Vacations To Go

Avoid Vacations to go for any booking. This is the second booking that was completely ruined. We never took a cruise before, so we relied on VTG to help booking. We were not looking for a cheap cruise. What we wanted is the best cruise for a family of three. We have a 6yr old. The agent convinced us the celebrity summit was the best. OMG was that a mistake. I read reviews after we booked and found out this is NOT suitable for a family with young child. I called them back (the next day) and of course no refund etc etc etc. I was asking even to pay more for another cruise. The agent told us we would have two large double beds. We have two small single beds (yes for three people). My feet hang off the end. There is very little (if anything) to do for our 6 year old and the complete confusion from what the agent sent us to when we finally made it to our rooms was nuts. Again, not the cruise line fault. The cruise (I can only guess) is for people that want a bargain cruise with average amenities (and adult activities) such as adult only pool etc etc. So, young adults, couples or even a group of older would suit this cruise. It's not for kids. My whole wanting to do this was for my 6 yr old. The agent really sold us on this. Again, not celebrity problem. Of course, we never heard from original agent again. Nor, could we contact her. I will live with this as I can afford to travel again. I just wonder if this was a "once in a lifetime" type vacation for someone else and its ruined because an agent (of company as vacations to go) did not care what they were selling only, that they sold it.

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint I'm sure that [redacted] is one of your top performers because he is good at what he does He is a sales man He sells people on cruises and like many sales people he is willing to say or do anything to secure the sale regardless of whether or not it steps over an ethical line We were under pressure to find an economical cruise for this summer to accommodate our family including children They have been begging for a cruise and it was supposed to be their birthday present and in lieu of a birthday party It is important to us that we make them happy for their birthday We trusted ***'s opinion because he SEEMED like a professional person who knew what he was doing.First [redacted] booked us on a cruise with [redacted] telling us that it would be great for us We were excited and did research to find out what great things were in store for us only to find out that the reviews showed that it wasn't the best choice for families with small children We immediately went back to him within 24hrs with the information we found and he said that he didn't know what he was thinking and admitted that it was a mistake for him to have suggested that cruise and that it wasn't going to be good for us We discussed switching to a different cruise line My wife asked him for advice on something that WOULD be good for our small children and that's when he recommended the [redacted] cruise and was willing to switch us out for that one My wife briefly looked over the amenities on the vacations to go website while on the phone with him and when she said "So it has a water slide?" [redacted] said "It doesn't just have a water slide...it has an entire water PARK." Our kids love water parks and that gave my wife the confidence that with multiple water park amenities instead of a single water slide our kids would actually be able to enjoy it instead of waiting in line endlessly and barely get to enjoy them We have been in a situation where it took days on a cruise before our kids could actually use a slide due to long lines Based on the good things [redacted] said about cruising on the [redacted] ***, but mainly due to him saying that it has a full water park for our kids, she decided she wanted me to book it.Once again, we trusted ***'s opinion now that he realized that he steered us wrong the first time and thought he had a better idea of what we needed And once again we began to research the ship to see what good things were in store for us We went on [redacted] 's website and looked at the water park My wife showed our kids and they got extremely excited But then I found a link to click on that shows which [redacted] ships have the water park [redacted] (our ship) was NOT on the list [redacted] only has a water slide If we knew this we wouldn't have booked it.I told [redacted] about this and he admitted that he was wrong about the water park We felt stuck with no alternative My wife was very unhappy about this situation and our kids were excited with anticipation of the water park I tried to convince her that we could make the best of it and that there will be plenty of things to keep the kids and us busy and happy However, upon reading reviews we saw that most are pretty bad and that our concerns are real I'm not sure what review site [redacted] is looking at where he says that most reviews are generally positive Everywhere we've looked the reviews are pretty aweful with only a few "OK" reviews that had plenty of "buts" in them.Quite a few reviews stood out that stated that [redacted] was not doing a good job of enforcing their smoking policy and that it was impossible to avoid the smoke which is even in areas that were originally "sold" to us as being good entertainment for our kids My wife and one of our daughters has [redacted] and we didn't want to have to miss out of entertainment options and/or have to expose our children to smoke This was the last straw There was no way that we could justify