Booking future cruises - TA vs direct

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, Happy afloat said:

We also find booking as soon as they become available gets you the most cost effective deal, countering any discount we may have got from the ta.

With you entirely on booking at the very first opportunity for the best deal, but I can assure you that any discount (usually around 5% or so, but it will vary) negotiated will be on top of the very best deal from P&O direct, not instead of.  A fair number of us here use the same large agent, I think, and most, if not all speak, very highly of them.  You won't find them on any High Street, as such, though.

[Happy afloat]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

With you entirely on booking at the very first opportunity for the best deal, but I can assure you that any discount (usually around 5% or so, but it will vary) negotiated will be on top of the very best deal from P&O direct, not instead of.  A fair number of us here use the same large agent, I think, and most, if not all speak, very highly of them.  You won't find them on any High Street, as such, though.

Hi Harry, never say never, so we may well look at using a ta in the future as a price comparison exercise, though our next three are booked already.  Think I know the one you mean. I must say though, going by what I've seen on here, most agents seem not to have covered themselves with glory in the refund situation , how have yours been?

[Harry Peterson]

7 minutes ago, Happy afloat said:

Hi Harry, never say never, so we may well look at using a ta in the future as a price comparison exercise, though our next three are booked already.  Think I know the one you mean. I must say though, going by what I've seen on here, most agents seem not to have covered themselves with glory in the refund situation , how have yours been?

Not as good as they could have been. Not problematic,  but I had to do all the work.  With everything else they've always been faultless. 

 

Considering switching to the other one I mentioned,  but I very much doubt they have anything like the same cruise expertise. 

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Happy afloat said:

Hi Harry, never say never, so we may well look at using a ta in the future as a price comparison exercise, though our next three are booked already.  Think I know the one you mean. I must say though, going by what I've seen on here, most agents seem not to have covered themselves with glory in the refund situation , how have yours been?

You will not get a good discount initially, in fact clearly they don't offer something without you asking, and to get up to the top 5% discount you will need a bit of history with them. But we have found it a beneficial relationship by dealing with the same agent all the time, building up a rapport with her, and of course they do handle all the other cruise lines and not just P&O.

[Bazrat]

We did try a couple of online companies but gave up the price difference was not really there so we just book direct.

[Selbourne]

I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer as, IMO, the key is having a good relationship with whomever you entrust to deal with your bookings. During our first few cruises we lived on the South Coast and used a first class independent TA based in that area who had an excellent relationship with P&O and gave great discounts (at a time when such things were possible). When we moved away from their area we used a different TA and they were useless as, by that time, I had more knowledge of the P&O ships and the good and bad cabins then they had!
 

We then did a few cruises with massive chunks of money off thanks to Tesco Clubcard vouchers (before they severely restricted the level of discount you could get) so had to book direct with P&O and found the process to be much simpler than using a middle man. Once we stopped using Tesco vouchers, by luck, as a result of a membership organisation I was in, I managed to get a discount direct with P&O that roughly equates to 5% discount (via extra OBC), which seems to be the usual level of TA discount these days. That offer is no longer open to new members but, for reasons that I have never questioned, the ‘offer code’ still sits on my account and I still get the discount, so there would be no financial incentive for me to use a TA.
 

Frankly, even if I didn’t get that small discount, I would still stick with booking direct now, as 5% wouldn’t be enough of a discount to persuade me to engage a middle man, especially as many TA’s require final payments earlier than if you book direct. The recent issues with refunds have confirmed that view (I got mine in 45 days). Friends of ours used a cruise specialist that many on here have praised, but they have been deeply unhappy with them. However, the main reason that I book direct is because I have a great relationship with the person who was my ‘Personal Cruise Specialist’. That role no longer exists but the individuals remain. They know me the minute that I call, we both know about our respective families, I have always got my first choice of cabin and they have done me a number of favours that have either saved me more money or given us a better cruise experience. As I say, even if I didn’t get the discount, I would stick with them. So, for me, it’s all about relationships. 

[jeanlyon]

I have never had to ask for a discount from my TA.  In fact the last 3 cruises we have booked on board ship and the booking has gone through to our TA and he automatically puts his discount on.

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

I have never had to ask for a discount from my TA.  In fact the last 3 cruises we have booked on board ship and the booking has gone through to our TA and he automatically puts his discount on.

I had a great relationship with the TC manager before they went bust.

I did all the preparation on price cabin etc and when I went in she would phone to book it and give me a special discount.

I tried the over the phone TA for our Princess Hawaiian cruise last November but by the time they sent boarding details I had already booked excursions,flight seats and checked in online myself.

The second and last cruise was the Azura TA which was cancelled and they were useless.

I booked our next P&O cruise direct in January and got an aft facing balcony cabin which the TA said none available when I rang them.

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by grapau27

[Selbourne]

12 hours ago, grapau27 said:

I booked our next P&O cruise direct in January and got an aft facing balcony cabin which the TA said none available when I rang them.

 

The exact same thing happened to friends of ours with a large cruise specialist TA. They were told that the cabin they wanted wasn’t available so I advised them to call P&O direct and it was. As often is the case, P&O’s IT doesn’t help matters. I have often researched cabin availability online via P&O’s website and found that my first choice isn’t available, even when searching by that specific cabin. I have then phoned my Personal Cruise Specialist (as was) at P&O and found that it is. If TA’s rely solely on the P&O system then often it’s a case of “computer says no” whereas we usually find that “human says yes”!