Booking dilemma! Booked with small agency.. but left shipboard credits, store credits on the table.

[AndyLL]

I would cancel or transfer the reservation (which one depending on whether prices have risen- check DCL's website for that) and rebook to get the maximum savings, then pay my friend about $250 for the work she did. Yes, $250 in actual money, not in gifts or gift cards or meals. She did real work for you and deserves to be paid with money.

This is a prime example of why you should avoid business transactions with friends, btw.

Agree with you that if the TA did any amount of work than sharing the savings would be the right thing to do.

Disagree with you about it having anything to do with being a friend. The right thing to do is the right thing to do whether it is a friend or not.

 

[kiford]

Their pricing is a little lower than our current booking for the same deck and stateroom type and would also give us a $900 costco card.

The only reasons that the pricing would be different would be if you were booking a different category (rooms in the same category can be on different decks and rooms on the same deck can be different categories) or if one of the quotes does not include pre-paid tips or if you are being quote a price that includes on board or other credit that the agency is giving you. DCL sells the same category at the same price regardless of where you book. I'd check that you're comparing apples to apples re pricing.

Also consider which agency will give you more attention, responsiveness and emergency aid if something goes wrong. We don't get any OBC anymore with our agency but we always use the same TA because she knows her stuff, handles everything other than flights (not just the cruise but before/after nights and any special tours), is the one to spend time on the phone booking everything, notifies us when payments are due, lets us know of anything that comes up, and is easily contactable both by e-mail, phone and in person. For us that has value. For OBC, we just book a placeholder for the next cruise (then the booking gets automatically routed to her).

 

[kiford]

Since we haven't talked about anything other than the actual dates and times of the reservation, I think I'll hold off on bugging her about excursions. I am planning on doing them independent of DCL anyway so I think she may not be able to help with those.

DCL excursions can be easily booked online as soon as your window opens. We have our TA book all non-DCL excursions or at least make recommendations for ones that I can book online more efficiently. That's a huge part of why we use a TA. I don't want to do all that research and spend the time calling for bookings. If your TA isn't able to help with that, it may be an incentive to move your reservation. That's what a TA is for - to take work of your hands, provide information you don't have, and give you the benefit of their experience and knowledge. If they can't do that, then I'm not sure what the point is of using them unless you get a discount/rebate/OBC. If they can do that, then they can be worth not getting a rebate since I'd have to spend my valuable time and/or end up booking something that isn't what I'd expected.

 

[wanderlust7]

I think the difference in pricing is because of the location of our room versus the other available rooms on the same deck (ours may be a more desirable 'zone').

You'll want to compare the category: example 5A, 5B, 5C, etc. The category reflects the location and everything within the same category should be the same price.

It's rare for the DCL price to drop, but in another thread, it seems some of the non-holiday Marvel cruises out of New York did.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

You'll want to compare the category: example 5A, 5B, 5C, etc. The category reflects the location and everything within the same category should be the same price.

It's rare for the DCL price to drop, but in another thread, it seems some of the non-holiday Marvel cruises out of New York did.

They were definitely the same category. Weird! I'll have to keep an eye out. There are a decent amount of rooms left--does Midship/Aft/Bow make a difference in price?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

They were definitely the same category. Weird! I'll have to keep an eye out. There are a decent amount of rooms left--does Midship/Aft/Bow make a difference in price?

Yes, the location makes a difference, not just the type of room. Midship is more expensive than forward or aft. You need to make sure you are comparing staterooms in the same category, i.e. comparing the cost of a 5C stateroom to another 5C stateroom, and not comparing the cost of a 5A stateroom to the cost of a 5C stateroom.

 

[Billinaz]

Major dilemma. Help! First time cruisers. Booked with a TA who is a friend and I love her. She's answered a lot of our questions, and is a huge help. So far all we've actually done is booked the cruise because it's a bit in the future. All is well...

However, one day, my husband checked Costco's site. Their pricing is a little lower than our current booking for the same deck and stateroom type and would also give us a $900 costco card. We do shop a LOT at Costco. Then, I looked on the Dreams Unlimited site and saw they'd provide a $500 shipboard credit, at least on a new reservation. I mentioned these to our agent and asked about any shipboard credits she/her agency might provide--unfortunately, none. She said she would completely understand if we felt we needed to book elsewhere to save the $$, noting that she was unable to compete with those prices--she does not provide them because she already makes just 50% of the commission (her tiny agency takes the other 50%). They simply cannot compete with the bigger agencies, which also get higher commission rates.

So here is the thing--I would feel terrible moving the reservation out of her wheelhouse but $900/$500 is a lot of money to leave on the table. I am also not sure how we'd get those incentives if we already have a reservation--it looks like if we simply transferred the registration, we'd lose half of at least the onboard credit for DU. Not sure how Costco would work. It does look like there are 3 other rooms in the category on our deck free but they are not as ideally situated--so I am not sure if we could cancel and rebook--not sure how fast that could be done or when our room would reappear as available.

