Appreciate opinions on switching from TA to direct booking with cruise line.

[yancycruiser]

I have used the same cruise travel agency for over 15 years and am strongly considering switching to dealing directly with Royal Caribbean.    Had several things happen with my current travel agency that have led me to considering this.    Please give me your pros and cons to either switch or find another travel agency.   Appreciate any and all opinions.  Looking forward to your responses.

Thank you,

 

[firefly333]

If your ta isnt giving you good service I wouldnt continue using him.

 

Mine answers emails fast. I get refundable cheaper rates. 

 

We dont know what you get as far as obc or better rates?

[Tlbecker1]

I will always opt to have a TA.  Currently, I am working on getting a credit that Royal owes me for a cancelled cruise from February.  Received most of the money owing, but not all that was promised.  I am so thankful I have someone as the “middle person” talking to Royal on my behalf.  
 

I also enjoy the additional perks that come with a TA.

[cublet]

Hello,

 

I am pleased to have a TA to deal with all the stupidity that seems to be a requirement in Royal's customer service.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[klfrodo]

I have a TA in name only because she's a family friend and we want her to receive the commission. Once the booking is complete, that's the end of our business transaction. I do everything else on line re drinks package purchasing, insurance separately from a 3rd party company, excursions on my own, air travel on my own, hotels on my own, etc. I even book land AI holidays/vacations on my own.

 

If your TA isn't meeting your expectations, and you would be comfortable doing this on your own, thn go for it. I'm not sure if this is still a valid practice today as it was a couple of years ago, but, I remember someone had an issue where they wanted to bypass their TA when making a new booking on line, but the cruise lines computer had their "TA" on file, so after they made their on line booking, the computer automatically assigned the booking to their old TA. Just something to think about

[OCSC Mike]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

If your ta isnt giving you good service I wouldnt continue using him.

 

Mine answers emails fast. I get refundable cheaper rates. 

 

We dont know what you get as far as obc or better rates?

 

This would be my answer.

[simon.hed]

I am too much of a control freak when it comes to planning trips. I have this subconsciously belief I can do it as well or better no matter the evidence to the contrary.

 

OTOH I see where people who cruise far more than we do wouldnt consider doing it for themselves. I keep saying I am going to try using a TA but I never do.

[loman]

I had a bad TA and started booking on my own several years ago .

I go on the RC website , select cruise and cabin by doing a mock booking and then call RC and book direct with them. They will take your credit card info and then send you a confirmation via email shortly after you hang up the phone.

You will get a reminder email to pay off the remaining balance when it becomes due.

You can book all your activities yourself ( depending on the ship ) on the website.

If there are price drops you can call RC direct and they will apply the credits and send you an email

with new amounts owing. ( I check the cruise price  i booked by doing a mock booking ).

 

Having said that , i will try a travel agent next cruise as the pricing has gone up dramatically this year.

I will inquire about group rates.

 

Cheers !

[LEMJMcC]

Do TAs really offer better rates and other perks such as refundable deposits (without requiring a second mortgage) OBCs, in-room gifts, etc.?

 

We've always done our planning, scheduling, and booking for everything...but I am open-minded.  Also, I'm wondering if TAs have more cabins available to them than what are shown on RC's website?  It seems every time I look at cabins on RC's website, the fore and aft cabins are all booked!

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, LEMJMcC said:

Do TAs really offer better rates and other perks such as refundable deposits (without requiring a second mortgage) OBCs, in-room gifts, etc.?

 

As someone who always booked myself and recently switched to a TA... absolutely (although the perks will vary by TA, of course).

Edited June 20, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[molly361]

18 minutes ago, simon.hed said:

I am too much of a control freak when it comes to planning trips. I have this subconsciously belief I can do it as well or better no matter the evidence to the contrary.

 

OTOH I see where people who cruise far more than we do wouldnt consider doing it for themselves. I keep saying I am going to try using a TA but I never do.

I used to be you until a friend of mine became a TA.  Now I book everything thru him and I wouldn't have it any other way.  He is VERY responsive to emails.  

Edited June 20, 2023 by molly361

[moposh]

I would change TAs if the one you have isn't good.

 

I used to book directly with RC, but people here said there are perks to going with a TA so that's what I have done with my August cruise.  I'm supposed to be getting some perks on board so we'll see.  TA is nice and responsive so I am happy.  I plan to book more cruises with her.

[Biker19]

36 minutes ago, LEMJMcC said:

Also, I'm wondering if TAs have more cabins available to them than what are shown on RC's website?  

Unlikely, though you should use a site other than RCI’s to look for inventory. 

[firefly333]

Group rates vary with nothing I can figure out. I add 3 adventure dec 13, dec 21 and april 2. April 2 is rhe most expensive as it's one of only 2 south. Group rate is about $100 less than the dec 13, 8 day eastern which is only $12 less than booking direct, though it is refundable. 

 

Just saying group rates seem to be rather random. The more expensive one you see on rcl website might not have the cheapest group rate.

 

And dec 21 is over xmas and DP340 works and not supposed to be for holidays. Not anywhere close to what people paid 6 months ago .. but I was dealing with moms death and hadnt really thought much about moving, still seemed not loyal. Took me a while until about a month ago and prices were way up by then. So it doesnt hurt to ask for quotes if you might be interested in a group rate. Some will really surprise you on the downside. 

