I wonder if it was Royal?

[leisuretraveler223]

Nope. I don't have stats. But as mentioned in a previous post, cruise lines still encourage the use of agents, whereas every other aspect of the travel industry (with the exception maybe of Disney) have steadily eliminated all incentives once paid to agents.

 

The responses here illustrate my point to some degree. Lots of people saying 'we book everything on line, but we always talk to someone when booking a cruise'. It just leads me to ask why? Why do people feel it's necessary for a cruise but not other travel? I have trouble believing that no cruise line can build a platform that would do a better job of allowing the customer to not only "build" their cruise (as someone said), but also more easily book and customize it.

 

Fact is, the cruise industry as a whole is woefully behind in this area. I don't exactly why. But it will be interesting to watch it evolve.

[orville99]

If he finds the on-line booking process so complicated, he probably will find running a cruise line an impossibly complicated process.

 

He's already figured out how impossibly complicated it is to run a cruise line. After all, he tried to run one before that only had two ships at the time, and that didn't end well for him.

[CRUZBUDS]

I didn't work for Carnival going the other way :)

 

[Hotel CA]

I didn't work for Carnival going the other way :)

 

 

It would have if Richard B was President/CEO of Carnival

[leisuretraveler223]

I forgot about Carnival Airlines!

 

Carnival Airlines was, I believe, a rebranding of sorts. Carnival Corp. in an effort to try and build a package business, acquired air routes and equipment and ran a discount airline. During that time, there was huge turnover in the discount airline sector.

 

I think this is an entirely unique venture. Forget that it's even Virgin... Basically, funding and leadership is in place to build a new cruise line from the ground up, on a LARGE scale from day one. The first ships aren't the biggest, but at 110,000 tons, they are quite large. What a unique contrast to the likes of RCI, Carnival, Princess etc... that have evolved over decades from smaller ships.

[alfaeric]

Nope. I don't have stats. But as mentioned in a previous post, cruise lines still encourage the use of agents, whereas every other aspect of the travel industry (with the exception maybe of Disney) have steadily eliminated all incentives once paid to agents.

 

The responses here illustrate my point to some degree. Lots of people saying 'we book everything on line, but we always talk to someone when booking a cruise'. It just leads me to ask why? Why do people feel it's necessary for a cruise but not other travel? I have trouble believing that no cruise line can build a platform that would do a better job of allowing the customer to not only "build" their cruise (as someone said), but also more easily book and customize it.

 

Fact is, the cruise industry as a whole is woefully behind in this area. I don't exactly why. But it will be interesting to watch it evolve.

 

To me, it's kind of the tone of the vacation.

 

When I book a flight, I have no intention of interacting with any of the other passengers. When I book a hotel, I don't expect to meet anyone else in the building. When I book a restaurant- I may talk to our waiter, but nobody else.

 

On a cruise- the personal booking puts the tone of vacation to be a person to person kind of thing. We are going to share this ship for X amount of time, and the cruise hopes that some will be even more interactive for the events.

 

You'll not see a belly flop event at a hotel, or a quest or love and marriage thing. You won't be expected to talk to your hotel maid, nor discuss your day with your waiter, and for sure- there isn't going to be a reception on your plane.

 

Some hotels do have happy hours, which are nice. But I don't talk to others like we do in some of the lounges.

 

That whole tone of vacation is why I see Agents being used for cruises- be them some kind of separate travel agent or the people the cruise directly uses.

 

Does that need to be fixed so that people can book directly on line? eh.

 

I don't think so. But I can see others that may want to.

[Sitzmark]

You'll not see a belly flop event at a hotel, or a quest or love and marriage thing. You won't be expected to talk to your hotel maid, nor discuss your day with your waiter, and for sure- there isn't going to be a reception on your plane.

 

I want none of those things.

 

We booked completely online, then transferred our reservation to a TA to get the OBC, again online without discussing it with anyone. The website made it quite easy.

[alfaeric]

I want none of those things.

 

We booked completely online, then transferred our reservation to a TA to get the OBC, again online without discussing it with anyone. The website made it quite easy.

 

And it's your option to choose that.

 

But there are a number of events that cruise lines do that hotels or resorts don't- which kind of force people to interact with each other.

[leisuretraveler223]

To me, it's kind of the tone of the vacation.

 

When I book a flight, I have no intention of interacting with any of the other passengers. When I book a hotel, I don't expect to meet anyone else in the building. When I book a restaurant- I may talk to our waiter, but nobody else.

