*Dancing Queen* 394 Posted September 20, 2018 Report Share Posted September 20, 2018 I'm just curious ... how many members book with Bolsover Cruise Club ?? Although I live within a few miles of where their office used to be about 25/30 years ago I had never heard of them, on a cruise it was actually a couple we met who lived in Liverpool who introduced us to them, since the early days I have booked with them many times but I am not totally loyal if another agent can offer a better deal then like most I will go with the best deal. I'm even closer to their current premises but that isn't my reason for booking with them now what is more important to me these days is the knowledge their consultants have and the better deal has become secondary, a saving of £50/£100 seems insignificant to me if you are not getting the service, Bolsover have never let me down on service what do others think. Davybe 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Countrygirl 237 Posted September 20, 2018 Report Share Posted September 20, 2018 I also heard about Bolsover CC on our first cruise in 1998 and have used them for all our cruises since. We live in West Berkshire so have never seen their office. I have to say that the service and help they have given has been outstanding. Long may it continue. I don’t shop around for the best price we would rather be assured by a company we can trust. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2torts 345 Posted September 20, 2018 Report Share Posted September 20, 2018 A friend recommended Bolsover to us and we've used them ever since. We currently have 4 cruises booked with them over the next 2 years. However we've never quite worked out how this one to one consultant works as no matter what we phone them for whether it's to book, pay or just ask a question we are always dealt with by whoever answers the phone in a friendly, efficient manner. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
*Dancing Queen* 394 Posted September 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2018 Their office is pretty impressive ( the coffee isn't bad either 😉 ) if I'm honest I preferred where they started out as it was a much more personal service but they have grown so much over the years the purpose built cruise centre was obviously the way forward, having said that the personal service is still there just in a different way. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
*Dancing Queen* 394 Posted September 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2018 10 minutes ago, 2torts said: A friend recommended Bolsover to us and we've used them ever since. We currently have 4 cruises booked with them over the next 2 years. However we've never quite worked out how this one to one consultant works as no matter what we phone them for whether it's to book, pay or just ask a question we are always dealt with by whoever answers the phone in a friendly, efficient manner. I think a lot of agents work with this 'one to one consultant' most of the time if the consultant is in work they transfer your call to them but if it is a non working day then whoever takes your call will deal with your query, I recently wanted to change a cruise to another one and my agent wasn't working the day I phoned so a message was left and she contacted me the following day, as it was non urgent it wasn't a problem but I'm sure if it had been urgent someone else would have dealt with it with the same efficiency. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Kidd II 798 Posted September 20, 2018 Report Share Posted September 20, 2018 I as recommended by a friend to BCC. Since then I automatically judt call them as they are so professional . The one to one consultant works for me as I ask for her when I phone or just message her and get an almost immediate answer. Nener had such good service before. 😊 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mitch 325 Posted September 20, 2018 Report Share Posted September 20, 2018 i used tocruise regularly many years ago when the wife was alive and usually booked direct or just with the local travel agent. my aunt mentioned many years ago she used bolsover and when i moved to stavely it seemed the logical thing to do as they are just down the road now. the service has been excellant and as dq says the coffee is pretty good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blackiesbird 19 Posted September 20, 2018 Report Share Posted September 20, 2018 We were introduced to Bolsover by the same friends that introduced us to cruising and have only ever used BCC. We have always used the same consultant, asking for her by name and when she retired we have been passed to another and are now beginning to build up the same rapport with her. We are loyal customers and like the personal touch even if each and every part of the transactions are conducted over the phone and by email Quote Link to post Share on other sites
