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Post by pattipea on Mar 13, 2015 15:42:43 GMT
I'm just starting to think about a cruise, and few weeks ago I signed into my Carnival Cruise account for the first time in several years. I was surprised when a couple days later I got a call from Carnival. The guy said he was my personal vacation planner and wanted to assist me in planning my next cruise. When I asked how he just happened to call at that time, he told me it was because I had been looking around at the site. I was ok with having him check in every now and then, as I was sure I would have questions, and the planning/anticipating is all part of the fun. We got all the intros and info exchanged during the first call, and sure enough a couple weeks later, he called me back just to see if there was anything new to add. When I happened to mention that I normally deal with a travel agent, he very kindly informed me that they do not take business away from travel agents, and I needed to deal with her. She would get me the same info and prices that he could. I'm not ready to contact the travel agent yet, tho, and I thought it would be fun to interact with a 'Carnival' person, but because I told him I used an agent, he had to add that to my file. My personal vacation planner broke up with me, and I am crushed.  Who knew?? I sure didn't. |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:06:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2015 15:45:37 GMT
He probably gets no commission if you don't book through him and go through a TA after taking up his time since I suspect he works on commissions and/or a small salary. Sorry he left you though.....
I don't know about Carnival's website, but Holland America had a good one and there was a lot of info and planning that could be done on there.
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tracylynn
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,905 
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Post by tracylynn on Mar 13, 2015 16:10:36 GMT
I don't cruise on Carnival, but suspect they have similar rules as other lines.
If that is a true statement, then if you DO book through a travel agent you will not be able to do anything with your reservation at all. So, if you need to change dates or add to it, etc, all of that will need to be done with a travel agent. If there are price drops that you can take advantage of (after you book) you would have to go through your TA on those as well, and if she/he missed them, then oh well.
We book our cruises directly through the Cruise Line. Our group all has status, so we gets discounts and perks. This way we also control our reservations and can call and talk to the cruise line about them all we want. We also can change cabins, take advantage of discounted prices, etc on our own.
I know a lot of TA's offer bonuses for booking through them (paid gratuities, special meals, on board money, etc) but for us those extras aren't worth the hassle.
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Post by JustCallMeMommy on Mar 13, 2015 16:12:44 GMT
That is annoying - you don't HAVE to use an agent this time, even if you normally use one. I like vacation planning, so, for me, the value in using an agent for a cruise is in any on board credits or other extras they might offer.
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Anita
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,891
Location: Kansas City -ish
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Post by Anita on Mar 13, 2015 16:21:21 GMT
That bites. We love our Carnival travel guy. Can you call yours back and tell him you broke up with your travel agent and you really only love him?  |
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Post by annabella on Mar 13, 2015 16:22:05 GMT
I took a cruise 7 years ago and the cruise line still calls me asking if I'm ready to book my next cruise. Very annoying.
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Post by brookeq on Mar 13, 2015 17:42:07 GMT
I took a cruise 7 years ago and the cruise line still calls me asking if I'm ready to book my next cruise. Very annoying. Our carnival agent was calling us all of the time after our last cruise. We just told him the best way to send us any deals or info was thru email. So he marked our file and mainly emails us now. |
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Post by KiwiJo on Mar 13, 2015 19:20:21 GMT
I took a cruise 7 years ago and the cruise line still calls me asking if I'm ready to book my next cruise. Very annoying. Yeah, I would find it annoying too - the way I see it, it is just the same as any other cold-caller. Someone contacting me, wanting me to do business with them. Just because I used them once does not give the go-ahead to keep in contact with me IMO. |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:06:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2015 19:34:37 GMT
Carnival took a lot of heat from the travel agency side a couple of years ago because they were poaching clients. In a nutshell, the price is the price, and if a TA books it, then Carnival has to pay a commission. If you go directly through them, they keep the commission.
TAs have long maintained that they are the ones taking the phone traffic, doing the labor of changing reservations for different fares, helping folks pick the right cruise, traffic, etc. so they were plenty ticked off when Carnival started reaching out to "their" clients directly and tried to cut the agents out of the picture. My host agency, which was Carnival's Agency of the Year back in 2010 I believe it was, dropped them as a preferred provider and sent out notes to home-based agents like myself telling us why we should strongly consider not working with Carnival at all. My agency couldn't make me stop, of course, but they did lower my share of the commission as an incentive to steer clear.
We obviously weren't the only ones in the fight, and I know the trade press talked about what a nightmare it was creating for Carnival to have to deal with all of that traffic we refused to coordinate, etc. Plus, it cut off their outside sales team, to be blunt about it. It appears from the OP's conversation that Carnival is doing some serious mea culpas now. They can't afford to be accused of taking an agent's client is my guess.
Just a little insider baseball FYI.
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Post by Yubon Peatlejuice on Mar 13, 2015 21:27:41 GMT
Cruises are extremely easy to book. Just do it yourself.
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Who knew?? I sure didn't.
