Best bonus you've got booking with a TA

[Micknmin]

I am a TA and I would love to know how they offered an extra $200 OBC! :confused: Unless they had group space blocked and used the points to offer a great OBC. Commission on cruises is so small now that we don't get much more than $200 total (remember it's only paid on cruise fare - not total cruise cost) - for balcony cabins.

 

So - good for you, I'm glad you got that great offer!:)

 

I have no idea how she did it, but all of my paperwork shows the credits and says prepaid gratuities. I was even able to hand pick which three rooms I wanted (not handpick from what she offered me, but I told her right up front which rooms I wanted). My price matches the price on the RCCL website and then I get all the OBCs and gratuities on top of that. The one thing that I do know is that she is one of those large travel companies that does a lot of bookings for RCCL (a Power Booker, or something like that), so maybe that makes a difference.

[mother of twins]

lol..no we have twin boys that are 12 but the "girls" as we call them are just as spoilled! We say that i had the twins and bought the girls...they are shelties...one is the mom-age5- and the other is her baby-age 1 1/2...LOVE THEM DEARLY!!! At times, they are easier to raise!!!

Thank you....

[cruise_lover]

Nothing on our last cruise (Norwegian SUN - 2007) but our first one on the Carnival Conquest in "2005" we got a free bottle of champagne, chocolate dripped strawberries and a tray of asssorted cookes spread out through the week. But what I like about my TA, Charlie, is that since we always booked with a group (400-600 plus depending on the cruise) he comes with us. That way if one of us has a problem he is right on-board to help us out. And, like someone else said in this post, my sister and I always bug him to death too. We are always E-Mailing him about changing our cabins, possibilty of upgrading, or just a silly question. He always returns our E-Mail with either another E-Mail or phone call within a day or two. Even without special perks I'll keep using him because I like his service.

[Barbee524]

Best Bonus - Peace of Mind. We get this by letting her handle all the details.

[mspink98]

Nothing, unless you count the guilt-trip and deep sigh when I discovered price drops and called to ask her to make sure we got them. Oh, and bad information about the qualifications for a military discount ion our last cruise that would have resulted in us not getting the $300 off had I not done my own homework and was able to point her to the page on rccl.com that showed that my husband is eligible.

 

We booked directly with the cruiseline this year, and haven't looked back. If we could find a good TA in our area I'd definitely consider going back to a TA, but for now I'm perfectly happy owning the res ourselves.

[MercedMike]

What's the best bonus you've ever got by booking with a TA? And what category was your cabin?

 

The best bonus I get from my DW the TA is that I get to sleep with her on board the ship ...

 

>:-)

[Toddcan]

The best bonus I get from my DW the TA is that I get to sleep with her on board the ship ...

 

>:-)

 

TMI, Mike.. TMI :D

[DD]

The best bonus I get from my DW the TA is that I get to sleep with her on board the ship ...

 

>:-)

 

 

Thanks for the laugh Mike! We were recently on a tour and everyone was talking loudly about the things that their TA had done for them. I pretty much kept my mouth shut and didn't identify myself as an agent (you learn more about your competition that way!). After about 10 minutes of "My travel agent does this" and "My travel agent does that", my husband says, out loud to no one in particular, "My travel agent puts out...." There was dead silence followed by a LOT of laughter.

[sleepless]

DH and I both received free passport photo's, a portable CD player, and she says that there will be "something waiting for us after we board" when we cruise the Jewel in March.

[cs]

I am a TA and I would love to know how they offered an extra $200 OBC! :confused: Unless they had group space blocked and used the points to offer a great OBC. Commission on cruises is so small now that we don't get much more than $200 total (remember it's only paid on cruise fare - not total cruise cost) - for balcony cabins.

 

So - good for you, I'm glad you got that great offer!:)

 

So if commission is small a balcony and that's why they only offered me $100 for a balcony cabin, is there still room for more OBC on the JS (they offered me $500 on that)?

[andyjo0930]

We have received things like dinner at portafino's and wine/champagne. On our last cruise, we have two mats and towels with a note from our TA to enjoy our day at Coco Cay!

[zelker]

For our upcoming trip, we received:

 

• trip insurance for both of us
  
• 4 free robes (to keep, not just to use; and 2 would have been plenty)
  
• two bottles of wine
  
• dinner for two in speciality restaurant
  
• spa treatments for 2
  
• champagne and canapes at sailaway
  
• $150 gift card for use at C***co after we get back
  

 

On our last cruise they gave us speciallity restaurant dinners, wine, and a copy of the cruise video. On the cruise before that they gave us the equivalent of 10% of our cruise price in a C****co gift card when we returned!