 

On a cruise- the personal booking puts the tone of vacation to be a person to person kind of thing. We are going to share this ship for X amount of time, and the cruise hopes that some will be even more interactive for the events.

 

You'll not see a belly flop event at a hotel, or a quest or love and marriage thing. You won't be expected to talk to your hotel maid, nor discuss your day with your waiter, and for sure- there isn't going to be a reception on your plane.

 

Some hotels do have happy hours, which are nice. But I don't talk to others like we do in some of the lounges.

 

That whole tone of vacation is why I see Agents being used for cruises- be them some kind of separate travel agent or the people the cruise directly uses.

 

Does that need to be fixed so that people can book directly on line? eh.

 

I don't think so. But I can see others that may want to.

 

Interesting thought. But, I guess that's why I'm looking forward to an entirely new approach. So many of the things you mentioned sound dated and tend to feel "forced" to me on a cruise. Talking to my maid? See a belly flop contest? It doesn't really do it for me.

 

I like the fact that they get to start with a completely clean slate. They've never done ANYTHING, so there are no sacred cows. Could be interesting!

[jetexpress]

http://www.worldofcruising.co.uk/first-insight-into-plans-for-virgin-cruises/

[Thetrail]

I'm happy for you. But it says something about the cumbersome and not so user friendly format that cruises tend to have a higher percentage of booking through various agencies than land based leisure travel.

 

I haven't cruised with RCI in close to a year. But I will say, while I too have navigated it succesfully, it always leaves me shaking my head that the system is so poorly designed, with such non-intuitive operations.

 

Furthermore, there have been an abundance of reports on here recently about various problems with bookings.

 

I'm glad you've navigated it well. But I think anyone that thinks the current system is actually good, my be willfully burying their proverbial head in the sand.

Have booked over 50 cruises with RCL and never once had an issue. Whether I book online or call a RCL rep the results are the same issue wise....I have none....:)

[Thetrail]

Virgin have a VERY Capable VP of Operations, so it will be interesting to see what he brings to this new venture :D Exciting times ahead.

Who knows, but 2020 is 4 years out.

[Thetrail]

As someone else noted, what are the stats to back that up? And even if true, cruises are unique so I don't know that they can be compared in any way to "land based leisure travel" (whatever that means) when it comes to online booking...... I think even if true that more cruise travel is booked by agents, there is no reason to link that with online "user friendly formats". There are other reasons that some customers use travel agents etc especially for cruises. In fact I suspect there are many people who use agents to book cruises who also book their hotels and air travel online and it has nothing to do with the cruiseline websites. In fact just reading cruisecritic would tell one that many people use agents for the OBC and other perks and it has nothing to do with the website.....

 

We've been on 10 RCCL cruises and have always booked by phone with a very friendly and efficient representative. We travel a LOT, and everything else we do is online, but it's been such a pleasant experience by phone with RCCL we haven't seen any reason to change.

 

As far as someone who may start a cruiseline in 5 years with who knows how many ships? I guess that's low on my list of things to consider at this point :)

Your post seems to be filled with first hand experience, common sense, more reality based, and none of the rhetoric or subterfuge that some folks seem to enjoy posting, just saying....:)....5 years is a ways off, so until then I'll continue to enjoy RCL, my perks and traveling in general......K.O.

[Thetrail]

To me, it's kind of the tone of the vacation.

 

When I book a flight, I have no intention of interacting with any of the other passengers. When I book a hotel, I don't expect to meet anyone else in the building. When I book a restaurant- I may talk to our waiter, but nobody else.

 

On a cruise- the personal booking puts the tone of vacation to be a person to person kind of thing. We are going to share this ship for X amount of time, and the cruise hopes that some will be even more interactive for the events.

 

You'll not see a belly flop event at a hotel, or a quest or love and marriage thing. You won't be expected to talk to your hotel maid, nor discuss your day with your waiter, and for sure- there isn't going to be a reception on your plane.

 

Some hotels do have happy hours, which are nice. But I don't talk to others like we do in some of the lounges.

 

That whole tone of vacation is why I see Agents being used for cruises- be them some kind of separate travel agent or the people the cruise directly uses.

 

Does that need to be fixed so that people can book directly on line? eh.

 

I don't think so. But I can see others that may want to.

