Is there an extra fee for this?

[needabreakcanada]

If I book through a TA is there extra fee's compared to booking direct?

 

Newbie

[PhoenixCruiser]

You need to check the TA policies. Some have hidden fees.

 

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[Desertbelle]

We have always booked through a travel agent and not only have we never had extra fees we sometimes get a reduced rate and onboard credit that we wouldn't have gotten booking through the cruise line. And to book, she usually gives us something special, like a specialty dinner or a bottle of wine. Our current ta even keeps track of our cruise prices in case the price drops....just last week she emailed me to tell me of a $600 drop in the price of our next cruise.

 

Of course you need to ask the ta you are looking at to be sure whether they charge for booking or for canceling.

[kyriecat]

Another thing to ask is their policy on price drops. Some TAs offer promotional items, such as onboard credit, pre-paid gratuities, insurance, etc., in exchange for your booking. If the price of your cabin drops, they may take away the promotional items. Some TAs will monitor price drops for you but others don't.

 

Also, some TAs will charge for changes to your booking. For example, I used a TA once who charged $35 anytime you made a change. I upgraded my cabin from a balcony to a suite so she ended up getting more commission because the cabin fare increased. However, she still charged me $35 to make the cabin change. She would also charge to change things like dinner seating. I don't use her anymore.

[Gina130284]

If I book through a TA is there extra fee's compared to booking direct?

 

Newbie

We've booked through a TA her in the UK. We haggled a bit and managed to get it a lot cheaper than what we saw on the RCCL website. As we're getting married onboard there will be approx 12 or 13 of us sailing and we're also getting some onboard credit too xx

[sredish]

Not with our TA. Our invoice total is to the penny the same price as what RCI is advertising online. However, we always book onboard and then transfer the booking to the TA in order to get the OBC.

[Heidils]

We've booked through a TA her in the UK. We haggled a bit and managed to get it a lot cheaper than what we saw on the RCCL website. As we're getting married onboard there will be approx 12 or 13 of us sailing and we're also getting some onboard credit too xx

 

Don't forget to add RCCL's gift registry so folks can go and purchase items/OBC's for your cruise!

[kyriecat]

If you decide to book direct with Royal Caribbean then transfer to a TA, remember that you only have 60 days from the booking date to turn in the form make the transfer.

[efields2]

In the US at least, TA's can't discount off of RCL's pricing - all they can do is offer something special, like a free dinner, OBC, etc.

 

If you don't mind having to go through a TA to get a change with RCL and want something "extra" then the TA route is best, but do double check on fees for a change in reservation, price drop, etc.

 

I personally like being able to call RCL whenever I have a question about my reservation or want to make a change - RCL won't talk to you personally if you go through a TA if it's in regards to your reservation.

[Mmketeer]

You shouldn't have any additional fees and the rate they quote should be the same as booking through RoyalCaribbean.com. If their is a price difference you may want to book with someone else. Travel Agents get a commision from the cruiseline's for assisting cruise clients so the cruiseline's don't have too. Which is why their shouldn't be any added fees for you to book with them. Some cruiseline's even offer travel agents little gifts like desk sets etc. based on them not calling the cruiseline's as well for assistance. The cruiseline's are trying really hard to make bookings as easy as possible for travel agents so they have to rely less and less on the cruiseline's booking agents for help. They offer travel agents all kinds of training, from online classes, to ship inspections to webinars. Now a agency cancellation fee is not unheard of, beacuse they do alot of work and printing confirmations etc. are not cheap. But again a travel agent that you have dealt with for awhile probably won't charge you an additional fee above the normal crusieline's policy everytime you cancel especailly if their is a really good reason.

 

My biggest tip if you are gonna use a travel agent is ask your friends and family or trusted friends for a referral and specifically ask the agent how much hands on experince they have with what your looking to do. A honest travel agent is who you want to use, not one that pretends to know. If they refer you to someone else in their agency for your vacation because their is someone else there that is a specialist in that agency that's a really good thing. Too many agents at travel agency's have to compete against one another for commission and then try to bumble thorugh what you need which never seems to make for a great vacation.

 

Remember that bigger agency's usually can offer more benefits like bigger onboard credit offer's for booking with them, but sometimes they also have the biggest tun over and you may not always have the same agent through your booking process. Where as the really good smaller agencies or agents usually have less of a turn over and though they probably won't be able to compete with the larger agency's they should be able to offer you more personalized service since they don't have as many clients to assist.

 

Just my two cents on this though. :)

[needabreakcanada]

Thanks for help guide me through the maze.

 

I asked my TA and she does not charge fee's. Will have to ask about change fee's - that never occurred to me.

 

Thanks again all,