WHY I use a TA

[JohnGaltny]

Let's start with I'm not in the TA industry and I am not going to violate the rules by recommending any particular Agent.

 

From time to time I see threads on here asking why people use a TA. For whatever it's worth, here is my experience with my latest cruise which is consistent with all 10 other cruises I have sailed:

 

1) I call my TA and tell her what ship and what cruise I want to go on.

 

2) She does her research and comes back to me with prices and options. She knows my preferences since she always handles my stuff. I KNOW I can do the same online but the RCI website is not the best AND the choice of cabins does not always reflect ALL the available cabins. Whether RCI is holding back or what other reason there may be, my TA always finds me an exact cabin. (Midships balcony, between passenger decks and hump cabin if available).

 

3) On this trip I'm booking three cabins (wife and I, 2 models, and my son/DiL and Granddaughter). In addition, I have friends coming who are not booking through my TA. All dinner reservations needed to be linked and she did them all (including my friends).

Originally I asked her to set up My Time Dining. However, the MTD reservation times were SO restrictive that I switched the whole mess to First Seating. My TA did all this (including my friends) with only one 3 minute phone call from me.

 

4) My DiL and one of the models are Dominican and they have the dual last names common to Dominicans. The original confirmations came through with only their last surnames and this doesn't match their passports. Given the testy nature of security anymore, I do not want ANY questions at the dock. Rather than my making 5 calls to get the wrong answers from RCI Customer Service (and holding for 30 - 90 minutes each time), I made one call to my TA and had amended, correct confirmations in 2 days.

 

5) JUST prior to final payment (like 2 days) there was a significant price drop on all three cabins. Despite the fact that she was on a cruise in the Carribean, my TA secured the price drop and then made my final payments. Over three cabins it saved me $1,100 and took me just one call and two emails.

 

As I said, this is my experience from just this cruise. I have had similar experiences in making arrangements for all my other cruises and I am almost always arranging multiple cabins for various crews of friends. My TA costs me nothing and I have better uses for my time than sweat these details by dealing directly with RCI.

 

With all that said, I use a real TA with a real phone number and a real individual to speak with. I have never used the "online bargain agencies" so I cannot opine on any of them, positive or negative.

 

I hope this helps even one person to answer the question "Why use a TA".

Edited March 25, 2014 by JohnGaltny

[FLACRUISER99]

Let's start with I'm not in the TA industry and I am not going to violate the rules by recommending any particular Agent.

 

From time to time I see threads on here asking why people use a TA. For whatever it's worth, here is my experience with my latest cruise which is consistent with all 10 other cruises I have sailed:

 

1) I call my TA and tell her what ship and what cruise I want to go on.

 

2) She does her research and comes back to me with prices and options. She knows my preferences since she always handles my stuff. I KNOW I can do the same online but the RCI website is not the best AND the choice of cabins does not always reflect ALL the available cabins. Whether RCI is holding back or what other reason there may be, my TA always finds me an exact cabin. (Midships balcony, between passenger decks and hump cabin if available).

 

3) On this trip I'm booking three cabins (wife and I, 2 models, and my son/DiL and Granddaughter). In addition, I have friends coming who are not booking through my TA. All dinner reservations needed to be linked and she did them all (including my friends).

Originally I asked her to set up My Time Dining. However, the MTD reservation times were SO restrictive that I switched the whole mess to First Seating. My TA did all this (including my friends) with only one 3 minute phone call from me.

 

4) My DiL and one of the models are Dominican and they have the dual last names common to Dominicans. The original confirmations came through with only their last surnames and this doesn't match their passports. Given the testy nature of security anymore, I do not want ANY questions at the dock. Rather than my making 5 calls to get the wrong answers from RCI Customer Service (and holding for 30 - 90 minutes each time), I made one call to my TA and had amended, correct confirmations in 2 days.

 

5) JUST prior to final payment (like 2 days) there was a significant price drop on all three cabins. Despite the fact that she was on a cruise in the Carribean, my TA secured the price drop and then made my final payments. Over three cabins it saved me $1,100 and took me just one call and two emails.

