Credit from cancelling after 14 days.

[Lola Granola]

Geez, I didn't know TA's do not get paid until the cruise starts. I guess it makes sense but now I feel bad about bothering them with 'confirming' questions.

Don’t feel bad—that’s their job! But yeah, that’s how it works.

 

[diznee princess]

Geez, I didn't know TA's do not get paid until the cruise starts. I guess it makes sense but now I feel bad about bothering them with 'confirming' questions.

Also, the TA doesn't get full commission the agency they work under takes it cut from the 10% first. Usually 30-50% depending on experience and sales from client.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Good advice. But to OP also understand the situation Travel Agents are in. They don't get paid until you actually take the cruise, and the past two years in many cases they have canceled, rescheduled some cruises multiple times so their work load is up, but they haven't make a penny on the trip, yet.

I do feel for TAs right now, but this does not make it OK to not respond to the client such that they miss a deadline to cancel or move cruise.

This is why I have been so hesitant to use a TA--I make changes to my plans and I wonder if the TA resents having to do extra work for me, especially when they haven't been paid yet.

 

[tvguy]

I do feel for TAs right now, but this does not make it OK to not respond to the client such that they miss a deadline to cancel or move cruise.

This is why I have been so hesitant to use a TA--I make changes to my plans and I wonder if the TA resents having to do extra work for me, especially when they haven't been paid yet.

Not responding is never acceptable, but I have never had that issue with a travel agent. In this computer age, they should have everything set up to alert them of deadlines. My last cruise, on Celebrity in October 2019 is the first I booked directly with the cruise line, not through a Travel Agent. It was painless, plus I got a lower air fare through Celebrity using their preferred airline that I could get myself and I got full travel insurance for $25.

 

[Sykes]

That makes no sense.
I don't know. The travel blogger I follow says they don't get a penny until the passenger actually takes the trip. Any other Travel Agents here who can straighten this out.

Normally that is true, but Disney (and most cruise lines) protected the commissions on most of the cancellations for reservations that were paid in full that were cancelled by the cruise line. It's a drop in the bucket compared to all the truly lost business, but it's something. What you said is still true for voluntary cancellations like this one.

 

[Lola Granola]

Normally that is true, but Disney (and most cruise lines) protected the commissions on most of the cancellations for reservations that were paid in full that were cancelled by the cruise line. It's a drop in the bucket compared to all the truly lost business, but it's something. What you said is still true for voluntary cancellations like this one.

Those initial commissions were protected. For example, your client was booked to sail June 2020 but did not. That commission was paid. But say for example that same client took the future cruise credit from that cruise and used that credit to book another cruise for September 2020. That commission was also paid (since it was at final payment, which is when all cruise lines pay) EXCEPT when that cruise was cancelled, that commission was recalled. In other words, any cruise booked with a FCC that was cancelled was recalled—they received nothing even though at that point, they probably put more work into booking that other cruise than they did for the initial cruise.

I know this thread has kind of gone dead but I wanted to let people know that agents aren’t just being greedy, etc. Disney did a great job of protecting commissions (as did Universal and other cruise lines—thanks for nothing Sandals) and it helped a lot of Disney focused agencies stay afloat, but it only went so far.

 

[mcrowder1978]

That stinks that they are so unresponsive. I would make sure it’s all documented and see if DCL can do anything for you. I know that this travel agent won’t get paid, but OP shouldn’t be out their money if they can get it refunded/a credit just because this travel agent doesn’t respond. It would make me never want to recommend this travel agent to anyone

I had a similar experience the one time I went through a TA. It was for our 2nd cruise and the setup was pretty simple. When it finally came time for me to make the decision to cancel it took a couple of weeks just to get word back on the status because it was still showing as active on my DCL account. Ever since then I have just gone and done everything on my own and it has worked well. Yeah it can be stressful when you are trying to get activities or park dining reserved but it has been less stressful than not hearing back from the person who is supposed to be doing all of it for you. Plus I like doing the planning aspect....it gives me something to focus on so that I am not always thinking about work.