Has anyone had this issue and how have you resolved it if so? Any advice as to what to do, how to do it? I was thinking if we change to another TA I would like to provide our initial agent a gift or something.

If you cancel the reservation, you can rebook the room as soon as it it available. Then you transfer that to Costco and get the cash card worth 9% of your cruise cost. If you book with a TA, then you may not be able to transfer it to COstco and keep the same level of cash card.

I book it directly with DCL to get the room I want then transfer it to COstco.

 

[Crisi83]

I'm trying to make sense of this thread and am wondering if there is anything I can do to get the costco card? In my own situation I did the onboard placeholder booking last cruise (first cruise, went with a TA who is no longer doing that) and handled the actual reservations myself. We just paid off the final amount on the cruise. Can we transfer this to costco and get a gift card, if so should we or am I giving up ability to do things for myself? Kind of confused by all this...

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I'm trying to make sense of this thread and am wondering if there is anything I can do to get the costco card? In my own situation I did the onboard placeholder booking last cruise (first cruise, went with a TA who is no longer doing that) and handled the actual reservations myself. We just paid off the final amount on the cruise. Can we transfer this to costco and get a gift card, if so should we or am I giving up ability to do things for myself? Kind of confused by all this...

No, you won't be able to transfer to Costco. You have two problems:

1) It sounds like you booked the placeholder more than 30 days ago. You have to transfer the placeholder to a TA within 30 days of booking it.
2) You cannot transfer a reservation to a TA after it is PIF, even if you are within 30 days of the booking.

 

[Crisi83]

No, you won't be able to transfer to Costco. You have two problems:

1) It sounds like you booked the placeholder more than 30 days ago. You have to transfer the placeholder to a TA within 30 days of booking it.
2) You cannot transfer a reservation to a TA after it is PIF, even if you are within 30 days of the booking.

Thanks, I didn't think it would work, but wanted to figure it out. If we do the placeholder this cruise and transfered it to a TA, how does that work? We then go through TA to book next cruise right? Nor sure we'll cruise again in the next two years, but seems worth doing on board just in case...

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Thanks, I didn't think it would work, but wanted to figure it out. If we do the placeholder this cruise and transfered it to a TA, how does that work? We then go through TA to book next cruise right? Nor sure we'll cruise again in the next two years, but seems worth doing on board just in case...

I've never transferred a reservation to a TA, but I know you won't be able to name Costco, or another TA, when booking the placeholder. You can only list a TA on your OBB if it is the TA you used to book your current cruise. My understanding is you contact Costco when you get home to initiate the transfer. I'm sure someone who has done this can chime in with details. I'm assuming there is either paperwork you have to complete or have a conference call with you, Costco, and DCL to confirm you are requesting the transfer. If you are booking a placeholder, transfer the placeholder when you get home, then when you are ready to book the cruise you want, contact Costco to have them book the cruise using your placeholder.

If there is any possibility you will be cruising in the next two years, it definitely makes sense to book the placeholder. The cost of the placeholder is fully refundable if you choose not to use it and it's only $250 to book the placeholder.

 

[cheermom2four]

Honestly, I would leave it with original TA. She is a friend and she did answer your questions up to this point. I was totally in the same situation, and booked our first cruise and got nothing from our TA. Booked our 2nd (quite a bit more costly as it was 4 of us on 7 night) and got nothing again. Inbetween these two bookings as I had booked both within 3 months, I found out by reading here of OBC and really wanted to cancel as my friend TA doesnt offer it. It was a bummer as she also didnt tell me much going into my first cruise ever and on DCL. I did most of my research myself by reading everything on here (i.e. even down to checking in online as she still to this day never mentioned how it works). This next definitely more expensive cruise we booked after our last one, we decided to go with an awesome TA that does give OBC. We had booked a placeholder onboard and told the guy that set it up on the ship that we didnt want to list a TA and then we called our new TA and transferred it to her. She has been so awesome and we will always book with her.

 

[dclpluto]

Just tell your ta I would love to use you but I get this big on board credit from Costco. If you can match we will stay with you but if you can't sorry I'm going to costco.

 

[GoofyDisneyDaddy]

I can't think of a friend that I would willingly forego $900 for. I also try to think of this with my skill set, and if I were doing something in my professional capacity for a friend, I would do so for free for my friend and certainly not expect my friend to pay me to do something if they could get the services elsewhere cheaper.

