Help.....I want to fire my TA & switch my booking to RCCL

[Gallaleuci]

OK, I am embarrassed to admit this as an experienced cruiser. 

I messed up and went with VTG and it had been nothing but awful! (Please note this is MY experience and I am speaking for myself)  The initial contact was ok after we dealt with the "cabin hold" he placed unbeknownst to us. (When first contacted, he put a 5-day hold on the cabin I wanted....a grand suite...then told me the price was going up)  We dealt with this and booked cabin 12646 on Anthem. Initially, emails were returned right away, and then....crickets.  My emails take days to get a response if I get one at all.  For example, I asked about WOW bands (Now, if they aren't offered on our ship, that's fine, just tell me).....nothing.  I asked about the lapel pin a C&A member is supposed to receive and the TA's response was..."Your cruise is 10 months away, let's not worry about this now".  Also, when I asked if rates change, would we be notified, and his response was that was up to us to track, follow, and inform him. I understand I am not the only client this TA has however, as a customer I do expect a bit of service.     

How do I switch the reservation from this agency to RCCL directly?  Will I get hit with fees or worse, lose the booking altogether? Do I just "suck it up" and weather this booking?

From what I have read here, MEI seems the way to go if you are looking for an agency responsive to the needs of a customer.

[SpeedNoodles]

You can only change agents if your booking was made 30 days or less ago.  You're probably stuck this go around.  If your questions aren't directly related to your specific booking, though,  hit us up here!  There's usually someone who can answer some of those questions. 

If you did make it within the last 30 days then it can be moved if the current agent is willing to let it go.

[Atlantix2000]

6 hours ago, Gallaleuci said:

For example, I asked about WOW bands (Now, if they aren't offered on our ship, that's fine, just tell me).....nothing.  I asked about the lapel pin a C&A member is supposed to receive and the TA's response was..."Your cruise is 10 months away, let's not worry about this now".  Also, when I asked if rates change, would we be notified, and his response was that was up to us to track, follow, and inform him. I understand I am not the only client this TA has however, as a customer I do expect a bit of service.

Honestly, I think your questions are best asked on a forum like this one especially when you are 10 months out.  From what I understand, WOW bands have only just returned to 1 ship since the pandemic restart.  No one can really answer what the situation will be when you cruise.  Not very many people have even used WOW bands and many of those aren't very impressed since you often have to take them off and give them to someone to scan which makes them too similar to a Sea Pass card.

Questions about C&A should be directed to C&A itself.  It's very hit or miss whether you receive the pins when you are supposed to get them.  If you really want them, you often have to ask the Loyalty Ambassador onboard your ship.  A travel agent won't be able to do anything other than tell you to call C&A.

Most travel agencies do not track prices and rebook their clients when prices drop.  Doing this means they have done extra work and made less money.  MEI reportedly does this for their clients but that is not the norm.

[Gallaleuci]

Thank you both!!  We booked this on April 8th.  I think we will ride this out and lesson learned.

[FionaMG]

Currently on Anthem and wow bands are available so I would imagine that unless there is an issue with supplies there's a good chance they would be available on yours.

[twangster]

There is a process to have a booking released by a travel agency but it's not a click and done process.  The agency will have an opportunity to remedy the situation and their management will be engaged.

Some agencies who offer reduced rates or OBC are basically taking that out of their commission paid by Royal.  The more given away the less left over to pay agents. When an agent has only a small amount to be earned spending a lot of time on a booking means reducing the effective hourly pay for that booking.  Why work on a booking if your effective pay rate is a few dollars per hour?  So they move on putting their time trying to book new clients.   They only make money through volume.

When people book based on lowest rate or most OBC you tend to get less service.   Enjoy your rate and deal with a no frills level of service.  

If that's not what you want from an agency then learn from this and next time choose a different agency. 

[Gallaleuci]

UPDATE !  The level of service continued to decrease so, I wrote to the VP and expressed my concerns.  We were immediately given an interim TA who listened to our challenges, relayed them to management and began working with us to answer our questions and handle our concerns.  We were given the option of selecting any TA at VTG and we asked for a more senior TA that had years of RCCL experience.  Boy we lucked out with Heather, she jumped in the deep end and got us back on track and has gone above and beyond to assist us, we are so happy now!  (We did find out that our original TA was fired, apparently, he had more problems and complaints than we knew.  Please note this WAS NOT our intention)  Only 157 days until we check in for Anthem and 202 days until we sail!!!  

[ScottD]

On 9/3/2023 at 3:33 PM, Gallaleuci said:

UPDATE !  The level of service continued to decrease so, I wrote to the VP and expressed my concerns.  We were immediately given an interim TA who listened to our challenges, relayed them to management and began working with us to answer our questions and handle our concerns.  We were given the option of selecting any TA at VTG and we asked for a more senior TA that had years of RCCL experience.  Boy we lucked out with Heather, she jumped in the deep end and got us back on track and has gone above and beyond to assist us, we are so happy now!  (We did find out that our original TA was fired, apparently, he had more problems and complaints than we knew.  Please note this WAS NOT our intention)  Only 157 days until we check in for Anthem and 202 days until we sail!!!  

Glad you got someone who can help you!  Don't worry, if they were fired, it was probably much deeper than just your experience with them.