Booking onboard / transfer to TA

[kfrey68]

I know this has been covered in various posts but for some reason I still feel like I am missing something.

 

We used to always book through the cruise line directly (liked the control over my reservation) and then for aour last 2 cruises used a large online TA (because of comments posted on the boards and additional perks they were offering). We have never booked on board and I guess this is for a number of reasons - not knowing where or when we wanted to go on our next cruise, not fully understanding the perks of doing this and we always hope to find a bit of a deal and don't know what prices they offer onboard and by the time we seriously considered talking to the future cruise sales person we couldn't get an appointment.

 

That all being said we are cruising in June 2014 and know we want to cruise Alask in 2015.

 

Please correct anything I have incorrect or provide information on anything I am missing. I know we can either book a definite cruise with a specific cabin which I think has a $100 pp deposit instead of the normal, get some type of cabin upgrade and possibly OBC or we can get a "passages"?? certificate which shows we put the $100 pp deposit on a cruise but did not select a date or cabin. Does this provide any other perks, if not, what is the advantage?

 

Now for the part that I am really confused about...Transfering a reservation to a TA. First question is what is the advantage - wouldn't the perks in their promotions or ads only pertain to reservations they book? If not, then what do they have to gain that would make them want to handle your reservation? How long do you have to make the transfer and probably the dumbest part of this, how do you do it?

 

Sorry for all the questions but we love to cruise and I am fairly frugal and want to make sure we go where we want and do it with the best deal (don't flame me I know that the best deal is very subjective based on individual requirements and preferences-ie: cabin type, etc.)

 

Believe me I never considered any of the OBC perks offered by TAs or drink packages until our last few cruises. On our last one we were going to be perfectly happy with an inside cabin just to be able to get away and relax until I fould out that for a total of about $200 I could get an ocenview (higher cat as well), a free drink package for DH and I, prepaid grats and free port parking. Never considered a drink package because of the cost, the fact we could bring 2 bottles of wine and water on to enjoy in our cabin and we really don't drink much but it was really nce to be able to sample things I wouldn't normally try and to not have to worry about bringing the water or carrying the bottles in our luggage.

 

So really what I am asking is a infomation and how to 101 on all of these potential cost savings.

 

Thanks for any advice in advance.

[cruisinelsewhere]

Just a bit about transfer to TA. You have 30 days after booking to transfer to a TA. Shop TA's, tell them what you have and ask if they any added incentive and when you decide you have them transfer the booking. They will provide you with a form for Celebrity which allows them to secure the booking as their own. TAs work on commission....the amount that they are going to make on your booking determines what additional perks they will offer.

[helen haywood]

When you book the Alaska cruise on board in June, in my opinion, put down a deposit on a specific cruise. You can always transfer the booking to another sailing/ship/date if you change your mind. And that deposit is fully refundable. If you purchase an Open Passages certificate, that deposit is NOT refundable. Yes, you can move that booking # as many times as you want; it will never expire. But I just don't see the point in buying a booking deposit that isn't refundable.

 

Once you pay your $100 deposit, you have 30 days to shop around among various TAs. Just tell them you have a booking you want to transfer to them and what could they offer you. I've done this where the invoice I have from Celebrity clearly shows I booked at X price....and yet the TA says they will price the same cruise for less....and once I transfer the booking, the new invoice from the TA shows the lower price. Perhaps the TA has a group rate that enables them to give me the lower fare; I don't understand it but then I don't have to to enjoy it.

 

There is a form on the X website that you can print out and FAX to them with the name of the TA you wish to transfer it to. Or the TA can send you the form.

 

Generally speaking, a TA will always be able to give you either a lower price or some OBC or a perk such as prepaid gratuities.

 

The advantage to booking on board are several. First, you can pay for a lower balcony cabin category and receive a higher one. Second, X will give you some OBC for booking on board. Third, your cruise booking can be secured by only $100 per person instead of the $250 per person it would take if you booked off the ship.

[kfrey68]

Thank you for the responses. Also, I hear a lot of people talking about what is combinable or not and I believe now it is stated that onboard booking are combinable with one other offer. Is that at the time of booking or anytime prior to the final payment? If it is after booking does it involve canceling and rebooking or just adding the promotion to the reservation?

Thanks

[sheeng]

We booked 2 cruises while onboard Millennium last month Our Booking Confirmation form shows we have 60 days to transfer to a Travel Agent.

 

Sheila.

