Who do you book with and why?

[hurricane0226]

We use a carnival PVP, she has been very good for us, always gets us the cabin we wanted, and all the other perks, especially when we have casino offers.

[topaz123]

Always via Carnival.....all of the cruise agents work on Commission...Get a good relationship with a PVP, and they will call you with promotions, and special deals...They recently upgraded us for next to nothing.

[JandPB]

I don’t have a travel agent partly because I haven’t done the research to find one that I’m comfortable with. Maybe I should become one. I can sell vacations and views since I already have my real estate license. I have used the same PVP for years and she has been great to work with. She hooks me up and has been able to get me price drops and deals that I wouldn’t have seen. 

[my kids mama]

I have been using a wonderful Carnival PVP for many years now.  The other day I called her to ask if she could just look at our booked cruises, and my current offers.  I just wanted to make sure I was getting the best deal that Carnival was offering me.  It gets so confusing with all of the cancellations and the re-bookings. She found that one of my booked cruises had $1,000 to spend in the casino.  It was comparable to the original offer we had booked with $200 OBC.  So...I lost the $200 OBC in exchange for $1,000 to play with in the casino.  My other booked cruises were the best deal available.  Took all of 5 minutes to work it out. I wish I could give you her name, but I am not allowed to on this site. 

[Gregoryfo]

I use a TA for the OBC, it is usually a couple of hundred bucks.  I research before I book so I do not move things around much once booked.  Two cruises were cancelled with covid and the refund process was fine.  

[SNJCruisers]

9 hours ago, jsglow said:

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?

Many PVP's don't know all of the nuances of the Carnival fleet.  How do you expect them to now add 8 other cruise lines to become familiar with?   It will never happen. 

Now, a smarter thing would be if Carnival allowed you to transfer your status if you cruised on other lines in the Corporation.  A European cruise on Costa, Aida or P&O.  A upgrade to Princess or Holland America.  Or old time cruising with Cunard or ultra luxury with Seabourn.

[DGNewton]

We typically book by ourselves direct anymore; however we have used travel agents....in today's world you have some much time to research for the best deal....if you use a TA they usually give you  OBC and Gifts on top.....just saying.....but in the end, some of the carnival pricing and casino deals are not available to them, so be sure to check all you deals and log in with you account data which we sure you do.sing a TA 

[jsglow]

8 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Many PVP's don't know all of the nuances of the Carnival fleet.  How do you expect them to now add 8 other cruise lines to become familiar with?   It will never happen. 

Now, a smarter thing would be if Carnival allowed you to transfer your status if you cruised on other lines in the Corporation.  A European cruise on Costa, Aida or P&O.  A upgrade to Princess or Holland America.  Or old time cruising with Cunard or ultra luxury with Seabourn.

Then that's CCL Corps problem. At the very least they could have a PVP referral network.  'Here's my good friend Jane over at Princess.'  NEVER let a customer get away; any way you can.  I totally agree with you on transferability of VIFP points. 

Edited September 20, 2021 by jsglow

[sgttami]

I book my Carnival casino offers directly through Carnival since there isn't a TA that could get the prices I get for those.  They just involve driving to the port, parking and getting on the ship.

I'd probably book through a TA if I did multiple destinations, cruises and flights to places that were unfamiliar.  In these times, I don't see that happening in the immediate future (lol)

 

 

[kitten816]

What is anyone's experience booking a cruise while on board?

[teknoge3k]

1 hour ago, kitten816 said:

What is anyone's experience booking a cruise while on board?

 

You no longer book cruises on board. This has been discontinued for a while. When you get home, you're emailed a "welcome home" offer from Carnival. 

[Indytraveler83]

We book with a Carnival PVP for a few reasons:

 

1) Much like a travel agent, they keep saved information on other passengers I travel with.  Managing a 10 person booking via the website is a nightmare.  My PVP just has all that info on hand and can enter it for me.

 

2) Since the PVP works for Carnival, I'm still booking direct, and have complete control of my booking at all times.  If he's on vacation/sick/unavailable, I can still make payments/changes/cancel either on the website or by calling Carnival directly.  

[BenjiRodney]

I have been using the same outside travel agent for over 5 years now.  She is usually able to book us into group space for a few more perks and always sends a gift to the room.  She is great to watch for price drops and extra OBC opportunities for us.  

