My cruise travel agent is driving me crazy!

[HKdolphingirl]

After weighing the pros and cons, I decided to use a travel agent to book a block of rooms for our cruise wedding. I decided this would be great, he could answer all the booking questions, and I could pretty much stay out of it, and we would get some freebies, saving us money so we could in turn do better OOT bags, and a welcome party that was otherwise out of the budget win-win.

 

So I got some recommendations from friends, and several recommended the same guy - easy to work with, super on top of things, etc.

 

So I call Bob, he gets me the block of rooms, he gets my honeymoon suite booked. So far so good. 

 

Then he tells me that I am supposed to have my guests contact me when they are ready to book, and then I should contact him so that he can call them to book. This makes NO sense to me. Why should I be the middle man? Why wouldn't they just contact HIM when they are ready to book, and give our wedding name? He assures me this streamlines things somehow, so I say fine, I'll e-mail him contact info whenever people tell me they are ready to book. I'm annoyed since this sort of defeats the purpose of me staying out of it. That was strike one.

 

Fast forward. I have sent him 10 different couples' info already who are ready to put down their deposits. He set up phone "meetings" with them, and then doesn't call, or calls at completely different times when they are at work and have told him they can't talk, or doesn't call them at all. I have guests that have been going back and forth with him for 3-4 weeks and some almost 2 months and still aren't booked!

 

He keeps giving excuses. He just went through a divorce and had to move his office so he's not as organized as usual. Fine gave him some slack. Then his dad was ill and not expected to make it so he was out of town dealing with hospice. Fine game him some slack. But that was all months ago!

 

My guests are getting frustrated and just want to book on their own, and I don't blame them but I really wanted to get the perks of the block of rooms. 

 

I feel like this should be way easier? am I crazy? Or is he just a bad travel agent? When I express my concerns to him he always has an excuse, and by the end makes me sound like I am crazy for being upset. Granted my cruise is over a year away, but some of my relatives have specific room requests because of large families and medical issues etc, and they want to book early, why is that so hard?

 

I don't know at this point if there is even a way to "fire" him since I already have all our group deposit and deposit on my suite and group account setup through him?

 

Should I call another travel agent and see what they say? Anyone experienced anything similar?

[Lizrmt]

Are there other TAs working out of the same location? Or is it just him? If there are others working in the office you could ask to switch to someone who might have more time.

[HKdolphingirl]

it's just him, so it would mean switching to a whole other company

[AllieH]

it should be way easier than it is. I'm sorry this is so frustrating! there's no reason for you to be a middle man to begin with, and then for him to be so disorganized isn't acceptable. 

 

I have a friend who specializes in booking cruises. I met her because of cruising, and have been on many trips with her. 

 

She's also my TA for my DW, and while it isn't her specialty, my guests are thrilled with her services. I've referred a number of friends to her for cruises as well, and they've all had nothing but wonderful feedback. 

 

If you're at all interested in changing TAs, shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to share her contact info. 

 

If you decide to stick it out with Bob, I'd have a heart to heart with him about how unhappy you are with the way things have gone so far, and discuss what can be done differently going forward to improve the situation. It's business, and treat it like that - get the solution/resolution you want. Good luck!! 

 

[DwBride2Be]

Hey HK,   I work in the travel industry, and most definitely that is not the norm.   You're right about not being involved in bookings, it's just adding an extra step, but for some reason he seems to think it's best.  Maybe he doesn't like answering the phone lol.

 

Anyways, you CAN switch your booking to another TA, but you have to find one you like and ensure they are capable and want to take over the booking process, and then provide WRITTEN approval to the cruise line for the new TA to take it over.  Only then will the cruise line take it away from the original agent.

 

Chances are, if you mention you're going to do this, then he'll smarten up.    Also chances are he's bitten off more than he can chew in his business all by himself, and probably just doesn't have the experience to handle a group booking.

 

Sorry for your luck!  I hope it gets better soon!

~L

[2bmrstremblay]

Hi HK, 

 

So sorry that this is happening to you. I read a lot on Cruise Critic about how it is hard to deal with TA's sometimes for weddings and some brides end up being the go between. I was worried about this and I decided to go with our regular PVP. She is great and told me to give them her direct line so that I don't have to get involved....now we will see what actually happens when people start booking but for now it seems ok. 

 

Your TA sounds like he needs a swift kick in the behind...I would give him a deadline to get everything past due done by and inform him that if it didn't happen that day you will be switching your reservation to someone more competent....sometimes people get good reputations...and I have no clue why!

 

Hope you are enjoying planning your carnival wedding and I'll be excited to see how things go for you! I am sure it will be a magical day no matter what!

[HKdolphingirl]

Thanks all! I'm glad to know it's not just me being a Bridezilla or something! It seemed so unreasonable. I guess now the hunt really begins for a better travel agent.

[olive0y1]

Originally Posted by HKdolphingirl 

 

After weighing the pros and cons, I decided to use a travel agent to book a block of rooms for our cruise wedding. I decided this would be great, he could answer all the booking questions, and I could pretty much stay out of it, and we would get some freebies, saving us money so we could in turn do better OOT bags, and a welcome party that was otherwise out of the budget win-win.

 

So I got some recommendations from friends, and several recommended the same guy - easy to work with, super on top of things, etc.

 

So I call Bob, he gets me the block of rooms, he gets my honeymoon suite booked. So far so good. 

 

Then he tells me that I am supposed to have my guests contact me when they are ready to book, and then I should contact him so that he can call them to book. This makes NO sense to me. Why should I be the middle man? Why wouldn't they just contact HIM when they are ready to book, and give our wedding name? He assures me this streamlines things somehow, so I say fine, I'll e-mail him contact info whenever people tell me they are ready to book. I'm annoyed since this sort of defeats the purpose of me staying out of it. That was strike one.

 

Fast forward. I have sent him 10 different couples' info already who are ready to put down their deposits. He set up phone "meetings" with them, and then doesn't call, or calls at completely different times when they are at work and have told him they can't talk, or doesn't call them at all. I have guests that have been going back and forth with him for 3-4 weeks and some almost 2 months and still aren't booked!

 

He keeps giving excuses. He just went through a divorce and had to move his office so he's not as organized as usual. Fine gave him some slack. Then his dad was ill and not expected to make it so he was out of town dealing with hospice. Fine game him some slack. But that was all months ago!

 

My guests are getting frustrated and just want to book on their own, and I don't blame them but I really wanted to get the perks of the block of rooms. 

 

I feel like this should be way easier? am I crazy? Or is he just a bad travel agent? When I express my concerns to him he always has an excuse, and by the end makes me sound like I am crazy for being upset. Granted my cruise is over a year away, but some of my relatives have specific room requests because of large families and medical issues etc, and they want to book early, why is that so hard?

 

I don't know at this point if there is even a way to "fire" him since I already have all our group deposit and deposit on my suite and group account setup through him?

 

Should I call another travel agent and see what they say? Anyone experienced anything similar?

Which cruise line are you working with? I'm doing the samething w/ Carnival Cruise and I didn't have to be the middle person. I just sent a mass email to everyone that if they wanted to convinience, to just call our agent. Some called her and some used another company to book, but you shouldn't be going through all that hassle.