afcandrew 369 Posted September 20, 2018 Report Share Posted September 20, 2018 We were introduced to them through friends we met on our first P&O Cruise in 1997. Pleased to say that I am still in touch with both the friends & Bolsover 21 years later! For a while, I used a local TA when living in Brighton, who were very good and price-matched. They had a dedicated Cruise & World Travel consultant but eventually did away with that post. Since then, I have largely only dealt with Bolsover. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Davybe 529 Posted September 21, 2018 Report Share Posted September 21, 2018 First heard of them on Oceana this couple were telling the table how much less they paid than everyone else?🤭Which turned out to be wrong? we all paid about the same. We then booked a couple of cruises with them after seeing offers in the "Mail on Sunday" and would use them again, but they are not our first choice of agent. Prefer a good reliable service rather than saving a few bob and getting a screwed up booking ,which has happened......Davybe Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sinbad10 757 Posted September 21, 2018 Report Share Posted September 21, 2018 We have used them many times as well as other TAs and not always had excellent service a bit sporadic on occasions and they arent always the cheapest, but having said that as the saying goes "cheapest is not always the best". We are currently looking at a Cunard cruise for 2020 and they are only offering 3% discount where others have offered 5%. Which might not seem much but on a £7000 cruise it amounts to over £120. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Kidd II 798 Posted September 21, 2018 Report Share Posted September 21, 2018 I don’t understand about the service bit🤔. I can only say all service provided has been excellent and certainly worth more than penny pinching just to save a few “bob” on a cruise. My consultant us the best and this is proven as she is an awards winner 😘 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gill57 15 Posted September 21, 2018 Report Share Posted September 21, 2018 I have booked with Bolsover since about 1992. They have never let me down and i will continue to book with them as they are always efficient with excellent customer service skills. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sinbad10 757 Posted September 21, 2018 Report Share Posted September 21, 2018 3 hours ago, Captain Kidd II said: I don’t understand about the service bit🤔. I can only say all service provided has been excellent and certainly worth more than penny pinching just to save a few “bob” on a cruise. My consultant us the best and this is proven as she is an awards winner 😘 When I booked a cruise with Princess through Bolsover was having trouble getting shareholder benefit applied to my booking. Rang Bolsover for advice and the agent said she hadnt got a clue how to do it and couldnt be of any help but eventually she gave me a number to ring at Princess to ask and when I rang up it was a fax number. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sinbad10 757 Posted September 21, 2018 Report Share Posted September 21, 2018 3 hours ago, Captain Kidd II said: I don’t understand about the service bit🤔. I can only say all service provided has been excellent and certainly worth more than penny pinching just to save a few “bob” on a cruise. My consultant us the best and this is proven as she is an awards winner 😘 I would normally agree but on my next cruise I am looking at booking for 2020 the price given by Bolsover and another top cruise TA is £120+ difference and in anyone's imagination is not just a few "bob" but a considerable amount of money or at least it is to me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mayway 98 Posted September 21, 2018 Report Share Posted September 21, 2018 When we first decided to cruise we were recommended Bolsover by a friend who also cruised. Our initial impressions were good, but there were a couple of issues during the booking (not least the fact that P&O effectively cancelled our back to back cruises) that made me doubt that they were actually working for us and not the cruise line. Another issue was the moving of a cabin on the replacement cruise that we booked - which I left them with as I left work and which they failed to complete. So we've never used them again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
*Dancing Queen* 394 Posted September 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2018 3 hours ago, Gill57 said: I have booked with Bolsover since about 1992. They have never let me down and i will continue to book with them as they are always efficient with excellent customer service skills. I've probably been booking with Bolsover ( on and off ) since about the same time Gill57, I have never been let down by them either and only ever received excellent service, when I have gone elsewhere it has only been because another agent might be offering a better deal with a considerable saving, I would love to see the 'old system' brought back where agents have a % to work with and can give what they want to the passenger, I realise they do work with the same % as all other agents but an extra 1 or 2 % was always appealing. Gill57 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Kidd II 798 Posted September 21, 2018 Report Share Posted September 21, 2018 2 hours ago, sinbad10 said: I would normally agree but on my next cruise I am looking at booking for 2020 the price given by Bolsover and another top cruise TA is £120+ difference and in anyone's imagination is not just a few "bob" but a considerable amount of money or at least it is to me. Well all I can say is with all the discounts and OBS I got I was perfectly happy rspecially as I uograded the cabin for the same price I eas expecting to pay. In the overall scheme of things £120 on £7k is not a huge amount or perhaps I look at tge orice charged by the cruiseline and am just happy if I get any reduction. Let’s hope you get the excellent service from your non BCC agent! