Travel agent really against Carnival? New cruiser questions

Hi,

We've taken one cruise last Christmas with Carnival on the Freedom and we had a great time! There were some things we didn't enjoy (Mainly the crowds at pools and really noisy in our room) however over all we had a great time! We're thinking of another cruise in 2014 and called the same cruise agent who helped us with this cruise and she is REALLY pushing Royal Caribbean over Carnival... I've been on their boards and website and I just can't see that it's worth $700 more... Just wondering what your thoughts are here? We're looking at the Dream or Breeze for Carnival 8 nights and Independence of the Seas Royal Caribbean ship. We have 2 boys, ages 10 and 7 with my husband and myself. Thank you!!!

Our last cruise was on RCI last summer...we're heading back to Carnival on Dream in July. We've enjoyed all 7 of our cruises (4 Carnival, 2 RCI, 1 NCL), but I won't pay much (if any) of a premium to sail on RCI, if the itinerary is the same. Carnival has been a bit "livelier" (but nothing excessive) than the others.

try asking what commision they get from Carnival vs other lines.

I think the answer will lie there.

Never cruised anyone but Carnival, because I couldn't justify paying more for the other lines as well. If your TA doesn't want to help you, just go to the Carnival website and book it yourself! Then if you choose early saver you don't get the run around about price drops.:)

Why even use a travel agent? You can find same deals if not better in the cruise line websites yourself. If you need air taravel there are plenty of websites to find the best deal. With today's Internet travel agents are a thing of the past. You can even call carnival or royal and they will find the best cruise for you. I usually find my cruise on their website then call to book.

I wondered if it was due to commission amounts!!! We just can't find any differences that make RCI worth $700 more.

We would like to use a travel agent since we used her last time for our cruise and she really helped us plan shore excursions and knew so much about the ports since she's been to them all many times... Her knowledge really helped us to plan what we would do at each port.

I bet that she does get higher commission for RCI... She said she would book Carnival if we really wanted it. . . I think we're sticking with Carnival as we enjoyed it and it's very budget friendly for us... The $700 we save can be easily used for shore excursions! Thank you all!

I do think RCI is better at upkeep of their ships - the Carnival ships (cabin, public spaces, etc) have seemed to be more rundown than RCI ships of similar age.

Just got off the phone with my TA and he advised me that Carnival is tightening the control over bookings and three weeks before final payment date they are sending out pre-cancellation notices.

Not yet in effect, but rumour has it that all bookings through them in the future will have to be paid in full at the time of the booking. That sucks. Any price drops will end with OBC's but by demanding payment in full at the time of booking, they (Carnival) greatly improve their cash flow while draining mine.

We are looking at a cruise for the fall of 2014 and they are supposed to be taking bookings in the next couple of weeks. No way do I want to prepay that cruise now when we have two other cruises coming up.

This does not apply to all TA's by the way. Most people will not be affected or those that book through Carnival. Apparently this will apply to just some TA's -ours being one of them.

Carnival if you do this I will not be happy.

Wow!!! That doesn't make sense to me that you'll have to pay in full when doing initial booking. I would be surprised if that actually comes true. ??? We also looked at RCI, NCL and Disney and none of them have that policy. Seems like Carnival would be hurting themselves if they do that.

Just got off the phone with my TA and he advised me that Carnival is tightening the control over bookings and three weeks before final payment date they are sending out pre-cancellation notices.

 

Not yet in effect, but rumour has it that all bookings through them in the future will have to be paid in full at the time of the booking. That sucks. Any price drops will end with OBC's but by demanding payment in full at the time of booking, they (Carnival) greatly improve their cash flow while draining mine.

 

We are looking at a cruise for the fall of 2014 and they are supposed to be taking bookings in the next couple of weeks. No way do I want to prepay that cruise now when we have two other cruises coming up.

 

This does not apply to all TA's by the way. Most people will not be affected or those that book through Carnival. Apparently this will apply to just some TA's -ours being one of them.

