Thread: have we been cheated ???? (RCC question)

Originally Posted by fvandewouwer

Hi Char,

small line before I go to sleep, you are so kind, you all are.

That's what we do best here at CLF! Our members are awesome and very helpful.

I agree that charging a fee for changing a reservation is absurd - that's just part of doing business.

As for doing business with agencies in other countries, it can depend on the cruise line; for example, Princess will not allow U.S. agents to sell cruises in foreign countries, other than Canada. While RCCL allows it, if considering other cruise lines, check with the agent and they can tell you if it's permissible. Same holds true for travel insurance; some allow it, others do not.

But keep your eyes on your reservation to see if prices drop. More eyes watching, the better as sometimes you'll see things your agent won't and vice versa. If you see a special pop up, let them know so they can adjust the price.

And I've heard all the usual sales pitches that agents use when the price drops - the most widely used is an agent will call the client and announce, "Hey, I just got you a free upgrade!" Instead of telling you the price went down, they bump you up to another category so they can keep their commission. Or, they'll get the price difference and just keep it themselves without telling you about it. Or, they'll keep part of the price change and give you some of it. Bottom line, if the price drops it should be your choice whether you want a refund or an upgrade - not the agent's choice.

And as others have said, if the agent charges you for changes - find another agent quickly!

Pete

Thanks Pete for explaining how it works and next time I def. will contact a cruise specialist ( have put your link into one of my favorites google search )
I contacted again our TA and they are not to blame because they book it with our Belgian RCC rep. named cruiseconnection ( crown and anchor gives also their phone number for booking a RCC cruise in Belgium )
Cruiseconnection says that they add a warranty tax ( to protect the customer in case RCC should be bankrupted, hope I explain myself correct ) and they always charge 75 euro for changing anything. If prices drop they do not drop their prices unless they drop more than 75 euro and we have to check this for ourselves. Now in our case our friends have a cabin number we do not have that, we have booked stateroom garanteed, at that time the cheapest. I wish I waited just for 2 days and would have given us also a cabin number and some more beers on the ship but ...... we will not let this ruin our vacation.
Again thank you for helping us and hope to cruise again with less beers but a better feeling.
greatings from cold cold Belgium
Frieda