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sinbad10 757 Posted September 21, 2018 Report Share Posted September 21, 2018 57 minutes ago, *Dancing Queen* said: I've probably been booking with Bolsover ( on and off ) since about the same time Gill57, I have never been let down by them either and only ever received excellent service, when I have gone elsewhere it has only been because another agent might be offering a better deal with a considerable saving, I would love to see the 'old system' brought back where agents have a % to work with and can give what they want to the passenger, I realise they do work with the same % as all other agents but an extra 1 or 2 % was always appealing. They do vary depending on TA where they are giving you an amount of their commission as a booking incentive. Like I said earlier contacted different TAs this last week enquiring about price for same cruise and one gave nothing more than what I would get booking direct with Cunard, one gave 3% and the other 5% So they arent fixed to a price like a few years ago and can vary it with offers. Davybe 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sinbad10 757 Posted September 21, 2018 Report Share Posted September 21, 2018 3 minutes ago, Captain Kidd II said: Well all I can say is with all the discounts and OBS I got I was perfectly happy rspecially as I uograded the cabin for the same price I eas expecting to pay. In the overall scheme of things £120 on £7k is not a huge amount or perhaps I look at tge orice charged by the cruiseline and am just happy if I get any reduction. Let’s hope you get the excellent service from your non BCC agent! I have used them before and never had any problem at all but even on a £7k holiday £120 is still a lot of money but never mind we dont all live in an Ideal World 😀😀 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
towny44 229 Posted September 22, 2018 Report Share Posted September 22, 2018 20 hours ago, sinbad10 said: They do vary depending on TA where they are giving you an amount of their commission as a booking incentive. Like I said earlier contacted different TAs this last week enquiring about price for same cruise and one gave nothing more than what I would get booking direct with Cunard, one gave 3% and the other 5% So they arent fixed to a price like a few years ago and can vary it with offers. If you deal with one agent in a company, rather than the first one to answer, you can build up a relationship which we have done, and now we always get the maximum discount they are able to offer, but this can vary dependent on the cruise line. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sinbad10 757 Posted September 22, 2018 Report Share Posted September 22, 2018 3 hours ago, towny44 said: If you deal with one agent in a company, rather than the first one to answer, you can build up a relationship which we have done, and now we always get the maximum discount they are able to offer, but this can vary dependent on the cruise line. Perhaps you could get a good rapport with your regular agent and you can build up a relationship with them but they can only give maximum discount that company bosses allow and there is always a chance that another company are happier passing on more of their commission not make so much profit and so give better discount. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
*Dancing Queen* 394 Posted September 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2018 3 hours ago, towny44 said: If you deal with one agent in a company, rather than the first one to answer, you can build up a relationship which we have done, and now we always get the maximum discount they are able to offer, but this can vary dependent on the cruise line. I agree Towny, when you deal with the same consultant you do build up a relationship but I still preferred the 'old way' when agents had more flexibility to offer discounts , I guess the cruise lines were aiming to maximise profits by encouraging people to book direct but having read recently that 'personal cruise advisers' are now a thing of the past ( with P&O at least ) it might encourage more people to book with agents rather than direct which hopefully will be a win win for us the passenger. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Davybe 529 Posted September 23, 2018 Report Share Posted September 23, 2018 On 9/21/2018 at 7:30 PM, sinbad10 said: They do vary depending on TA where they are giving you an amount of their commission as a booking incentive. Like I said earlier contacted different TAs this last week enquiring about price for same cruise and one gave nothing more than what I would get booking direct with Cunard, one gave 3% and the other 5% So they arent fixed to a price like a few years ago and can vary it with offers. I do wonder why people book directly with the cruise lined they get anything extra? Booking on the ship will give you some benefits ,and referring it back to your agent can get you a further discount .If you are just shopping on line then why not get the best discount you can, even using a trusted agent will get you a bit off the price, much better the money in my account than theirs....Davybe Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oldworldtraveller 2225 Posted September 23, 2018 Report Share Posted September 23, 2018 (edited) I always advise people to book with a cruise agent for one simple reason, no, it's not because they are sometimes a little cheaper although this is not always the case, it's simply that if something goes wrong a large cruise agent for several reasons has more clout with the cruise line than you do as an individual. Edited September 23, 2018 by Oldworldtraveller sinbad10 and Captain Kidd II 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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