Does your TA book RSVP or Atlantis?

Our local auto association (Think AAA in States.) has booked cruises for us before and is fine with us as a Gay couple. We are in Canada after all. I was thinking of the RSVP cruise in Feb and sent the info by email to get this started including the page RSVP has on reservations which says "Contact your travel agent". She checked and got back to me and can not. The agency views RSVP as another travel agent while I was thinking of RSVP as more a tour company. Anyway, if I go, it will booked directly by me. I was hoping to get one insurance package for the whole trip.

But for reference, does your TA book RSVP or Atlantis for you? The agent said they could ask head office to reconsider but this would require time but may help others in the future. From a quick look, they see ONE cruise and probably expect little demand.

And now for your thoughts,

M

We use a travel agent that focuses on gay travel and gay cruises. :)

Thanks. I was guessing some TAs did as RSVP does toss that on web pages.

Anybody else??

I have never used a travel agent until I started cruising on RSVP and Atlantis. A friend of ours referred a gay travel agent whom they had been working with for years, and now he's in the process of booking our fourth cruise.

If your usual travel agent can't book it for you and you prefer the personal touch, I would recommend doing a search through the web. I'm not going to refer anyone on this board has I know it would violate the terms and conditions.

We have had a regular TA do the booking for Atlantis. In the past we did RSVP with a gay TA who is no longer local. The last few years we have done both directly with RSVP or Atlantis and arranged the flights on our own. It has never been an issue as I believe both companies give a commission to the TA that makes the reservation.

We booked our first Atlantis cruise through a TA who also books RSVP and bear cruises. We received a flower arrangement from them in our cabin, which was nice.

We let the offer of a discount for alumni cruisers lapse as we looked for our next holiday, then decided we wanted to go on their Singapore-Hong Kong trip. Their offer was extended and Atlantis suggested phoning them (difficult from the UK) or contacting our TA. The TA managed to get us our discount.

But we've booked direct with RSVP in the past with no problems.

I don't why your Travel agent does not sell RSVP/Atlantis cruises. Neither are travel agents, but tour companies and TA's earn commission on all bookings. But it's pretty easy just to book directly with RSVP. Per the RSVP website:

Selling RSVP vacations is easy and profitable. If you have gay or lesbian clients, it's time you joined the more than 7,000 qualified agents around the world promoting and selling our all-gay cruise vacations. We're the most recognized brand in gay travel and it's easy to sell our unique brand of fun and relaxation, and easy to profit from the high satisfaction and repeat booking rates our trips provide

I think it was a bit obvious that I posted this thread just to be certain others do book using a TA and will take this fact to them -- without any names. The organization did march in our Pride Parade so it is not like it is some philosophical point for them. They just need to see the demand and the head office agree. If nobody books the Gay cruises, it is easy for head office to think there is no demand when what they did was deflect the booking one person or couple at a time.

Later,

M

I book both RSVP and Atlantis.

Thanks. I have found agents locally. I am not certain I feel motivated enough to even tell the agent who said they could not.

I was not sure whether my agent could book RSVP, so I asked her and at first she said no (probably thinking it was another travel agency) but when I pointed out that its website says bookings can be through travel agents she checked and went ahead and booked my cruise. I am not sure whether a travel agent gets the full commission from a charter as they would from a cruise line, though.

I used to work for AAA. They only book preferred companies. The ones who pay the best commissions. Nothing to do with sexual preference.

Thanks. Your comments have me curious now. In general, do the cruise lines pay

a better or worse commission than say

airlines or

insurance or

hotels??

I am guessing airlines are the least as you have to book one of very few to fly

where you want but insurance the most as some see it as optional and needs more

push. Let me know the general trends -- if you know.

TIA

M

We've done 2 Atlantis cruises and our TA booked them both for us.