I may be naive but I really dont think this is a move by the cruise lines to cut out TA's. Renaissance tried that and it did not work as the TA's boycotted the line. They ended up going bankrupt. The cruise lines have seen that before. If they cut out TA's they have to increase staff to handle passengers and that increases expenses.

If anything I think it is a move by the cruise line to pacify the "strong" TAs and keep them in business and stop the undercutting by the .com companies. The .com companies wont respond to questions so the passengers start calling the cruise line. So the cruise line pays commission and then they still have to handle the passengers. I have also heard cruise line executives say they feel it devalues their product to see it advertised or sold at lower pricing.

If this comes to RSSC I will have to stop advertising my rebated prices and that will hurt my business a lot. It remains to be seen if an agency can still rebate and just not advertise or if they will allow "enhancements" without affecting the actual price. Whatever it is that is the way it will be.

Issues like this always have complexity that is not intially clear. I do not mean to imply that I understand or have any knowledge of the real reasons behind the move. These are just my opinions based on the facts as I perceive them.