Book through TA or Carnival Directly?

[cessnabmw]

We are looking at booking our second cruise and went through cruise compete to try.

 

TA's are offering us the same price as Carnival website, but with $200 free OBC.

 

Why would all people only ever then book through a TA for the extra $? Why book through Carnival?

Edited April 30, 2015 by cessnabmw

[stargate fan]

We are looking at booking our second cruise and went through cruise compete to try.

 

TA's are offering us the same price as Carnival website, but with $200 free OBC.

 

Why would all people only ever then book through a TA for the extra $? Why book through Carnival?

 

We book through our Carnival PVP so we can have full control of our booking should we need to do something and our PVP isn't available. Carnival will not talk to anyone who even has a simple question if he/she booked through a t.a.

 

Before using a t.a., check if there are fees for any transactions, like price drops.

[LeisaH3067]

We are looking at booking our second cruise and went through cruise compete to try.

 

TA's are offering us the same price as Carnival website, but with $200 free OBC.

 

Why would all people only ever then book through a TA for the extra $? Why book through Carnival?

 

I will only book through Carnival directly now. If you use a TA, we learned the hard way last year, that Carnival won't talk to you or help if you need assistance. Any questions we had, we had to get a hold of our agent. I like to have control of our booking.

[Tapi]

- read the fine print

- check agency ratings and accreditation

- verify that there are no booking, change or cancelation fees outside of what Carnival normally charges

- understand that you will have zero control of your booking and any problems, errors or customer service issues will need to go through this TA.

- Ask the agency how they are offering you $200 OBC without violating Carnival's rules for TA's which prevents them from offering more than $25 OBC pp. if they lie or offer you some shady answer, I would be very skeptical about giving them my credit card number.

Edited April 30, 2015 by Tapi

[Isa65]

You will never get a Pro-TA answer on this forum.

 

Good thing there are thousands of satisfied clients who still have good relationships with good TAs so we have more than enough work and clients who go on vacation without stress and having to play agents themselves when there are complex issues.

[BigB0882]

Be very careful! We booked through a TA and got a better deal than Carnival was offering at the time. However, the contract we signed said price was FINAL and no price drops were allowed. Shortly after booking we were offered a Pack and Play for that cruise, could have gone from paying around $1600 or so to only $400!!! TA said too bad so sad. Will never make that mistake again. Now I book for myself. If I ever use a TA again it will be for a more complicated European cruise and they will have to allow for price drops.

[Tapi]

You will never get a Pro-TA answer on this forum..

 

 

You will get one from me, but with a disclaimer. I'm in favor of a good, reputable TA, who offers good customer service and expertise. My last 3 cruises were booked using TA's. What I'm against are TA's who lure clients by slashing their own commissions in order to offer some sort of monetary incentive, but that otherwise engage in shady booking practices, have hidden fees, and offer poor customer service due to lack of product knowledge or experience.

 

Glad to hear that you're NOT one of those.

Edited April 30, 2015 by Tapi

[montana200024]

i too am for PVP from carnival..never have I had a problem with them, if the price goes down, you submit a form..get it with your update within 3 working days...have a TA is very very different...

[ScottsSweetie]

I have booked all different ways, and will continue to do so in the way which benefits me the most.

 

I have used my PVP several times.

 

I have booked through an agency in order to use Hilton points (have to go through certain agency). I have booked through the same agency to earn Hilton points. (Costs me $24.99 fee to use my $250 certificate).

 

I have booked through a certain credit card company's travel agency in order to use those points.

 

Since we rarely book well in advance, price drops are not normally an issue for us, though, so it may be different for others.

[Keys2Heaven]

I've managed to save at least $300 on a cabin by booking with a TA. Not worried about price drops as we try to book aft cabins which rarely see these anyway.

[sjcruiser]

I've booked directly with Carnival and Royal, with the exception of one cruise on Royal, which was through a discount bidding online agency, using their regular booking method. They had a promotion for $150 obc, double upgrades, free specialty dining for 2, and 5 nights free hotel stay that could be used in conjunction with the cruise or not. Several times the price dropped, and I tried to get through to make the changes (since you can only go through your TA), and it was over an hour on hold with them to get it done. I have tried to use TA's for international travel, mainly to get the best plane tickets, but was told more or less, I could do it myself for cheaper. I have used AAA for travel to Disney, but that was a long time ago. I don't like dealing with middle men/people, and I like to be in control of my arrangements myself, so I don't have to call anyway to get things done. I guess for some people they're great, but I usually have everything planned and researched when I go to them, so only thing they had to do was make the booking.