keeping this cruise We tried to hold on and make the best of it, but there is just no way So after days from the date we booked it we contacted [redacted] again with what we found and told him how we couldn't go on this cruise He claimed that he asked [redacted] if they would make an exception on the penalties and CLAIMED that they refused.We were very frustrated and thought we were stuck with a cruise that would make us miserable I contacted [redacted] 's customer service to see if I could get something done directly They said that since it was booked through a travel agency they were not allowed to touch the reservation They said that they would need authorization from Vacations to Go in order to cancel it and attempt to waive the penalty I asked if I could do a conference call with them and VTG and they agreed I was put on hold by [redacted] and [redacted] answered but hung up and claimed he was disconnected I called [redacted] back, spoke to someone else, had the same response and when trying to call [redacted] again on a way call I could not get it to go through.I called [redacted] directly and he once again claimed that he contacted [redacted] and that they had no record of me ever calling them and that they refused to make an exception to the penalties I called [redacted] again, and they made sure that they put a notation in their system that I called and that all they would need was for VTG to call them back to get the ball rolling on the cancellation My wife called [redacted] back and told him about all of this He said that he would call [redacted] and get back to her My wife called [redacted] and spoke to [redacted] [redacted] said that [redacted] was on the other line talking to her supervisor, *** [redacted] said that she already talked to [redacted] about everything and that all we needed to do was wait for [redacted] to call us back and that [redacted] would let us know what HE was willing to do[redacted] never called After waiting a while for the call, my wife called [redacted] back [redacted] claimed that he called [redacted] and that they refused to do anything for us When asked why he didn't call us back he said that since [redacted] wasn't willing to do anything he saw no point in calling us back (Extremely unprofessional.) When my wife asked who he spoke to he said he spoke to someone with a name that sounded something like " [redacted] ." That was not the person [redacted] at [redacted] said he was speaking to It appears to be a made up name so that the person couldn't be tracked down and held accountable.So we were at a point where [redacted] was saying to us that they were going to help us and that it was up to [redacted] at Vacations to go [redacted] was saying that [redacted] was the one not willing to do anything But after my wife explained once again our issues with the lack of water park and smoking, he said that he went on a DIFFERENT [redacted] cruise ship and that his kids didn't have any problems with the smoke When my wife asked if they had [redacted] he said no, and that they basically didn't have a problem with smoking because [redacted] smokes around them all the time He seemed to become agitated and offended that she was having a problem with smokers because HE is a smoker.IN THE END, [redacted] SAID THAT THE SMOKE IS NOT A BIG DEAL AND THAT WE CAN GO IN OUR CABIN IF IT'S THAT BAD HE SAID THAT VACATIONS TO GO DOESN'T HAVE THE MONEY-- [redacted] DOES My wife said that VTG's services are not free and that they get a commission [redacted] SAID "YES, I DO GET A COMMISSION, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE IT OVER SOMETHING LIKE THIS." So the bottom line is that [redacted] and Vacations to Go put all the blame on [redacted] and state that [redacted] is refusing to allow us to cancel without Penalty while [redacted] stated that it was up to [redacted] at Vacations to go Based on his comment and lack of willingness to allow me to have a way call with him and [redacted] (not just when I called through [redacted] , but he refused to allow me to be on the line when he spoke to [redacted] ) it is very obvious that [redacted] and Vacations to Go were the only ones not allowing us to cancel because [redacted] and Vacations to Go don't want to lose their commission.They will be losing MANY more commissions due to their lack of professionalism and dishonesty We do a lot of traveling and many people ask our advice We've booked with Vacations to Go in the past, but they have lost our business for a life time We've mentioned VTG to quite a few people after our first cruise that we booked through them We didn't have any issues because it was with a different cruise line and different rep However, the quality of a company and it's customer service is not measured by how they do when things go right, but how they perform when there is a problem There was NO positive performance when we had a problem [redacted] and Vacations to go have made it abundantly clear that they are willing to lie, dance around, pass the blame, and have complete disregard for their customers' well-being with greed as their only goal We will be letting all of our friends, relatives, acquaintances, neighbors, and everyone to whom we've ever given and ever will give any travel advice to steer clear of Vacations to Go We've already told several people about what we're going though and now we will tell them how they refuse to do the right thing We will also be starting a travel blog in the near future where we will also share our painful learning experience so that people know to avoid Vacations to Go Regards, [redacted]

