michelle

yes, they actually found some sites on their own but yes, I have the home tests myself for back up and they are much cheaper - thanks raye
 

happy it worked out and have no idea how royal is pricing things these days but not going to ask 🙂
 

yes, they actually found some sites on their own but yes, I have the home tests myself for back up and they are much cheaper - thanks raye
 

happy it worked out and have no idea how royal is pricing things these days but not going to ask 🙂
 

Used to be even more liberal. There were stories of people basically bringing a wet bar on board with them before the policy changed (right before the one time I went on a Disney cruise, naturally).

Me too! Yesterday @michelle got us $743 OBC for each of our cabins on Harmony at the end of this month. Woohoo! 😁
The weird thing is I have been checking the price religiously every day and as far as I can see there has been no price drop. The current selling price for the same cabin category is $500 more than we paid!
However, we are not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth and I am sure we will have no trouble spending it! 😊

I just have to chime in!!  Michelle at MEI got us $683 OBC yesterday for our cruise next month!  LOVE Michelle at MEI!

If the agent is part of an agency you could ask to be switched to a different agent within the company.

The most I have saved was over $1,500 on a cruise when the rate dropped.  I saw it and immediately called my TA, and was done minutes later!

Hi all
This one maybe I can get help with before calling Royal- I have foreign clients arriving in
Miami tomorrow- sailing next week - before they can cruise, they need to get an Antigen test 
somewhere close to the Port but every site they try and sign up for want a social security
number?  anyone know if there is a place they can just go to without needing that?

ANY help is appreciated 

Howdy!  nice to meet you - It Means awesomesauce, lol - welcome to the boards

Howdy!  nice to meet you - It Means awesomesauce, lol - welcome to the boards

Howdy!  nice to meet you - It Means awesomesauce, lol - welcome to the boards

agree - AUS/NZ just are not budging - glad you cancelled ahead too

great point on Royal Up -  - people do not always consider all the factors and some find Big Box agencies serve them well - I value
relationships more - it pays you over an over in the long run - many of my new clients this year simply came to us because their current agent "disappeared" 
rough year for some indeed.

 I have also seen big OBCs given, but client is not able to spend all of it - if this happens the agency not the client gets the refund back (whomever paid it) so if you are promised $300 but only use $100, you really only got $100.

great point on Royal Up -  - people do not always consider all the factors and some find Big Box agencies serve them well - I value
relationships more - it pays you over an over in the long run - many of my new clients this year simply came to us because their current agent "disappeared" 
rough year for some indeed.

 I have also seen big OBCs given, but client is not able to spend all of it - if this happens the agency not the client gets the refund back (whomever paid it) so if you are promised $300 but only use $100, you really only got $100.

Oh interesting - I was wondering if they would make changes at all.  Labadee does make sense, I agree - but San Juan?  Have not seen anything official from our agent side of things

great point on Royal Up -  - people do not always consider all the factors and some find Big Box agencies serve them well - I value
relationships more - it pays you over an over in the long run - many of my new clients this year simply came to us because their current agent "disappeared" 
rough year for some indeed.

 I have also seen big OBCs given, but client is not able to spend all of it - if this happens the agency not the client gets the refund back (whomever paid it) so if you are promised $300 but only use $100, you really only got $100.

great point on Royal Up -  - people do not always consider all the factors and some find Big Box agencies serve them well - I value
relationships more - it pays you over an over in the long run - many of my new clients this year simply came to us because their current agent "disappeared" 
rough year for some indeed.

 I have also seen big OBCs given, but client is not able to spend all of it - if this happens the agency not the client gets the refund back (whomever paid it) so if you are promised $300 but only use $100, you really only got $100.

Another thing to consider...right now Royal is really making good use of RoyalUp.  It seems that many have been successful in upgrading their rooms since capacity is so [intentionally] low right now.  Many of the big box agencies do NOT participate in RoyalUp.  So if you are interested in a chance to upgrade your accommodations at a very reasonable price via RoyalUp, I would recommend that you investigate the Agency to see if they participate.  Many do NOT. 

Thanks to all for your input on this subject.  Although I have enjoyed the OBC on past cruises I have to admit that each time I deal with CruCon it appears I am dealing with a different agent. 
I will take a serious look at MEI for this and future bookings.  Again, I appreciate this forum and your input.

And if my wonderful MEI agent, Emily H, is on here, PLEASE do not give up any of your well deserved and no doubt too small commission for me or my brother.  Just having you in our corner had been reward enough!!!
Gail Dumoulin

Travel agents have really suffered in the last year. How many people have traveled since Mar 2020? I know I have seldom left my house, much less my country. I don't expect to get much in the way of bonus OBCs from my TA for a while. Anything I do get will be a surprise and much appreciated, because I realize the sacrifice my TA made to give me that.

Using a TA is all about piece of mind, at least imho. I know as humans we always want to get the best deal. If you are paying a premium for this service, then I can understand expecting some extra perks like OBC but 10% of cruise fare seems high. I use MEI and my agent has been wonderful and not at all annoying. Some TA's insist on sending you advertisements daily for whatever they are selling at the moment.

This is a practice known as "rebating". Rebating is when an agency cuts their agent's commission and passes the savings on to the customer.
I believe you'll find that while you may get money back or OBC, you will not get a high level of service.