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

Hi Everyone,


This will be our 4th cruise and still do not understand how it works, so that is why I kindly would like to ask you all what to do ( for now and in the future )
-We have an agency in Belgium that take cares of all your questions related to cruising with RCC ( think they are the RCC rep. for Belgium,they also provides the crown and anchor magazine )but you cannot book your cruise with them you need to book it through a TA. They have their website and also have promotions on cabins, you can call them, ask for prices, take an option for a few days etc but if you decide to book the cabin you need to book it through a TA.
Then we have different agency’s that sells cruises with airfare and hotel as a package but also you need to book them through your TA.
Suppose you want to book a certain cruise, we can contact our travel agency and they can give us price of the cabin ( price of the day ) and also price of a package ( with airfare and hotel )
Last week I saw on the website of this cabin agency of RCC a promotion for next year.
I called them asked for a total price ( room with balcony all taxes etc included ) and took an option for a cat X balcony room, which was the cheapest balcony room at that time.
I called my TA and asked them if they could give me an offer for the cabin + airfare and hotel , and an offer for the cabin booked through the cabin RCC agency and fare booked through the airline so I could compare both prices ( hotel I checked on line )
Because we had a great deal on airfare booked directly through the airline, we called our TA to tell them we would book only the cabin, everything was fine at that time.( I booked the flight myself through the internet )
Two days later, did not receive paperwork, did not put anything on paper, only agreed on the phone with our TA I saw on our cabin agency website that balcony x rooms were disappeared and another category balcony room ( the lowest one but still great ) was decreased in price for 150 dlr and it became cheaper than our balcony x room.
I immediately called them and asked them polite to change our booking, but they said that they already booked it and it could only be changed with a charge of 100 dlr.
Is this normal ? I mean 2 days later, not received signed or whatever any paperwork ?
They also said that our cat X balcony room can be better that the balcony room they sell now 150 dlr cheaper ….. yes it Can be but it is not certain, it also could be the same.
I asked if I could call perhaps RCC and they told me they are the contact agency of RCC in Belgium and they also said that in the USA they adjust prices but not in Belgium!
Did they cheat us ???
Can we book in the USA in future ??
( I am still glad we are going again on a cruise but my stomache feels bad )

Any tips for a Belgian cruiser are welcome
thank you all
have a great day
Frieda

hi frieda.
we always use T.A.s from the states,i personally use V.T.G. out of texas because you can talk to a person, and yhey do real good prices.

I do know that in Europe it is done differently than in the US.
I also know that some use US T/A's.
I am not familier with the different rules in different countries.

In your particular case, it is not that they cheated you so much as the rules are different.
If you cancelled the cruise and then rebooked would there be a cost for that?

Hi Smitty, Hi Blizard,

Thanks for your reply

If we would cancel or change the stateroom they charge us as much as the difference now is, so that is no option.

I just called RCC in the USA and they saw our booking ( so they really booked it through ) and the nice lady told me that for USA people they could adjust the price but not for bookings over seas, she also told me that it is ridiculous to charge us a penalty for changing a stateroom because they can do this for free.
On our last cruise I talked to someone of crown and anchor and they told me that for Belgium we always need to deal with this agency, that we could not book our cruise elsewhere ????
That is why we use this tour rep for RCC every time.

Smitty you are from the UK so also overseas can I ask you what VTG is ( their website maybe ) is it allowed to ask this question ??

Have a great weekend
Frie

I have clients all over the world and it's not a problem to either get their cabin reduced or get them upgraded whenever the price goes down.

The good thing about dealing with RCCL is that we can get price reductions up until a few days before sailing - and these rules are the same for everyone no matter where they live. Some cruise lines, like NCL, will not allow reductions once final payment is made. And some cruise lines, like Princess, will not allow U.S. agencies to sell to foreigners. RCCL, however, is great to work with - as I said, I have clients in such places as Australia, South Africa, England, India, Germany, etc. and have never had any problems working with RCCL.

Unless the special is for new bookings only, your agent should be able to get the reduction without any problems and without any charges. If they can't or won't, then find another agent.

And lastly, I don't recommend dealing with online sites as sometimes that can lead you to more problems. Cruise Value Center, a very large online site, just went out of business and ended up costing alot of people a great deal of money. It's always better to deal with an agent and not an online agency as they will monitor your rates and get you any price reductions that are available to you.

Pete

A competent cruise specialist or a Certified Cruise Counsellorfrom Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) can look up the qualified rates you may have for international guests like over 55, past guests and adjust it according to the correct promo.

It is a little research has to be done to find which agencies do the adjustment of qualified promos after final payment without incurring a cruise refaring adjustment/monitoring fees like some agencies may charge to reduce your cruise fare.

Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises and Carnival will allow international guests to book with U.S. based agencies.

International guests must ask many questions if they want to book with a U.S. agents.

With the recent news of an online cruise agency bankrupted left the guests high and dry on $2 to $3 million dollars of client's payments were not forwarded directly to the cruise lines.

Make sure the payments are directly posted with the cruise lines, not the agency.

Some agencies fall this kind of trap of floating client's payment to pay off their overhead and salaries because of huge cash flow problems and it catches up.

Ask the agency if the agency has the license and bonding from CLIA and the required California, Florida, and Nevada' Seller of Travel certificate because California and Florida are the 2 toughest states travel agencies must get in order to sell travel to California and Florida residents.

Originally Posted by fvandewouwer

Smitty you are from the UK so also overseas can I ask you what VTG is ( their website maybe ) is it allowed to ask this question ??

Have a great weekend
Frie

I'll answer this. VTG is Vacations To Go.

You certainly can use travel agents in the US... I have clients all over the world, mostly US, CA and EU.

Some agencies do charge to change cabins or have cancellation fees... I only have cancellation fees for high risk clients, say they have booked 5 vacations in two years and canceled them all! But the fee can be applied toward final payment if they do ever actually go on their trip.

CLIA is a great resource, as was mentioned.

Good luck in your search...

Dolores

Thank you all for your answers, I know now for our future cruises that we do not have to deal with a Belgian TA but that I can check other cy's also in the USA.
I called once again our agency and they told me they always charge 100 dlrs if they need to change something ( it was also written on their website ) so it is my mistake and we have to deal with that.
but
next time I am going to be a bit more careful and take a look at the different sites you all gave me

Again thank you all and we wish you a very nice weekend
Frieda and Erwin
Belgium

Glad our folks could be of help!

Cruise forums, and expecially CruiseLineFans, are the places to get first hand info that will enhance your cruise experience from booking all the way through to getting home after your cruise.

Come back often to share and to ask!