What's the point of a using travel agent?

[Chicago Boy]

Last October I booked my forthcoming Eastern Med Cruise (Aug 2014) direct with 'X'. I Booked Flights via them too. I Booked my own accom for the additional night in Rome.

By saving my cruise to 'favorites' I was able to check the price movements and pounced when balcony cabin price dropped below my original 'inside'.

 

I feel that booking direct with Celeb was pretty painless, their support was fine when I called them, and i'm pretty much ready to go..

 

So what benefits does a travel agent give the consumer in 2014? :confused:

 

That's a really good question. We have used the same travel agent for several years but over the last couple of years she has become sloppy and made lots of mistakes. We found ourselves (good thing we did) double checking her work. Last cruise she made an error on our plane reservations and it almost cost us our flight which would have put our cruise in jeopardy. It cost us time and money to straighten out her mess. Bottom line from now on we book directly with Celebrity. They take care of our hotel and air as well. In fact, we leave for Rome on Monday to pick up our trans Atlantic to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Enjoy your cruise!:)

[Duanerice1]

We usually book directly with Celebrity. I've used a TA twice. The first time was our first cruise and I used a local agent. They were nice enough but didn't offer much advice and no perks - we didn't know any better.

 

Fast forward to our next cruise. We booked directly with Celebrity and then transferred to an online agent. Since I had everything set, cabin and meal preference mainly, there was really nothing to lose and I received an additional $350 OBC for a 10 night cruise.

 

So it was worth it to us. Now why I didn't use one in the 8 cruises in between my first and this one, I have no idea.

Duane

[grandgeezer]

We are getting off the Equinox tomorrow after a 27 day B2B. I got $1,000 obi from my online travel agent for the two cruises. I'm taking home $650 of it. Need I say more?

[junetraveler2014]

Last October I booked my forthcoming Eastern Med Cruise (Aug 2014) direct with 'X'. I Booked Flights via them too. I Booked my own accom for the additional night in Rome.

By saving my cruise to 'favorites' I was able to check the price movements and pounced when balcony cabin price dropped below my original 'inside'.

 

I feel that booking direct with Celeb was pretty painless, their support was fine when I called them, and i'm pretty much ready to go..

 

So what benefits does a travel agent give the consumer in 2014? :confused:

I am glad to hear this. I too have booked directly with Celebrity this time and I have been more than satisfied with their service, especially since I have a dedicated rep with them. As for Travel Agents, not so happy. The last six cruise it was I who was watching for specials and price drops. When I would call to inform of my findings, you could cut the attitude with a knife. With how Celebrity has treated us so far, Travel Agents should beware..as their job will be phased out in the cruise industry. IMHO!

[varoo]

...... With how Celebrity has treated us so far, Travel Agents should beware..as their job will be phased out in the cruise industry. IMHO!

Maybe someday, but it won't happen anytime soon as long as the cruise lines continue to reward travel agents handsomely and the travel agents continue to rebate part of their lucrative commissions to us, the customers, in the way of additional perks.

 

To put it quite simply, I also prefer to leave my bookings with the cruise line, but I will continue to give them to travel agencies as long as the travel agencies continue to make it worthwhile for me to do so.

 

Edited November 10, 2014 by varoo

[jveevers]

Last October I booked my forthcoming Eastern Med Cruise (Aug 2014) direct with 'X'. I Booked Flights via them too. I Booked my own accom for the additional night in Rome.

By saving my cruise to 'favorites' I was able to check the price movements and pounced when balcony cabin price dropped below my original 'inside'.

 

I feel that booking direct with Celeb was pretty painless, their support was fine when I called them, and i'm pretty much ready to go..

 

So what benefits does a travel agent give the consumer in 2014? :confused:

 

I agree. After obtaining quotes from 3 USA TA and 2 local (Australia), they all come up with exactly the same pricing that is available Celebrity website direct. Couple offered small extra OBC and most charge extra % if paying by Credit Card which Celebrity doesnt. So I see No benefit in booking TA . They send out email after email broadcasting "discount" but when you ask for price its exact same to the cent as. celebrity.

[lenbest]

Can a person with a UK postcode book with a US travel agent-anyone know

[divechick]

My first couple cruises I booked through a local TA who did nothing for us I did all the work watched for price drops ect. Then several years ago I found a online site through advice from a fellow cruise crtic member and found a wonderful TA she always gives us OBC . For up coming cruise we have $300 OBC from her drink package and $100 OBC from Celebrity. She calls back quickly whenever I leave a message and has even caught a couple price drops before I did. You just have to look but great TA's are out there.

Edited November 10, 2014 by divechick

[villauk]

I agree. After obtaining quotes from 3 USA TA and 2 local (Australia), they all come up with exactly the same pricing that is available Celebrity website direct. Couple offered small extra OBC and most charge extra % if paying by Credit Card which Celebrity doesnt. So I see No benefit in booking TA . They send out email after email broadcasting "discount" but when you ask for price its exact same to the cent as. celebrity.

 

 

They all quote the same price unless it's a group booking. If they only offered you a small OBC, you need to locate TAs that are recommended from other posters on here (see below) ;).

 

Can a person with a UK postcode book with a US travel agent-anyone know

 

Yes, we have done many times. The best place to get recommendations is at the Connections party (we're not allowed to quote TA details on CC). You can also look at the TAs that advertise on CC, just ensure you're on the USA site (you can alter the country at the bottom of the main CC page).

[Jdpapillion]

This TA vs. Direct is a big question for me. I feel somewhat confident that I have booked good deals directly. I did contact a big on line Cruise specialist that I used before for an Alaska cruise coming up. I receive ALL emails and direct mail from my favorite lines, so I know the current deals. The deal that I was sent from the big TA was approximately $150 more PP with the same 123 Perks and we were booking two cabins. I even did the cabin search and told them what we wanted.

 

I think if you are a cruise planner hobbyist and want specific cabins, dealing direct is ok. I would like someone to call me and say you can upgrade to balcony to suite, suite to next highest suite, etc., but how do you find that relationship. I just keep my eye on it and call X direct and I have successfully gone from Sky suite to AQ suite after seeming a price drop.

 

I have also talked to different levels of Xdirect reps at different #, but I don't know how to delineate getting to them. I am also going to bend the ear of the OnBoard Future Cruise office when I am on ship next week on this topic.

[NoleMini]

I do not think that 10% of a booking is lucrative (ie, some carnival fares are about 200/pp, so you made $20 on that booking. Try paying bills on that! TA's get NOTHING for flights, and there are portions of a cruise that are not included in the commission, so of that $200 fare, only about 160 of it is commission-able.

A good TA should be finding out what you like, don't like, and especially making sure your needs are taken care of. Any special dietary issues? Do you need a crib or diaper genie in the room? Do you want to sleep in and not be right under the gym at 6am when people start hitting the treadmill? Do you smoke (and since most if not all lines have discontinued smoking on balconies) need to be near a smoking allowable deck?

There are many more things a TA should and can do, not all of them do however. The cruise lines take whatever commission the TA might make and turn it into profit for them, and may not be available should you have a problem. We got rid of our TA as she was not really providing these things any more....