TA question

[CLEMM]

If you don't book through Celebrity, but use a TA, do you just book the crusie and then do everything else yourself? For instance, should a TA help with tours, transfers, hotels, flights, etc?

[lblk]

A good travel agent will offer to make your airline and hotel reservations for you. If you are using the cruise line transfers, they will reserve those for you, as well. If you would like, they can also make specialty dining reservations for you pre-cruise.

[Wine-O]

I think you can go onto 'My Celebrity" and sign up for shore excursions, specialty dining, beverage packages, and the like. It gave me the options to do so, but I'm not sure if you have to pay up front or when you get on board, using your seapass.

[cruie4ever]

A good travel agent will offer to make your airline and hotel reservations for you. If you are using the cruise line transfers, they will reserve those for you, as well. If you would like, they can also make specialty dining reservations for you pre-cruise.

 

We use a travel agent simply to handle our cruise .for every thing else we research ourselves because I can do a much better job & save a lot of money & it's fun for us to do all the planing .That said ,we are retired & have the time to do all the planing .We have taken cruise & land trips of 45 days at times . If I had given those plans to a TA it probably wind up costing us $5000 more than what it actually cost us.

 

There are good TAs out there & if you use one do your home work & get several references . THere are a lot of horrible TAs including those who just book cruises .

[CLEMM]

Thanks for the responses. I know I can do the excursions etc online, and I have. It is just that my TA does not seem to be too responsive when it comes to transfers, hotels, etc and I was just wondering if I was expecting too much. I probably should just book everything except the cruise itself on my own. I kind of miss the days when a TA was really helpful and enthusastic about researching your trip and recommending options that were available. I guess since there is so much available on line for us to do ourselves that the TA business is not the same as it once was.

[texkan]

Thanks for the responses. I know I can do the excursions etc online, and I have. It is just that my TA does not seem to be too responsive when it comes to transfers, hotels, etc and I was just wondering if I was expecting too much. I probably should just book everything except the cruise itself on my own. I kind of miss the days when a TA was really helpful and enthusastic about researching your trip and recommending options that were available. I guess since there is so much available on line for us to do ourselves that the TA business is not the same as it once was.

 

Your TA should book transfer for you. Just let TA know that you want transfers added to your booking.

 

Hotels, excursions etc I do on my own. Guess I like having the control and enjoy doing the research.

[Bruin Steve]

Okay...First realize that "TA" now can mean a range of different levels of service...

 

There are good old fashioned local storefront TAs who generally offer no discounts, no freebies and work on full commission...and all the way down to Internet TA websites who discount and book but do very little of anything else...in fact, with many, you never actually speak with a real person...

 

And there are various gradations inbetween...

 

The key is to work with a TA that fits YOUR needs...Not to just expect that whichever TA you have landed with is going to provide all of the service someone tells you a "good TA" should render...

 

Personally, I work, for the most part with a TA who handles "cruises only"...but, for some trips, I work instead with a local TA who is more "full service"...

 

My cruises only TA is, IMHO, better than those internet sites...She is actually with a large Travel Agency, based clear across the country from me...They do "volume" and they discount...but, are pretty clear that they book cruises only...no independent air or hotels or other types of travel...She does give advice and make suggestions on cruises, help with all of the details on cruise air or cruise "add-ons", deals with all the specifics and processes of the cruise booking...But she does not handle my independent arrangements around the cruise...

 

My "local" TA does not give any real discounts or freebies...You pay "full price"...but she will also book airlines, hotels, land packages and make other arrangements...

 

Both are quite "good"...

 

The issue is that, in this day and age, many of us prefer to find our own air and hotel deals over the internet...

Back in the day, I had a travel agent who I thought was pretty worthless in making hotel reservations...all she basically knew were the 800 numbers for Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott...She could always book you a $300 hotel room anywhere (and this was 25 or 30 years ago, when $100 bought you a lot of first class hotels in major cities)...Of course, I could read a guidebook or two and find much better hotel deals at much nicer places...And nowadays, with the internet, finding those better hotel deals is WAY easier...

 

So, for the most part...I really do not care to have my TA do much more than book my cruise...

 

 

So, first ask yourself "What do I want and need my TA to do for me?"...Then find a TA who does that...

[jackdiamond]

Wine-O,

Thank you for posting.

Jack