 

Carnival if you do this I will not be happy.

Does Carnival deduct commissions based on OBC? If not, you have your answer. This is not a Carnival policy, this would then merely be a TA policy to protect commissions that they are just telling you is Carnival's policy because they no longer want to book Carnival.

Meredith

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Not yet in effect, but rumour has it that all bookings through them in the future will have to be paid in full at the time of the booking. That sucks. Any price drops will end with OBC's but by demanding payment in full at the time of booking, they (Carnival) greatly improve their cash flow while draining mine.

This is 100% not true. I work in the industry and will tell you there are no plans to implement such a measure.

If you think this through you will realize that any cruiseline with this full payment requirement will lose customers faster than you can blink.

My friend is a travel agent and has never been shy about her preference for RCI, she sails with them several times a year, and claims that she didn't like her sole cruise on Carnival because it wasn't nearly as good.

After the incidents with the Triumph and the Dream, my friend took to Facebook to denounce Carnival's safety record and how she refused to book anyone on Carnival. Ddin't like it very much when I started to point out the facts -- i.e., that Carnival's troubles were not unique, that each and every cruise line has experienced similar troubles.

I did notice that around the same time as my friend started posting about Carnival, I saw a lot of stuff here on CC about issues between Carnival and travel agents.

forgive me for being cynical, but I think my friend was voting for her own economic interest....

I don't understand why ANYONE would let a TA push them into something that would be beneficial to the TA.

Make your own decisions, and if the TA doesn't want to work with you, go elsewhere !!

Travel Agents are salespeople. They are out to make money. Don't think for one minute they are there to help you out or get you "the deal"

This is 2013, and nobody needs them anymore...

Wow!!! That doesn't make sense to me that you'll have to pay in full when doing initial booking. I would be surprised if that actually comes true. ??? We also looked at RCI, NCL and Disney and none of them have that policy. Seems like Carnival would be hurting themselves if they do that.

If you book with any cruiselines after the final payment date-- that payment will need to be done in full

kah1829, you do not need to worry about ports and things to do. All you have to do is check the Cruise Critic "ports" board and you can find enough information there to plan any activities that you want and will have a good idea of the good and bad ones and whether or not you should book through the cruise line or DIY. Most ports are safe to negotiate your own excursions and are fairly easy to navigate. I would not be worried about your TA as most are now pushing clients toward other cruise lines and she would probably not feel as much like helping you with all the incidentals if you "pushed" her to book you on Carnival.

Good luck in your efforts! Oh, BTW, RCL is not worth the additional $$$!

My friend is a travel agent and has never been shy about her preference for RCI, she sails with them several times a year, and claims that she didn't like her sole cruise on Carnival because it wasn't nearly as good.

 

After the incidents with the Triumph and the Dream, my friend took to Facebook to denounce Carnival's safety record and how she refused to book anyone on Carnival. Ddin't like it very much when I started to point out the facts -- i.e., that Carnival's troubles were not unique, that each and every cruise line has experienced similar troubles.

 

 

I did notice that around the same time as my friend started posting about Carnival, I saw a lot of stuff here on CC about issues between Carnival and travel agents.

 

forgive me for being cynical, but I think my friend was voting for her own economic interest....

Sorry but any agent who REFUSES to book a certain cruise because SHE DOES NOT LIKE IT should loose business. That is a customers choice so I guess she does not want anyone who wants to sail Carnival business. How petty. IMHO

I found all my info for ports and excursions right here on CC. It is the best place to help you plan your cruise. You get the good, the bad & the ugly about every aspect of cruising.

Just got off the phone with my TA and he advised me that Carnival is tightening the control over bookings and three weeks before final payment date they are sending out pre-cancellation notices.

 

Not yet in effect, but rumour has it that all bookings through them in the future will have to be paid in full at the time of the booking. That sucks. Any price drops will end with OBC's but by demanding payment in full at the time of booking, they (Carnival) greatly improve their cash flow while draining mine.

