What US travel agents can I use from UK to book a Royal Caribbean cruise from Miami?

[mashisback]

The price through RC US site is much much cheaper than booking through the UK site, but I would have to lie about my location in the booking process because it asks for 'state'. 

when ever I try use google to find travel agents it only brings back UK travel agents.

 

I have read that a lot of people say they get round this by using there US travel agents but they don't mention who they are lol... hope its not a big secret and someone can point me in the right direction? 

 

Thanks in advance xx

[sgmn]

I don't think Cruise critic allows us to name travel agents .  A couple of things to bear in mind is currency rates go up or down so the amount you finally pay could change and you won't be protected by ABTA laws. I have booked a few times through an American agent , I always check rates and book through the cheapest . I don't add a USA address or email address and they seem quite happy to book with me. They are a pretty big online agent that also does airline travel trade discounts as I worked in the aviation business 

Edited September 25, 2021 by sgmn

[mashisback]

38 minutes ago, sgmn said:

I don't think Cruise critic allows us to name travel agents .  A couple of things to bear in mind is currency rates go up or down so the amount you finally pay could change and you won't be protected by ABTA laws. I have booked a few times through an American agent , I always check rates and book through the cheapest . I don't add a USA address or email address and they seem quite happy to book with me. They are a pretty big online agent that also does airline travel trade discounts as I worked in the aviation business 

Thanks. I plan to get it all paid in one lump as i have the money saved due to cancelled cruises, so the exchange rate wont bite me later. 

If i book on a credit card i should be covered for most things. Also i have travel insurance with my bank. Flights are already booked seperate with a day to spare in miami in case of delays.

 

Does cruise critic have a page for us travel agents? When i search i end up with a page for uk travel agents.

 

Im not good at these things... but for the sake of about £2,000 difference.. i need to try learn 🙈

[1025cruise]

We are not allowed to name/discuss travel agents on this site.

[mashisback]

Just to conclude this. I did end up just putting state as florida.. as i am staying in florida the night before and the cruise leaves from Florida. 

 

I also made errors when booking so ended up on phone to them and they corrected my errors and all was fine. Looked all over my booking now and there is nothing referencing florida anywhere. 

 

So just by doing this it took my total cost down from about £4500 to £2600

 

Well worth trying this in future 

[sgmn]

1 hour ago, mashisback said:

Just to conclude this. I did end up just putting state as florida.. as i am staying in florida the night before and the cruise leaves from Florida. 

 

I also made errors when booking so ended up on phone to them and they corrected my errors and all was fine. Looked all over my booking now and there is nothing referencing florida anywhere. 

 

So just by doing this it took my total cost down from about £4500 to £2600

 

Well worth trying this in future 

Wow that's a big saving, good job getting a good price . I'll try it next time I book. Did you use the .us site or .com ?

[icsys]

On 9/25/2021 at 9:32 AM, ChC said:

Royal Caribbean is the only major cruise line does not do IP blocking. That means, you can simply change the country of website from Uk to USA to book a cruise in US dollars pricing for US local market. So technically you don't need an agent. Just simply click on [change country/language] to change to USA RCCL website and check price there. Make sure you are not logged in so that the system does not automatically reroute. However, I have not encountered this issue yet.

 

They used to... its only since the website revamp that IP blocking has been removed

 

3 hours ago, mashisback said:

Just to conclude this. I did end up just putting state as florida.. as i am staying in florida the night before and the cruise leaves from Florida. 

 

I also made errors when booking so ended up on phone to them and they corrected my errors and all was fine. Looked all over my booking now and there is nothing referencing florida anywhere. 

 

So just by doing this it took my total cost down from about £4500 to £2600

 

Well worth trying this in future 

 

Wasn't aware you could 'actually' book via the US site here in the UK, so that would be a first.

We used a US agent which I have to say are far more accommodating than any UK agent we have used.

[Blue Eyed Belfast Belle]

I know my travel insurance insists on ABTA/ABToL protection so I have to use a UK travel agent.

[Biker19]

Just now, icsys said:

Wasn't aware you could 'actually' book via the US site here in the UK, so that would be a first.

