Benefits of Travel Agent

[HockeyChick15]

Looking for some advice from frequent cruisers. Is it better to book directly with NCL or travel agent for better deals? Price, OBC, promotions, etc. We live in the northeast and like sailing out of NY or Boston to avoid flying.

 

We've been playing the waiting game and until 2016 feel that we've done a good job of getting a fair-good deal. In 2016 however, it seems that the game changed and I'm wondering if it might be better to work with a TA. We know about how much money we tend to spend on the ship, and we factor that into the overall price.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

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[holmar12]

you near Albany?

[JVilleGal]

Ask friends who cruise a lot who they use and love. Getting personal recommendations about a particular TA is important.

 

 

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[Son of a son of a ...]

OP - We usually book directly with the cruise line as they are easier to deal with directly. We might lose $50 OBC, but it is worth the hassle sometimes.

 

However, we did book through an online TA for our next cruise because they had a cabin class available that NCL did not ... aft facing balcony on an Alaskan cruise. A few of these hard to get cabins are sometimes reserved for TAs and not on the NCL website, which was our case.

[BEACHBARB]

We got $175 OBC with on line agency recently. And if the agent happens to have a block of rooms, you could get a lower price on the cabin too.

[cdnsteelman]

I always save a minimum of 10-12% using an online discount TA and usually more when extra OBC is factored in. I do all the work identifying the sailing and cabin I want and then send the specific request to three reputable discounters I've used over the years. Have never had any problems I always ensure they know I'm interested in any upsell offers that may come available and have successfully moved up in room category at a dreamt discount as well.

 

Happy cruising all,

csm

[fshagan]

I keep hearing about these great savings and benefits using a TA, and I have had one case where a cruise on another line was $400 less per person on one on-line TA. I created a subreddit to "ReviewYourTa" so people can name names and talk about what a TA does for you. You should be able to find it by that description but if not let me know.

 

But, based on my own experience, I think it's usually a toss up between dealing with the cruise line directly and a TA. The online TA that had the cabins at 400 less per person also has a $25 booking fee and $100 change fee ... but $800 less is worth that risk. But, on the other hand, my DW noticed NCL added another perk to a cruise we are in at the end of April, called the NCL PCC we used for that cruise and got an extra $100 OBC added without any hassle.

[bonvoyagie]

IMHO an online TA is no different than the PCC at NCL. Having a real in person TA however is great. I started cruising with NCL before they even allowed you to book on line - everything had to go through a TA - either you found one or one was assigned to you. I was lucky enough to find a good one on my own and have stuck with him ever since. He is also a cruiser and so his advice was great when we were on our first cruise.

 

On our HI cruise on the POA he did lots of research on the entire trip and got us our hotel, air, and transfers from airport to hotel, and ship to airport. We arranged our own hotel to ship as he put us up in the same hotel NCL used for its pre cruise tour groups.

 

He also follows our cruises on Facebook and always asks for a full report when we get back.

[pr0pel]

you near Albany?

 

I'm near Albany, about 25 min north.

 

But to answer the OP's question and like everyone has said, by booking with a TA, you may pay the same rack rate as NCL but get a few hundred bucks back in a form of on board credit. In the past, I've gotten anywhere from 200-400 back. Not all TA's are equal -- some charge a penalty on top of what cruise line charges and some don't. Luckily I found a new one this year that doesn't charge an extra fee, or just take your info and call you back.. and I'm sticking by them. I have his direct line and he picks up all the time and promptly returns my emails.

Edited January 6, 2017 by pr0pel

[hannibal54]

I do the home work, then contact my TA to do the booking. This way if I have any questions or issues, I will call, text or e-mail my TA. She is the one who will call & be on hold waiting, not me. I have used the same local TA for a long time.

[tempus137]

We usually used a personal TA who was a client of my DW. She was able to handle any changes or problems that we had by email.

 

For our upcoming cruise, we used an online TA, who is tied in with various airline mileage & hotel rewards points systems. No difference in the total cost (not counting the $25 service fee), but we are getting over 50,000 rewards points for our hotel program.

 

Plus, when NCL was offering the reduced deposit last October, the TA was zero deposit, which helped out with the cash flow at that time. The way that worked is the TA paid a $500 deposit to NCL for the 2 of us, and we have to pay that back to the TA about 10 days before the final payment to NCL.

Again a cash flow help.

[Darcy03231]

I just booked yesterday with a travel agent and saved close to $3000 (we booked 5 cabins). The TA had a class of cabin that was no longer available through the cruise line. We also ended up with $400 in OBC.

[Heather1972]

I don't always use a TA. It depends on the cruise line and cruise. If I can get more perks using a TA, I'll do that.

 

The one time it has really paid off for me using a TA was for the November 2015 Escape we booked through a TA online. The prices were significantly less than with NCL. Then NCL cancelled the cruise and some stomach wrap company chartered the ship. :eek: The dates with price protection that NCL offered to me didn't work with our schedule. The TA (who has been in business over 25 years) was able to get me a cruise outside those dates at the price we originally paid, plus got me a cabin upgrade and more OBC. He really saved the day. I doubt I'd be doing our April Escape cruise if it wasn't for him.

[punkincc]

Looking for some advice from frequent cruisers. Is it better to book directly with NCL or travel agent for better deals? Price, OBC, promotions, etc. We live in the northeast and like sailing out of NY or Boston to avoid flying.

 

We've been playing the waiting game and until 2016 feel that we've done a good job of getting a fair-good deal. In 2016 however, it seems that the game changed and I'm wondering if it might be better to work with a TA. We know about how much money we tend to spend on the ship, and we factor that into the overall price.

 

Thanks in advance!

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We always do our own research and know exactly what cruise ship, date and cabin category we want. We do a dummy booking so that we know exactly what the NCL price is and what the promos and OBC are, if any. That way, when we call a TA, we are comparing apples to apples.

 

You will never get anything "less" with a TA than you will with NCL direct. The TA booking will give you everything you would have gotten if booking direct, plus anything extra that the TA tacks on, be it OBC or other extras. On our cruise for next fall, the TA was offering two perks for Inside cabin categories plus $100 OBC. With NCL I would have gotten one perk, and $0 OBC. The TA even covered the gratuity on the second perk, the UBP.

 

Go with a TA who does a high volume business with the cruiselines. I think they are in a better position to offer better prices and perks, and, they have more clout if they need to go to bat for you on an issue.

[tmilak]

Here is "MY" POV. Yes, mine so take it with a grain of salt. I have been on 35 cruises and almost always sail in suites. I have used the same TA for 15 years and here is why. I get 500-1000 OBC, prepaid gratuities almost always, other tidbits from TA i.e. champagne, free dinners etc. I also use a credit card that gives me 5% back and then accrue miles to use so I fly for free all the time. With that in mind all I really pay for is my cabin as everything else is included or can be paid for with the large OBC's.

[HockeyChick15]

Thanks for the advice everyone. One more question - is there a difference using an on-line TA vs. in person? How can you find TAs that get better deals with a cruise line?

Thanks!!!

 

 

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