 

You are very gullible if you believe this. Your TA is looking out for their own interests and lying to you. I would dump them in a hurry.It is a rumour because your TA made it up. I think it is time you found a new TA.

I am a travel agent having my best year ever. I refuse to book any Carnival business for anyone except existing clients. I turn people to RCI or NCL. Carnival's agent unfriendly policies have caused many agencies to stop selling Carnival cruises. This has caused millions of dollars to be moved to other lines (even those owned by Carnival Corp which operate as separate lines with separate policies).

Most clients do not know what they want even when they say they do and yes commissions pay a part in it, but Carnival has taken other agent unfriendly actions that have caused many in the agent community to refuse the booking.

By the way, there are some sales with Viking river cruises that require a payment in full over a year in advance to take advantage of the savings. This is not entirely uncommon.

I am a travel agent having my best year ever. I refuse to book any Carnival business for anyone except existing clients.

Wow. You must really be having a PHENOMENAL year if you refuse to book your clients on a cruise THEY choose.

At my office, the customer is king. When and where they wish to go, I book them. This is not about ME.

I am a travel agent having my best year ever. I refuse to book any Carnival business for anyone except existing clients. I turn people to RCI or NCL. Carnival's agent unfriendly policies have caused many agencies to stop selling Carnival cruises. This has caused millions of dollars to be moved to other lines (even those owned by Carnival Corp which operate as separate lines with separate policies).

 

Most clients do not know what they want even when they say to do and yes commissions pay a part in it, but Carnival has taken other agent unfriendly actions that have caused many in the agent community to refuse the booking.

 

By the way, there are some sales with Viking river cruises that require a payment in full over a year in advance to take advantage of the savings. This is not entirely uncommon.

So.... by unfriendly, I would assume you mean that you don't get a good commission by booking Carnival so you try to steer your clients to higher commission lines.. Correct?

Wow. You must really be having a PHENOMENAL year if you refuse to book your clients on a cruise THEY choose.

 

At my office, the customer is king. When and where they wish to go, I book them. This is not about ME.

I know it is never about ME either. New clients do not know what they do not know. I never believe a customer knows what they want even when they say they do. Sales 101.

So.... by unfriendly, I would assume you mean that you don't get a good commission by booking Carnival so you try to steer your clients to higher commission lines.. Correct?

Nope not correct.

The only examples I will give you is I have had clients offered rates by a PVP that were less than I could offer. I have Carnival contact clients already booked by me offering upgrades I could not even when they were working with an agent. Business practices like that and several other reasons are why myself and others have refused to sell Carnival in most all cases.

Just as you don't walk into a Lexus dealership to buy a Honda, you don't contact me for a Carnival cruise. Simple business decision. To answer the OP, yes some TAs are really against Carnival for reasons I explained above.

I know it is never about ME either. New clients do not know what they do not know. I never believe a customer knows what they want even when they say they do. Sales 101.

I ran into a few TAs like this.. and they were gone as fast as I could move to someone who would book what I wanted.

Even when I was brand new I knew what I wanted to book. It took me about one cruise to feel ripped off by a TA .. and I got smart real fast. I asked the same TA for a quote on my 2nd cruise. I said I see this price online, what can you do for me.. and she came back with a higher price... and said but this cabin is very nice. I was flabbergasted. I think I replied once because I could not believe it... but she did. GONE.

I really dont understand TAs who think they know more than me as a newbie cruiser wants. I knew .. I have always known my own mind what I wanted. I got upsold and money added on for doing our group cruise once... learned to look online myself and started researching, found CC.. the TAs who dont listen and book what I tell them I want and cant do a better price .. why would I want them? Ill book direct if you cant do anything for me, and then want to upsell me.

I too have run into a TA who wouldnt book Carnival for me.. gone too. She said call her back when I wanted to book RCL .. GONE.