familycruiser Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 We have a group of 20 people with 10 cabins going on Oasis July 4, 2015 and we seem to have the worlds worst travel agent. She was attached to our reservations years ago (friend of a friend, blah, blah, blah), when we booked on board and has been riding our coat tails to free commissionville every year since. This will make the 5th year. Now we can't seem to get her removed. She refuses to do anything to assist our group in any way. Royal seems to have a lot to offer groups and we can't seem to get any of these benefits. Have yet to ever be able to even dine together on previous cruises. Because our reservations are "locked" with the agent, Royal says there is nothing they can do to help. We spent over 4 hours on the phone with Royal yesterday to try to fix this with zero success. Even called agent's boss and she was unapologetic and seems as if she could careless. There seems to be some sold agents on here with good advise and information, so I am hoping someone can help us with some advise on what we may be able to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Ugh. I know exactly what you are going through. I had the same thing happen to me a number of years ago. Fortunately for me, the Agent that had the booking very generously transferred the booking from her control to Royal Caribbean's control and that ended the blockade. You used to have to have letters and forms that went back and forth and it was all very tedious. Nowadays you can do the booking transfer online but if you have a TA that is unwilling to release the booking I'm not sure what you can do ! We do have a very knowledgeable and helpful TA on this site and I certainly hope she has some advice/suggestions on how to get the booking released. Of course, by now the drop dead date for making any changes to your July 2015 booking has probably already passed anyway...so I'm not sure that releasing the booking at this point would even help you but CERTAINLY from now on you should make SURE that when you do any kind of booking - on board or otherwise, that you make sure that it is NOT designated to the control of anyone but yourselves ! DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 What am I missing here?? You have booked 5 years in a row and somehow her name is automatically attached to your bookings by Royal Caribbean? Or you booked with her 5 years ago for this trip and now want her off the booking? Neither seems to make sense here and I can't understand what you are asking or saying... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
familycruiser Posted May 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 We have booked for the last 5 years and her name has always been attached to our reservations by Royal. We always book while on the cruise and Royal carries over our information from previous year. I think our big mistake has been that we pay in full when we book and that makes it impossible to remove travel agent. It's never really bothered us that much until we found out how much we have been missing out on as a group. This agent has NEVER actually booked a single cruise for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Wow.never heard of this before. Not sure what the point of that would be, if she has never done anything for you nor booked a cruise for you?? I have never used a TA to book a cruise yet. I have found the deals on my own, and monitor the pricing on my own. But I would be upset as well, if shes getting paid for doing nothing for you AND your missing out on extra perks somehow?! I guess before you book your next cruise, you'll be making sure her name is not attached to your booking! ATXCruiser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
familycruiser Posted May 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 We were blind to the fact that Royal even offered perks to groups, we always have/had same routine: eat, drink, pool, eat, drink, show, drink, eat and sleep. :) According to Royal's website: Q: What types of activities can you accommodate for my group? A: We can arrange all types of activities for your group, from scavenger hunts to private shore excursions, karaoke, trivia challenges, cocktail parties, private dinners or even time at our rock climbing wall for some friendly competition. You name it and we will do our best to accommodate. This is the kind of stuff we were wanting to do with our group but when we called Royal they said all this had to be arranged with them through our listed travel agent. We are listed as a "Group Reservation" with Royal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 I'm sorry to hear about your situation. There's no excuse for it. In order to release any sailing from a TA, they have to fill out a form. Of course, you could cancel whatever sailing you have and then re-book with someone else. You would lose any booking incentives or promos you had when you booked before but that is an option if you really, really want to get away and can't negotiate anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
familycruiser Posted May 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 I wish we could, it's now past the time. Our sailing is 7/4/15. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSoxFan Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 When you mentioned onboard booking you don't say if you booked a specific cruise or just purchased a NextCruise certificate. If the latter I would skip doing it again as the incentive, other than the reduced deposit, is negligible. This will allow you to get out from under this TA for the future. I would think, but perhaps I'm wrong, that if you book an actual sail date on board you can specify if you want to use the TA or handle it yourself. Certainly they shouldn't make you use a TA you do not want to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 When you book on board they automatically attach the reservation to your existing TA, however, you can request that they not do so. Once it is assigned then you are stuck but if you tell them not to assign it at the beginning of the process you can break the chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sulross Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 I was on board once and simply signed a form to eliminate the TA from this booking and it was done. They had no involvement in it and of course I received no pre paid gratuities and on board credit from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
familycruiser Posted June 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 I was on board once and simply signed a form to eliminate the TA from this booking and it was done. They had no involvement in it and of course I received no pre paid gratuities and on board credit from them. You did this while on board for the cruise the TA was attached to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Hey Well not all travel agents are bad - but you do have the right to select not to use the same agent when you are booking onboard - its not Automatic that you assign the same agent They RCI person is supposed to ask you - generally speaking, most people have good relationships with their agents, but you do not I'm happy to help you if you PM me If you are NOT at the final payment due date you should be able to get this resolved. Sorry this has happened to you markinct 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sulross Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 I did this while booking a cruise and by signing the form the TA was not attached to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrotheadtoo Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 We have booked many cruises on board the ship. I would say its 50/50% chance that they will ask you if you wish to keep the new booking with the previously travel agent. They look at the cruise that you are on, and assume that you will continue to give credit to that agent or Royal, etc.... You need to tell them you do not wish the new booking to go to an agent. The Cruise sales person will ask you to sign a paper.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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