[nyc12345]

Be very careful! We booked through a TA and got a better deal than Carnival was offering at the time. However, the contract we signed said price was FINAL and no price drops were allowed. Shortly after booking we were offered a Pack and Play for that cruise, could have gone from paying around $1600 or so to only $400!!! TA said too bad so sad. Will never make that mistake again. Now I book for myself. If I ever use a TA again it will be for a more complicated European cruise and they will have to allow for price drops.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but pack and play is only for cruises that are sailing in the immediate future, meaning you are way past final payment, and you are booking a guarantee. If that is the case, you would get the same response if you booked directly with Carnival. Because only Early Saver is eligible for price drop after final payment. :confused:

[2boys2girls]

We book through our Carnival PVP so we can have full control of our booking should we need to do something and our PVP isn't available. Carnival will not talk to anyone who even has a simple question if he/she booked through a t.a.

 

Before using a t.a., check if there are fees for any transactions, like price drops.

 

We have actually used the same travel agent for all 4 of our cruises. I will say that I had to call Carnival a couple of times for our upcoming cruise, once to ask a question about excursions and another time to update our VIPF number and they helped me with no problem!

[2boys2girls]

We have actually used the same travel agent for all 4 of our cruises. I will say that I had to call Carnival a couple of times for our upcoming cruise, once to ask a question about excursions and another time to update our VIPF number and they helped me with no problem!

 

Sorry...VIFP number!

[stargate fan]

We have actually used the same travel agent for all 4 of our cruises. I will say that I had to call Carnival a couple of times for our upcoming cruise, once to ask a question about excursions and another time to update our VIPF number and they helped me with no problem!

 

That's good to hear.

 

I do wonder if they would have been as receptive if you needed help with a cruise booked through the t.a.

[leedm]

I have used a TA and now a PVP. One of the biggest differences for me is the PVP can pull up your booking and make changes the TA must call carnival to make changes. Also the PVP has more information on your booking and the changes that are available. I have called my PVP and made changes from one rate to another to get a better $$ deal. This has worked very well for me. Had no problem with my TA I just think the PVP has more information on CCL cruises

[cruizinisthebest]

You will never get a Pro-TA answer on this forum.

 

Good thing there are thousands of satisfied clients who still have good relationships with good TAs so we have more than enough work and clients who go on vacation without stress and having to play agents themselves when there are complex issues.

 

You're right. This is a very anti travel agent board.

 

If you have an issue with your booking through a TA, you call and ask. If your TA doesn't know the answer, they will find it out for you. I've had several 3 way conversations between my TA, myself, and Carnival. And a few times I know I was better off having a TA as Carnival tried to screw me out of a discount THEY gave me for an issue with my cabin.

 

Not sure why TAs are the devil on this board, but I am positive any way you book you stand the chance of running into problems. Their use is encouraged on other boards.

 

I myself book with whoever is offering the best deal when I'm ready. And I will never use any TA that I can't reach whenever I Need to. I am in charge of my booking regardless, and there are some things you can take care of directly with Carnival even if booked through a TA. They will talk to you if booking or cancelling excursions, bon voyage ordering. And they will respond to you DIRECTLY if you have issues and email cclsupport. This I know from experience.

[mistycruiser]

Pack and Play is a special from the casino and isn't a guarantee. You're confusing it with Pack and Go which is last minute and a guarantee.

I just recently received a bunch of Pack and Play offers and used one in particular for my Hawaii cruise next week. I originally had booked military rate and had just made final payment when the Pack and Play showed up. So I switched over to the pack and play rate and even though I lost my deposit since it was past final payment date and I was not early saver, I still received an additional $1650 refund. Whew hoo, would have been a $2450 OBC if I'd booked early saver but I was still pretty happy. The new rate on Pack and Play for an 11 days cruise was only $160 pp plus taxes.

[jimbo5544]

You're right. This is a very anti travel agent board.

 

If you have an issue with your booking through a TA, you call and ask. If your TA doesn't know the answer, they will find it out for you. I've had several 3 way conversations between my TA, myself, and Carnival. And a few times I know I was better off having a TA as Carnival tried to screw me out of a discount THEY gave me for an issue with my cabin.

 

Not sure why TAs are the devil on this board, but I am positive any way you book you stand the chance of running into problems. Their use is encouraged on other boards.

 

I myself book with whoever is offering the best deal when I'm ready. And I will never use any TA that I can't reach whenever I Need to. I am in charge of my booking regardless, and there are some things you can take care of directly with Carnival even if booked through a TA. They will talk to you if booking or cancelling excursions, bon voyage ordering. And they will respond to you DIRECTLY if you have issues and email cclsupport. This I know from experience.

