Travel Agent/ Consultant vs Discount Websites vs HAL

[CruiseWhere]

Just curious on what ppls opinions are on receiving the "be$t" deal for a cruise. We have booked twice via "HAL", once on a "employee travel" website. All have either been S or SA's. We are now beginning to wonder whether we should be dealing with a TA/TC?

All of our other cruises ie...Princess, Regent & Silverseas were via "employee travel"!

Any opinions welcome;)

[sail7seas]

Under the terms and conditions on CC, we are not permitted to discuss our TA's.

 

[CruiseWhere]

:eek::eek: I'm sooo sorry! I didn't know...thank you!

[iancal]

We always book with an on line agent...and usually the same agent.

 

We alwaysv get a better price than the cruise line provides...usually eight to twelve percent less.

 

It adds up. For us it equates to one free cruise for every ten we buy. It sure beats the cruise line loyalty program!

[CruiseWhere]

Thank you so much iancal! I truly appreciate you giving me your opinion..I was purely curious and obviously haven't been on as many cruises as some to know which works well or best!!!;)

[jingle5616]

My opinion is you will find your best deal with a travel agent. We use an online agent, receive good service, better rates and OBC in most cases. I wouldn't deal with any cruise line if you paid me. JMO.

[PathfinderEss]

I think on-line TA's are a great way to go.

[KirkNC]

I think on-line TA's are a great way to go.

 

That is what we do as well.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I prefer to use a personal TA.

One we can go to whenever we want to -- call her whenever we want to.

We have been fortunate to have had the same TA for over 24 years.

[Randyk47]

Another vote for using an Internet TA. We've been using one for eight years and are quite happy with their service and saving 10-12% isn't bad either.

[Randyk47]

Under the terms and conditions on CC, we are not permitted to discuss our TA's.

 

 

To be exact we're not allowed to name our TA's but we can discuss the type of TA we use in a generic way without posting their name or any contact information. Also can't solicit or say we'll provide the information by email or other form of communication.

[CruiseWhere]

Thank you all so much for your opinions!!!! Now all I have to do is start seraching for one!!;););)

 

And Randyk47, thank you for clarifying the terms & conditions:D!!!

[Minoushka]

I deal with pvp of the cruise lines . I get great service and have beennicely upgraded many times

I have tried T AS ....it just did not work out i never found one I did not end up with problems ...such as never getting OBC on board etc

For me it is easier to deal with the company directly . One of my agents is great she adjusts my price as it goes down without my asking. Until final payment . I have usedher many many times ...i always get a great price and cabin from her

Use whatever suits you ..enjoy all your voyages

[gskimmel]

I used to be a firm believer in booking directly with the cruise line. But I recently changed my mind. I booked the Nieuw Amsterdam sailing directly through HAL. A couple of weeks later, I found an online travel agency offering nearly $500 OBC. Then I found another agency where I have a point of contact. She not only matched the OBC but offered me choices: take the OBC or just deduct it off of our final price. I decided to lower the price.

 

I also just booked a Disney cruise with her and the prices offered were a few hundred dollars less than booking directly with Disney.

 

So my approach is a two-prong approach: I do a lot of research (which I enjoy) and when I am ready, I let the TA book for me (if the prices are lower). If pricing remains the same, I book directly with the cruise line. I believe I have until up to final payment to transfer a booking in case I see a TA has a better deal than the cruise line.

[BumperII]

Our entire family has been booking cruises through a large online travel agency for at least twelve years. We all use a particular representative in that agency, and she does an outstanding job for us.

I don't think we have gotten the best possible deal every time, but we have most of the time. Once we found out what cabins we like, we decided to pay the extra money to pick a cabin rather than book guarentees.

Don't kid yourself, a good TA is worth his / her weight in gold. Because this agency books a large number of cruises, the representatives have considerable influence with the cruise lines. The TA has always been able to quickly adjust anything that wasn't quite to our liking, most often with a telephone call, always same day service.

The exceptions I would make, are flights to and from the port and hotels. Make your own reservations online with the airlines and hotels.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I also book our own air flights and hotels.

All too often if you use HAL's air you will get some bad connections as they usually wait until near cruising time to book your flights -- usually about 30 - 40 days out from the cruise.

And if you do your home work, you will get better deals on hotels than what HAL offers.

[Randyk47]

I also book our own air flights and hotels.

 

All too often if you use HAL's air you will get some bad connections as they usually wait until near cruising time to book your flights -- usually about 30 - 40 days out from the cruise.

 

And if you do your home work, you will get better deals on hotels than what HAL offers.

 

Us too. After letting HAL book our flights and hotel arrangements years and years ago....like 15+ years ago....we've gone to always making our own arrangements. It wasn't so much that HAL's flights or hotels were bad but they usually are or were more expensive. Certainly the increased use of the Internet has helped over the years as it's really quite easy, at least for us, to do the research, price checking, planning, and booking. We actually enjoy doing it and see no reason to have somebody else do that for us. Our Med cruise, other than booking the cruise itself, was all done by researching ourselves. Maybe it was just "blind luck" but I don't know how we could have had better flights, privately arranged tours, or pre/post cruise hotels than we did. Might add that CruiseCritic was an invaluable source of information and probably 90% of our final arrangements were based on recommendations we garnered from the several different boards here. I do understand that's not for everybody, we all have to find our own comfort level.

[Hawaiidan]

That is what we do as well.

 

While I use a agency that has on line, I also have a dedicated Agent at that agency who I can call on a direct line or e-mail. Any medimum.My guy gets me rather large un published discounts that so far beat anyone I have yet seen in tha past 20 years.

 

 

So the alure of a guy done the street that I can stop in at is minimal

 

Booking at all internet agencies as of Late can get you ripped off as the bury costs and charges that suddenly appear ot the manipulate the fares.

I have seen it all

 

Booking too with the line directly is just plain dumb. They offer nothing but maybe a free dinner for a $8000 cruise booking. Wen asked for credits or perks the mockingly reply..."well if you want those go to a travel agent"

ANything they can do for you a independent agent or on line agency can beat by hundreds if not thousands of dollars for the same cabin on the same sailing.:eek:

[Taxguy77]

We have no good TA in town, so I have used the internet (Good), cruiselline direct, and a company that packages cruises with land deals, or land only. They had the same cruise + 3 days in Spain for the same price