[helen haywood]

Combinable up to final payment. That is the thing that makes booking on Celebrity so confusing. Some promotions are not combinable with any others. For example, you might be in a situation where the OBC you received from X was not combinable with the 1,2,3 Go Promo. If you wanted that promo you would have to give up your OBC. I'm not saying this is the case....I just mean something like that could happen. The 1,2,3 Go Promo is not combinable with, for example, a senior rate. So I've had cruises where I have to decide if the dollars saved for the senior rate are more important to me that the beverage package.

 

But I stick with what I said that you generally are better off booking on board.

 

Oops! Yes, it is 60 days.

Edited March 10, 2014 by helen haywood

[thebutlerdidit]

I assume that the TA gets compensated adequately for taking charge of the reservation after booking. At that point Celebrity no longer has to deal with you directly, in fact they will not deal directly with you, but will insist on you contacting your TA. I liked the online TA I've used in the past, so having the on board booking transferred automatically to them gave me their perks (free gratuities plus $75 OBC) added to the already generous $250 OBC that Celebrity gave for booking while on board and the free classic drinks package I was getting from the 123Go promo.

[TJW]

Thank you for the responses. Also, I hear a lot of people talking about what is combinable or not and I believe now it is stated that onboard booking are combinable with one other offer. Is that at the time of booking or anytime prior to the final payment? If it is after booking does it involve canceling and rebooking or just adding the promotion to the reservation?

Thanks

 

As stated, the additional offer can be added up to final payment. HOWEVER, my understanding is your original booking price will be adjusted to current pricing (includes price increases, promotion increases (1,2,3), etc.). Therefore it may not be beneficial to add the additional offer.

[ozark74]

Just a bit about transfer to TA. You have 30 days after booking to transfer to a TA. Shop TA's, tell them what you have and ask if they any added incentive and when you decide you have them transfer the booking. They will provide you with a form for Celebrity which allows them to secure the booking as their own. TAs work on commission....the amount that they are going to make on your booking determines what additional perks they will offer.

 

You actually have 60 days to transfer the reservation to a TA.

 

Yes, the deposit is $100 and you do get OBC's. The amount depend on the cabin you book. They have upgrades but on certain categories.

Have never used passage but friends have still get OBC's

The advantage of giving to the TA is more OBC's. What you get when you book o/b and what the agent gives you for giving it to them.

The down side is you cannot call Celebrity and change anything you have to go thru the TA.

[Duanerice1]

I always booked with the cruise line because I liked control over my reservation. And I never thought my cruise price was high enough to warrant anything from a TA.

 

This last cruise I booked started with an Open Passage back in January 2012. I paid $200 for the 2 of us. That ended up allowing us to already have the full deposit paid for a 10 day cruise this December and $200 OBC. I prefer this to booking a future cruise when I don't know the next time I'll cruise. I don't want to have to keep changing my booking, easier to have the open passage. Nothing really at risk as I know I will cruise again :) But if you know what cruise you want, there is really no reason NOT to book on board.

 

So this time I booked with Celebrity and received the 123 promo, the $200 mentioned above, the $200 deposit plus a one category upgrade from a C3 to a C2. At the same time I also went online to one of the sites that allow TA's to give you quotes. So I did that and took the best one, they sent me the form, I emailed it back and that was that.

 

Unfortunately none of them had any group bookings (The only way to get a reduced price) but they did offer free gratuities and additional OBC.

 

So for a 10 day cruise in a C2 I got a C3 price, the drink package for both, $200 OBC from Celebrity, $100 OBC from the TA and actually another $250 OBC in lieu of gratuities since I had to prepay due to picking Select Dining.

 

Now it will not always work out like this and actually some people get a lot more but I am happy.

 

good luck

[Atwell]

Just a bit about transfer to TA. You have 30 days after booking to transfer to a TA. Shop TA's, tell them what you have and ask if they any added incentive and when you decide you have them transfer the booking. They will provide you with a form for Celebrity which allows them to secure the booking as their own. TAs work on commission....the amount that they are going to make on your booking determines what additional perks they will offer.

 

When you do your on-board booking, the Celebrity booking agent will ask if you want the booking to stay with Celebrity or be transferred to a TA. (You can also switch it later as mentioned by another poster). However, if you have already talked with your usual TA (or shopped around) and know you want the additional perks the TA will provide, you can tell Celebrity to go ahead and transfer to the TA you have selected when you make your booking. Then you don't have to worry about it again and you will know exactly what you are going to get.

 

If you want to do this, they will already have the info for the TA you last used in the Celebrity system and they can just transfer with a click of the mouse. If a different TA, then the transfer can be done later by the new TA if you don't have all the new TA's info with you.