 

As I said, this is my experience from just this cruise. I have had similar experiences in making arrangements for all my other cruises and I am almost always arranging multiple cabins for various crews of friends. My TA costs me nothing and I have better uses for my time than sweat these details by dealing directly with RCI.

 

With all that said, I use a real TA with a real phone number and a real individual to speak with. I have never used the "online bargain agencies" so I cannot opine on any of them, positive or negative.

 

I hope this helps even one person to answer the question "Why use a TA".

Looks like you got one of the rare good TA's.

[tidygirl]

I hadn't used a TA for years as the last time I used one for Alaska was told I could look for my own flights as I could get cheaper on my own so I figured if I have to do that I can handle the rest!

Fast forward several years can offer from our local agency for an additional $50 OBC priority boarding and a bottle of champagne (we won't drink) I thought with my open booking cruise papers and that offer I'd have $150 OBC

Well not sure what happened but they will not let me use my open booking credit unless I cancel my cruise and rebook which I can't do since my flight is linked to the cruise and would cost $250 pp x6 plus lose the good price I got!

I've had to call several times as the price dropped plus the 3/4 person sailing free offer was on and it saved me $$$$ I feel like I am being a bother and am afraid to call anymore if I see any additional drops. My DH says they probably have my # up to not answer since I had to call so much!

My question is if you call Your TA frequently do you feel you are being a bother or they expect us obsessive people to bug them and they really don't mind?

[CruizinTigers]

You make a lot of excellent points.

 

I too have always used a TA for my cruise vacations for many of the same reasons you mention here. For my upcoming trip, I decided to try to book it all myself over the RCI website. In hindsight now I wish I hadn't. As you point out, the RCI website is not very good (I'm trying to be polite). No problem booking but once I changed one thing, the website recalculated our fair and dropped the promo we booked under. Suddenly my outstanding balance was $1000 more!! In all fairness, RCI corrected this for me, but this was after hours on the phone and emails. Now I notice last night that the website show us owing $100 more than our receipt which was emailed to me. So I can look forward to another hour on the phone with them to try to fix that!! AGHHHH!!! If I had used my travel agent, I'm sure she would have handled all this for me.

 

 

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[PattyG12]

and let's not forget that on top of doing everything for us (yes, I have a wonderful TA as well), they will then give us something special just for allowing them to do all the dirty work!! I always get pre paid gratuities from my wonderful TA and I never have to deal with all the stupidity that Royal calls their customer service department.

[OCruisers]

We also have long time TA who takes very good care of us. :)