I am sorry that [redacted] feel that our agent was unkind and non-caring to their daughter’s health concerns [redacted] is a year veteran with Vacations To Go and has consistently been one of our top performers He has no customer complaints on file I am confident that [redacted] meant no disrespect and I apologize if that is the way they feel I checked with [redacted] and he did not advise that the entire ship is smoke free [redacted] , like all cruise lines, does not allow smoking in the cabins or most other interior places All lines allow smoking on one side of the outdoor decks as well as in the casino A few lines have an additional area like a cigar bar This policy is consistent throughout the cruise industry [redacted] researched the smoking issue on line a week after booking the cruise rather than prior to booking [redacted] mentions reviews on line about the ship We looked at the reviews and while there are thousands they are generally positive We only found a few that mentioned smoking The [redacted] holds passengers and sails every week With over 192,passengers per year, not many have problems with the smoking policy Non-smoking guests on all ships are normally able to avoid smoke on a cruise It is the cruise line and not Vacations To Go that has a penalty for canceling We have checked with [redacted] and they are not willing to waive the penalty The current penalty from [redacted] to cancel their two cabins is $ That penalty goes to 75% on May 1st and 100% on May 16th While we do sympathize with their health concerns, we don’t feel that Vacations To Go misadvised them and we do not have a penalty should they decide to cancel Vacations To Go has no ability to waive or refund the [redacted] penalty[redacted]

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response If you wish, you may update it before sending it.] Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] When the funds are redeposited into our accounts, and the NSF fees have been reimbursed along with the additional $shipboard credit that was offered to us via e-mail, I will close the complaint[redacted]

We regret that Mr [redacted] feels that Vacations To Go wrongly accessed his records however that is not the case When a person books a cruise through a travel agency the cruise line maintains the records under that agency If the client books another cruise onboard the new cruise is sent back to the agency to service This is standard practice throughout the cruise industry Vacations To Go did not access his records from Princess In fact, Princess sent the reservation to us Some cruise lines will ask the passenger if they would like to have their reservation sent back to the travel agency and some will automatically send it Mr [redacted] is under no obligation to work with us and seeing his displeasure we will remove his future cruise from our system He is free to work with Princess on this cruise or transfer it to another travel agency of his choosing S [redacted] , Vacations To Go, 800-338-

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and would like to close the complaint I do not want to waste my time trading emails back and forth talking the same point The bottom line is that this business needs to respect customers privacy Princess Cruise may have sent them the purchase of my future cruise depsit, but Princess Cruises had never mandated that they use this info for drumming up sales Mr [redacted] also said this is a industry standard I have cruised foe many years, it may be a standard for Princess Cruises to send this info, but I know from experience that no other travel agency uses customer info to sell more cruises That is Not a standard

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response If you wish, you may update it before sending it.] Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me

Revdex.com: Complaint # [redacted] I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me [redacted]

We will review this and respond back tomorrow [redacted]

*** Cruise Line has agreed to issue a full refund to *** ***.*** *** *** ** *** ***

After reviewing *** *** reservation we realize that we had made a mistake. Although he did not purchase pre-paid gratituies we did inform him that they were a part of his reservation. Because of our mistake we spoke to *** *** today and told him that we would send him a check
for $396. He accepted our offer and agreed that when he receives the check, he will consider this complaint closed. *** ***, Vacations To Go, ***

I regret that this client feels that she was yelled at by anyone at Vacations To Go. We spoke with her a number of times regarding her vacation and the recent hurricane. Each time we relayed to her that Vacations To Go did not control canceling and issuing a refund. It would be up
to the hotel and the supplier. They were working on the reservations starting with the ones traveling first. The hotel has now reached her reservation and is processing the refund
*** ***, Vacations To Go, ***

We have spoken to *** *** and have agreed to issue a a refund. We are setting up the details now but should have it back to him in the next business days.*** *** *** ** *** ***

After checking again with Royal Caribbean we have found that there was a typo on the original confirmation sent to Ms* ***. She was acutally booked in cabin *** which was a balcony and the *** were booked in cabin *** which was a promenade cabin. We had the numbers reversed on our confirmation but each couple was booked in the correct type of room.Because of that when Ms*** arrived at the pier she is correct that cabin *** had been canceled but that was the cabin for the *** Royal Caribbean should have explained to her that her reservation # *** for a balcony cabin # *** had only been canceled that day because she arrived too late to board. Mrs*** or the Revdex.com can check with Royal Caribbean with the booking number and name and they will verify that the *** balcony cabin was canceled on the day of sailing. Mrs*** also states that she was unhappy with the attitude of our agent and his unwillingness to help. Our notes show that she spoke with him three times and each time he alerted Royal Caribbean of her flight status. He also monitored her flight on Delta's website after it took off and checked Google maps for traffic congestion from the Orlando airport to the pier and provided that information to her when she landed. He also had gave her information about the price of a taxi vs a shuttle. When she landed she reported that the baggage carousel had changed whiched caused a further delay but she was going to try to make it to the pier. We provided Royal Caribbean with that information.Again, I regret that she missed her cruise because of a flight delay but had she arrived at the ship in time she had a reservation for a balcony cabin just as she booked. Vacations To Go played no part in the ***'s missing their cruise.*** ***, Vacations To Go, ***