As long as you provide an acceptable US address (you can pick anything) that has been available for several years.

[mashisback]

2 hours ago, sgmn said:

Wow that's a big saving, good job getting a good price . I'll try it next time I book. Did you use the .us site or .com ?

If you go on to the RC website, then in the top right hand corner it says 'United Kingdom' with a flag. I click that, change to United States - English, and carry on from there. (which shows as .com)

 

7 minutes ago, Blue Eyed Belfast Belle said:

I know my travel insurance insists on ABTA/ABToL protection so I have to use a UK travel agent.

Fair point, I can not be too sure of this, I didnt check. But I do have the back up of it being on a credit card if needed... and also I am booking with a cruise company who have stuck to there word with refunds etc over the last 2 rough years. Therefore I have good confidence with there flexible assurance that I am good getting a future cruise credit or refund if needed... and worst case scenario if they go bust, hopefully the credit card will help or the insurance if they do cover it. The saving by far makes it worth the added possible risk.

9 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

As long as you provide an acceptable US address (you can pick anything) that has been available for several years.

I didn't even need to put in a fake address. just had to select a state. I put in I am a UK citizen and also a selected uk phone number number. 

If when check in is available I have to put an address, I will put my honest UK address. if I can not, I will ring up and play dumb... and I am 99.9% sure they will just amend it on there system without issues. But I am logging in to the UK one now for Cruise planner, so now its booked it has become irrelevant where I booked it from.

 

[Pillman21]

On 9/27/2021 at 11:12 AM, mashisback said:

If you go on to the RC website, then in the top right hand corner it says 'United Kingdom' with a flag. I click that, change to United States - English, and carry on from there. (which shows as .com)

 

Fair point, I can not be too sure of this, I didnt check. But I do have the back up of it being on a credit card if needed... and also I am booking with a cruise company who have stuck to there word with refunds etc over the last 2 rough years. Therefore I have good confidence with there flexible assurance that I am good getting a future cruise credit or refund if needed... and worst case scenario if they go bust, hopefully the credit card will help or the insurance if they do cover it. The saving by far makes it worth the added possible risk.

I didn't even need to put in a fake address. just had to select a state. I put in I am a UK citizen and also a selected uk phone number number. 

If when check in is available I have to put an address, I will put my honest UK address. if I can not, I will ring up and play dumb... and I am 99.9% sure they will just amend it on there system without issues. But I am logging in to the UK one now for Cruise planner, so now its booked it has become irrelevant where I booked it from.

 

Interesting, there really is a massive difference in prices even now. Did you have any issues when boarding the ship?

[Biker19]

[mashisback]

19 minutes ago, Pillman21 said:

Interesting, there really is a massive difference in prices even now. Did you have any issues when boarding the ship?

No, to confirm, never had issues. 

 

There is no time where it is ever referenced again, at all. 

 

The one and only issue I have ever come across is, if you need to make amendment etc prior to boarding or have questions to do with your booking... you will have to ring USA number as the UK team will say they can't access it as its a US booking.

 

However, it is quite simple to ring the US, they are so so helpful on the phone and it doesn't cost extra to ring the USA on my EE phone contract, just uses normal minutes so prob the same for some other networks as well. 

 

 

[Pillman21]

1 hour ago, mashisback said:

No, to confirm, never had issues. 

 

There is no time where it is ever referenced again, at all. 

 

The one and only issue I have ever come across is, if you need to make amendment etc prior to boarding or have questions to do with your booking... you will have to ring USA number as the UK team will say they can't access it as its a US booking.

 

However, it is quite simple to ring the US, they are so so helpful on the phone and it doesn't cost extra to ring the USA on my EE phone contract, just uses normal minutes so prob the same for some other networks as well. 

 

 

Great, think I will try this then on my new booking. Thank you!

[swoopy2110]

I've booked with a US TA recently, for a 2025 New Zealand Cruise..

It was £1000 cheaper than booking in the UK and included $150 Onboard Credit. Not even comparable!

 

A google search brings up quite a few. The one I booked with has their own UK phone number which goes through to the US free of charge.