Crucon Is starting to make my knicker elastic twitch!

[Jevey]

So, RCCL accepted our coupon, but Crucon will not...nice hey? Think RCCL will apply it as a ship board credit? I'll call RCCL tomorrow and see what they say.

 

Watch this space!

[Merion_Mom]

Jevey, I don't want to rain on your parade, and I'm not omniscient, but in general, you have to deal with your travel agent. RCCL just says, we can't talk to you, we can only talk to your agent. I.E., if the agent won't take the coupon, that's the end of it. I'm a little surprised that they won't take it AT ALL - many simply discount it by about 15 to 20%, but I've never dealt with Crucon. I recommended BuyCruises and CruiseQuick. :)

 

Carol

 

(by the way, I LOVE your Britishisms!)

[Jevey]

Thank you..I have many more of those...stay tuned! *S*

 

Then, what is the point of RCCL giving these coupons if TA's do not accept them? An excercise in futilty methinks.

 

Cruising is getting more like the cattle flights (sorry airlines) more than ever these days. One pays $500, another pays $800.00 for the same thing. If they can be canny, so can we....hey, my middle name is frugal!

 

I'll let you know how this turns out....keep your hearing aid on!

[Merion_Mom]

Jevey, the general advice on this board is "read the fine and not so fine print up front before you book with an agency." Some have cancellation fees; some don't. Some accept coupons at full face value, some take a percentage off, some take them only before final payment, some take them right up until sail date. Some will cut the price if the cruiseline lowers THEIR price, some won't. You have to find out their policies BEFORE you commit to doing business with them if you want to eliminate unpleasant surprises like this one.

 

Carol :)

[CruisinSally]

Hey All,

 

Just a question, Did they mention you could not use the coupon before you booked? I book w/ CruCon all the time, and the only time I can not use my coupon is when the promtion says NOT COMBINABLE WITH ANY COUPONS OR DISCOUNTS. Just curious

 

 

Happy Cruisin

 

SAL

[VaCruzers]

I just got a quote yesterday from Crucon on an upcomming cruise. Their "discounted rate" without the coupon was $24 higher than the RCCL website and their "discounted rate with the coupon" was still higher than cruisequick.com before cruisequick.com even deducts the coupon. The funny thing was how the Crucon agent wanted to argue with me about how their price was lower while I was looking at the RCCL website and already had a confirmed booking with cruisequick. And, yes, we were pricing the same cabin category - in fact it was the cabin next door to the one I booked. AND the agent hinted that our coupon might not be honored withthe other agent, but Crucon had never had one "not accepted by the cruiseline". Now, Crucon has had lower rates on quotes in the past on cruises I have ended up not booking, but this time, they were definitely not lower priced & the attitude of the agent was a cause for concern.

[Jevey]

Well, I finally have the gen ....RCCL has no problem with the coupon, Crucon does. RCCL says Crucon is about the only TA that does not honor them.

 

Oh well..thought it might be worth a try.

[natesfirewife]

Crucon has always taken my coupons. I wonder what the deal is??

 

Misty

[39august]

I have to say that Crucon honors my C&A coupons. The only 1 time that they did not was with an already deeply discounted cruise. On the back of your coupon is printed "the offer cannot be used with certain restricted fares" That is RCI's policy.

[mberli]

They may have lumped you in with a group.

 

Mel

[truffles2]

We found our agent at Crucon to be less than truthful--WHEN we could get in touch with him! I doubt we would ever use them again no matter what the "good price".

[TXBABYLUV]

Where are you all getting theses coupons from and how can I get one?

[mberli]

To get coupons, you must be a Crown & Anchor member, which you can become for free after your first cruise.

 

Mel

[TXBABYLUV]

Ok, thank you very much!

[jezzdogg]

We just handed off our next three cruises to an on-line booking site (not Crucon) after asking all the pertinent questions such as:

Do you take coupons

What is your cancellation policy (some companis will charge you, even when the cruise co does not

Will you lower prce right up to sailing day

 

We used a different agency for our April cruise, must admit booked fairly late-booked and paid for on a Friday, on Monday price came down around 200 dollars, campany would do nothing for me. Had to call Princess up myself an get a hold of a supervisor, who wound up upgrading us close to the price of the discount. This copany has now lost my business -- as we have booked three cruises since the April one, and have ot used them

[CruisinSally]

Jevey,

 

I think it is funny how someone would tell you that, when you are reading on the boards that we have all used coupons w/ CruCon.