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me
I would like the thank the Revdex.com for the quick handling of this matter

We are
sorry to hear that *** *** purchased airfare for a cruise that was not
availableHowever, Vacations To Go is not responsibleOn our website, under
the price, it states that the cruise and the prices shown are subject to
availabilityAll travel agencies must advertise prices this
way because we are
not linked to the live inventory of the cruise lineWhen cabins sell out or
the price increases, cruise lines cannot notify thousands of travel agencies
across the country instantlyIn our
case when a client calls us we log in to the cruise line and check
availabilitySome companies allow online booking but even with those companies
a person searching for a cruise would see an advertised price and click through
several choices to secure a cabin and lock it inJust viewing prices on any
travel website does not mean that the ship could not be sold out or the price
may not be different.Vacations
To Go is aware of the hour rule but as *** *** learned directly from
*** this cruise was not available several hours prior to the actual
hoursIn some cases cruise lines may sell the last few cabins after the
hour time frameAgain, we check with the cruise line on every sale we make for
them and they advise us of price and availabilityAgain, I
regret that *** *** bought airfare but Vacations To Go is not responsible
for actions he took before he ever contacted our company

I regret that *** *** had problems on his recent cruise. I spoke to him and he accepted a refund of $as a goodwill gesture from Vacations To Go to resolve this complaint. A check will be sent to him this week.Sorrell W*** Vacations To Go, ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint
The response from Vacations to Go made no sense. I did not make a booking while I was on board a Princess ship. The one and only booking that I had made through Vacation to Go (for a long time and never again) was back in Nov 2014. It was over the phone and the representative never said that my future cruise certificates purchased through Princess would be used as a marketing tool in the future. Even as *** admitted that they are using this information as a marketing opportunity. Just because this issue was only brought up by me doesn't mean it is business as usual and they did nothing wrong. First they pointed to Princess Cruises because they had sent the info to Vacations To Go, now that are saying they do this many times with no complaint. Well, if I didn't push on this, I wouldn't have known about the backdoor exchanges of information. Some may be okay with this, but I am sure some would raise this as an issue if they knew how this was done behind the scenes. Taking me out of their system takes care of me, but the underlying issue of their practice still remains unprofessional. They are no my regular agency and I did not sign anything to say that they can review and use my information months later or indefinitely.I do not agree that this is not anything private. How many future cruise credits that I purchase directly through Princess Cruises is my own business. I do not need someone to review that (whether they had access or Princess sent the info) to tell me how much I have that I can use to book with them. None of the other agencies do this and this is an absolute abhorrent business practice. By the way, *** did not clearly explain why Princess Cruises would make they my agency of records, when I had been using other agencies BEFORE and AFTER my booking through Vacations To Go. This sounds strange to say the least
Regards,

I am sorry to hear that Mrand Mrs*** were not able to take their cruise. She filed this complaint against Vacations To Go but we were not at fault for her missed cruise. Like any travel agency our job was to book the cruise. Once booked Royal Caribbean charged her credit
card and they controlled all aspects of the cruise including boarding, cancellations and refunds. The ***'s contacted us on the day of sailing stating that their plane was four hours late and Royal Caribbean would not allow them to board. Travel agencies work with the cruise line office prior to sailing but on the day of sailing everything is controlled by the ship at the port.Mrs*** alleges that when she canceled the cabin for the other couple that was to travel with her that Vacations To Go canceled the wrong cabin. That is not true. We contacted Royal Caribbean and the cabin for Mrand Mrs*** was canceled on Sep 12th as requested. A partial refund was sent to them since they canceled in advance. Royal Caribbean further states that when the ***'s arrived at the pier on Oct 12th they were told then that it was too late to board. Their reservation was canceled that day by Royal Caribbean and they would receive a refund of only the tax. Vacations To Go made no mistake with the reservation and the cabin was canceled by the cruise line on the day of sailing because they arrived too late to board. Royal Caribbean also said that they advised the ***'s that they could write to Royal Caribbean with the details of the flight delay and they would review that information for any possible compensation offer. Again I regret that they missed their cruise but Vacations To Go was not at fault and has no power over the cruise line to make Royal Caribbean offer any compensation.*** *** Vacations To Go, ***

Dear Ms. [redacted]I am very sorry to hear about your situation and appreciate your patience as we do our best to resolve this matter. We sincerely apologize for any confusion regarding your cancellation and refund. Christine P[redacted] Director of Customer Service, will be in touch with you soon to find...

a resolution.Thank you for your business. We look forward to speaking with you soon.Sincerely,Kimberly A[redacted]Sr. Director, Customer Communication Vacations To Go