Booking with NCL Directly Yay or Nay?

[CJDepew]

Would any of you who use a TA be willing to share their name? I've cruised with a group twice now, and we haven't had great luck with the TA's. They were recommended by folks who had used them before, but never for cruises. More often than not we had to chase them to get questions answered, and there were definitely no financial benefits. We were thinking of booking directly with NCL next year but after reading this post, now I'm really confused.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Cruise Critic rules prevent us from recommending TAs. :(

[punkincc]

Would any of you who use a TA be willing to share their name? I've cruised with a group twice now, and we haven't had great luck with the TA's. They were recommended by folks who had used them before, but never for cruises.

 

 

Maybe the fact that you haven't had great luck with TAs lies in your statement "...recommended by folks who had used them, but never for cruises."

 

I would stay away from companies which offer everything from soup to nuts. Go with a web agency which "specializes" in cruises and not much else. They will all probably have "Cruise" somewhere in the agency name. These people know the cruise industry.

[Minoushka]

My experience withTAs has not been good .So i book directly with the cruise line .I get Pvc or cruise consultant with each cruise line and I deal with them .my new guy on NCL is very nice and we are working out kinks to see if I can cruise soon .its always better IMO to deal directly with the cruise line .esp for price drop or promised OBC..in one case my OBC with a TAb was notinscribed and I fought from the ship ...they were very helpful. qM 2 ....with that company for a whole week before I finally got it ..it was 250$ ..which is a lot .

I had a great PvP with Princess she would play with my bookings to constantly update price reductions .She got promoted ...boohoo ..I got someone else who refused to do this ...needless to say I never booked with Princess again ....same goes with Celebrity ...both were unhelpful ...end of relationship

So far NCL does treat me well ...as long as they do they will get my cruise $$$$$.

[ray98]

I always book direct. I have no need for a middleman to hold my hand.

[zaknzoey]

True. But for the life of me, since we are talking real live money here, why some continue to argue.

 

Here are our TA OBCs for the next 5 bookings. Nothing more than plain vanilla balcony cabins (no minis, no suites). Any OBC from the cruise line would be additional (and all direct bookers would get).

 

$550

$100

$150.

$200

$400

 

For the poster who "didn't believe" that I had saved "thousands" in 65 cruises, those total $1400 in only 5 sailings.

 

Can I please ask two questions?

 

One, are the cruises you listed above 7 day cruises or maybe longer?

 

Two, for the larger amounts listed above, $550/400, what happens to the onboard credit from your travel agent if a portion of it goes unused? Lost? Pay out? other?

 

Thanks!

[Happy_2_B]

Would any of you who use a TA be willing to share their name? I've cruised with a group twice now, and we haven't had great luck with the TA's. They were recommended by folks who had used them before, but never for cruises. More often than not we had to chase them to get questions answered, and there were definitely no financial benefits. We were thinking of booking directly with NCL next year but after reading this post, now I'm really confused.

 

Fairly new to the boards, but here is a 'kind of' answer to your question. We booked the cruisenext package 2 cruises ago for the OBC. We booked 2 cruises on board with NCL at that time. When we got home, I went to a website where TAs compete for your cruise booking and submitted the relevant information about the cruises. We got back multiple quotes from multiple travel agencies, so we moved our reservations to one of them. Not only did they save us thousands of dollars (SE class bookings) on the bookings- but they gave us additional refundable OBC and free trip insurance as well.

 

Doubt they would go that far for inside stateroom bookings because their commission would be much lower than on a penthouse- but would guess they will give you something. Yes, you have to stay on top of things- as the TAs we work with may overlook something here or there- but as other PPs have mentioned- the savings will pay for additional cruises down the line. We will continue to book direct with NCL, then transfer our bookings to the best quote from the TAs competing on the website for cruise bookings. Hope this helps.

Edited December 17, 2016 by Happy_2_B

[ECCruise]

Can I please ask two questions?

 

One, are the cruises you listed above 7 day cruises or maybe longer?

 

Two, for the larger amounts listed above, $550/400, what happens to the onboard credit from your travel agent if a portion of it goes unused? Lost? Pay out? other?

 

Thanks!

 

All are 10-15 day cruises.

If the TA portion of the OBC is unused, it is refunded to your credit card (which usually is what we do).

[mafig]

Always with a TA for either lower price and/or OBC. I think the most OBC we got was $600. First it was $$400, but when I got my final cruise docs I saw it was $600. Thought maybe the TA made mistake, so I called her and she said she found us a group to put us in for an additional $200.:) That was a 7-day cruise.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I always book direct. I have no need for a middleman to hold my hand.

