Thread: Group Cruise Question

Wow - where did that come from?? If you can't follow the economics of the whole situation, I suggest you might not want to make comments about it. If you had read my original post, I stated that I did outside sales for a travel agency in CT for 15 years but stopped doing it last year because I was sick to death of the owner trying to make money at the expense of the clients. And let me assure you I am stringing nobody along through their noses. Wow, I cannot even believe you posted all this nonsense. Every single person on each of the boards has given me constructive comments for which I am extremely grateful. I have decided now just to totally ignore anything you say now or in the future.

Originally Posted by jcpc

Wow - where did that come from?? If you can't follow the economics of the whole situation, I suggest you might not want to make comments about it. If you had read my original post, I stated that I did outside sales for a travel agency in CT for 15 years but stopped doing it last year because I was sick to death of the owner trying to make money at the expense of the clients. And let me assure you I am stringing nobody along through their noses. Wow, I cannot even believe you posted all this nonsense. Every single person on each of the boards has given me constructive comments for which I am extremely grateful. I have decided now just to totally ignore anything you say now or in the future.

And I guess that's what the TA has one as well...

A word of caution, If you read CLF every day you would realize we do not get nasty with other posters. It is not allowed. What is allowed is different opinions discussed in a civil manner. Be careful.

My apologies, Sue.

Originally Posted by jcpc

My apologies, Sue.

I'm not sure but I don't think Sue's comment was directed at you specifically or solely.

For those of you who are interested I want to let you know the outcome of this situation.

This morning I called Celebrity Group department. I told the rep who answered the phone the entire situation. I read her, word for word, every email I had received from the agency regarding the cruise, the pricing, the amenities, etc.

The Group Dept rep told me that she understands why I feel the way I do, but unless the travel agent is willing to release the bookings there is nothing anyone at Celebrity can do. She also told me that if the agency agreed to release the bookings and then I transferred the bookings to Celebrity, I will lose the onboard credits because right at this current moment this sailing is offering only 2 Group Amenity Points. She said if I could find an agent who had a group on this sailing, I might be able to transfer the booking to that agent and get the GAP assigned to that group (yeah, like I know what travel agencies have groups on this sailing!).

She then asked me to hold on while she spoke with her supervisor. When she came back on the line she asked me to hold again and tried to conference in the owner of the travel agency. The owner was in the office but unavailable to come to the phone (which doesn't surprise me, because after numerous emails with her yesterday, I point blank asked her to call me today at my office number so we could talk about this so I could understand her reasoning and she answered "the credit is 760 if 16 people sail. let me know what you want to do".

The Group Dept rep told me that in all honesty her feeling was that this agency would not release the bookings but would tell me that I needed to cancel the bookings and re-book. That is not an option as the 2A balcony cabins are $300 per person more now than what they were when we booked the cruise last year.

So I then asked her, in a situation such as this does the passenger have any rights? It seems like the travel agency has the right to either release the booking or deny the release but what rights does the passenger have? She said, unfortunately, since I booked through a travel agent then the only right that I have is to cancel the booking. She did say I might want to contact the Better Business Bureau (which would, in my opinon, be a total waste of time).

So.....bottom line is we are stuck (which I pretty much figured after working on this all weekend and this morning).

Thanks to everyone on this board who had constructive ideas and suggestions. I appreciated all your insight.

Thank you for the update. It's a shame the agent is not willing to work with you and has withheld the TC, which is rightfully yours. That's not the way to do business.

As for transferring the group, there are times when another agent can work with their Business Development Manager (BDM) and they in turn have worked with the Revenue department to get group space at the same rate you paid, even though the rate has gone up. In other words, there are always ways around the problem.

Pete

First of all, I know for a fact that there are some ethical travel agents out their, but unfortunately the unethical ones outnumber those of us who are ethical. Secondly, the travel agent in question would make nothing on taxes and fees as they are noncommissionable and would not be charged by the cruise line anyway. Also, that travel agent is suggesting you commit fraud and you should report them to any professional organization they are a member of. As far as your TC goes, you would receive it as long as 8 cabins were booked.

Originally Posted by Cruise Planner

You don't have to cancel your group. You can tell Celebrity that you want to transfer the group to another agent. Unfortunately, Celebrity requires the agent of record to release the group before they can rebook it with another agent. But if you talk to a supervisor and tell them your problems, you might be able to get something done.