 

Needless to say, we LOVE our TA! They always go to bat for us when needed, follow up is outstanding, and the perks rock!;)

[Toddcan]

For our upcoming trip, we received:

• trip insurance for both of us
  
• 4 free robes (to keep, not just to use; and 2 would have been plenty)
  
• two bottles of wine
  
• dinner for two in speciality restaurant
  
• spa treatments for 2
  
• champagne and canapes at sailaway
  
• $150 gift card for use at C***co after we get back

On our last cruise they gave us speciallity restaurant dinners, wine, and a copy of the cruise video. On the cruise before that they gave us the equivalent of 10% of our cruise price in a C****co gift card when we returned!

 

Needless to say, we LOVE our TA! They always go to bat for us when needed, follow up is outstanding, and the perks rock!;)

 

Zelker, what category room do you book to get all of that?

[The Grumpus]

Our TA upgraded us to a Grand Suite from a Junior Suite plus two nights for the both of us at the specialty restaurants on Mariner last January. We didn't even asked, she called us up one morning and asked if we would want this. I said let me think about it... a split second later I screamed OH YEAH BOOK IT!:D We was a great surprise and worth the nothing extra I paid for it.;) We've booked two cruises with her since so those perks work on me.

[cruisin4kicks]

We found our TA on that website where you say what ship you want to sail on and where and when you want to go and the TAs come back with bids as to how much they will charge and what extra incentives they will offer. The price is always the same as RCI... it's the perks that are different. Some offer OBC and others offer wine, Travel Insurance, and other perks as mentioned above. You just pick which TA you want to deal with.

 

We were lucky with ours. She's been nothing but helpful and we have continued to deal with her.

 

On our last cruise we booked two inside cabins and got $150 OBC for each one. Our cruise coming up in October, we booked a D1 balcony for each leg of our B2B and got $100 OBC for each leg.

 

The OBC depends on how much commission they make... if the price of the cruise goes down, so does their commision, and as a result, so does the OBC.

 

Tim

[Kathy130]

Only wine.:(

[zelker]

Zelker, what category room do you book to get all of that?

 

Concierge Class and Celebrity Suite (on X) and SS Class (HAL)

[cruzinnluvinit]

I'm looking into booking either a balcony or a JS. Apparantly the JS is leaving more room for the TA to give perks for booking with them. If I book a balcony, they can give me $100 value and if I book a JS, they can give me around $500.

 

What's the best bonus you've ever got by booking with a TA? And what category was your cabin?

2 cruise with the one in Sept and no extras what so ever.

 

Linda

[Travelitis]

Mariner and Liberty (same agent) we're getting grauities paid.

[StaceyMom]

I got 200 OBC for my double and 280 for my triple room recently. That being said I also got the sighs and "they can't be" when I called her with price reductions. I wish we could give recommendations on this board. I would love a TA who is friendly with the best deal. Not easy to find!

[kruz]

We have three rooms booked on the Liberty for next year. They were booked during the One Day Sale a few weeks back, so we got a $100 OBC per room from RCCL. Our TA gave us an additional $200 OBC for our balcony rooms and $100 OBC for the interior room. On top of that, she is paying all of our gratuities. I was pretty happy with that!

That is awesome!

[chris2597]

It would be great if we could share TA info but I can see the reasoning as to why it is not allowed. I seem to recall that private messages were available on Cruisecritic and that is where inside info was shared. I wonder why that PM isnt available any longer. I think there was also a way to email another member through the website without giving away personal info.

[shipshape sam]

We booked a balcony for a New England cruise and then changed it to oceanview for $800 less. Got on ship, went to our cabin and the seapass card would not work. Went to Pursers desk and was informed we had been upgraded to a junior suite!

 

Not sure TA did anything, but then again RCL did not even tell us of upgrade either. It was nice! Thanks RCL or whoever!:)

[sherry7]

14 day cruise, D1 balcony, $200 onboard credit, nice RCCL beach bag, and chocolate covered strawberries.

 

7 day cruise, inside cabin, $100 onboard credit

 

 

I also wish we were allowed to talk about specific TA's on the boards. I think I could do better, but don't know who to go to. :(

[shipknotshore]

We received free travel insurance, the signature basket (from RCI website), a stainless steel sports thermos, photo album & a plate of chocolate covered strawberries from our current TA. Old TA - a bottle of wine - only a 1 time thing - for our 25th anniv. cruise. I think we'll continue to do business with the most recent one....and I'll add that the current one is just as helpful as the old one.