Local Travel Agents

[Lizzie1213]

I have booked all my previous cruises with large internet travel agencies. Are there any advantages to booking through a local brick-and-mortar agency? Thank you.

[Randyk47]

I have booked all my previous cruises with large internet travel agencies. Are there any advantages to booking through a local brick-and-mortar agency? Thank you.

 

For us it really depends on the level of support and service you need or want. We're pretty experienced travelers, especially within the US, so we don't need flight or hotel assistance. We've cruised with HAL long enough there really aren't many things a TA could help us with or tell us. The end result is that we book through an Internet TA to save money. On the other hand we just recently booked a Med cruise on Silverseas and we're using one of the cruise line's cruise consultants to help us with travel and pre and post cruise hotels. Getting from San Antonio to Barcelona and then back to San Antonio from Istanbul is sufficiently complicated enough to make us more comfortable using a TA's services.

[catl331]

We like the face-to-face contact when needed on more complicated cruises like our East Med one last year, and feel our TA (who we've used for 7 years) is more likely to go the extra mile to help us if there's any problems than a faceless contact on the internet. Besides, we're helping to support our local economy. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

we have been fortunate to have a local ta that we have used for nearly 24 years

 

its winderful to be able to call and talk to her personally or stop in and talk to her

 

and this last year we have had quite a few problems that she took care of for us -- in a coyple of calls without our spending hours on the internet, etc trying to straighten out

[LAFFNVEGAS]

The true trick is to almost interview who you deal with. Not all Brick and Mortar agents know what they are doing and even more On line agents do not have cruise experience. But there are plenty of On line agents that are very knowledgeable some even more so than Brick and Mortar and if you find one that can gives you the hands on treatment and combined with discounts/SBC then you have found a winner. :)

[Randyk47]

The true trick is to almost interview who you deal with. Not all Brick and Mortar agents know what they are doing and even more On line agents do not have cruise experience. But there are plenty of On line agents that are very knowledgeable some even more so than Brick and Mortar and if you find one that can gives you the hands on treatment and combined with discounts/SBC then you have found a winner. :)

 

Amen! We've done very well with our Internet TA.

[ANSalberg]

My loyalty to our brick& mortar TA goes back to my Father's death in 1990 [ althought our patronage goes back even further to our agency] My Father died on the 4th of July and I needed to fly back quickly to be with my Mom and my sister -2000 miles away. I called Don at home and within 2 hours on a major holiday I had TICKETS in hand for the earliest morning flight WITH a discount. And maybe that's the impotance of an established relationship. I understand that computers "make a difference" but if/when you really need help - OURS is there FOR us and I believe that we should "be there" to keep THEM in business too!

Anne

[Two@Sea]

The true trick is to almost interview who you deal with. Not all Brick and Mortar agents know what they are doing and even more On line agents do not have cruise experience. But there are plenty of On line agents that are very knowledgeable some even more so than Brick and Mortar and if you find one that can gives you the hands on treatment and combined with discounts/SBC then you have found a winner. :)

 

You mean, like our fantabulous travel agent who remembers we prefer port side, and want traditional dining at 8:00pm, at a table for two, without being told... ? You mean, a travel agent like that? One who knows what lines we will, and won't, like? And what class of ships within each cruise line we will most enjoy? Yep, we have found a winner! ;):);)

[flagger]

Just know that not all local travel agents operate a brick and mortar store. There are several who run businesses from a home office and as such have more flexible working hours and can come to see you at your home, office or even meet for a working lunch.

[kazu]

The true trick is to almost interview who you deal with. Not all Brick and Mortar agents know what they are doing and even more On line agents do not have cruise experience. But there are plenty of On line agents that are very knowledgeable some even more so than Brick and Mortar and if you find one that can gives you the hands on treatment and combined with discounts/SBC then you have found a winner.

 

So well said and so true - when you find the right one, don't let them escape :)

[bepsf]

My TA works from her home in Colorado (We met her on a cruise) but I get much more personalized attention than I ever did with the TA I used to use who was a few blocks away...

 

You mean, like our fantabulous travel agent who remembers we prefer port side, and want traditional dining at 8:00pm, at a table for two, without being told... ?

 

Yep - Exactly like that.

[sapper1]

You mean, like our fantabulous travel agent who remembers we prefer port side, and want traditional dining at 8:00pm, at a table for two, without being told... ? You mean, a travel agent like that? One who knows what lines we will, and won't, like? And what class of ships within each cruise line we will most enjoy? Yep, we have found a winner! ;):);)

Amen----our thoughts exactly.

We have one who knows we like to tour other cruise ships and when her agency is offered tours while a ship is in port, she always includes us.

 

Our emails are always answered promptly and there is no waiting in a telephone queue listening to musak if we should wish to speak with her.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Our TA is in State College PA, a Penn State graduate as are we. We met him on an organized alumni cruise back in 2003. I basically do the research and tell what I want via email or phone and the agency books for us. I was a travel agent myself many years ago so sometimes I book myself. All depends on my whim at the moment. Always book my own air and hotels.

 

Barbara

[Lizzie1213]

Thank you so much for your prompt and helpful replies!

[FoxyTerrier]

I basically do the research and tell what I want via email or phone and the agency books for us. Always book my own air and hotels.

 

Barbara

 

Barbara - We do the same and found a TA that works for a what I would guess a fairly big internet agency. I do research on their site and when we are ready to book I call or email him and ask him to do his magic. When he comes back his prices are much much better than his own agency's web site. I really like that.

 

And Thursday we needed to change sailings after the final booking and he contacted HAL and got us moved without having to pay a penalty. That took some doing but he goes the extra mile. That's what I call service.

 

So I feel we have the best of both worlds even if I have never seen him face to face. I am curious as to what he looks like though...