Not Impressed with TA

[AidlEskimo]

first I have never used a TA prior to book a cruise, so I dont know if this is a normal or not thing?

 

I had a NCC that I was using for an upcoming cruise, that was on the old NCC policy for the higher OBC

 

I did the transfer paper to the TA

 

I had to call after 10 days to royal myself to verify the booking was received.

 

the TA called me to say that the NCC wasnt Combinable with the current sale promo (kids sail free) again I had to call C&A, it was Combinable.

 

had to call TA to inform that it was and for the TA to call C&A to get fixed

 

now the only reason I used the TA, was they were offering a 50 OBC

the cruise was the exact same price as direct with RCCI

 

now the TA is saying the 50 OBC (which I thought came from the TA, not RCI) is not Combinable with any other offers incl. a NCC??

 

is this the normal case with TA's OBC offers?

 

if so IMO whats the point of booking with a TA?

 

thanks

[Clarea]

first I have never used a TA prior to book a cruise, so I dont know if this is a normal or not thing?

 

I had a NCC that I was using for an upcoming cruise, that was on the old NCC policy for the higher OBC

 

I did the transfer paper to the TA

 

I had to call after 10 days to royal myself to verify the booking was received.

 

the TA called me to say that the NCC wasnt Combinable with the current sale promo (kids sail free) again I had to call C&A, it was Combinable.

 

had to call TA to inform that it was and for the TA to call C&A to get fixed

 

now the only reason I used the TA, was they were offering a 50 OBC

the cruise was the exact same price as direct with RCCI

 

now the TA is saying the 50 OBC (which I thought came from the TA, not RCI) is not Combinable with any other offers incl. a NCC??

 

is this the normal case with TA's OBC offers?

 

if so IMO whats the point of booking with a TA?

 

thanks

It depends where the TA's OBC is coming from. If it's coming straight from the TA, without any Royal promo or program, then it should be combinable with the NCC. However, if the TA's OBC is coming from a group booking, then it's really coming from Royal and would not be combinable.

[AidlEskimo]

thanks Bob,

 

I just kind of thought the TA promo, was a bonus from them for booking.

 

like how some offer paid grat's and other spiffs.

 

of course I didnt read the disclaimer anywhere or was told by the TA

 

perhaps just not a good TA :eek:

[Loyal2RCCL]

It depends where the TA's OBC is coming from. If it's coming straight from the TA, without any Royal promo or program, then it should be combinable with the NCC. However, if the TA's OBC is coming from a group booking, then it's really coming from Royal and would not be combinable.

 

Actually, Group OBC is combinable with everything. I believe the $50 OBC the OP was referring to came from another RCCL promotion (GO CRUISE or YOUR WOW) in which case they would not be combinable with anything.

[bighairtexan]

I've always had my group OBC combinable with everything too. (on pretty much 90% of the cruises I book through a TA)

[dacsmom]

I think you just came across a not-so-good TA. I use a TA sometime and they take care of everything. I do not have to call and get verification or fight for my perks.

[NavyCruiser]

Omg, ta, no ncc ocb c&a, rccl...?

Idk w t f yta...

Edited June 12, 2014 by NavyCruiser

[Ocean_Waves]

Omg, ta, no ncc ocb c&a, rccl...?

Idk w t f yta...

 

LOL!

 

I was able to figure your abbreviations out rather quickly......:D

[Ashland]

Sounds like the OP has done the work for the TA and earned his $50.00 OBC...I have opted to never use a TA for my many years of cruising with RCI..not worth it to me personally. JMHO :)

[nelblu]

I have no problems with my TA. Before making any commitment, any perks allowed are in addition to RCL's discounts and OBC's. For my Quantum, I'm getting prepaid grats for 11 nites and specialty restaurants for 2.

[nbsjcruiser]

We've been on 16 cruises and we've worked with 2 TAs and both were such a pain in the butt that we promised ourselves to do our own booking from now on. The big issue for us was price drops. We'd call in and tell them about a price drop we saw and a week or more later, no movement on our booking. We'd call back with a reminder to not forget about our price drop and either get voice mail with no returned call or a promise to look at it later in the day, which of course never happened. Phone calls not returned, emails and vmails ignored - we had enough. And we're not hard folks to deal with. We've been on so many cruises we just call the TA with the ship, date, room and all the information they need. All they have to do for us is take our money and return a phone call in a timely fashion. Piece of cake you would think. Our last TA even fumbled a cruise booking we made for them. We booked on board and called her when we got home to give her the reservation details so she could get the booking from Royal. A gift booking just for her. A month later she still hadn't done it and missed her opportunity because she ran out of time to transfer it.