[Embem]

Had a bad experience with a travel agent, so I book all my own stuff now.

[Illbcruzn4life]

6 hours ago, Embem said:

Had a bad experience with a travel agent, so I book all my own stuff now.

 

I once had a bad experience buying a car once so now I just take the bus. (j/k)😁

[outdoors27]

We've used the same PVP for the past 20 years, she's awesome. Usually when booking we maybe spend 10 minutes or less on booking process and most of the time discussing our families. 

[nlktx49]

On 9/19/2021 at 9:06 AM, 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?

 

I don't know that you get a better deal when you use a travel agent, but it's much more efficient to use a PVP. Our first 3 cruises we used the TA our brother-in-law uses. Not a good experience, she would return calls at her convenience which could take days, then usually had to contact Carnival then get back  with us. I don't remember how we found our PVP, if he called or emailed us, but the difference is night and day. Thirteen years later we're still using him. Easy to get in touch with him, knows all the answers without having to wait for an answer from Carnival, knows our preferences for cabin type and location, dining, bed, payment - he's very patient while we consult with each other to make a choice. Sometimes I go through the whole booking process myself up to payment just to see what's offered, then call him to finalize. 

[quickrate]

I have used a TA since 2016 when I met her on a cruise. She is awesome and most of the time we get great OBC as well as great service. I had 11 cruises cancelled and never once had to be on hold with Carnival during the shut down. When I'm ready to make a payment, I message her and she gets back with me immediately.

Pat

[silversneakers]

On 9/19/2021 at 12:47 PM, 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.

PVP - personal vacation planner   TA - travel agent   Usually PVP are cruise line agents, majority work from hom

[ontheweb]

On 9/30/2021 at 3:56 PM, quickrate said:

I have used a TA since 2016 when I met her on a cruise. She is awesome and most of the time we get great OBC as well as great service. I had 11 cruises cancelled and never once had to be on hold with Carnival during the shut down. When I'm ready to make a payment, I message her and she gets back with me immediately.

Pat

But the anti-TA crowd will say "you don't have control of your own booking". I never quite understood that.

[Moonarino]

I've booked with a couple of different TAs, and the cruise line (one or another) a few times. Recently I got a better price on the Princess website than I could find anywhere else. But usually that goes the other way.

 

My best-ever was with the TA I've booked with the most -- the "starting price" on my cruise upcoming in November (booked more than a year ago) was better than any I could find elsewhere. Then she knocked $400 off of that price and gave me the $350 advertised OBC, plus (two-fer special from the cruise line) free Gratuities. BUT THEN an hour or so later she found an extra $300 OBC to add on. I saved over a grand on that 9-day balcony booking (on Celebrity Apex) and about half of it was the TA's doing.

 

That's the only time in 14 cruises that I've gotten a really hot deal from anybody, but it was certainly an eye-opener. Same TA corp again a few months ago, different agent, found some extra OBCs for me too, doubled what the cruise line gave me.

 

I always shop first on a TA website that gives me a nice one-liner list of cruises meeting my search criteria. Then I use that as a baseline for comparison-shopping. Maybe I book with the cruise line, maybe not.

Edited October 2, 2021 by Moonarino

[ray98]

I do everything myself.  I don't need my hand held.  When I am ready to book I have already did all the research and know exactly what I want.

[richfret]

I used the same Travel Agent for years and was very satisfied.  Then when the pandemic occurred, ran into problems.  When I called, I would get a message that it might take them up to 5 days to reply.  Then they said the other option was to go to the web site and book that way.  I came up with another option.  I just booked directly with Carnival.

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, richfret said:

I used the same Travel Agent for years and was very satisfied.  Then when the pandemic occurred, ran into problems.  When I called, I would get a message that it might take them up to 5 days to reply.  Then they said the other option was to go to the web site and book that way.  I came up with another option.  I just booked directly with Carnival.

At least they said they still had a workable website; mine said after I told him his no longer worked that he could no longer afford to keep the websiste.😢

[quickrate]

On 10/3/2021 at 5:29 AM, ray98 said:

I do everything myself.  I don't need my hand held.  When I am ready to book I have already did all the research and know exactly what I want.

So do I, but booking directly with the cruiseline isn't going to give me the OBC I get from my TA or save me from spending hours on the phone when cruises get cancelled. Not all TA"s are created equal! Mine is a Rock Star.

Pat