TA and drop in cruise prices

[sailing sue]

I am wondering if your travel agent will tell you if there has been a drop in price of your already reserved cruise, or if it is up to you to find this out and then tell your travel agent?

[JimVrhovac]

that depends on your TA. our checks on the prices and automatically gets us the reductions. Do not know how she tracts it and <i do not care.

YOU NEED TO CHECK WITH YOUR ta.

ON THE HAL websight there is a place for special promotions or you can check the cruise for price changes.

Ruth & Jim

[hammybee]

Applies to booking made with U.S. travel agencies:

Be aware that some promotions are for new bookings only and you may not be eligible unless you cancel and rebook. When you do this, you may lose your cabin and have to accept another. ( Many promotions are for unspecified cabins on a guaranteed cabin basis.)You may also loose your prefered dining time, if you specified one. Your agency may or may not charge you a fee for doing so.

If it's after Final Payment date, you will incur a cancellation penalty from the cruise line if you need to cancel.

[earl_m]

With The TA I am using now I have had 3 price reductions with the same cruise.
With my last TA I book 8 cruises with them and never a drop in price.

[Crusing Bob]

Earl, I posted on our Roll Call asking if you got the reductions on our Southern cruise.

Bob

[vbmom87]

I had to stay on top of it myself. However, each phone call I made, she was happy to help me.

[nycruiser11]

I called my TA twice for reductions. She never called me.

[cruise junky joan]

I am using a nationally advertised dot com that claims to provide refund if someone else books the same vacation at a lower price. We'll see.

[JimVrhovac]

Sounds like you need to get a new TA.

The price we pay for the tickets coves their commissions and if they do not want to earn them then you need to find a TA that appreciates your business.

Ruth & Jim

[Karryllyn]

Applies to booking made with U.S. travel agencies:

Be aware that some promotions are for new bookings only and you may not be eligible unless you cancel and rebook. When you do this, you may lose your cabin and have to accept another. ( Many promotions are for unspecified cabins on a guaranteed cabin basis.)You may also loose your prefered dining time, if you specified one. Your agency may or may not charge you a fee for doing so.

If it's after Final Payment date, you will incur a cancellation penalty from the cruise line if you need to cancel.
Does this mean that if your travel agent is not from the U.S, we can't take advantage of price reductions? We don't make our final payment till March.

[YYC F/A]

Sounds like you need to get a new TA.

The price we pay for the tickets coves their commissions and if they do not want to earn them then you need to find a TA that appreciates your business.

Ruth & Jim

I think this is somewhat unfair and unrealistic. If you booked directly with HAL PCC, would you expect him/her to be checking every single booking on record every single day for every client they had booked (perhaps several hundred!) to see if there was a lower price? It's neither logistically possible nor feasible for either HAL or a TA to check every clients booking every single day to see if there has or has not been a new promotion or lower price. The only exception perhaps would be a TA who is a hobby TA or retired whom has just a handful of active bookings - but for most TA's, this is a living, and a good TA will have many many active bookings and clients! That's not to say we don't keep an eye out though.

I tell my clients that we will AUTOMATICALLY CHECK at or close to time of final payment for any lower prices or promotions that may apply. We will also check their booking IF IT COMES TO OUR ATTENTION that there is a current promotion by that cruiseline that may apply. We tell our clients that we are not able to check every booking every day, but given the above, we are succesful at finding lower rates for many of our guests and will call them when we do so.

Given the above, we tell our clients that absolutely they should keep an eye out as well, and to please email or call us if they see something that might apply. Two sets of eyes is better than one, and for cruise guests whom are retired or have spare time - it's a lot easier to check every few days.

It sounds like nycruiser11 was fortunate enough to spot a lower price on two occassions, and on both his/her TA was more than happy to make the adjustment. Don't see the need to rush to get a new TA based on that alone?

[YYC F/A]

Does this mean that if your travel agent is not from the U.S, we can't take advantage of price reductions? We don't make our final payment till March.

TAs in Canada can also get price drops. In the UK I know it is a bit different, many cruiselines don't even allow a refund of the deposit for UK originating bookings, so the rules can vary from country to country.

Check with the TA in the country you are booked and they will be able to tell you the cruiseline rules/policies in that country.

[nchank]

I called and got the price reduction. I don't know if the TA would have done it or not without my call. Why take a chance, call and ask.

[Pam in CA]

Whether you use a TA or book directly, you are always your own best advocate. You're investing a lot of money on a cruise so you should check for price drops or changes (but don't be obsessive or else you're drive yourself nuts.) Even good TAs are often extremely busy and popular, and don't have the time to check each client's booking on a regular basis so take the initiative and check.

I have a Princess cruise booked this July and a friend happened to mention that she was researching my cruise and noticed that there'd been a price drop. I emailed my TA and sure 'nuff, I got about a 35% reduction which represented a LOT of money. While that's Princess, keep your eyes and ears open and don't hesitate to ask your TA to check.

[mrskmirolla]

We booked the Eurodam for May 13th on December 18th and there has been 3 reductions. I book with an online TA so I check and then call and they reduce it!!!:D

Like Pam said you have to be your own advocate!;)

Kathy