LuLu

~~~

[JohnGaltny]

My question is if you call Your TA frequently do you feel you are being a bother or they expect us obsessive people to bug them and they really don't mind?

 

I have always had a good time talking to my TA and she is never curt or bothered. HOWEVER, she also knows that I respect her time. If she's busy and needs to call back in a day or two, I'm fine with that. Also, I don't call her about every dirty dinner napkin. I DO expect that any situation that arises will be addressed and resolved. It just might not be right this minute.

 

Having been in business with clients myself, my favorites took this approach. My absolute favorite client was a very tough business woman who'd call with a problem and ask when she could expect an answer. If I said "two days" she was fine BUT God help me if I didn't have the answer then. It's a totally fair trade for any professional.

Edited March 25, 2014 by JohnGaltny

[Isa65]

OP, thank you for this thread. I'm a cruise consultant that works 24/7 (even when I'm on a cruise myself) and get tired of all those people claiming that TAs are obsolete.

 

A good agent is priceless (but won't cost you as a customer anything) that goes to bat for you when there are complicated issues regarding your booking and makes your vacation planning easier.

 

The general shout here is that people want to stay "in control" of their booking. The only aspect you are not controlling by booking through an agency is "billing". Other than that, you can see your booking, do your check in, order stuff, etc.

 

I agree that you need to ditch TAs that charge you to make any changes and those who are not available immediately for price drops and urgent matters. But there are some good ones out there!

[Ontariotrekker]

I 'bother' my TA with price drops and other perks when I see them on the cruiseline's website or the travel company's. I email her and, if necessary, she will re-book the cruise and get me the price drop etc.

 

I've said this before but it bears repeating that I use a TA here because of the extra travel insurance that is guaranteed by the province.

 

Using a TA does become an issue if you need to talk to the cruiseline directly because some of them will not or cannot open up your account. I've never had trouble with HAL though and is my preferred line.

 

Shar

[cruiseryyc]

Not to mention that when you're on your vacation and things don't go according to plan; your TA can make all the alternative arrangements for you. A group of us were in Greece a few years ago and there was a 24 hour air traffic controller strike right when we were supposed to be flying home. Our TA had our flights rebooked and extra nights in the hotel arranged before I could even call him.

[crecia27]

Sounds a lot like our TA. The biggest benefit is that he has learned what we like and what are deal breakers and is able to give us great advice on which ships he thinks we will prefer. He loves cruising and seems to love talking about it so I never feel like a bother. Of course I deal with him mostly over e-mail because I've become allergic to talking on the phone :p

[Lerin]

Let's start with I'm not in the TA industry and I am not going to violate the rules by recommending any particular Agent.

 

 

 

1) I call my TA and tell her what ship and what cruise I want to go on.

 

 

This is one of the main reasons we do not use a TA.

If I've already found the cruise I want then I may as well just finish my booking without having to bother with a "middleman".

 

The second(and last) time I used a TA I spent hours finding the perfect cruise. Then went to her office only to watch her search around on the same website and find the exact same deal! Then she wanted some service fee for that! :mad: Went home, called the cruise company directly and got exactly what I wanted.

 

Glad it works for some of you, but I've been very happy without the bother.

[Karysa]

Do you look for price drops before final payment? If so when do you call her to take action. $20 a cabin, $100? Is calling for small price drops even acceptable?

[JohnGaltny]

This is one of the main reasons we do not use a TA.

If I've already found the cruise I want then I may as well just finish my booking without having to bother with a "middleman".

 

The second(and last) time I used a TA I spent hours finding the perfect cruise. Then went to her office only to watch her search around on the same website and find the exact same deal! Then she wanted some service fee for that! :mad: Went home, called the cruise company directly and got exactly what I wanted.

 

Glad it works for some of you, but I've been very happy without the bother.

 

There's the end of the story. If my TA did that I'd totally agree although I will say if it was small, say $25.00 or less, I would still consider it okay for all my other reasons in the OP. I don't mind paying for service but I'm just as happy to not and I don't with my TA.

 

 

Do you look for price drops before final payment? If so when do you call her to take action. $20 a cabin, $100? Is calling for small price drops even acceptable?

 

I would call with any price drop but about 1/2 the time she finds them before I do.

Edited March 26, 2014 by JohnGaltny

[Hlitner]

Reading the OPs post made me smile. We have often gotten into discussions, with other cruisers, about how we booked a particular cruise. In many cases what will happen is a group on a cruise starts to talk about "what they paid" and "what booking amenities they got" and there are always a few that are surprised to find they missed out on some great deals. When we are asked how we get good deals (and this does not happen on every cruise) our answer is simple, "we shop around." And what we actually do is check the price (and overall amenity package) on several major online Cruise Agency sites (this is simple and we can compare several sites in a few minutes) and then also check the cruise line's own booking site. In the end, we book with whoever gives us the best overall deal. Over the years we have developed our personal "short list" of favored Cruise Agencies (all of them are online and all of them have toll free phone numbers) which we check for each cruise (and we cruise over 70 days every year).

 