In essence, if you keep your reservation with your friend, they make some amount of money and their agency makes some amount of money (the later, arguably, benefits neither of you). If you transfer the reservation, you "make" some amount of money, and it seems like the amount you "make" is more than your friend would make. I'd transfer the reservation, and my wife would probably make me take my friend to dinner -- a fair compromise, probably.

edited to add, technically you'd probably cancel with your friend and rebook a new reservation with Costco. It's not really a "transfer."

 

[JW9DVC]

No, you won't be able to transfer to Costco. You have two problems:

1) It sounds like you booked the placeholder more than 30 days ago. You have to transfer the placeholder to a TA within 30 days of booking it.
2) You cannot transfer a reservation to a TA after it is PIF, even if you are within 30 days of the booking.

Make sure you don't list that previous agent on your next OBB then transfer to Costco.

 

[Billinaz]

I have placed on board bookings (including placeholders) and told them when I placed it I wanted Costco to be the TA. If you need to transfer your reservation from DCL to Costco, you just fill this out.....

http://www.livingwiththemagic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/BookingTransferFormAllDestinations.pdf

 

[tinkerone]

So my question is how close a friend? Is she someone you see every other day, someone you do lunch dates with, someone who shares nights out? Or is she someone you know who can be described as an Acquaintance who you say hi to as you pass her on the street. To me, that matters. If she is a true friend it would make my decision much harder however if she is an acquaintance then I would thank her for her understanding and walk away. How much time did she actually spend with you? Is it more time than someone who walks into a TA office and sits for 20 minutes to ask a few questions and then goes home to decide what would be best? Or have you been asking her questions weekly and she has had to stop what she is doing to answer your questions. That would matter to me as well.

To me, its all part of the game. If someone were to come into my financial office and open a GIC account and then change their minds a month later and wants to move on to another bank, well, that's the cost of doing business. No matter how much time I have spent with them I'm going to loss some.

Probably not the most popular answer however you are correct. $900 will pay for a few excursions, a few souvenirs, a few drinks. Money left on the table. My DH would not be happy with me either. Those DCL cruises are not cheap. If this wasn't a true 'friend' as explained earlier, if I hadn't spent to much of her time, I would cancel with her and not bat an eye.
JMO, not everyones though. Good luck.

 

[JW9DVC]

Major dilemma. Help! First time cruisers. Booked with a TA who is a friend and I love her. She's answered a lot of our questions, and is a huge help. So far all we've actually done is booked the cruise because it's a bit in the future. All is well...

However, one day, my husband checked Costco's site. Their pricing is a little lower than our current booking for the same deck and stateroom type and would also give us a $900 costco card. We do shop a LOT at Costco. Then, I looked on the Dreams Unlimited site and saw they'd provide a $500 shipboard credit, at least on a new reservation. I mentioned these to our agent and asked about any shipboard credits she/her agency might provide--unfortunately, none. She said she would completely understand if we felt we needed to book elsewhere to save the $$, noting that she was unable to compete with those prices--she does not provide them because she already makes just 50% of the commission (her tiny agency takes the other 50%). They simply cannot compete with the bigger agencies, which also get higher commission rates.

So here is the thing--I would feel terrible moving the reservation out of her wheelhouse but $900/$500 is a lot of money to leave on the table. I am also not sure how we'd get those incentives if we already have a reservation--it looks like if we simply transferred the registration, we'd lose half of at least the onboard credit for DU. Not sure how Costco would work. It does look like there are 3 other rooms in the category on our deck free but they are not as ideally situated--so I am not sure if we could cancel and rebook--not sure how fast that could be done or when our room would reappear as available.

Has anyone had this issue and how have you resolved it if so? Any advice as to what to do, how to do it? I was thinking if we change to another TA I would like to provide our initial agent a gift or something.

What have you ended up doing?

 

[twinsouvenirs]

What have you ended up doing?

So far? NOTHING. Found other ways to save including buying the gift cards at 5% off at target... but it looks like we would likely lose the specific room we booked if we tried to cancel & rebook with Costco.

I am really tempted to try that, and give her $$, but for some irrational reason I'm attached to our room, which she helped us pick--midship on floor 8. It looks like the only remaining rooms in our category are aft, but there is a whole cluster of open rooms there which makes me think they must be less desirable. So in the end I guess unless there is a really safe way to cancel & rebook I'll try to save the $$$ elsewhere.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I've noticed that some agencies are alloted rooms to fill. For example, on opening day, when I looked at one cruise on DCL, about 12 rooms came up. Then I went to expedia and rooms on a whole other floor were all that were available. Then I went to Costco and couldn't even find rooms available on the floor I was looking at. So it didn't look like Costco could sell me that room. Now whether they could sell me that room if I phoned them? I don't know. I didn't go that far.

Have you looked on the DCL website to see if any rooms around yours are available? If yes, you could try calling Costco travel to see what they can do for you. Remember, you'll be paying today's price for a new booking, which may be different than the booking you already have.