Are Cruise deals over?

On 13 Aug 2004 02:57:49 GMT,
(Cruisingthe7seas) wrote:

What has been stopping you from doing so up until now?

Lee, nothing that I know of, but thanks for the thinking that went behind it.

Here is the situation. Royal Caribbean and Carnival have a commission schedule
for travel agents. Basically, every travel agent gets 10% commission, those
that sell lots of cruises can earn up to 16% commission, plus they can package
groups and earn about another 5% plus sell the tour conductor pass to boot.

A large rebater may offer a 10% discount to folks that buy a cruise from them
and keep the additional 11% plus a pro rata of the TC.

----snip---
If you get a 10% discount due to TA commission rebate on a typical
carribbean cruise, are you really saving that much? Typical inside
cabin for 7-days $599. For 2 people, you save $120. Is this really
going to make a cruise unaffordable to most? I don't think so. Many
cruisers drop that in the casino in much less than an hour. I'll
admit, I called around to find the best deal when booking my last
cruise. I did this because I wanted to pay the lowest price
possible, not because if I paid the cruise line's current rate, I
would not be able to go. I ended up booking with my favorite local TA
as usual, and paid $20 more pp than the cheapest quote. The
reassurance of my trusted TA was worth the extra cost for me. Now
that everyone should have the same price, it will save me time.

However, it may backfire, since the big agencies are likely the ones
with group space on many ships. Now to get the best deal, I may have
to book with a mega-agency as my TA might not have group space.
However, I will still be willing to pay a premium to know that I have
my TA taking care of all my needs. To me, the lowest price and a good
value are not always the same.

On another note, aren't there some arilines that have partnered with
TA's to give miles when booking a cruise? I wonder how they will be
effected. The first one that comes to mind is
www.skymilescruises.com, but they seem to only deal with lines that
Carnival owns. I guess we will see if CCL follows suit.

On 13 Aug 2004 02:57:49 GMT,
(Cruisingthe7seas) wrote:

What has been stopping you from doing so up until now?

Lee, nothing that I know of, but thanks for the thinking that went behind it.

Here is the situation. Royal Caribbean and Carnival have a commission schedule
for travel agents. Basically, every travel agent gets 10% commission, those
that sell lots of cruises can earn up to 16% commission, plus they can package
groups and earn about another 5% plus sell the tour conductor pass to boot.

A large rebater may offer a 10% discount to folks that buy a cruise from them
and keep the additional 11% plus a pro rata of the TC.

----snip---
If you get a 10% discount due to TA commission rebate on a typical
carribbean cruise, are you really saving that much? Typical inside
cabin for 7-days $599. For 2 people, you save $120. Is this really
going to make a cruise unaffordable to most? I don't think so. Many
cruisers drop that in the casino in much less than an hour. I'll
admit, I called around to find the best deal when booking my last
cruise. I did this because I wanted to pay the lowest price
possible, not because if I paid the cruise line's current rate, I
would not be able to go. I ended up booking with my favorite local TA
as usual, and paid $20 more pp than the cheapest quote. The
reassurance of my trusted TA was worth the extra cost for me. Now
that everyone should have the same price, it will save me time.

However, it may backfire, since the big agencies are likely the ones
with group space on many ships. Now to get the best deal, I may have
to book with a mega-agency as my TA might not have group space.
However, I will still be willing to pay a premium to know that I have
my TA taking care of all my needs. To me, the lowest price and a good
value are not always the same.

On another note, aren't there some arilines that have partnered with
TA's to give miles when booking a cruise? I wonder how they will be
effected. The first one that comes to mind is
www.skymilescruises.com, but they seem to only deal with lines that
Carnival owns. I guess we will see if CCL follows suit.

(Paul Motter) wrote in
m:

Just my opinion, but folks that think they are getting great
discounts from rebaters are simply asleep at the wheel, as far as I
am concerned.

I think you make some excellent points - however the situation is a
little different. What if you were trying to buy the same pair of
glasses, went into Costco, and they said "sorry, they were on sale
last week, but this week the MANUFACTURER is telling us no more
discounts."

That is more akin to what is happening here. Your only choice now is
to wait for the price to drop when the manufacturer chooses to drop
it. You don't have the "Costco Discount Store" option anymore.


Actually that is why you don't see some b rands sold at costco.

Manufacturers price control is not such a new or novel idea. Luxury brands
have used it to control the perception of their value for years. Why do you
think there is a limit on Louis Vuiton bags at Galleries Lafayette adn
Printemps in Paris? (with a line ever present to purchase)

(Paul Motter) wrote in
m:

Just my opinion, but folks that think they are getting great
discounts from rebaters are simply asleep at the wheel, as far as I
am concerned.

I think you make some excellent points - however the situation is a
little different. What if you were trying to buy the same pair of
glasses, went into Costco, and they said "sorry, they were on sale
last week, but this week the MANUFACTURER is telling us no more
discounts."

That is more akin to what is happening here. Your only choice now is
to wait for the price to drop when the manufacturer chooses to drop
it. You don't have the "Costco Discount Store" option anymore.


Actually that is why you don't see some b rands sold at costco.

