Booked Direct with RC Regrets

[GlowTheWeird]

Yes!!! Yes!! We should have used an agent. We didn’t.  

question: I’ve heard a rumor but trying to get info from all you experts; if we lift and shift can we then move the booking to an agent? (Basically does it reset as a new booking where we can do that?) Or is it best to refund? We got a great rate, but also, perhaps if we lift and shift we may want to do a back to back and with today’s strange time I would want an agent to help me with that. 

[Sharla]

Hi! You can transfer to an agent within 60 days of deposit and not paid in full. If you want to L&S and then transfer that's fine, or you can transfer to the agent and they can process the L&S for you. It's not a new booking if you do the L&S, it's the same booking so the 60 days starts from deposit. 

[GlowTheWeird]

It’s for Dec 14th cruise, final payment has been made. Nothing we can do now I suppose. Thank you

[shaydav19]

I thought lift and shift ended 09/30/20?

[SpeedNoodles]

7 minutes ago, shaydav19 said:

I thought lift and shift ended 09/30/20?

Extended through Nov 30.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/09/29/royal-caribbean-extends-ability-cancel-cruise-credit-until-november-30

[PaulRC]

What is the advantage of using a TA?  Isn't easier to go directly thru the, in this case RC?

Thanks

Paul

[Bob Wise]

46 minutes ago, PaulRC said:

What is the advantage of using a TA?  Isn't easier to go directly thru the, in this case RC?

Thanks

Paul

Back in May, I spent over 400 minutes on the phone trying to get the FCC certificates for a cancelled cruise straightened out.

A TA would have done that for us.

Plus when our new TA  (Kelley Hardy at MEI) booked our next cruise, she got us a lower rate than what I had seen on the RC site.

 

[twangster]

One advantage my TA has is when she looks for rates.  Her screen shows her many rates with various promos or circumstances applied.  Sometimes the C&A balcony discount doesn't provide the best rate but on the website when you enter your C&A details it might just display that one rate - the C&A rate, even though a cheaper rate may be available.  You told it to price the C&A rate so that is what it does.  

Shocking I know, but how many people thing the website is the best website and never possibly would there ever be a glitch or an issue or poor logic in use on the beloved website?  Many people voice opinions about the website being not very good.  Why on earth should we be confident it always is going to display the best rate possible?  Ha!  

It's not always the case but sometimes my TA finds better rates or a refundable rate that's better compared to what I see on the website.  Sometimes she quotes exactly what I see on the website but for someone who books a lot of cruises I can confirm the website isn't always the best price.  

[WAAAYTOOO]

On my last 3 bookings, Michelle has been able to apply a military discount when none was showing on the website.  I can’t imagine that a RC sales rep would have done that for me.

[Matt]

12 hours ago, PaulRC said:

What is the advantage of using a TA?  Isn't easier to go directly thru the, in this case RC?

Using a TA is about all of their services without a fee. It's more than just booking something, that's the easy part. It's when you run into problems/questions/concerns later that the value of a TA stands out.

Check out this blog post: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/06/15/why-first-time-cruisers-should-use-royal-caribbean-travel-agent

[GlowTheWeird]

I was inpatient. Maybe non-covid times it wouldn’t had been so bad to have set booked but now there are def regrets.  Just to be able to understand our options better. 2 other families are booked on the same itinerary, if we submit the lift and shift it appears it’s just submitting our preferences, will all three get the same itinerary change if we all put down the same preference sounds risky.  A TA would have def helped on this situation. 

 

[cruisellama]

36 minutes ago, GlowTheWeird said:

I was inpatient. Maybe non-covid times it wouldn’t had been so bad to have set booked but now there are def regrets.  Just to be able to understand our options better. 2 other families are booked on the same itinerary, if we submit the lift and shift it appears it’s just submitting our preferences, will all three get the same itinerary change if we all put down the same preference sounds risky.  A TA would have def helped on this situation. 

 

There are advantages and disadvantages either way.   For us, if its a complex reservation (lots of people, special requests, complex logistics) travel agent, if its a simple one, we can take care of it ourselves (but we'll use an agent for most of those cases).   For those solo cases, I'll turn it over to the agent if they've been helpful in the past.

[Fairlynew]

We use Sharla from MEI and she has been awesome about finding and taking advantage of rate drops prior to final payment.  She has saved me thousands of dollars this way.