No booking number so we can't book excursions...should we switch travel agents?

[scrstu]

Some friends and I have booked the Pearl for the June 28, 2009 sailing out of Seattle to Alaska, but I'm having some concerns. We booked through a family friend who has a specialty travel agency that has group gambling outings including a group going on this cruise. Most of their clients are big-time gamblers, we are not. The problem is that they run things differently and although our rooms are set aside, no deposit has been required and no booking numbers have been issued. I'm very certain that we have rooms because my parents have traveled with this agency many times without incident.

 

Anyway, without booking numbers, we are not able to book shore excursions so that leads to my questions...

 

1. If we had booking numbers, could we reserve excursions this far in advance? If not, how far in advance would those using traditional agencies begin to book their choices?

 

2. If we wait for our current agent, will excursions not be available? (My dad has gone to Alaska with them before and just booked excursions on the ship and thought that worked fine, but I'm much more of a planner than he is!)

 

Thanks, in advance, for any help you can give me!

 

Cindi

[Budget Queen]

I would verify you have a booking. Without a deposit, I would think you don't?? It is simple to just give you the number otherwise.

 

As for shore excursions, yes they are currently available. Also consider heading to the Alaska board for more specific information, if needed. Independent touring is overall superior in Alaska, compared to many ship tours. Smaller groups, longer tours, more personal attention.

[lvtotrvl1]

I don't see how they can have rooms set aside without a deposit? Even if the individual doesn't pay, the agency would have to (and you would still have booking numbers)...and not many do this. If you know the price of the cruise, you would be booked in a certain category at least...sorry, something doesn't sound right here. I've been in the business a long time and haven't heard of this ...have they told you when a deposit of some sort is needed?

 

NCL does have CAS and I am not sure how they run their groups....your situation may fall into this area....

[scrstu]

The agency is associated with the Norwegian's on-board casinos so I think this may be why they run things differently--many of their clients probably don't have to pay for the ship as they are "comped" for their gambling records. We got a good price (better than other agencies that I got quotes from), but it may be worth it to all of us to go the traditional route and pay a bit more.

 

I think we'll all get together and think about some independent tours to circumvent this particular issue and then also think about switching travel agencies.

 

Cindi

[Suni99]

can you call this agency and tell them your dilema, and that you need a booking/confirmation number?

[mypleasure]

I can't help with your dilemms at all but can say that my husband and I are booked on that particular cruise and I am seeing excursions available for me to book should I want to. Then again I made my booking direct with NCL when they had a promotion a couple of months ago.

 

See you on the ship!

 

Jean

[jesse]

just ask your travel agent for the booking numbers--we just did that and booked our own excursions without a problem. i'm wondering however why you have not paid a downpayment, which we did when we booked.

[scrstu]

I did email the travel agency and am waiting to see what they say. I've asked them a number of times about making a down payment (we've cruised before and know how it's been handled so were fully expecting/ready to make a down payment), but they don't require any $ until later. Like I said, most of their customers are traveling on "comps" so we're the exception so I think they handle everyone a bit differently. I hope they respond about taking a deposit from us and then giving us the booking numbers, but I'm thinking we should probably go with another agency if that doesn't happen.

 

Cindi

[ugen512]

Groups are very different. An agency can hold group space without a deposit but there will be a date that a deposit has to be applied or the group space is cancelled. Find out when they need the deposit..if they don't have a deposit date I would question the whole thing.

[garycarla]

No deposit. No booking. Pretty simple situation.

 

As to excursions, you have PLENTY of time to handle that.

 

Make sure you check out the Alaska boards, and the link beloe.

[ugen512]

No deposit. No booking. Pretty simple situation.

 

As to excursions, you have PLENTY of time to handle that.

 

Make sure you check out the Alaska boards, and the link beloe.

 

Are my posts invisible?? I just advised how group bookings work..you do not need a deposit to hold group space.

[terrymtex01]

The only thing I want to add to this.. and I have to say we have never booked with a group.. but we have booked three of our four cruises (and they were comp'ed) with CAS and had booking numbers before I was off the phone with them. Well.. to be completely honest, didn't actually have them verbally given to me by CAS, but had them in my email within a few mins and they were instantly on NCL.com.

 

From what i'm understanding though, this is a travel agent that probably gets some kind of commission from CAS for bringing aboard a bunch of whales (or close to it) so it could be completely different than what we are used to as individuals or even what "normal" TA's might encounter. There is already one poster saying that groups don't have to put up a deposit.

 

I would have to save over all , I would be suspicious, however Ugen512 seems to be in the know about it. So maybe all is ok.

[ugen512]

Here is the group process..condensed version:

 

Set up a group minimum of 8 cabins 16 passengers, you receive 1 free passenger credit for every 8 cabins. The cruiseline will hold a mix of cabins until your group is all on board and group leader gets a group number. When the group decides to go forward a small deposit usually $50 per is taken and as each cabin is booked you then get a confirmation number, then you have a full deposit date and final date just like an individual booking.

[scrstu]

Thanks, ugen512. That's exactly what I needed to know. I think there's quite a few more than 8 cabins in their group (30+) so that makes perfect sense as to what they've told me so it puts my mind at ease. I'm just waiting for them to let me know about when I can get the booking numbers as I really don't want to wait to book all of our excursions until we are on the ship. But we'll look at some independent tours and hopefully just make things work as they are. I just needed to confirm that this way of doing things made sense since it was different from our previous experiences!

 

Love these boards!

 

Cindi

[lvtotrvl1]

Here is the group process..condensed version:

 

Set up a group minimum of 8 cabins 16 passengers, you receive 1 free passenger credit for every 8 cabins. The cruiseline will hold a mix of cabins until your group is all on board and group leader gets a group number. When the group decides to go forward a small deposit usually $50 per is taken and as each cabin is booked you then get a confirmation number, then you have a full deposit date and final date just like an individual booking.

 

But this is booked through CAS so it is different. It is not done directly through the cruiseline.