 

Our first TA was especially non-responsive I thought. We booked our first 4 cruises with her and spent probably close to 20K in her shop on trips (she was the manager). So after we book cruise #5 I noticed a price drop and tried to call her. I probably called her 5 or 6 times and every time I got the same message "oh, I'm with a client right now, I'll call you back". Of course the call never came. I had it and eventually fired a note off to the owner and while they got the issue resolved in a hurry, I haven't darkened their doorstep since and won't.

 

So unless we see such a good deal from a TA that we can't turn it down, we'll continue to book our own directly. For us its just not worth what little you might get from them to bother with them.

Edited June 12, 2014 by nbsjcruiser

[masspector]

Have used or tried to use a TA about four times over my lifetime on regular vacations, not cruises. All but one has been a bust. I hope to be a better TA when I start doing it a few years from now after I retire.

 

Especially since commision cut backs they do not seem interested in helping me. I am an avid researcher so with the internet, I usually have it all researched anyway.

 

Guess what, I too can find the R/T flight to Europe for $1500pp. I need you to find me the one for $700pp. Not going to happen in this day and age.

[diggers dad]

I gave up on using TA's years ago and always book directly with the cruise line.

 

The last time we used a TA, my wife found a repositioning cruise that we wanted to book. Upon arriving at the TA we were directed to their "cruise specialist".

 

We told her the cruise we wanted to book and she told us that there was no such cruise. Luckily my wife had printed the information about the cruise from RCI's website. After a call to RCI, the TA told us that yes there was such a cruise and asked if she could keep our copy of the details.

 

We then proceeded to select our cabin and I told her that we wanted late seating for dinner and a table with at least 8 people. She told us that she could reserve the cabin but we would have to wait until we boarded the ship to request our table size and dining time. I told her that we never had to do that before so she again called RCI and after talking to a rep got off the phone and told us that yes we could choose those things before we boarded.

 

When we left the TA's office I told my wife that I thought I knew more about booking a cruise than their "cruise specialist" and have booked my own cruises ever since.

Edited June 12, 2014 by diggers dad

[FredZiffle]

Omg, ta, no ncc ocb c&a, rccl...?

Idk w t f yta...

 

Says the man who understands "2 bells on the first dog watch".;)

[nyc12345]

I get more than 50 OBC from my TA and it's combinable with any promotion.

[cruiseguysmdb]

In shock reading all the negative TA stories. My TA is on top of everything. We do nothing but enjoy our cruise. He calls us to let us know if price drops, and handles every detail from beginning to end. I never have to worry. I guess I got lucky!!

[cruzeluvr]

Any TA can book a cruise, but you don't know how knowledgeable they are about cruising or how much experience they have working with the cruise lines.

 

IMHO, if you are going to use a TA to book a cruise, you should make sure they are CLIA certified, at least as an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC) or higher - Master Cruise Counselor (MCC) or Elite Cruise Counselor (ECC). These certifications require training and testing.

 

 

Over the years, we have used 3 TA's to book our cruises:

 

1st time - an employee of a large national travel agency (which shall remain unnamed). She was very sweet and we didn't know anything about cruising. She put us on a cruise that was really not a good fit for us. It turned out to be on the "Party Till You Puke" cruiseline (you can guess which line had that well earned reputation a couple of decades ago).

 

Thereafter - we have used agencies that handle only cruising, and we have worked with agents who were either ACC or MCC certified. When our agent retired, we switched to another agent at a different agency recommended by a friend. We have always appreciated their service, opinions and experience. The OBC and/or wine/gifts they send us is just the icing on the cake, not the reason we use them.

[Lyndonn]

Sounds like the OP has done the work for the TA and earned his $50.00 OBC...I have opted to never use a TA for my many years of cruising with RCI..not worth it to me personally. JMHO :)

FYI: Some Internet TA tag huge cancellation and change penalties to the cruise booking. I learned the hard way, the TA penalties fees I had to pay, outweighed all the perks promise.

[ChloChlo2013]

In shock reading all the negative TA stories. My TA is on top of everything. We do nothing but enjoy our cruise. He calls us to let us know if price drops, and handles every detail from beginning to end. I never have to worry. I guess I got lucky!!

 

In my experience, I have to constantly monitor price drops myself. I even ended up missing a resident rate that became available later on. I would say you are quite lucky. :)