Carnival ship - Agent or Carnival

[beshears]

I would like to hear the pros/cons of booking through a travel agent, or booking directly through Carnival.

 

Do you find better upgrades, credits, etc. by booking through an agent, or Carnival itself?

 

I just seen a great deal on the Breeze, but unfortunately I won't be able to do it next year. What they were giving as on board credit, upgrade really looked good.

[jh2360]

I've done both. I shop around and find who is offering the best package. I have on agent I've used a couple times, but I haven't been afraid to book with Carnival or another agent if they offer a better deal.

[Shipbound]

I book through Carnival because if I see a price change I can call carnival to get the lower price. If you book through an agent then they have to make changes.

 

Gary.

[singbluesilver1]

Carnival all the way

[Flatbush Flyer]

Unless it's a group (and even then not necessarily) many top cruise specialist TAs won't handle Carnival reservations. Not enough money in it for them.

[Crusin Hogs]

Direct with Carnival PPV , no need for a middle man

[dioxide45]

You will find that most people here will book directly and thus suggest going directly through Carnival. I find the loyalty here to be somewhat blind by only booking direct and not checking out other places for a better deal. We always search out the best deal. I have only booked with Carnival directly once and ended up transferring to a TA only a few days later. Every time we saved some money.

 

How to book may depend on what kind of deals you can get from a travel agent. Be careful with an agent, some may have booking and/or cancellation fees. So check in to that before you book through any TA.

 

We have a great TA that we book through all the time now when their price is better than direct or other travel sites. In most cases with Carnival, you will find that there is no difference in price and sometimes the only difference is a small perk or freebie specialty restaurant reservation. The extra perks are slim through Carnival. That is why not every TA will sell Carnival cruises. They have tightened things to much that the margins are so small. If you can find an agent that has booked a group rate or offers some kind of non public rate, you can save a bunch of money.

[beshears]

Thank you everyone for your responses back. This gives me something to THINK about, before I book my next cruise. :)

[elliair]

I would like to hear the pros/cons of booking through a travel agent, or booking directly through Carnival.

 

Do you find better upgrades, credits, etc. by booking through an agent, or Carnival itself?

 

I just seen a great deal on the Breeze, but unfortunately I won't be able to do it next year. What they were giving as on board credit, upgrade really looked good.

 

We always book through Discover card. If you have a Discover card go to their website and it will walk you through the process. We get 5% cash back, on board credits, along with the same perks Carnival is offering. On our next cruise (Panama Canal), we got 10% cash back, a $625 OBC, free 1 night dining in the steakhouse. We've never had a problem with the travel agent and received everything they offered.

[wantocruisemore]

Main reason i book direct is to control my own booking and can get price drops. I check prices throughout day. I remember once we saved $50 per person. I told my roll call that prices were down and 2 others also got theirs reduced. However, the lady with 4 rooms and 8 people missed out because she couldn't get up with her TA before the prices went back up. Good reason to never use a TA.

[elliair]

Main reason i book direct is to control my own booking and can get price drops. I check prices throughout day. I remember once we saved $50 per person. I told my roll call that prices were down and 2 others also got theirs reduced. However, the lady with 4 rooms and 8 people missed out because she couldn't get up with her TA before the prices went back up. Good reason to never use a TA.

 

When we booked the Panama Canal cruise, we used the Discover card TA. Our offer at the time was 5% cash back then it got raised to 10% cash back and a price drop. All I did was call my TA and they adjusted it accordingly. No problems whatsoever. I read here where people have to fight with Carnival and Princess to get their lower price. Filling out papers, etc. It's not worth the hassle and we have 26 cruises with both Carnival and Princess and the TA was the least trouble to deal with.

[luvincruising]

You will find that most people here will book directly and thus suggest going directly through Carnival. I find the loyalty here to be somewhat blind by only booking direct and not checking out other places for a better deal. We always search out the best deal. I have only booked with Carnival directly once and ended up transferring to a TA only a few days later. Every time we saved some money.

 

How to book may depend on what kind of deals you can get from a travel agent. Be careful with an agent, some may have booking and/or cancellation fees. So check in to that before you book through any TA.

 

We have a great TA that we book through all the time now when their price is better than direct or other travel sites. In most cases with Carnival, you will find that there is no difference in price and sometimes the only difference is a small perk or freebie specialty restaurant reservation. The extra perks are slim through Carnival. That is why not every TA will sell Carnival cruises. They have tightened things to much that the margins are so small. If you can find an agent that has booked a group rate or offers some kind of non public rate, you can save a bunch of money.

 

Like.

We have used 3 TA's over the years to book our cruises. Whichever one has the best deal gets my business. On our last cruise, there were multiple price drops. I called the agent and was able to lock-in the new price without any problems or additional charges. From another post, the Discovercard TA route looks interesting.

:)

[buddylover]

We have used both....TA, but mostly booking direct thru cruise lines. The only time we use a TA is to get added perks that CCL rarely gives any more - such as OBC, dinners in the steakhouse, prepaid gratuities etc....so sometimes a TA is advantageous.

 

BUT, and a big BUT, it is far easier to get price reductions if you book directly thru CCL. Submit price reduction form....easy peasy and never have had any problems (and we always book ES, so have received some incredible reductions). With a TA, when you ask to reduce your bottom line it affects their commissions....thus there could be some issues. When I book with a TA, I always tend to make sure the price is about as low as I think it will go...and we have been lucky to snag low pricing + some extra perks that way!!