Thread: Transfer of bookings made onboard ship

I have a question for our dear TAs

I made two bookings while onboard The Brilliance of the Seas.
The future cruise girl transfered my two bookings to the TA I have been using as they had a much better rate then RCI Spain.
I wasnt sure if I wanted to use them again as I dont think they are able to get me the best rates. They are really good at getting fantastic rates for lower cabin categories but not really for large Balcony (D1) or suite categories.
My TA is based in Germany and as a result have to follow the pricing for the German market.
For our November cruise I was charged aprox Euros 1050,- pp for a cat. W (gty suite) Had I booked with a Spanish TA or an American TA I would have gotten the same category for around Euros 750 or $999!!!
Thats a saving of Euros 300 pp or Euros 600 for the cabin!!!

Now, I talked to my TA and I asked if I HAD to keep the bookings with them or if I could transfer it.
They said I didnt have to book the cruises with them but I was "bound" by the German market so I couldnt transfer the cruises to an American agent.
So I kept my bookings with my TA (seascanner) and made an initial payment..

Is this right??? Am I bound by the German market???

Can I transfer the booking now or before final payment to another agent in another market without loosing my $200 OBC for booking onboard??
With my shareholder benefit of $200,- per cruise my OBC will be $400,- and I dont really want to loose the OBC for booking onboard.

Also, I was thinking of canceling one of the cruises but my TA said they could transfer the booking (and me keeping my $200 obc) to another sailing if I wanted to.
I have heard that changing the dates and keeping your obc is not allowed since the cruise was booked onboard and by changing date I loose my original booking number and with that my obc????

The cancelation policy and fee from RCI Germany is 5% of the total cruise price form date of booking to 60 days prior to sailing.

With RCCL you can transfer the booking to an American agent without any problems. However, you will need to get a release form signed by the agent on record before RCCL will transfer the reservation to another agent.

When it's transferred, the agent will see the fares in U.S. dollars and then they can check to see if there are any specials which would provide a better rate for you - in U.S. dollars.

Pete

HI Pete

Thank you for the answer, as always

So it all depends on if my TA will give me the release form!!!

Sounds easy enough as long as they (my TA) is cooperating

Lars, I have not had to deal with this situation. I have two clients residing in England and they booked directly with me.

Ken, Thats alright.
Its me being difficult I know what I want, when and how I want it and I just have this feeling that I will get a better price for a suite if I book with someone else then the TA I am using now.
As I said before my TA is very good at finding the best prices for lower priced categories but not really for the DI cabins (superior balcony)and suites. Their prices has never gone down to much on those.

If you're looking for a lower price, I wouldn't call that being difficult, Lars. If you can save some money, why not?

Originally Posted by MD11F

If you're looking for a lower price, I wouldn't call that being difficult, Lars. If you can save some money, why not?

Sure, thats very true. More to spend onboard right!!??!!

Originally Posted by *Lars*

Sure, thats very true. More to spend onboard right!!??!!

That's right.

I find it all being a gamble
As I mentioned in my first post, if I had booked somewhere else I could have saved almost Euros 600,-. That is "alot" of money.
and those Euros 600,- could have bought us another cruise in a lower category cabin!!! Some Med. and Trans Atlantic cruises was selling for Euros 250,- at one point this fall
I always monitor the cruise prices for those voyages I am interested in both in the German, Spanish and American market. I love it, I think its fun

Lars, next time you book onboard tell the future cruise person to leave the booking with the cruise line......they don't have to transfer it to your TA of record. They do transfer it, as a courtesy to the TA, unless you tell them NOT to. Once you get home you can choose who to transfer it to after you check out pricing.