Now some might say that they prefer to stick with a favorite travel agent and they are treated well and we think this if fine. But others (like moi) prefer to find the best deals, which on some of our longer cruises have amounted to savings over $3000 (on a single cruise). Sometimes, and especially on shorter cruises under 2 weeks, the savings are not as dramatic. On a recent Celebrity booking, we got the usual Celebrity 1-2-3 amenities plus a nice upgrade by booking onboard with their future cruise office. But we then transferred the booking back to one of our favored agencies who immediately added pre-paid gratuities (worth over $300). On a current Princess booking we got a great price through a different agency who then gave us an $835 OBC (not available from the cruise line or several other agencies we checked).

 

So as we sometimes say here on CC, if you are happy giving your money away do not shop around. If sticking to one particular agency (or booking direct) is worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars then you have spent that extra money well :)

 

Hank

[deedeetoo]

I am using a TA for one reason - money. We have three cabins booked for our upcoming cruise and are getting $175 in OBC for each cabin (above the $100 per cabin that RCI was offering when we booked). Oh and she's throwing in a bottle of wine too.

 

I'll admit that I don't like having to go through the TA instead of going straight to the cruise line but for that kind of money I'm willing to put up with it. But, on the other hand, after hearing the difficulties that people are currently having with RCI's systems and hold times, it may be a plus to have her call them when needed instead of me, but I don't know if this is a temporary problem or if RC's customer service will remain this awful. If it doesn't improve, then I think using a TA will become essential.

[ehfl]

There are definitely pros and cons of using TAs, but it sounds like you had to first find the ship and cruise you want on the RCL web site. Then, instead of clicking to book, you repeated the information to the TA, who ended up getting the names all wrong. Then, the TA did not notify you when there was a price drop, instead, you had to exchange more calls and e-mails to get this handled.

 

I've heard some great experiences with TAs but I'm not sure this is the best example of good service.

[JohnGaltny]

There are definitely pros and cons of using TAs, but it sounds like you had to first find the ship and cruise you want on the RCL web site. Then, instead of clicking to book, you repeated the information to the TA, who ended up getting the names all wrong. Then, the TA did not notify you when there was a price drop, instead, you had to exchange more calls and e-mails to get this handled.

 

I've heard some great experiences with TAs but I'm not sure this is the best example of good service.

 

Seriously?? What do you think would have happened if I needed to do all that stuff direct? Have you seen the threads on the 90 min to > 2 hrs on hold or the fact that people get wrong answers from RCI CS. It takes me 5 min to repeat my cruise choice and after that, my involvement outlined above took less than 20 min total.

[masspector]

Interesting thread and some good points. My two cents is I have used a TA four times for vacations and only once have I had a good experience. My experience is that they are more interested in their commission than getting me a good deal on a vacation. I can find better deals online and I am usually more knowledgeable than they are. I guess if you find a good one that can work for you but I have not had the time or patience to weed through them.

 

 

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[csmjfmbe]

I agree with the OP.

We have had several cruises over the last few years and all apart from one were booked through the same TA.

Needless to say the one I booked myself, went slightly wrong.

I am know on first name terms with my TA and she is fantastic.

These days I scour the websites, see what we fancy and then phone the TA, the last three have been booked with all the preferences within minutes and most importantly, hassle free.

Yes, we have been on cruises and some people have had a better price by booking their own flights etc, I have also seen these people worrying if their transfers will arrive.

My TA gets my business.

 

Cheers

Mike

[Karysa]

 

I would call with any price drop but about 1/2 the time she finds them before I do.

 

This has not been my experience with any of the three different TA's that I have booked cruises from. One I used twice. For flights and AI' I like TA's but when it comes to booking something that often goes down in price like a cruise I have been happiest and better off booking my own through the cruiseline. Once it's booked something tells me that most TA's would rather be spending their time booking someone else a vacation rather than calling to get me a $20 discount.

 

I also think that the lack of help from cruiseline reps when you call to ask questions like booking specialty restaurants etc is because they to would rather be talking to a potential client.

[Guest maddycat]

Do you look for price drops before final payment? If so when do you call her to take action. $20 a cabin, $100? Is calling for small price drops even acceptable?

 

I call for all price drops.