We all know that in most situations exchanging one's week with II for a cruise is a bad deal. I now have some experience that says that II doesn't follow normal good travel agency practices.
I found a cruise exchange that actually worked and booked it. December 10 was final payment date, and I got a reminder that my credit card would be charged for the balance due. No problem. The charge showed up on the account of December 13. No problem. The charge was to II rather than the cruise line. Start of a problem.
II did not send that money to the cruise line. Big problem. Cruise line cancelled on December 18, and refunded the deposit less a $50 cancellation fee today, December 21. Major problem.
Right now, II has managed to get the cruise booking reinstated, but they have not yet dealt with paying for it. I anticipate some interesting conversation about the $50 cancellation fee.
Regardless of how this all turns out, I would recommend against II arranged travel because of them acting as an intermediary in the collection of money that should be going directly to the travel supplier. This just isn't an acceptable practice among the reputable cruise booking agencies.
Art
I found a cruise exchange that actually worked and booked it. December 10 was final payment date, and I got a reminder that my credit card would be charged for the balance due. No problem. The charge showed up on the account of December 13. No problem. The charge was to II rather than the cruise line. Start of a problem.
II did not send that money to the cruise line. Big problem. Cruise line cancelled on December 18, and refunded the deposit less a $50 cancellation fee today, December 21. Major problem.
Right now, II has managed to get the cruise booking reinstated, but they have not yet dealt with paying for it. I anticipate some interesting conversation about the $50 cancellation fee.
Regardless of how this all turns out, I would recommend against II arranged travel because of them acting as an intermediary in the collection of money that should be going directly to the travel supplier. This just isn't an acceptable practice among the reputable cruise booking agencies.
Art