Travel Agent or Not

[kimco93]

Looking at booking our second cruise and curious if I need a travel agent.  I can arraign and book my family cruise, but wondering if there was a benefit to allow the agent to do the legwork for me? Please advise..... TIA. 

[sft429]

What we've started doing is booking our cruise directly with the cruise line and then shopping it out to travel agencies.  We get obc for transferring it to a TA; usually around 5 - 10% of the cruise price.  The transfer needs to be done within 60 days of booking although that may differ by cruise line.

 

First step is to find a cruise.  Then I check the cruise line for a price.  I then check that with a website that has travel agencies compete for your specific cruise.  You can get a good idea how much obc you'll be offered by the travel agency offers thru  cruise compete

[SimplyMarvie]

Our agent was able to help us change cabins so we were right next to each other (and upgrade the one cabin) for a fraction of the online cost, and gave us extra OBC to boot. Honestly, I think we'd go with an agent less for money and just because the hold time for our cruise line is 45 minutes on a good day, and she'll handle things via email so I don't have to bother. If you're dealing with more than one cabin, it's a godsend to have someone else handle the logistics. 🙂

[RocketMan275]

On 7/6/2019 at 3:20 PM, kimco93 said:

Looking at booking our second cruise and curious if I need a travel agent.  I can arraign and book my family cruise, but wondering if there was a benefit to allow the agent to do the legwork for me? Please advise..... TIA. 

There are many threads about the advantages of using a travel agent.  The search function works - sometimes.

A couple of hints since we can't mention actual names of travel agents due to the posting guidelines.

- It can be worth finding a good travel agent, one who gives an 8-10% discount or equivalent in OBC.

- Don't get hung up on having a local travel agent.  Mine is Pennsylvania.  She answers calls promptly and gives great service and advice.

- You might think about various associations you already have.  Many speak highly of a membership discount store with a travel service.  It's often referred to as the big box store.  If you belong to one, you might check to see if they offer travel services. 

[cb at sea]

Or, just do it yourself, if you enjoy the planning part!  If you KNOW what you want, it's not that difficult!  And, you don't have to go thru a 3rd party for any changes you might make!

[CourtneyW11]

This is great info, thank you! I am interested in a transfer and saw someone post info on another post. I am wondering if anyone else has had success with this or if you have recommendations of an easy way to do transfers? Nervous as it will be my first time doing a transfer so I want to make sure I do it right and get the best value. This is what they wrote:

 

"Hi,

 

I just posted this on another board but thought it might help and apply. I do not know how to link this to another post.

____________________

 

I recently transferred a cruise that I booked to a travel agent using onboardtransfers.com. It was great to get over $400 in additional OBC's for less than 2 minutes of my time. I regularly take cruises, so I spent some time on their website and copied all the different policies for transferring a booking to an agent if it was made directly with the cruise line (onboard or on their website). Here is what I found. I hope it helps someone. Also, it would be great if we could keep adding to this.

 

____________

 

 

• AmaWaterways

   

  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Avalon
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Azamara
  • Bookings may only be transferred to a Travel Agent up until 60 days from creation if the request is made outside of Final Payment period and the booking is not paid in full. If a booking has a ChoiceAir ticket and the transfer request involves a change in currency it cannot be transferred.
• Carnival
  • Bookings may be transferred to a Travel Agent up until 90 days from creation, if the request is made outside of Final Payment period.  For new reservations booked within final payment or penalty period, that are paid in full, transfer requests can be processed if the request is received within 24 hours or less.
• Celebrity
  • Bookings may only be transferred to a Travel Agent up until 60 days from creation if the request is made outside of Final Payment period and the booking is not paid in full. If a booking has a ChoiceAir ticket and the transfer request involves a change in currency it cannot be transferred.
• Crystal
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Cunard
  • Reservations are eligible for transfers at any time prior to making your final payment. Reservations (or voyage fares) which are paid in full are not eligible for transfer.
• Disney
  • Reservations are eligible for transfers within the first 30 days of initial booking. Reservations (or voyage fares) which are paid in full are not eligible for transfer.
• Emerald Waterways
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Holland America
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• MSC
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Norwegian
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Oceania
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Paul Gauguin
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Princess
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Royal Carribean
  • Bookings may only be transferred to a Travel Agent up until 60 days from creation if the request is made outside of Final Payment period and the booking is not paid in full. If a booking has a ChoiceAir ticket and the transfer request involves a change in currency it cannot be transferred.
• Seabourn
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Silversea
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Uniworld
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.
• Viking
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as the booking is not paid in full.
• Windstar
  • Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full."

 

 

 

 

On 7/9/2019 at 5:31 PM, RocketMan275 said:

On 7/6/2019 at 7:47 PM, sft429 said:

What we've started doing is booking our cruise directly with the cruise line and then shopping it out to travel agencies.  We get obc for transferring it to a TA; usually around 5 - 10% of the cruise price.  The transfer needs to be done within 60 days of booking although that may differ by cruise line.

 

First step is to find a cruise.  Then I check the cruise line for a price.  I then check that with a website that has travel agencies compete for your specific cruise.  You can get a good idea how much obc you'll be offered by the travel agency offers thru  cruise compete