 

I've never had a TA offer that service. ;)

[CJDepew]

Cruise Critic rules prevent us from recommending TAs. :(

 

 

Thanks. Didn't realize that. While our latest one is very nice and personable, my frustration level is high.

Edited December 18, 2016 by CJDepew

[SuiteTraveler]

I booked the Breakaway to Bahamas a few days ago, i price compare a lot of travel agents and they all offered the same price NCL has, the same promos NCL has, etc. I have to yet to find a travel agent that offers a cheaper discounted price. Even in all of my previous cruises, the travel agent was the same price as the cruise line. I only found one travel agent a few years ago that did offer an extra on board credit but that seemed to be a one time thing only because when i tried to book with them again, they did not offer anything extra.

 

You might want to do some searching. I have found one online travel agency that actually charges less than NCL and includes onboard credit and whatever other perks NCL is currently offering. Sometimes, there will be a one day price drop and I have upgraded to higher level suites for very little money. It is definitely worth searching for this travel agency for the best price.

[tmilak]

Here are my next 4 NCl cruises:

 

$900 OBC

$775 OBC

$550 OBC

$800 OBC

 

All with PPD grats and other goodies from my TA. Why would I book with NCL?

 

Even better I book with Cruise Next and NCL on board and then when I get home transfer to my TA for even more OBC on board.

[Warm Breezes]

I totally agree. It's no hassle at all to work with my TA. I just sent her an email and she takes care of it. I've used her for three bookings now and will continue as long as she continues to offer good service. She also gives me OBC of about 10% of the cruise fare and the fare is usually $50 to $100 less than booking directly with NCL.

 

 

 

I work in tech and am very internet savvy. Also used to be a researcher. LOL. When I call my TA, I know what sailing I want and also my cabin. I don't need a TA to do research for me--I book with my TA because it saves me hundreds of dollars over booking directly with NCL.

 

Ditto for me. No hassle with a TA and I always get at least 10% back in OBC plus sometimes we get a lower price as well. When I call my TA I have already searched the internet and know the ship, sailing and room I want as well as the prices being quoted by the cruise line and other travel websites.

[Warm Breezes]

I always book direct. I have no need for a middleman to hold my hand.

 

I never used my TA to hold my hand. I did use him to get a cheaper cruise than I could booking direct. I always new exactly what I wanted by the time I called the TA and I new what the cruise line was charging for it.

[Demonyte]

People on here saying they save thousands is hard to believe I think they are not internet savey and believe the brochure prices there TA gives them is the real price which I find hilarious and so wrong.

Now don't get me wrong I have booked with a TA and did get a few perks but not enough to make me ga ga over it.

I have had more problems with a TA then booking online direct for sure.

 

 

I find it hilarious that you're the one "not internet savey" [sic!] and not able to find a good TA with good benefits.

 

As said, the thing that one must remember is that with most cruise lines TAs can't advertise their discounted prices publicly - for example my TA has a members only website that shows the "good" prices only after logging in (deals directly from the agent via email are even better).

 

I too save about 10% of every cruise fare (even more if there is a group booking that I can benefit from) by booking with my TA that I've used for years now - thousands of dollars so far compared to booking directly with cruise lines (I've never even seen the brochure rates some people talk so much about).

 

I too handle most of my business by simply emailing to my agent - and if there is an urgent matter to handle (like a price drop or better cabin availability), I can call in 7 days a week to have somebody else handle it if my agent isn't working that time.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

We have used TAs several times, and sometimes their offerings are not as great as others. Timing is everything. My current cruise was already booked with NCL, ( no OBC, one Promo ) but still within the 60 day window, and I was able to transfer. I was lucky enough to find a TA offering a great Black Friday sale. I got a group cruise rate, and for my inside cabin was able to get TWO Promos, rather than the ONE NCL direct offered. I already had Free Gratuities, so I chose the UBP for the second, and the great thing about that is that the TA picks up the gratuities on the package, saving us more than $400 for this 17 day cruise. In addition the TA gave us $100 OBC.

 

So can you see how the savings are starting to add up? In fact, this TA is still offering the Gratuities as a promo, even though NCL has replaced it with the Shore Exc credit again. For our 17 day cruise, that would add up to $459 for two people.

 

 

 

 

Not saying you don't have to do your homework. Before I call a TA, I know exactly what my cruise will cost with NCL direct, and what I'll get with the booking. Then it's easy to window shop the TA offerings to find one that is worth booking for.

 

I can't agree more with you Brenda. I being from Canada use a USA travel agent who gives me what the cruise line offers and then kicks in her perks. With our current booking I wanted to change my cabin and she got it changed with no additional costs and I kept the same NCL offers at the time of booking. My TA is also available 7 days a week through out the day and will always answer phone calls and emails even when away on vacation.

