Who do you book with and why?

[Momma Mojito]

On most of our cruises we have booked with an outside cruise agent, and been happy with our price, which we did this time for our Oct 30 B2B cruise on the Carnival Horizon.  My question is do you get a better deal booking straight with Carnival or and outside cruise agency?

 

[firefly333]

It really depends. I let some price drops go so my travel agent didnt lose commission. Over $300 on carnival, little bits on rcl.

 

But he keeps track of my fcc and rules and takes care of problems better than I could. 

 

He can do group rates like on rcl that are refundable when usually the non refundable deposit is cheaper, and give a little obc. 

[clambert1273]

All our cruises in the past, I did myself but given the nature currently, I let my PVP handle our next one because he is great & has been extremely patient with me the last year while I decided on what and when. 

Edited September 19, 2021 by clambert1273

[lesters]

We book directly with Carnival on their website. It’s easy to use, applies our Casino offers and lets me remain in control of our booking. 
 

 

[iamsteph]

14 minutes ago, lesters said:

We book directly with Carnival on their website. It’s easy to use, applies our Casino offers and lets me remain in control of our booking. 
 

 

This.  When I booked with a TA, I didn't like how I had to get price drops through them and I felt bad because it affected their commission. After the second or third cruise, I just started booking direct on Carnival.com. I like having control over my booking and if there's a problem or I need to talk to someone, I'm not stuck with a certain PVP. 

[Bevv]

We went from booking ourselves and controlling the booking, to using a "big box" store that gave us some OBC or store gift card, to booking ourselves, to currently using  a PVP.

 

 We used the big box store when I had a complicated B2B and the OBC was good for that 9K cruise so continued to use them till it became more complicated to use them for changes... I call them... they call Carnival... they get back to me... etc. A pain not worth the $$ OBC ($70 for last cruise I took. )

 

I have three currently booked. Two I booked by myself and the last one with a PVP. I will now use a PVP for all future cruises or any necessary changes. This means I avoid long phone times to get simple issues fixed. I do not rely on the PVP for knowledge based questions because I like to do the research. Cruise Critic has a ton of real experts too! 🙂

 

[BoozinCroozin]

We were recommended an online TA. Our first cruise was when covid all started. They have been extremely helpful navigating all of it. The other benefit is the free gratuities, extra OBC, etc. The latest was for a NCL cruise. They got us the BOGO air for $448 total for 3 people. The cheapest gate we could get was for $2100.

[IrritatedEllipses]

We're simple "Buy it and go" folks (Or have been, since this will only be our second cruise) so I haven't found a reason not to just book through Carnival's website. 

 

The way I see it we're not spending enough to warrant wasting anyone's time working with us. We're only interested in booking sub $1k vacations at this point in our lives and I don't feel that is worth anyone fretting over us. Maybe that will change as we move on to greater and grander cruises.

[cynt]

I book direct. I've used a couple of online cruise sites but I always go back to booking them myself. The OCD in me likes having the control. In normal times a 5 minute phone call and I receive a new invoice before I get off the phone. Easy peasy! 

[Saint Greg]

I book with a  TA for the additional OBC.

[ninjacat123]

I booked all my cruises through Carnival's website and did a good job navigating all the nuances.  THEN I met my PVP!  Not only is she a pleasure to chat with, but she has been able to find deals (not huge but better than I found for that cruise) and has been a calming influence when all of my cruises during Covid were cancelled and needed to be pushed out.  She was as excited as I was when I was emailed about the "$25 per person" rate for my next cruise with my mom!  I decided to go big with a $65 per person rate for an interior on MG.  Can't wait!!😀

[audcc77]

We started at a TA using a “Cruise Manager”🙄.  
 

She didn’t give us squat. It was a penthouse suite and inside cabin for our kids.  It was even our anniversary.  Nada.  Same price as if I was booking it.  Hotel room price was no different either. 
 

I happened upon a great PVP and have stayed with her for years.  She answers all my questions very quickly. 

[tallnthensome]

I used a Travel Agent once in 20 years of cruising and it was a total waste of time unless you think them printing out your luggage tags worth while . I book direct online with Carnival and every line. 

[csm5986142]

My experience with a PVP was terrible.  I had all the details, down to the exact cabin I wanted, but I couldn't get the Carnival site to let me book due to an issue with a duplicate VIFP number. 

PVP was not able to find the the low fare I had (even when I gave him the offer code).  He was also telling me that the cabin I wanted was connecting, a deal breaker for me (even though I'd looked on multiple sites and was certain it was not).  We finally decided it would be better for him to correct the duplicate VIFP issue and have me book the cruise myself online.  That worked, and I also found the cabin was NOT connecting when we arrived on board, so I'm not sure what he was looking at.

I also have preferred the big box store in the past (because I'm cheap and it was the best deal when considering the cash card) but it definitely added another level of confusion during our multiple pandemic cancellations/rebooks.

So as of late, I'm just booking myself on the carnival site.