[Tlbecker1]

9 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Group rates vary with nothing I can figure out. I add 3 adventure dec 13, dec 21 and april 2. April 2 is rhe most expensive as it's one of only 2 south. Group rate is about $100 less than the dec 13, 8 day eastern which is only $12 less than booking direct, though it is refundable. 

 

Just saying group rates seem to be rather random. The more expensive one you see on rcl website might not have the cheapest group rate.

 

And dec 21 is over xmas and DP340 works and not supposed to be for holidays. Not anywhere close to what people paid 6 months ago .. but I was dealing with moms death and hadnt really thought much about moving, still seemed not loyal. Took me a while until about a month ago and prices were way up by then. So it doesnt hurt to ask for quotes if you might be interested in a group rate. Some will really surprise you on the downside. 

I don’t know how group rates work either, but I agree with you that you can score some great cruise deals.  We just booked a group rate for the ICON with our TA and saved over $900.

[moposh]

1 hour ago, LEMJMcC said:

Also, I'm wondering if TAs have more cabins available to them than what are shown on RC's website?

Travel agencies do buy cabins which they then book to customers.

[goldfish65]

TA all the way. No brainer. You talk to the same person each time, they are savvy, and coherent, you get perks, and you're not waiting on hold interminably. 

[Tree_skier]

5 hours ago, yancycruiser said:

I have used the same cruise travel agency for over 15 years and am strongly considering switching to dealing directly with Royal Caribbean.    Had several things happen with my current travel agency that have led me to considering this.    Please give me your pros and cons to either switch or find another travel agency.   Appreciate any and all opinions.  Looking forward to your responses.

Thank you,

 

If you aren't happy with your TA, I'd find another one.  I used to be one of these "control freaks" that people refer to themselves as that had to maintain control of the booking.  Once I discovered my TA I'll never go back!  There is absolutely no incentive to dealing direct with Royal.  When you call in with a question or a problem you have to deal with their staff that have 10% of the knowledge and understanding  of what can be done.  A good TA is worth their weight in gold.  Group space, which includes refundable deposits, is just one of the benefits.  My TA knows my habits and has intuitively acted on my behalf before I even made final decisions.  Or has sent me shockingly low prices for cruises just released that he thought I would be interested in.  I have a 7 night on Navigator booked for March 2025 because he saw how low suite prices were when they first released the itineraries and emailed me with the info.  We grabbed a 2 br GS for 4 people for less than half of what they ended up selling for just a month later.  This never would have happened without my TA.

[dpostman]

Our next cruise, we booked through a TA.  I can't say that they are Our Usual TA since this was the first time...  In the past, I've always booked myself.  But after doing a mock booking for a specific cruise through RC website and also through big box store travel services, this TA had much better pricing, refundable deposits, and OBC.  I only had a few reasons to contact so far but the response time was very very quick. They must not be spending much time at the Beach...So I'm most likely going to stick with them for future bookings.

😉

dp

Edited June 20, 2023 by dpostman

[taglovestocruise]

2 hours ago, simon.hed said:

I am too much of a control freak when it comes to planning trips. I have this subconsciously belief I can do it as well or better no matter the evidence to the contrary.

 

OTOH I see where people who cruise far more than we do wouldnt consider doing it for themselves. I keep saying I am going to try using a TA but I never do.

Be a control freak. Make your booking direct, be happy with all the little details. Make sure you are completely satisfied. Then you have 30 days to switch to a TA and pick up hundreds in perks. WIN/WIN.

[ShillyShally]

2 hours ago, simon.hed said:

I am too much of a control freak when it comes to planning trips. I have this subconsciously belief I can do it as well or better no matter the evidence to the contrary.

 

OTOH I see where people who cruise far more than we do wouldnt consider doing it for themselves. I keep saying I am going to try using a TA but I never do.

I relate to all this so much!

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, klfrodo said:

I remember someone had an issue where they wanted to bypass their TA when making a new booking on line, but the cruise lines computer had their "TA" on file, so after they made their on line booking, the computer automatically assigned the booking to their old TA. Just something to think about

That is if you book on board.  Next cruise will automatically assign any cruise that you book on board to the TA that you used for that sailing you are on unless you explicitly tell them not to or to assign it to a different agency.

 

Booking via the website always goes into the guests name

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, LEMJMcC said:

Also, I'm wondering if TAs have more cabins available to them than what are shown on RC's website?  It seems every time I look at cabins on RC's website, the fore and aft cabins are all booked!

TA's do not hold cabins.  They hold space within a category.  Royal may hold cabins back that are unable to be seen either on Royals website or by TA's on their booking site in order to fulfill that group space obligation.  There are sites out there that do show more availability than Royals site including the site that TA's use to book

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, Tlbecker1 said:

I don’t know how group rates work either, but I agree with you that you can score some great cruise deals.  We just booked a group rate for the ICON with our TA and saved over $900.

A central Park balcony on the TA is currently over $9000.  Find a TA with some group space and you will get an oceanview balcony for $3000

[klfrodo]

13 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That is if you book on board.  Next cruise will automatically assign any cruise that you book on board to the TA that you used for that sailing you are on unless you explicitly tell them not to or to assign it to a different agency.

 

Booking via the website always goes into the guests name

Thanks for the clarification