Discounting fares

[FirstCoastCruiser]

Has anyone else heard that RCI will no longer allow agents to discount fares?

I for one love RCI but in the last couple of years I have seen their prices climb well above Carnival and most times they are equal to or higher than Princess & Holland America for similar itineraries. The coupons I get from C&A are generally worthless to me so I guess I will have to reconsider sailing with them, as their prices are just too high.

I think it is just an attempt to persuade people to book direct or through their website so they do not have to pay commission to travel agencies at all, increasing their own profits. I mean, if I can’t price shop, why not just book it online myself?

[Kuki]

RCI and Celebrity have had those "controlled" pricing policies in place since late 2006.
I wrote a couple of articles about this in Feb. 07 that explains how one might get around these policies, or take advantage of other means.
Here's the link
http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/...upthephone.cfm

They claimed they were doing it to level the playing field for all travel agents, but I think time has proven it's been to the detriment of the cruise consumer!