See zero correlation for "setting a tone" of a cruise by using a TA.....I cruise and enjoy cruising for the wonderful folks I've met and have become friends with over the years. A TA has zero input and is of zero benefit for me regarding this. Your whole point in this post seems bizarre to say the least....:eek:

[alfaeric]

See zero correlation for "setting a tone" of a cruise by using a TA.....I cruise and enjoy cruising for the wonderful folks I've met and have become friends with over the years. A TA has zero input and is of zero benefit for me regarding this. Your whole point in this post seems bizarre to say the least....:eek:

 

but you still talk to someone. A person.

 

Regardless of input, you talk.

 

As opposed to type, which makes you come across kind of rude.

[leisuretraveler223]

Have booked over 50 cruises with RCL and never once had an issue. Whether I book online or call a RCL rep the results are the same issue wise....I have none....:)

 

That's great. So, are you of the opinion that the online booking system is optimal and couldn't use any improvement or rethinking? It's a little unclear. Do you book through RCI? A travel agent? If so, great. But the trend in travel is to not have to do that. Simply put, the cruise industry is behind the times in adopting this practice. While it may be for good reason that they have been reticent, it still doesn't change the fact that they are not where the rest of the travel industry finds themselves.

[Sitzmark]

but you still talk to someone. A person.

 

Regardless of input, you talk.

 

As opposed to type, which makes you come across kind of rude.

 

That makes less sense than wanting to discuss your day with your waiter.

[icsys]

Starting in 2020 Virgin Cruises will take delivery of their first ship and have it sailing 7 night itineraries departing on Sundays from Miami. No details beyond that are known, but I would expect the typical Oasis like alternating itineraries. What will be really interesting is finding out if they will be partnering with another line for use of their private island.

 

Virgin already owns a Caribbean island.

[Charles4515]

I would certainly try cruising with Virgin. I love flying Virgin Atlantic.

 

I don't. Both times I booked with them they canceled a leg. Both times they didn't want to do the right thing to fix their cancelations.

[tlatrice]

To me, it's kind of the tone of the vacation.

 

On a cruise- the personal booking puts the tone of vacation to be a person to person kind of thing. We are going to share this ship for X amount of time, and the cruise hopes that some will be even more interactive for the events.

 

 

But...you're not 'sharing' the ship with the person making the booking. :confused:

[deliver42]

I'm platinum, and have never used a TA. I've never had a problem booking, adding money, doing excursions, or making final payment. Maybe I've just been lucky. That also goes for Carnival.

[tlatrice]

That's great. So, are you of the opinion that the online booking system is optimal and couldn't use any improvement or rethinking? It's a little unclear. Do you book through RCI? A travel agent? If so, great. But the trend in travel is to not have to do that. Simply put, the cruise industry is behind the times in adopting this practice. While it may be for good reason that they have been reticent, it still doesn't change the fact that they are not where the rest of the travel industry finds themselves.

 

Are you saying this about RCI specifically or the cruise industry in general? I'm trying to understand what CAN'T you do through the cruiseline's websites that you can with a TA? You can book excursions, even pre and post cruise stuff, select packages, order gear, all through their site. I guess I just don't understand what the problem is.

 

I honestly don't find RCI's website all that difficult. :confused: Neither was Carnival's. I've never sailed with them, but when shopping around, I didn't have any issue with it. Same thing with NCL and Princess. They all look different, but I didn't have any difficulty navigating them, doing mock bookings, etc.

 

The only reason I used a TA for my first cruise is because they were running a 'No Deposit Required' promo when I was shopping for cruises so I booked with them. Kept that $500 in my pocket for the time being. After that booking, I never have to pay a deposit up front, so I keep using them.

 

And I've gone and looked at Virgin America Airline's website. Again, wondering why everyone seemed to feel that they are such a 'game changer'. I'm in a city with TWO major airports and Virgin doesn't fly out of either of them. Looking at their routes, the only flights into Orlando is out of LA and Vegas??? This is the big game changer? :confused:

 

As someone else said, I don't see any of the big cruise lines shaking in their boots because of Virgin.

[Big_G]

It's really easy for a guy pumping the tires on a cruise line with no ships and no booking website to call other line's sites complicated. Just sayin'...:D Never had a problem with the websites of the four lines we've sailed so far. ;)

Edited August 3, 2015 by Big_G

[bilyclub]

Virgin American has nice interiors on their planes, but the airfares are always higher. I don't buy into all the Sir Richard bs.

[kalliekae]

I really havent ever had a bookin issue myself, or any issues at all, for that matter... I have a feeling I may be in the minority.

 

Add one more to that "minority". Booked 3 cruises on-line and no problems. Call me weird, but I think their website is user friendly.