While this TA is obviously incompetent, I wonder how easy it is to cancel
and change cruises when you book directly? I always have and probably
always will book with my TA, George Leppla. I don't see any disadvantage
but I do see advantages to using a TA. And like you, I do most of the leg
work. But I follow the cruises like a hawk and if anything changes to my
advantage (price drop, etc...) I only have to email him and it's taken care
of. And he'll also make changes when and if he becomes aware of better
offers. Try doing that with a direct booking.
And to those who say they better deals not going through a TA, I'd like to
know where? Are you talking about the occasional $50 credit on Travelocity
or such? IMO, not worth it.
--
Greg
"mgb" wrote in message
news:uGKxh.2776$R71.43017@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
> This is not a slight on TA's. They do valuable work but I ask a legitimate
> question to the group - why should experienced cruisers, people like me,
> bother?
>
> Long story but here's the details:
>
> We've been using the same TA since 2001. Service has always been
> excellent. Last year we took 2 cruises and booked a 3rd. The 3rd is where
> I've seen a noticeable difference. We initially booked on one of the
> larger cruise ships with RCI and gave the TA the deposit and went on our
> way. We did all the legwork; picked out the ship, date, room, itinerary
> and notified the TA that we wanted air with a deviation to go down 2 days
> early. Piece of cake from a TA point of view I should think.
>
> Well a month or so later we changed our minds. We decided on a smaller
> ship, same date, an extra day, better itinerary and $1000 cheaper - it was
> a steal so we took it and decided to change. Again, we did all the
> legwork. We called it in to the TA but she was on vac so we left it with
> her fill-in and went on our business. Well a couple of days later we
> noticed that the TA booked the wrong number of people and our credit card
> was actually refunded. So we called back in, got it straightened out and
> they re-charged our card. At that time we asked for a full printout of the
> cruise showing deposit and what was remaining with the date due. We wanted
> this for our records since the paperwork we had now was outdated due to
> the change. The fill in TA never sent it (even after 3 or 4 phone calls)
> so I decided to heck with it, we'll wait for our regular TA (about another
> 6 weeks) to come back and we'd get it done.
>
> So after the TA came back we went in to book a last minute cruise and at
> the same time relay the story and ask for the printout. Well we took our
> cruise but the updated printout we wanted never came. My wife did make a
> couple of phone calls after we came back from our cruise but never did the
> TA call back. Once she said, "Oh I'm right in the middle of booking a
> flight for someone. I'll call you right back". The call never came. It was
> close to Christmas and since the cruise was still a long way off I decided
> to back burner the thing until after Christmas.
>
> I decided two weeks ago to get in touch with the TA and ask what was left
> for a balance and when was it due. After 2 weeks of 1 eye-to-eye meeting,
> 3 emails and one phone call I finally got it. End of story you say? Read
> on . . . .
>
> When I looked at the balance it was $1000 too much. So I called back in to
> see what was going on and was told by our TA that she'd look into and get
> back to us the next day or at the latest today. Well as I was talking to
> her, I suddenly realized that the price she quoted was the exact amount
> quoted on the larger ship that we originally booked but later changed. All
> she did was yank out the original paperwork without a thought as to what
> she was actually sending. So I told her what she had done and clarified
> the error and have yet to hear back with a true balance.
>
> So my question is "Why bother?". I could call the cruise line directly and
> get the exact same price she gets me. We're experienced cruisers and know
> what we're doing and if all I'm going to get is the run-around for the
> same price I could get directly from the cruise line, I don't see the
> point. In this internet age I do all the work to book a cruise, all my TA
> does is take my money and tell me a bunch of stuff I already know.
>
> What do you guys think? Should an experienced cruiser book directly with
> the cruise line? If the price from the TA is the same price that I can
> get, what benefit do I get from having a third party? In our case
> sometimes the TA books with a tour company like Air Canada Vacations so in
> effect I have a 3rd and 4th party in the mix, all for the same price I
> could get.
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