I think it depends on your personality.  I'm pretty obsessive - I love spending hours researching every aspect of our cruise.  I look at every deck on the ship we will be on.  Read every review I can find. Usually I know more than the PVP/TA by the time I'm ready to book.  🙂

Edited September 19, 2021 by csm5986142

[jsglow]

Most of the time we book Carnival through our PVP.  She's simply the best.  Occasionally we'll book with a 3rd party TA when they've obviously cut a deal with a particular cruiseline and are selling (dumping) at well below advertised prices.  I never bypass my PVP if the price differential is inconsequential.

[Momma Mojito]

47 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Most of the time we book Carnival through our PVP.  She's simply the best.  Occasionally we'll book with a 3rd party TA when they've obviously cut a deal with a particular cruiseline and are selling (dumping) at well below advertised prices.  I never bypass my PVP if the price differential is inconsequential.

This may sound like a dump question but I'm confused with a PVP.  Do they work for Carnival?

 

[teknoge3k]

We always book all of our vacations direct. I want full control over all of my vacation plans and do not want to involve a middle-man. I run as far away as possible from travel agents. 

[gtalum]

Carnival.com, every time.  It may be cheaper to book through an independent agent but IMHO it's not worth the hassles.

[grandmacani]

We’ve been using a PVP from Carnival for 20 years. Never a disappointment. He’s quick to answer my calls and emails. 

[crewsweeper]

We use a TA.  But we select the itinerary and dates and then double check the cabin location.  We've had her move us around in the past.  But when we had to postpone one of our cruises on another line that was postponed due to COVID, she was able to get us the same itinerary and cabin and secured our perks.

[Bevv]

10 minutes ago, Momma Mojito said:

This may sound like a dump question but I'm confused with a PVP.  Do they work for Carnival?

 

Yes, they work for Carnival. You have the option with Carnival to have one assigned to you (or if you have a referral phone number/e-mail you can contact them directly.). It is normally easier to get through to them on the phone than the general Carnival number.

To get one assigned you can go to the carnival main page and click on "request a PVP

[jsglow]

43 minutes ago, Bevv said:

Yes, they work for Carnival. You have the option with Carnival to have one assigned to you (or if you have a referral phone number/e-mail you can contact them directly.). It is normally easier to get through to them on the phone than the general Carnival number.

To get one assigned you can go to the carnival main page and click on "request a PVP

Correct.  We didn't ask for one years ago but were contacted by her.  Our's is a near 20 year Carnival veteran.  She's absolute gold for us.  Has handled all the cancellation/rebooking/OBC issues seamlessly.  I feel so bad for the folks that have needed to spend hours on hold dealing with that stuff.  Frankly, I sincerely wish CCL Corp would allow their PVPs to represent multiple CCL brand cruiselines.  Can't for the life of me understand why that wouldn't be a good move by the company.  One stop shopping, right?

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

4 hours ago, Momma Mojito said:

On most of our cruises we have booked with an outside cruise agent, and been happy with our price, which we did this time for our Oct 30 B2B cruise on the Carnival Horizon.  My question is do you get a better deal booking straight with Carnival or and outside cruise agency?

 

An agency for sure. I have 2 TAs I did book with only one for a long time till I found this second one. Very seldom is the Carnival web site is the same price. Usually the TA has a far better price, maybe better perks. She also checks to see if the price went down. Carnival will not do that, it is up to you. She has also rebooked me went he price went way down but only for a new booking. Example. I lost $100 OBC but the price dropped $650.00 so she did a rebook. made sense to me. You need to find a TA that works for a smaller company because big company have strict rules and they do not like rebooks. My TA does it at home connected to a company. She does not ahve a massive amount of customers and is able to constantly check the bookings for better deals. She also know what we like to do, the cabins we like etc. So she can do a far better job of getting us what we like than Carnival.

[Momma Mojito]

4 hours ago, Bevv said:

Yes, they work for Carnival. You have the option with Carnival to have one assigned to you (or if you have a referral phone number/e-mail you can contact them directly.). It is normally easier to get through to them on the phone than the general Carnival number.

To get one assigned you can go to the carnival main page and click on "request a PVP

Thanks foe your  In this world of everything being abreviated 

 

[Loritd]

We use a local travel agent. I pick the cabin, put a hold on it and call her to take over the booking when it's time to put the deposit down.  A travel agent works for you and a PVP works for the cruise line, if something goes wrong the travel agent is your advocate. We both check for price drops and re fare as necessary. We had to cancel a cruise and pre-hotel stay three days before leaving and I called her to cancel everything. The refund for the airfare, taxes, port charges and hotel charges were refunded to my credit card and the rest as a cruise credit as I requested. I didn't have to fill out a form, nothing. A good, knowledgeable travel agent is worth their weight in gold. She has two $100 casino rate cruises she is handling for me and she is just as diligent with those as she was with the three week australian cruisetour she did for me two years ago.