Booking question TA vs Celebrity website

[20165]

Hi, we are booking a holiday cruise next month on Apex and we usually use the cruise line website to book, however, i checked a non cruise cruising website, pretty mainstream one, and its about $1700 cheaper for the 2 cabins we are looking at.  Everything looks the same, room type, free offers, etc.  Does that sound right?  We have been under the impression that there was no real price difference between using a TA vs. the cruise line websites to book.

Thoughts?  Am i missing something?

[jelayne]

It could be that the TA has group rates, which are lower.  Group rates aren’t available for all sailing or all room categories but when they line up with what you are looking  at it can be a nice savings.

I would call the TA to confirm what you are saying.  Also check to see if the TA charges for changes to the reservation or cancellation fees.

[20165]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

It could be that the TA has group rates, which are lower.  Group rates aren’t available for all sailing or all room categories but when they line up with what you are looking  at it can be a nice savings.

I would call the TA to confirm what you are saying.  Also check to see if the TA charges for changes to the reservation or cancellation fees.

Ah thank you.  I have to go back to checking out the other websites again.  Thats a pretty significant savings. thanks again.

 

[Luvcrusn]

We find that many TA's, especially the larger ones often have group rates and also often offer additional OBC (with is most often the refundable variety) and or perks that make it significantly less expensive that booking with X directly. In fact the last cruise we booked directly with X was in 2006!

[zitsky]

On my most recent booking I got a group rate through a TA (Aqua class) that was $1,000 less than what I was seeing on Celebrity.com.  Not a huge difference but I can spend that $1,000 on something.  And the TA had a cabin available that was in a better location for us than what Celebrity had left. 

 

I didn't get any OBC from Celebrity..... until they canceled the cruise by mistake.  Then I got $400 OBC.  Not a lot but I'll take it.

Edited November 9, 2022 by zitsky

[Ex-Airbalancer]

On our next 2 cruises our TA has group price that include Always Include , OBC and refundable deposit that was the same price as Celebrity Sail Only price with non refundable deposit 

so look around for best pricing