 

Well said!

[esdoorn]

We booked our cruise through our Canadian TA that I have used in the past for other trips and have never had an issue.

 

They were able to skate around the whole ship swap issue for next year ( Victory to Sensation ) and were able to keep our same price we booked for ( which is currently $150.00 lower than the price if you tried to book now and Carnival also worked out with them a $100 OBC for both my wife and I or $200 OBC credit combined. Plus, we have until 60 days before the cruise to pay for the cruise in total and that we be the end of January 2016, so we don't tie up a whole bunch of money upfront.

 

Very happy with our TA experience and attention to detail and bending over backwards to get us a great deal and great cruise to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau.

[Isa65]

You're right. This is a very anti travel agent board.

 

If you have an issue with your booking through a TA, you call and ask. If your TA doesn't know the answer, they will find it out for you. I've had several 3 way conversations between my TA, myself, and Carnival. And a few times I know I was better off having a TA as Carnival tried to screw me out of a discount THEY gave me for an issue with my cabin.

 

Not sure why TAs are the devil on this board, but I am positive any way you book you stand the chance of running into problems. Their use is encouraged on other boards.

 

I myself book with whoever is offering the best deal when I'm ready. And I will never use any TA that I can't reach whenever I Need to. I am in charge of my booking regardless, and there are some things you can take care of directly with Carnival even if booked through a TA. They will talk to you if booking or cancelling excursions, bon voyage ordering. And they will respond to you DIRECTLY if you have issues and email cclsupport. This I know from experience.

 

Thanks for that. I respect everyone's choice and find it so sad when people jump to conclusions that any negative thing that happens ( f.i. a denied price drop) is a TA's fault. Happy clients come back, so it's in our best interest to be available, offer great service and nice perks.

[cessnabmw]

We booked our cruise through our Canadian TA that I have used in the past for other trips and have never had an issue.

 

They were able to skate around the whole ship swap issue for next year ( Victory to Sensation ) and were able to keep our same price we booked for ( which is currently $150.00 lower than the price if you tried to book now and Carnival also worked out with them a $100 OBC for both my wife and I or $200 OBC credit combined. Plus, we have until 60 days before the cruise to pay for the cruise in total and that we be the end of January 2016, so we don't tie up a whole bunch of money upfront.

 

Very happy with our TA experience and attention to detail and bending over backwards to get us a great deal and great cruise to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau.

 

Please can you send your Canadian TA contact?

[MickCruiser]

We just booked our annual spring break cruise on the Breeze. We have a family member who is a TA. Clearly I trust her skills, etc. if we see a price drop....we let her know and it's taken care of.

 

We've booked directly on our own and last year used a PVP for a last min sailing.

 

But the one thing we noted when booking thru our TA.....insurance is not due until final payment. If we book directly (eg web site) or via PVP, ins is due at time of booking. We book ES so we understand the risks there of changes or canceling. Helped we sneaked in on the 50% deposit sale as well.

 

Enjoy your cruise either way!!! [emoji2]

 

 

- JPO

Edited May 2, 2015 by MickCruiser

[Soleil's Mom]

I have booked 10 cruises successfully thru my Carnival PVP. I like being able to e-mail him and ask a question without having to go thru a TA. With that being said, I recently booked cruise #11 thru a TA. Why? Because I waited 2 weeks too long to book the Vista and the prices had gone thru the roof, whereas TAs had locked prices in at the opening day cost. Right now, Carnival is asking for $1400 more for our cabin than what we booked at. I can't figure where I coulld possibly have a question that costs $1400 to answer, so the TA can totally take care of me on this one. I also don't see the price coming down enough to net me any price drops, so I'm thinking the TA may win this round. Not that it will stop me from booking another cruise thru my PVP either.

[CJHAN]

We are looking at booking our second cruise and went through cruise compete to try.

 

TA's are offering us the same price as Carnival website, but with $200 free OBC.

 

Why would all people only ever then book through a TA for the extra $? Why book through Carnival?

 

I book through Carnival because I like to have the control over it all. If something goes wrong I have no one to blame but myself. We went through a PVP for the first cruise and had some issues with getting early saver rate changes and ended up spending way more then we would have if we just did it ourselves also PVPs have to make money no one wants to work for free so why not in essence just pay myself to do it. Now we do it this way no matter the vacation be it Disney, Universal or just a trip to the Grand Canyon I'm doing the planing and it kind of fun.