I wanted something special for my 50th birthday so my husband and I choose a cruise. It will be my first one, so I wanted it to be special.
To make sure I got what I wanted, I called a TA that one of my co-workers referred. I booked the cruise about six months ago to make sure I got the dates on my birthday.
I haven't heard anyting from them and since it is only three months away, I thought I should check with the TA about when to pay the rest of the deposit, etc. When I called the TA, I found out the TA I used to book the cruise was working through ANOTHER TA (TA#2 -whom I was talking to now) and they (TA#1) got the wrong date, (even my birthday was wrong)!!
TA#2 (same one I was talking to) has been great about calling me and trying to get me on another cruise, and saying they were refunding my money back into my credit card (it hasn't shown up yet). They gave me some prices and dates (which are the same) but I wanted to do some research on the ship and check out other prices.
After surfing the web, I found I can book this same cruise myself on ORBITZ or TRAVELOCITY for $400 cheaper than the second TA quoted (everything the exact same thing).
MY QUESTION: Should I book it myself through ORBITZ (I have used them before and been very pleased) or is this risky to do since it is getting close to sailing dates (Jan 15-22)?
I would love to get some feedback, thank you.
Martha, I am so sorry this has happened to you. You should always demand a written confirmation from your agent when booking anything. It sounds like the agent in question was ineffectual in a number of ways. It pays to check them out, if you can.
Most agents can price match should an online discounter offer a better price, so I would suggest checking with the agent you are working with. The fact that they have gone to bat for you when it doesn't appear to be their error (but the error of their sub agent) should send you a strong message. If they can't price match it, then you have a tough decision to make.
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