Booking with RCCL vs Travel Agent

[a3593]

Hello everyone. This has probably been discussed ad nauseam, but I couldnt find much info using search. What's the benefit of booking directly with RCCL vs an agent? And why do people transfer the booking from one to the other? I havent been on RCCL in years and Im anxious to get back! :D:D

[2chiefs]

Hello everyone. This has probably been discussed ad nauseam, but I couldnt find much info using search. What's the benefit of booking directly with RCCL vs an agent? And why do people transfer the booking from one to the other? I havent been on RCCL in years and Im anxious to get back! :D:D

 

You're going to get a lot of different answers. In our case, we like a good TA due to all the other things associated with travel (planes, trains, boats, travel insurance etc). For instance, we always buy 3rd party travel insurance. I believe RCI only sells their own. Having said that, I think it depends on the quality of your TA. Ours keeps an eye on prices and will notify us of price drops and takes action if we don't catch them ourselves.

 

Some people complain that their TA does nothing after the sale. In that case, I agree with them and you can book your own cruise and keep an eye out for price drops.

 

Can a TA get a lower price than you can directly? I think not in most cases as far as I can tell. The exception might be when a block of cabins is booked for a group or something like that.

 

This should be an interesting thread.

[mollyeilis]

I book the way that gets me the most. Royal charges the same either way but tas can give perks. I book through a big box store with membership to get onboard credit.

 

Booking direct or not I can still get third party travel insurance. That's not something you need a ta for FYI.

 

 

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[RaiderDuck]

In our case, the online TA we used offered free prepaid gratuities for the same cabin price RCCL's website was offering WITHOUT those gratuities. Saved us $67.50 per person for a five-night cruise.

[39august]

TA's can give you perks above anything you might get from RCI, such as free gratuities, on board credit, free specialty dinners, wine, etc. But if you use a TA be sure that they do not charge any fees for changes or cancellations BEFORE you book with them. Also be sure that you can contact them by cell phone if the actual office is not open. Often price drops happen after hours or on weekends.

[BLAMBKY]

I started using a TA for the price break. They book blocks of cabins, selling at a lower than Royal's price. I have saved a good bit but now I am starting to see another benefit. They are my emergency back up. If anything pops up before or while on my cruise it is a second person that can help me problem solve.

[Rala]

I have found that many who book through RCCL do so to have "control of their reservation". I am not sure what the advantage to that is. When booking through a TA (particularly the big online ones)you tend to get more perks like OBC, pre-paid gratuities, dinner in a specialty rest., etc.. Sometimes you get more than one of these perks. The big online TA we use always gets back to me promptly and answers all my questions and solves any problems which might arise which is rare. I really do not see any huge advantage to booking with the cruise line, but some do. To each his own! Enjoy your cruise.:)

[Rjh8842]

I book with rccl. First I do like to be able to contact rccl 24/7 and have my needs immediately taken care of. Second I travel with someone who has special needs. I would rather speak directly with rccl and know that the correct accommodations are made. It is unfortunate that I lose out on perks with a ta but that is not my priority.

[Fouremco]

When booking for just my DW and I, I'll do all of the research to determine what's the best deal for us. Depending on cabin availability, I'll either book it and turn it over to my TA, or simply get the TA to book it. For a cruise we recently booked, in addition to the perks being offered by Celebrity, the big box TA gave us $500 in-store credit.

 

We decided well over a year ago to treat the family to a cruise on the Allure, our first with RCI. With 12 of us, ranging in age from 2 to mid-seventies in four different family groupings, I decided to let our former TA do the work. I gave her the parameters and let her do the booking. (Unfortunately, she's decided to strike out on her own and now can't afford to offer incentives much more than a bottle of wine.)

 

Once the booking is in the TA's hands, I still keep my eye on the prices. With their many clients and myriad cruises to deal with, they might miss a price drop on one of them. With a vested interest and only two or three to keep an eye on, I know I won't miss one!

Edited January 8, 2017 by Fouremco

[matj2000]

I went to the "search the forum" button and put in TA.

 

It brought up a ton of existing threads on that very subject....

[2chiefs]

I book the way that gets me the most. Royal charges the same either way but tas can give perks. I book through a big box store with membership to get onboard credit.

 

Booking direct or not I can still get third party travel insurance. That's not something you need a ta for FYI.

 

 

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I know that. Obviously you can book anything through a 3rd party including all the other things I mentioned. I like the convenience of a TA. My point was simply that you can't do many 3rd party things through RCI.