[fleckle]

........Now for the part that I am really confused about...Transfering a reservation to a TA. First question is what is the advantage - wouldn't the perks in their promotions or ads only pertain to reservations they book?

The advantage is that they can give you additional perks on top of whatever perks you are already receiving from the cruise line.

 

It pays to shop around and compare offers because one TA may offer the best deal for one cruise, and for another cruise a different TA may have a better offer.

 

If not, then what do they have to gain that would make them want to handle your reservation?

They receive a commission from the cruise line.

They rebate part of their commission to you as perks, such as additional onboard credit or prepaid gratuities.

 

Sometime they can book you into a "group" and offer you a lower price that way, even though you don't know anyone else in the "group" and have no affiliation with any of them.

 

 

How long do you have to make the transfer and probably the dumbest part of this, how do you do it?

You have 60 days from the date you book the cruise.

 

First, shop around and compare offers. Have each TA you are considering send you an email spelling out in detail exactly what they are offering you and their terms, to avoid any misunderstandings later.

 

Some charge a fee for processing any changes or cancellations, something you want to know about up front to avoid any unwelcome surprises later.

 

For example, if it is a cruise that we are unlikely to cancel, we will go ahead and book with the TA that offers us the best deal, even if they charge a cancellation fee.

 

 

When you decide on the TA you want to use, you fill out the Celebrity transfer form. It is a pdf file that you can just fill out right on your screen.

Here is a link to it.

 

Celebrity Cruises Booking Transfer Form

 

It says to fax it to Celebrity, but we find it easiest just to email it directly to the TA and let them take care of handling the transfer.

 

The TA is the one who will be receiving a commission and therefore has the greatest incentive to make sure that the transfer goes through correctly.

 

There are some TAs who can handle the transfer without requiring the transfer form at all, but it has been our experience that most of them want it.

 

 

Once you transfer the booking to a TA, all your pricing and payment information disappears from your Celebrity account.

From then on, you must go through a third party who must make all payments and major changes for you as you can no longer do it yourself.

 

The TA essentially "owns" the booking from that point on, which is what some people here are talking about when they say they don't like to give up control of their own reservation to a third party.

 

Is it worth bothering with it? That just depends.

On a low-priced last minute closeout sale we find that sometimes the perks being offered by the TAs are not worth the bother.

 

But most of the time we find the hassles of needing to deal with a third party very worthwhile in exchange for the additional perks we receive.

 

In general, the more you pay for your cruise stateroom, the greater the commission the TA will receive, so the better the perks that they can offer you.

 

[kfrey68]

Thank you everyone for the information all of the insight is greatly appreciated. Now if there was only a good way to sort through all of the TAs. As I said we have only used one for our last 2 and I can't say anything truly negative about them but I also can't post any rave reviews for them going over and above either.

[ceejaykay]

I posted a similar question last night. But the detail you provided made it possible for posters to be as thorough as they have been. Thanks.

[kfrey68]

One more question...price drops

If we book a veranda cabin while on board and get an upgrade to a higher cat veranda...if there is a price drop prior to final can we get our cabin price reduced (either original cat or upgrade cat)? Basically how does taking advantage of a price drop work?

[helen haywood]

Yes, before final payment if your category price drops just call or email your TA and request the new lower price and they will handle it for you. If the price drops after final payment you can always upgrade provided the category you want to upgrade to is at least $1 more than what you paid. For example, I had paid in full for an inside guarantee cabin and the day after final upgraded to a balcony for a small amount.

[wvufan]

There may be some confusion over getting price reductions prior to final payment date. Note the the important factor is the date that the final payment is due to the cruise line, not the date that the TA wants it or when you make it. The TA often wants it ahead of time to be able to address any problems before the official final date. For example, the credit card may have changed in some way or expired.

 

So, even if you pay off the cruise four months ahead of time, you would still be eligible for reduction up to the actual final date.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

[wrk2cruise]

Before transferring to a TA make sure you understand their policies. Some charge cancellation fees and you want to make sure they will handle price drops without a charge. One of the more popular on-line TA's is only open Monday - Friday so if there's a price drop over the weekend you may miss it. I'm not slamming them, I use them often but you need to understand that they are more of a booking agent than a real full service TA.

 

Also about combining perks. The rule about combining with 1 other perk is for Celebrity funded perks like coupons, etc. Generally you can get the on-board booking perk, and say 123-GO PLUS what the TA is giving you. Sometimes there are perks offered by the TA which are part of a promotion from Celebrity through the TA. Bottom line is you need the TA to be specific about what's from them and what's from Celebrity. Get it in writing so if there is any question it will be easy to straighten out onboard.