Manufacturers price control is not such a new or novel idea. Luxury brands
have used it to control the perception of their value for years. Why do you
think there is a limit on Louis Vuiton bags at Galleries Lafayette adn
Printemps in Paris? (with a line ever present to purchase)

"Georgeny" wrote in
news:0i2Tc.8075$K82.1639@trndny01:

This has been a goal of cruiselines for
years, ending the TA involvement, but has been too costly to do until
now. To replace the distribution system of agents with line agents and
service people would have been too costly, now it is reasonable since
a portion of bookings are now internet related and require a minimum
of service time. The need for TA experiemce is also more limited as so
many do their own homework on web.

Say it ain't so, Bob Dickinson has been telling me for years how much he
loves me!!

Look at the airlines though. They cut out the TA's and what came next scale
back of phone res agents as internet booking engines took over. Will the
consumer be as well informed? If they do their research, yes. Do I think I
have job security? You must be kidding. If I, and this is true of most
people in the business, didn't really enjoy what I do there would be no
reason to do it. At least I don't pay rent at a store front anymore or pay
employees! What I earn is mine to spend on travel. Now if the market would
only get better so I can afford to be out of the TA biz.

"Georgeny" wrote in
news:0i2Tc.8075$K82.1639@trndny01:

This has been a goal of cruiselines for
years, ending the TA involvement, but has been too costly to do until
now. To replace the distribution system of agents with line agents and
service people would have been too costly, now it is reasonable since
a portion of bookings are now internet related and require a minimum
of service time. The need for TA experiemce is also more limited as so
many do their own homework on web.

Say it ain't so, Bob Dickinson has been telling me for years how much he
loves me!!

Look at the airlines though. They cut out the TA's and what came next scale
back of phone res agents as internet booking engines took over. Will the
consumer be as well informed? If they do their research, yes. Do I think I
have job security? You must be kidding. If I, and this is true of most
people in the business, didn't really enjoy what I do there would be no
reason to do it. At least I don't pay rent at a store front anymore or pay
employees! What I earn is mine to spend on travel. Now if the market would
only get better so I can afford to be out of the TA biz.

"Georgeny" wrote in
news:0i2Tc.8075$K82.1639@trndny01:

This has been a goal of cruiselines for
years, ending the TA involvement, but has been too costly to do until
now. To replace the distribution system of agents with line agents and
service people would have been too costly, now it is reasonable since
a portion of bookings are now internet related and require a minimum
of service time. The need for TA experiemce is also more limited as so
many do their own homework on web.

Say it ain't so, Bob Dickinson has been telling me for years how much he
loves me!!

Look at the airlines though. They cut out the TA's and what came next scale
back of phone res agents as internet booking engines took over. Will the
consumer be as well informed? If they do their research, yes. Do I think I
have job security? You must be kidding. If I, and this is true of most
people in the business, didn't really enjoy what I do there would be no
reason to do it. At least I don't pay rent at a store front anymore or pay
employees! What I earn is mine to spend on travel. Now if the market would
only get better so I can afford to be out of the TA biz.

On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 20:45:47 -0400, Charles wrote:

So while the policy might not cause me to cruise
less---I might choose to cruise less.

There is a God.

On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 20:45:47 -0400, Charles wrote:

So while the policy might not cause me to cruise
less---I might choose to cruise less.

There is a God.

So, if you can't expect to get a better price from one TA to the next
then a lot of people will just book directly /w RCCL. Yes, some will
want the extra services a TA may offer but many don't need it; they
just want the lowest price on the right cruise. If I knew I could get
the lowest price directly /w Celebrity and felt I would get the
service I would need from them I don't know if I would book with a TA
or not.

With most TAs charging customers to book airline tickets (when other
higher commission travel is not booked) many consumers have gone
directly to the airline web sites. Even Expedia.com charges for
tickets! This is a direct result of the changes to the commission
structure by the airlines. Just like the airlines, you all know what
the next move will be. RCCL (and/or others) will start to 'adjust'
their commission structure to TAs. It may not be as drastic as the
air industry but it will move in that direction.

Just IMO.

-D

(FUNCRUISES) wrote in message ...
I just attended Royal Caribbean's Partners in Excellence Luncheon in Miami
yesterday. The meeting was conducted by Lisa Bauer, VP of Sales; Dan Hanrahan,
VP of Marketing; and Richard Fain, Chairman of Royal Caribbean himself were in
attendance.

All three spoke on this issue, and they made it perfectly clear that there will
be NO rebating of commission ONLINE or OFFLINE of Royal Caribbean or Celebrity
Cruises.

There will be no mail in rebates, no membership discounts, no password
protected websites that offer rebates, etc etc etc. In other words, no
rebating of Royal Caribbean cruises whatsoever.

Travel Agents may only promote and sell approved pricing promotions, which
includes group rates if the agency has them.

Whoever said book by August 15th at midnight was not kidding. Anyone caught
selling Royal Caribbean below Royal Caribbean's prices after 8/16 could be in
big trouble.

Carnival will allow agencies to offer discounts over the phone, but not online.

I heard it straight from the horse's mouth.

Better book em while you can.

Uf Tukel
WMPH Vacations
Home of CruiseCheap.com and AlaskaCruises.com
1-800-439-1909