direct book vs agent

[kijjy]

I've been on 2 cruises so far, and both have been booked directly with cruise line. But I hear a travel agent can get gratuities pre-paid and onboard credit. Not sure if that's true so....

Do you book direct with cruise line or do you use an agent, and why do you book the way you do? What are the pros and cons of each.

[paul929207]

I book thru a TA. I get s good discount off the Princess price plus OBC and a bottle of wine.

[CruiserBruce]

If you read the boards, this is discussed weekly. It is all about personal choice.

 

Generally, any "treat" or discount you might get from a TA is coming out of their commission.

Edited November 4, 2011 by CruiserBruce

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We always us a TA.

[commodoredave]

For many years I booked directly with the cruise lines and was quite happy with it. But then I found a great TA who not only gives me OBC and/or discounts on most cruises, but also does a great job of taking care of everything I need including transfers, hotels, visas, etc. It took me years to find a great agent, and I have fired more of them than I can count. But now that I have a gem of an agent, I'm going to keep her! So my advice is find yourself a great agent that adds value.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been fortuate to have a TA at a local agency that we have used for 24 years. We can talk to her anytime we want to. We can go and see her any time.

Should we lose her -- we will probably book through the cruise line.

I am not a fan of the online agencies.

[Keith1010]

You are always better to book with a TA as they can give you some perks that the cruise line can't plus they can be your advocate should some issue come up with the cruise line.

 

Keith

[Adventurous78]

You are always better to book with a TA as they can give you some perks that the cruise line can't plus they can be your advocate should some issue come up with the cruise line.

 

Keith

 

 

I disagree. If your TA isn't as committed as you are in making the situation right you have lost your voice directly with the cruise line.

[CruiserBruce]

4 year old thread....

[Hlitner]

If you read the boards, this is discussed weekly. It is all about personal choice.

 

Generally, any "treat" or discount you might get from a TA is coming out of their commission.

 

This is just not quite true. Travel/cruise agents can offer amenities, discounts and other enhancements that might come from the agency, the cruise line, or a combination of the two. Cruise lines will often authorize an agency (or consortium) to sell cruises at "group rates" which are actually lower then the price offered by a cruise line. Agencies will also offer amenities that are authorized promotions where the cruise line and agency share in the cost. We have sometimes done well by booking specific cruises through cruise agencies that can offer us a group rate, OBCs offered by the line, OBCs provided by the agency, and other sweeteners. It can become kind of interesting with some cruise lines. On a Princess cruise we took this past spring we had nearly $2000 of OBCs which were a combination of cruise line credits, cruise agency credits and joint credits. In fact, we could not even use all those credits and Princess sent us a check (about a month after we returned home) for the remainder. DW thought it was kind of funny and mentioned it was the first time we got paid by a cruise line!

 

We do manage to find other good deals (by shopping among several major cruise agencies) but it does vary by cruise and cruise line.

 

Hank

[MCC retired]

Booking Direct with the cruise line , the best you can do is current retail promotion .

A good TA will always offer something better than that current promo .

[Hlitner]

There is another issue which should interest those who prefer to choose their specific cabin. When you book directly with any cruise line, they can only access the available cabin inventory (as it shows on the cruise line' own computer reservations system). However, major cruise/travel agencies and various consortiums (groups of cruise/travel agencies) routinely "block out" so-called group space on multiple cruises. In simple terms the agencies reserve blocks of specific cabins and these cabins are removed from the cruise line inventory. These cabins are available to anyone booking with one of those agencies, but are not available to the cruise line reservation clerks until such time as they are released (if unsold) by the agencies. These cabins may not be released back into inventory until around (or even after) the final payment period... So the irony is that you will often have a greater choice of cabins via an agency booking then you will get through a cruise line bookings.

 

We have actually booked ourselves onto a couple of cruises that were "sold out" according to the two particular cruise lines. In these two cases, we simply contacted several large cruise agencies (we normally deal with 4 agencies and use whichever one of them has the best deal on a particular cruise) and asked if they had space on the "sold out" cruise. It never took us more then about 15 minutes to find an agency with cabins...which we then booked.

 

Hank

[CPT Trips]

Hank is right on target. Using a TA, we booked a "Sweet 16" they blocked for a "group" for less than the cruise line would sell us an outside. If you want "control" so badly you wouldn't take that deal, well . . . :confused:

[Adventurous78]

Okay so I found a great TA and emailed him with a deal I put a NC 24 hr hold on direct from RC site and he could not get my fare ( within 30d) so HE advised me to snag the incredible rate I got with law enforcement discount so I did and he said way to go maybe next time basically. So there again "it all depends" check every avenue. I had been watching fares and saw a great one and snatched it unadvertised.

[maywell]

It depends - If you're a duo or group made up of 3 or more; majority of the time you're going to get a great deal from a TA and maybe directly from some of the cruise lines. But if you're a solo passenger, good luck finding any deals from either the travel agent or from the cruise lines because both will charge you an arm and leg just for an inside or even getting freebies like free prepay gratuities. There's only a few cruise lines that charge reasonable rates to soloers that give great fringe benefits to those travelers - in those cases, it just better to book directly to the cruise line. Really have to compare the deals to see what good for you whether traveling by yourself or with a group.

[CPT Trips]

Solo travelers do get exploited. But, the TAs that deal generally do it on a percentage of fare, so don't count them out.

[Hlitner]

Solo travelers do get exploited. But, the TAs that deal generally do it on a percentage of fare, so don't count them out.

 

While we agree that solo travelers are often forced to pay a premium, we could not apply the word "exploited." Selling a cabin (that can hold 2 persons) to a solo traveler means that the cruise line has opportunity Lost Revenue. Since the line cannot sell the 2nd berth the money they would have been paid for that berth (plus the associated onboard revenue) is "lost revenue." The cruise lines (and most hotels) as a matter of policy charge the solo traveler more money to make up for this loss. And even designing single cabins (like on some Norwegian ships) does also involve higher costs in that a single cabin since it incurs higher per person construction and ongoing maintenance costs then a double (or even triple) cabin.

 

So in a sense, not charging solos a premium would be "exploiting" all the couples who would be ultimately compelled to make-up the lost revenue. Ain't economics fun?

 

Hank

[OCruisers]

Same as when this thread began four years ago -- still use our long time travel agent! :)

LuLu

[taglovestocruise]

When using a TA and there is a problem with your booking it is in the self interest of the TA to keep you happy, when you have a problem with a direct booking and call the cruise line you end up with a low paid cubical rat that is more concerned with getting you off the line than helping you. IMHO.. We usually book with the cruise line to get whatever perks they are offering and then switch our booking to our TA to pick up added perks like pre-paid gratuities, OBC, and specialty dining . No offence to all the cubical dweller's out there.

[donaldsc]

The only negative of using a TA (make sure that you get a good one) is that they own your reservation so that if you need to make a change and you can not get in contact with them, you are in trouble.

 

We make our own decisions on cruise and specific cabin which we then discuss with our TA. He does all the work and also fights for discounts if they come up after we book. He also sends us a rebate check before each cruise. No OBC. No free wine. No goodies. However, we prefer cash.

 

DON