My savings over the years have made it well worth while to stick with her and not directly with the cruise line.

Edited December 19, 2016 by D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL

[newistcruiseaddict]

I do not agree with this for a few reasons. People on here saying they save thousands is hard to believe I think they are not internet savey and believe the brochure prices there TA gives them is the real price which I find hilarious and so wrong.

Now don't get me wrong I have booked with a TA and did get a few perks but not enough to make me ga ga over it.

I have had more problems with a TA then booking online direct for sure.

Some TA's are not quick to answer calls or they make it a big hassle to get you what you want after the original booking. When I call direct I do not have to deal with a middle man that pretends they hooked me up with something special when its the same I could of received on my own a lot quicker.

The most I have received was a bottle of cheap wine and a $200 credit but when I had a price drop that trip my TA screwed up and did not get me credit or a upgrade so it was a wash and a disappointing hassle.

 

I use a website that has consistently given me a significant discount on NCL cruises. I booked my upcoming 9N New Years cruise, inside cabin, 9th deck, with two free perks (doing UBP and UDP of course) for $629pp (Not including "free" fees). I booked it during a Black Friday sale last year. When I mock booked it through NCL, the same room was over $1100pp.

[Cbum]

Wholly Crap!! That's a lot of info to decipher!!! Thanks for replying to my ??'s I have a lot of time to figure it out and will call some TA's and be up front with trying to get the best price.

 

I saw on the on another thread that there are discounted prices, if the ship is not full, after the final payment is due for my cruise. That would be late October or early November 2017 for me. Can you still try for the better deal after that payment is made. If yes how does that all work ie...on board credit or ??? Thanks again for all you reply's.

[pathubia]

In the past I always booked through the same PCC at NCL.

 

I booked with a TA for my next two cruises, he was able to get me free gratuities on the UBP along with the NCL perks (also OBC)

[TifffanyD]

The new rule re the transfer of a booking to a TA is that you have a 60 day window. After that you would need to cancel and rebook with the TA.

 

It is interesting that what some list as a disadvantage to booking with a TA, the fact that your TA needs to handle anything related to the booking, cabin changes, price drops, promo change, etc., I actually consider a big advantage.

 

Why would anyone want to call NCL, wait on hold, try to explain to a brand new customer service rep what you want to accomplish, listen to them tell you that it can't be done, argue with them, escalate to supervisor. Instead, you can just call your TA and they handle it for you.

 

I don't relinquish "control" of my booking to a TA, I direct it, and the TA does the grunt work for me.

 

I completely agree with this. Rather than deal with NCL, wait times, getting hung up on, etc... I simply send my TA an email or a facebook message and she gets it done.

 

That being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with booking direct.

[mafig]

[quote name=Cbum;51804158

 

I saw on the on another thread that there are discounted prices' date=' if the ship is not full, after the final payment is due for my cruise. That would be late October or early November 2017 for me. Can you still try for the better deal after that payment is made. If yes how does that all work ie...on board credit or ??? Thanks again for all you reply's.[/quote]

 

No, after final payment you don't get a better deal. However, some cruise lines (and I don't recall if NCL is one) will allow you to upgrade if, for instance, a higher category is now the same price as you paid. You have to be careful though that the new price and new offer has the same perks that your original offer has. You might have OBC on the first .... make sure you still have it if you change.

Edited December 21, 2016 by mafig

[littlelulu01]

I found something a little strange. I recently booked the last available Haven stateroom and looked into having the booking transferred to a TA for some extra OBC. I have read and also experienced TA's in the past giving 10% in obc. I contacted all of the online companies I could find. Ones that advertise on cc as well as some others. Every company I contacted would only give me $200-$250 to transfer the booking. Giving up my booking to a TA for a measly $250 on a 10k cruise? No thanks. Big box C...warehouse did offer more in a cash card after cruise, so like a rebate of sorts but their offer is still well under the 10%. I think it's around $750 cash card. That's probably what I'll end up doing but it does surprise me the unwillingness for Ta's to offer up a little something more than 2% incentive for my business.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I just looked at my TA's website to see what kind of OBC you'd get if you booked with them. On a $10K booking, you would get $1,000 OBC. I don't know if that's on every single NCL cruise as I just put in a random cruise and selected the Haven, and that's what it showed. It's been the same chart for every cruise I've booked with them. It's too bad I can't recommend them to you. But, if you're a smart cruiser you might be able to find them on your own. ;)

Edited December 21, 2016 by Quilting_Cruiser