tashaxxx Posted June 25, 2017 Report Share Posted June 25, 2017 Hi All I have just been on my first Royal Caribbean cruise and loved it. I had an amazing deal around the Med which included a free deluxe drinks package, free wifi, all gratuities and a BOGO deal, booked 9 months before cruise date! Was a steal! I am now looking at my next cruise to Bermuda and Bahamas on the Grandure of the Seas in May 2018. However, when i phoned for a quote there were no inclusions just the standard 20% off deal which seams to be on most of the time anyway. So to seasoned Royal Caribbean customers my question is how much sway do the agents have? If i push them will they give me freebies or am i best to wait for a better promotion to pop up? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princevaliantus Posted June 25, 2017 Report Share Posted June 25, 2017 If you book directly from RCI, you only receive what the current sale is offering. If you use a 3rd party travel agent, they can offer you different incentives and you can combine them with the current RCI sale, but, you cannot haggle. This isn't Mexico or any other 3rd world country. Just keep in mind that travel agents has to make a certain percentage of the sale to make it lucrative for them. Hope this helpps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted June 25, 2017 Report Share Posted June 25, 2017 We have some travel agents on the boards so one of them who knows for sure may be able to answer with facts, but here is my opinion from talking with my TA for several years now. Basically they have an amount of $ that they get back as their commission from the cruise line for making the reservation, they can then use some of that amount to offer "amenities" to the customer to sweeten the deal by keeping less profit for themselves. Sometimes it is made to sound more special by labelling it as free drinks packages, free dinner, etc. and sometimes they just call it OBC. I am sure there is more to it than that but my TA and I talked about it a bit a few years ago and now I just get OBC instead of the other stuff which is why I think its more of a $ amount to spend and they can customize from a menu of equivalents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 26, 2017 Report Share Posted June 26, 2017 The notion of "pushing them" for more incentives is probably not a great idea. TAs will try to find the best possible deal for you. They are not used car dealers, so what they have to offer is pretty much all they can offer without literally dipping into their own commission. mom2mybugs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted June 26, 2017 Report Share Posted June 26, 2017 I agree with Matt especially given that they are having to rebate their payment for their service. Would you give party of your paycheck to w customer simply because they pushed? To me, the level of service and support is much more important than any pets that might be thrown in and is one of the reasons I don't use the big box store travel agencies even though I could save money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted June 26, 2017 Report Share Posted June 26, 2017 Pets ? Your TA gives you pets ? I need to change TA's.... DocLC and RestingBird 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted June 26, 2017 Report Share Posted June 26, 2017 31 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said: Pets ? Your TA gives you pets ? I need to change TA's.... Auto correct is my curse. mom2mybugs and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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