Travel Agents - booking excursions?

[WVBill]

I've booked my cruises directly with Princess. Haven't seen the need to use a TA - - - - yet.

 

Now that I've booked my British Isles cruise for 2014, I'm wondering.

 

Do you use the same TA you use for your cruise booking to find and book shore excursions, pre/post cruise hotels and air?

[Pia1913]

I've booked my cruises directly with Princess. Haven't seen the need to use a TA - - - - yet.

 

Now that I've booked my British Isles cruise for 2014, I'm wondering.

 

Do you use the same TA you use for your cruise booking to find and book shore excursions, pre/post cruise hotels and air?

 

Never!

 

And the need to use a TA is to pay less. Shop around, get prices and turn over your booking.

[nyc12345]

I use my TA to save money on my cruise, always better prices than booking directly with Princess.

 

Depending on where I am going, I also ask my TA to help with shore excursions and/or flights.

[paul929207]

Like the others, I always get a good discount off the Princess rate by using a TA to book the cruise. Everything else I do myself.

[Pam in CA]

Like the others, I always get a good discount off the Princess rate by using a TA to book the cruise. Everything else I do myself.

Same here other than the rare occasion when I book a cruise line pre- or post-cruise hotel/tour.

[tully07]

I use a TA to book the cruise -- she monitors the prices and gets us a lower price, too, if one comes up. So far we've always beat the posted price. We book our own air and we usually book our own shore excursions. As for pre or post cruise hotels, that depends on pricing and availability. Sometimes our TA can do better.

 

However, we've had to cancel one cruise on our departure date due to a family illness [we had cancellation insurance] so I'm very conscious of cancellation policies and payment dates for excursions and hotels. [There's a lot of paperwork and it takes several weeks to get refunds.] Our TA was invaluable in helping us gather the documents to facilitate this process. As a consequence, I've tended to use my TA to book things more frequently.

[TravlGrl]

Cruise -- TA always

Excursions -- Book on my own but will sometimes ask TA for suggestions on what to do

[flamomo]

It cannot hurt to check Princess air for European cruises, and COULD save you a bundle. I did for a b2b this Fall from Southampton (12 days to the Canary Islands, folliwed by a 14 day TA to FLL), and got my air for 1/3 the best fare I could find on my own, and it is with a major US airline.

[caribill]

air: rarely ask a TA for that. I check pricing online with Princess and directly with the airlines. Also use web sites that notify me of air fare changes. I purchase when I feel the price is right.

 

 

pre/post cruise hotels: 95% of the time do my own research and booking on the Internet. Every now and then will use a TA that specializes in the country I will be visiting. If I will be in a city for several days, I will look for B&Bs via the Internet.

 

 

excursions: I never use a TA for this. I do all of the following:

a) check with Cruise Critic roll call to see if there are excursions I would be interested in to join

b) organize an excursion myself (based on vendors recommended by Cruise Critic posters) and invite others on the roll call to join

c) book online a recommended excursion (examples: Harv and Marv whale watching in Juneau, Denrus two day tour in St.Petersburg).

d) Book a cruise ship excursion (some are worth it for various reasons)

e) Plan a day on our own in a city. Some are very easy to this in. For example Oslo, Barcelona, Gibraltar.

f) If I am in a city pre- or post-cruise, I also look into tours from organizations such as Viatour

[WVBill]

Thanks everybody.

 

I actually love doing the pre-cruise research and planning - it's like a year of anticipation and excitement before the cruise. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't "getting in over my head" trying to do it for a 12-day cruise with 9 ports.

 

I'll probably flip the cruise to a TA at some point just to get a fare savings and/or perks. :D Any reason to do that sooner rather than later, or later rather than sooner?

[caribill]

I'll probably flip the cruise to a TA at some point just to get a fare savings and/or perks. :D Any reason to do that sooner rather than later, or later rather than sooner?

 

Some TAs book "group" space and thus get a discount from Princess for that and pass that discount on to their customers. Once the "group" space gets sold, the TA no longer has that discount to pass on to newer customers on that cruise.

 

So, the sooner you transfer the booking to a TA, the better the chance the TA still has "group" space available. (You keep your same cabin if you have one assigned, just come under the TA's "group" pricing.)