Is there an advantage to using a travel agent over booking yourself.

[Msail]

I used one for my first cruise and he wasn't very good so I've been doing them myself . Am I missing out on anything by doing that?

[Colo Cruiser]

I used one for my first cruise and he wasn't very good so I've been doing them myself . Am I missing out on anything by doing that?

 

You have to find a good one.....

The advantage with a TA would be a discounted price and possibly

some incentives of on board credit (OBC) etc.

We always book with a TA.

Be careful of some who charge cancelation fees, cabin change fees etc.

Its not necessary.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[flourpot]

I used one for my first cruise and he wasn't very good so I've been doing them myself . Am I missing out on anything by doing that?

 

Sometimes travel agents will have specials on certain cruises that they are running through their own company (OBC, chocolate covered strawberries, free specialty dining, special coupon books, etc.). We have always used a travel agent, but she also realizes that we will book ourselves if she can't beat the best price that we can find on our own.

[Msail]

Is it a large saving and him much OBC

[CruisenOne]

I used one for my first cruise and he wasn't very good Dump him so I've been doing them myself . Am I missing out on anything by doing that?

 

A good TA, if you cruise frequently, will advise of Visas required, shots required, etc.

 

I know of a horror story of a lady who booked her cruise to Manaus Brazil.

She and others were denied boarding because they did not have Brazilian Pass Ports and Yellow Fever shots.

 

She and others forfeited all of their money.

 

They did not read their Cruise Docs.

[TomCruises]

Depending upon the total cost of the cruise only portion of your cruise, this may be little discount from T/A which average 8-12 percent . You will give up control of your booking. If your monitoring website for a price decrease you will need to call T/A to get discount as Princess won't be of any help.

[flourpot]

Is it a large saving and him much OBC

 

It depends on the cruise itself and what the company is offering for that particular sailing. You really have to do your own research to see what is considered good to you. My travel agent has a website where you can search for cruises and see if a special is being offered.

 

As a rule of thumb, if I am saving more (or receiving more OBC) than the fee that the TA is charging to book it, it's worth it to use the TA. Also, if a flight is involved, I've found that my TA can sometimes find a better flight and better price than I can.

 

All this being said, I do the research before calling the TA. I know what cruise I want, have an idea of the cheapest airlines, and know if the TA's company has a special going on. I'm also very clear that if she can't beat what I've found (not including any specials from the TA's company), I'll book it myself.

[happy cruzer]

I book inside cabins, usually a ta can not offer anything of value to make it worth giving up the control. Once I had a problem on a weekend and could never contact the ta for help so unless there is a good discount I like to control the booking.

[paul929207]

Princess allows a TA to discount the price. Mine gives me about a 15% discount of the current Princess price.

[I_r_a]

Hi MS,

 

Although i always do land vacations myself, the cruise game is more complicated. A good TA can give you discount prices, additional On Board Credit and other goodies that you won't get yourself.

 

In addition, a TA that does a lot of business with a cruise line has more clout than you do.

 

Google "discount cruises".

 

You will find the usual large travel companies and then some firms that are cruise specific.

 

Happy hunting.

 

Ira

[susancruzs]

I sail single, always insides and my TA gets me the best price. I book early and if there are price reductions, she always lets me know. She always gives me an onboard credit, too. I check the website but their price is always higher, by quite a bit.

[mr green]

I find the cruise that I want on line, give the information to my TA, and ask her to beat the price. It usually works.:)

 

john

[jrblach]

Princess allows a TA to discount the price. Mine gives me about a 15% discount of the current Princess price.

that is fantastic. how do they do that??? thanks

[Coral]

that is fantastic. how do they do that??? thanks

 

They take a smaller percentage of commission.

[Loonbeam]

There is also the non-financial aspect. I've used the same agent for over 10 years. She knows me, I know her. More often than not, she has problems solved before I even know they exist. Her agency has 24 hour support.

 

As an example, we have a standing interest in weekend cruises out of NYC. I was booked on the Vista before it even went on sale to the general public.

 

I get absolute zero discounts or OBC from her on Princess and I don't care. Their shop does very little Princess.

 

Now, if all you do is cruise one line, then finding a discount agent for that line is a good call. But if you do other things as we do, a generalist with good service can be far more valuable (and she does get us discounts on other things)...

[OCruisers]

The key is finding a GOOD Travel Agent. :D

LuLu

[LabGuy64]

Large agencies usually are able to work on a smaller margin and give better OBC.....I booked a TA cruise through my old agent...she would only offer 200.00 in OBC I ended up transfering the booking to one that got me 1935.00.....a VERY signficant difference

 

 

I used one for my first cruise and he wasn't very good so I've been doing them myself . Am I missing out on anything by doing that?