After hearing your other comments, it does sound like your agent is lying to you and taking advantage of the situation and keeping the TC for herself.

As for the onboard credit, what she's doing is using the GAP points to get the onboard credit, so this is not costing her anything; it's something you get from Celebrity for booking a group. So you would NOT lose the onboard credit if you cancelled and rebooked.

As for a 'free' cruise, it doesn't happen. What the cruise line does is refund the TC in the form of a credit. This money is equivalent to the cruise fare (not counting port fees or taxes) less the commission, since they don't have to pay a commission on this amount. This is YOUR money, not hers. You can use this to apply towards a 'free' cruise, but you'd still have to pay the commission, the port fees, and the taxes in order for it to actually become a free cruise for someone. Often, this credit is distributed among all the people going as a way to lower the price of the cruise for everyone.

You're right about cancelling the cruise and then rebooking it at the higher rate. But occasionally, deals can be struck. As with most things, it's not what you know, but who you know that can get things done.

It's unfortunate the agent is taking advantage of the situation - it is agents like her that give the rest of us a bad reputation.

If it were me, and I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but I think I might threaten to cancel the cruise if she doesn't provide the TC to you. And if she refuses, then you'll have to make a decision on the matter. But I would be talking to another agent and find out what they can do for you, perhaps Celebrity might be willing to work with you on changing the playing field.

But as I said earlier, do NOT book a group directly with the cruise line. This is definitely something that could end up costing you more money. A reputable agent will look after you, the cruise line will look after themself.

Pete ~

I have a group cruise on Celebrity.
8 cabins in all.

I was given OBC when I first booked my cruise with Celebrity.
Then transferred my group cruise to my TA since she offered an additional OBC.
She didn't mention anything about "GAP" points.
Nor did she discount the cabins with a lower group rate.

Since Celebrity will not discuss your cruise when you book with a TA
it's hard to get the "true" facts.

Right before my final payment, my TA told me I would receive xxx amount of dollars.

How do I know if she's not keeping a little bit on the side?
There is no way of knowing what Celebrity actually gave off for the free berth.

I just have to take my TA's word on the amount.

Now, she told me the free berth isn't entitled to the OBC.

It's very hard to trust a TA when you aren't given proof, copy of what the cruise line offers for group cruises when you deal with travel agents.

The Tour Credit (or TC) will be equivalent to the cruise fare only (not counting the non-commissionable fees or NCF) for the majority of cabins. So let's say for argument, that you have 4 balcony cabins, 3 oceanview cabins, and 1 inside cabin. The TC will be the cruise fare for a balcony cabin. With that said, let's say the price quoted for the balcony cabin is $859 per person and the NCF is $159. That would mean the TC is worth $700 less the commission. The commission is taken off since they do not pay it to the agent, so the actual amount of the TC will be somewhere around $600 or so depending on their level of commission. But that is $600 in cash for you to determine what to do with; you can keep it yourself and apply it toward your cruise. You could divide it among the number of people going and they would pay a little less for their cruise. You could use it to buy things for the group, like matching shirts, tote bags, etc. Or you can donate it - we've had a couple of church groups donate the TC to the church. We've had other groups use the TC to help pay for the cruise for the most senior in attendance.

Anyway, you can figure the approximate amount of the TC you should received based on some easy calculations as I've shown above.

She is correct about one thing; the TC is not entitled to onboard credit, because a TC is not a reservation. It is as it says, a Tour 'Credit' and as I stated, this credit can be used in various ways.

As for the GAP points, most of the time, but not always, the cruise line provides GAP points (Group Amenity Points), which the group can use for various items. Most of the time, groups use these for onboard credit, but they can be used for other things as well.

Now, with all that said, the agent should be honest with you and tell you what the TC is and what the GAPs are. (If you want to send me a personal email with the group info, I'll be happy to look up the sailing and see if any GAP points are being offered and if so, how many.)

Keep in mind that if an agent is offering more onboard credit than you are entitled to as a group, they are doing so out of their own pocket, so they have to make up this money somehow and often will do so by keeping the TC for themselves or using the GAP points to provide them additional commission. It sounds good for them to promise you more onboard credit, but you usually end up paying for it somehow. So my best advice is be very careful when dealing with agents who promise you more than others are offering for the same thing.

Hope this helps, but please don't hesitate to ask if you have any other questions.

Pete