I have used cruisequick, bestbuycruises, and crusie value center, and they all have the same policies. some coupons and discounts might not be combinable w/ some promos.

 

 

Just something to think about

sal

[Chuck & Phyllis]

Some of these agencies, CVC being one, reserve group space on sailings. They in a sense are reserving cabins and then later assigning them over to you. Correct me if I'm wrong here. In that case, can they redeem a coupon from someone who didn't reserve the cabin to begin with. Wouldn't the agency have to eat the cost if they honored the coupon? Doesn't RCCL consider the group space as the agencies' reservation? Good question for my friend.

[Sailfish]

I have dealt with agents who have been very up front with me - 2 of them at Crucon, and let it be known when coupons were applicable before booking and when they were not, given the nature of the promotion. That's why before booking a cruise, I too ask about coupons and shop around. Some places accept coupons at face value, but charge a higher rate, while others discount the rates and take 15% off of the coupon while others won't take coupons at all. I go with the agent who gives me the lowest rate - coupon or not.

 

Your situation is different, as you bypassed your agent altogether. As others have said, your agent does NOT have to apply your coupon to your booking. I'll be curious to see if you get anything out of this. Chances are you will, especially if you have NOT made your final payment.

 

I know to some, agent loyalty is a big deal. But I basically go with whom ever offers me the lowest rate. I too have to admit, I was a bit annoyed the first time my coupon was NOT honored 100%. But since then, I simply ask about the coupon if I have one and make note of the price. If it's the lowest bid, I go for it. If not, I'm out one short phone call.

 

To some degree, I agree, if a coupon is put forth by the cruise line, it should be honored. But that's not the way the game is played. The only way to guarantee your coupon is applied to your booking, is to book directly with the cruise line. And sometimes, albeit not too often, the lowest price can be had this way. That's why they are the first palce I call if I have a coupon.

 

Good luck!

 

Suzi

[SUSANITA]

I am booked with a CC group, using Crucon as the agent, and they accepted our C&A coupons. However, they did not accept them at full value, as the group rate was "already discounted". Whatever, I was just happy to get the discount off of the already low price! However, had they NOT accepted the coupon, I most likely would have cancelled with the group and rebooked with an agent that would have accepted it, $125 is nothing to sneeze at. I'm very happy that they accepted it for the group sailing. :o

[Mark42]

I used Crucon for our 2002 Grandeur cruise and I will NOT use them again. We had several discrepencies in rate reductions that RCCL had to reimburse me directly AFTER my cruise. RCCL customer service was EXCELLENT. Crucon Just wanted to keep my price reduction Monies!!! Never Again. I now use Cruisequick and have been very Happy.

[montgomeryfamily]

When Jevy posted an earlier thread about Crucon not accepting C & A coupons, I posted about our experience on this issue. I don't know how to link back to that thread, or I would do so, I am going to repeat some of the same information here.

 

I also had a problem with Crucon not accepting C & A coupons on two 2003 cruises. I used CruCon after reading on these boards about on-line travel agents. I had used a brick and mortar TA for years. Before booking with CruCon, I asked about using the coupon. Both times the TA told me that the coupon would be accepted. Both times I learned it would not be accepted AFTER I made final payment. I no longer use CruCon.

 

For the first cruise, the coupon wasn't credited when I got the final confirmation after making final payment. I called the TA at CruCon who said that he didn't get the coupon I had mailed him and I since I didn't have a copy, I would have to contact RCL directly to see what to do. (My understanding is that while we are allowed to use the agency name on these boards, we are not allowed to use the TAs name, so I am not using it. However, the TA is one who has been mentioned by someone else on this thread.) So I called RCI and they applied the coupon discount directly to my cruise.

 

Since this was after final payment was made, I expected that the credit would be put back on my credit card. (RCI also told me this) It was not credited to my credit card and after a few months, I contacted RCL who told me they had sent the credit back to CruCon in the form of a check. CruCon had NEVER called to tell me this. At approximately the same time as I received the information from RCI, I received the final confirmation for the second cruise and, even though I sent in the C&A coupon (making a copy this time), it wasn't reflected on the final confirmation for this second cruise.