[LabGuy64]

Your TA charges a fee?.....ours does not.....and our pricing is inline with the cruise lines website...PLUS really good OBC....I mean REALLY good

 

 

It depends on the cruise itself and what the company is offering for that particular sailing. You really have to do your own research to see what is considered good to you. My travel agent has a website where you can search for cruises and see if a special is being offered.

 

As a rule of thumb, if I am saving more (or receiving more OBC) than the fee that the TA is charging to book it, it's worth it to use the TA. Also, if a flight is involved, I've found that my TA can sometimes find a better flight and better price than I can.

 

All this being said, I do the research before calling the TA. I know what cruise I want, have an idea of the cheapest airlines, and know if the TA's company has a special going on. I'm also very clear that if she can't beat what I've found (not including any specials from the TA's company), I'll book it myself.

[paul929207]

that is fantastic. how do they do that??? thanks

I haven't asked how they do it. I just ask for a price. They are consistently the lowest. I use a site that sends your request for a quote to many agencies. You get quotes from 6 to 10 TA usually.

[luv2cruz62]

I always leave things to the professionals! If anything goes wrong, they are responsible...TA had a flight booked for my daughter after our cruise this coming may, I had ok'ed it, and then realized that it didn't leave enough time for her to get to the airport (less than 7 hours after disembarkation) which was the optimum time given from the cruise personalizer. The TA realized she made the error, and changed the flight, and also ate the $300 charge for the change.:p

 

It doesn't cost anything extra, and they sometimes know of specials, etc, that you or I cannot get!

[Paula_MacFan]

I haven't asked how they do it. I just ask for a price. They are consistently the lowest. I use a site that sends your request for a quote to many agencies. You get quotes from 6 to 10 TA usually.

 

I *think* we have used the same site you are referencing. I tried it a few years ago and got a great price and perks, and have stuck with that TA ever since. They are in another state than us, but always answer emails quickly and have been very responsive to price drop and other change requests. We've saved quite a bit over Princess' pricing and always get OBC and other perks.

 

I think they are a Princess volume TA so they get better pricing. On one of our upcoming cruises we got an Emerald mini-suite for less than Princess' advertised balcony price, plus OBC.

Edited March 3, 2015 by Paula_MacFan
additional thought

[Elevatorman]

that is fantastic. how do they do that??? thanks

 

A recent OBC with Princess was $75. The TA offered $125. She splits the fee that Princess pays her with her clients.

[lucky99]

I have done both and I have made out MUCH better doing it myself. We had a balcony booked and last week I noticed a mini-suite was only $300 pp more so I called Princess and got the mini-suite for even less than they advertised. I told them I would like an upgrade and 2 days later I got an upgrade notice for the minis-suite in the middle of the deck instead of the sale one on the far end. Last year we went on the 26 day transatlantic and same thing happened. There was a sale and they gave me $1,000pp off what I had booked and gave us $250 OBC as well. Other passengers we spoke with on the cruise did not get any kind of a deal like we did. I had what I thought were good TA's but I have done much better on my own. One cruise we used a TA a good sale came up and I could not get in touch with her until the sale was over. She had her own office. Last cruise we were on the people we ate dinner with paid $900pp for inside cabin we had a balcony for $599. They used BJ's travel for their booking. I watch the cruise line about once a week to see what sales are going on and they have always given me the new price.

Edited March 3, 2015 by lucky99
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[RocketMan275]

The TAs I've used have gotten me such good deals that I've almost given up on checking for sales and price drops. When I do, I find my pricing has always been better than the sales prices and price drops.

[DMRick]

The key is finding a GOOD Travel Agent. :D

 

LuLu

 

 

I agree. And even among those travel agents people have given me on CC that they swear are the best and cheapest I have found better. Maybe they have been with their agent longer and get better deals.

 

Last cruise the online price when I booked was $1499 plus port charges and taxes. Sure, it went down eventually but my price was always cheaper...$980 plus port and taxes. When princess offered free grats (15 day cruise, two people), we still got them although our TA did say we would have to give up our $100 Obc. Way worth it as we already had the $80 she gave us, SH and FCC.. We also had a free specialty meal for two, voucher waiting when we got onboard as well as a voucher for champagne ( which we exchanged for 15 waters and 15 sodas through room service. They said the value was $60.

 

When we got on board, and my husband didn't have his free grats, we tried working with Princess for four days, showing our paperwork, email etc. to no avail. Home office said only I had them ( which was ridiculous). On day four they let us use the desk phone and 15 minutes after calling our TA, it was on our account.