use an on-line agency, and it is now within 60 days of sailing, so I would have to pay a cancellation fee to HAL, right? It just kills me that I used to think I got an excellent deal, and now I find that people are getting better rooms at lower prices!

At this point, I really don't care about getting any money back, but I would really love to get an upgrade to at least an outside cabin. Is there any way I can do that? The on-line company doesn't seem to concerned for me.

[dakrewser]

Well, your current TA is lying to you - isn't that sufficient reaqson to switch? They won't match the deal because they don't want to, it has nothing to do with booking directly with HAL.

Contact the second agency. See if they will honor your current booking and then switch the booking. If so, contact HAL to move your reservation to the new TA.