 

I then called the TA and discussed both issues. For the first cruise, he claimed he didn't remember my using a C&A coupon or telling me to call RCI. He said I would have to talk with a manager. For the second cruise, he claimed that the cruise was already discounted and the coupon wouldn't be accepted. (It was not a group cruise--it was a cruise listed for sale on their website. )I reminded him that he said it would and he denied that.

 

So I spoke to a Manager about both issues. (I was told that she was the Manager of the Finance/billing dept). She claimed that both cruises were discounted and Crown and Anchor coupons wouldn't be accepted--notwithstanding my assertion that the TA had said it would. I didn't have any proof and she wouldn't accept my word for it. When I told her that RCI had said they mailed a check for the C & A coupon for the first cruise, she denied that at first. I gave her all of the information RCI gave me about the check (date sent, date cashed, etc.). She subsequently found the check amount but still refused to send me back the entire amount, instead taking a commission from the amount and eventually refunding the rest.

 

Since I had already made final payment on the second cruise, it was too late to cancel. Both the TA and manager made it clear they would not accept the coupon for the second cruise. I didn't sent in the coupon I had directly to RCI because I didn't want CruCon to get the check for the coupon amount since they weren't going to give that to me.

 

I told the manager that I wouldn't be using CruCon because of this situation. She told me that it was my decision whether or not to use them--she obviously didn't care about losing business. So I haven't used CruCon since-- now having booked four cruises since that time, two with cruise lines that don't even use coupons. After I decided not to use CruCon, I decided to give on-line TAs one more chance and, thanks to recommendations from this board, use Kims Kruises, an agency that gives full value for both the C&A coupon and gives the balcony discount for Platinum/Diamond members (no commission). I have been very pleased with the service and pricing.

 

I believe an agency should be honest and truthfully disclose whether they will accept the coupon on the booking or will accept it minus a commission, the amount of which they disclose, especially when they are asked upfront about it. Then the individual can decide whether or not to make the booking with the agency. This is why I won't do business with CruCon again, especially given the attitude of their Management.

 

Pammyhound had responded on the prior thread and stated that CruCon was accepting the coupons for a CC group cruise and that she was dealing with a member of the CruCon management, so she couldn't understand why the difference. I suggested that she pass on this information to the management she is dealing with, because CruCon is losing business due to their handling of this issue. (They lost four cruises from us alone. If I had been satisfied with their customer service, I would have continued to use them. I had used my brick and mortar TA for years, paying much higher cruise prices. I wanted to get a good price, but I was more interested in developing a relationship with an online TA, as I had my brick and mortar TA).

 

Also, on this same previous thread, a poster suggested sending in the coupon directly to RCI and getting it applied, even though CruCon had said they wouldn't accept it. It is interesting that Jevy used this suggestion and apparently CruCon won't accept the discount. I had wondered what would have happened had I tried this. Now I know.

[KStevens79]

Geeez, all I want from CruCon are my eDoc's...

 

Karen

[iluvcruzin]

I've seen mixed feedback about crucon. More negatives than positive. They seem to be one of the favored group TA's for CC. This is unfortunate. Especially for the ones on the same sailing as I'm on next year. Their rates were much higher than the group I'm booked with. Think I'll pass on the CC sponsored ones where Crucon's the TA. Doesn't make sense to pay more where the benefit is a CC Lanyard.

[KStevens79]

LOL on the lanyard part...

Guess I should've said I just booked my cruise last week, for next week. I was told my eDoc's are ready. I'm calling in the morning to make sure they have the right email address. My CruCon TA is out of the office after tomorrow until Tuesday. I am NOT waiting until Tuesday!!!

[PammyHound]

I think it's safe to say that if you took a poll of any of the online agencies you would get some negative and some positive feedback. Unfortunately most of the time people only take time to report the negative.....that's just human nature. I'm not here to sing the praises of Crucon and discount at all the valid issues that the above posters have had, but since my name was specifically mentioned I thought I would take a minute to post.

 

Yes, Crucon has excepted coupons from our group members for our upcoming Mariner of the Seas cruise. They have not been at full face value, they have been slightly discounted. Not only did they use the C&A coupons, but I also personally applied a "For a Friend" $50 off a sailing coupon to my own personal booking.