This story was provided by a Facebook friend who owns a travel agency. It seems as though cabins were booked by my friend for her and her husband as well as for several other couples on a trans – Atlantic cruise out of Barcelona, Spain back to Galveston, Tx. After meeting in Barcelona and enjoying the sights and sounds of the city, the time came to board the ship.

The problem began soon thereafter when it was discovered that one couple’s cabin was located directly across the hall from a laundry room which did not appear on the ship’s deck plan. Passengers on that deck chose to visit out in the hallway while doing laundry because of the heat inside of the laundry room. Cruise security officers were called several times because of the hallway noise, especially when passengers chose to do their laundry during the middle of the night.

This situation was preventable had the cruise line provided the travel agent with a proper deck plan. As a travel agent, my friend is the cruise line’s customer and should be provided with the proper information to provide great customer service to her own clients.

She would never have booked the cabin across the hall from the laundry room! It’s important to provide your customers with the proper information which allows them to make the best purchasing decision.

Although there were no other cabins available, the cruise line did offer the couple a 20% reduction in their fare and a discount coupon for their next cruise. Is your information updated regularly? Is someone specifically assigned to update your website? Is someone proofreading your information before making it available to the general public? Periodically review information to insure the message your customer receives fits your intentions.

I wonder how many other travel agents have that deck plan? I wonder how many calls the cruise security received because someone booked that cabin without knowing about the laundry room? I wonder how much the deck plan has cost the cruise line.

I wonder if anybody has thought to look for ways to decrease or possibly eliminate the heat in the laundry room? I guess I should probably stop here.