Question for "Candy"

[psc11]

Candy (and any others who want to share):

 

Since you cruise so much - especially on HAL - who makes your reservations?? Do you go through HAL or through your own travel agent??? And do they treat you well for cruising so often???

 

Thanks for all your past and present insight.

 

Paula

[sail7seas]

:) Clearly, I'm not Candy....actually, I haven't noticed her posting for a little while. Hope she's okay.

 

 

We cruise a lot. We have cruised a lot for many years. We use a brick and mortar TA whose office is down the street and round the corner. Her prices are sometimes a little higher than those I have found on line but more often than not she matches the best prices I find. Even if she does not, I am willing to pay a 'reasonable amount' above the lowest I find for the added service I get from her.

 

I am more than able to book all of our own cruises.....I simply don't want to.

[Candy]

:) Clearly, I'm not Candy....actually, I haven't noticed her posting for a little while. Hope she's okay.

Hehe... I'm alive and have survived a trip to Disney World with the grands, in the hottest, most humid month of the year. You might say, "What were you thinkin', girl?", but organizing a last-minute family trip before school starts ain't easy! The next WDW will be in cooler weather, I swear!

 

Also, for the past few days, I've been closing out the books in our business to see how much time I can spend at the craps table next week.

We cruise a lot. We have cruised a lot for many years. We use a brick and mortar TA whose office is down the street and round the corner. Her prices are sometimes a little higher than those I have found on line but more often than not she matches the best prices I find. Even if she does not, I am willing to pay a 'reasonable amount' above the lowest I find for the added service I get from her. I am more than able to book all of our own cruises.....I simply don't want to.

Our TAs have an agency in a big brick building three states away, and I found them on r.t.c. through their accurate and informative posts. I usually know what I want, and email her and she gives me some options and I pick one. Occasionally I'll call HAL and book the perfect cabin, then have it transferred to my TA. She knows what kind of cabin I want and certain other conditions I want to embrace or avoid, and has cruised enough to be able to compare cabin cats for me. In general, the more I cruise, the better the deal. The most important job she does for me is monitor prices. On several cruises she has gotten me either free or paid upgrades, and one cruise she got 2 upgrades and a discount after booking. I do watch pricing on online sites, but have never and would never 'shop' the price with her. I have seen lower prices, but the meager price break is never worth the service I get from my own TA.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Like sail7seas, we also use a TA to book cruises and other vacations. We have used the same TA for over 20 years.