Travel Agent

[SNeuman]

Does anyone have an excellent travel agent?  We want to book a 70-day cruise and need a better price than our current agent is given us.

 

Thanks.

[Host Kat]

On 12/18/2023 at 5:02 PM, SNeuman said:

Does anyone have an excellent travel agent?  We want to book a 70-day cruise and need a better price than our current agent is given us.

 

Thanks.

 

Hello @SNeuman

 

Thank you for your new thread on the Cruise Blogs & Websites forum. However, it is off-topic here since this forum is for our members to post links to their personal travelogue-type of cruise-related blogs or websites. 

 

Also, your question is not allowed on the Cruise Critic message boards. This is per the Travel Agent Recommendations and Advertising is Not Allowed sections in the Guidelines we all agreed to follow when registering for our free Cruise Critic memberships. 

 

Travel Agent Recommendations

There shall be no third-party recommendation (whether positive or negative in content) of travel agencies on any forums within Cruise Critic. General discussions regarding the TYPE of AGENCY to be used to purchase a cruise will be allowed, as long as no recommendations for any source of purchase are posted.

Touting of your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" (or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise) is not allowed on our message boards. Postings that contain "tell them John sent you" will be removed without notice.

This means you should not ask about someone's travel agent, nor should you respond in kind. Offering to email someone your travel agent's name or info is also not allowed, nor is asking members to email you for the information.

 

Advertising is Not Allowed

Cruise Critic has strict guidelines prohibiting blatant advertising, commercial sales and solicitation posts on all of our message boards.

Our Cruise Community is meant to be an exchange of advice and tips where cruisers can talk about their travels -- not a marketplace for advertising and selling services. There are thousands of cruise professionals online and if we didn't insist on a non-solicitation policy the cruise boards would be very quickly overrun with nothing but ads.

Cruise Critic defines advertising as an individual or company's attempt to generate business or other commercial enterprise, either directly or indirectly, by using our Cruise Board. Solicitation includes, but is not limited to, requests to be E-mailed, the posting of phone numbers for your business, constantly mentioning that you are in the travel business, and the referring to or posting of one's own Web site address.

There shall be no third-party recommendation (whether positive or negative in tone) of travel agencies on any forums within Cruise Critic. General discussions regarding the TYPE of AGENCY to be used to purchase a cruise will be allowed, as long as no recommendations for any source of purchase are posted.

Touting of your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" (or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise) is not allowed on our message boards. Postings that contain "tell them John sent you" will be removed without notice.

This means you should not ask about someone's travel agent, nor should you respond in kind. Offering to email someone your travel agent's name or info is also not allowed, nor is asking members to email you for the information.

It also means you cannot post links to travel agencies, no matter what the specific reason.

Cruise Critic will remove violations of the "third-party recommendation" rule without warning. Additional posts will result in permanent suspension of your posting privileges.

Cruise Critic will remove violations of the "third-party recommendation" guideline without warning. Additional posts may result in permanent suspension of your posting privileges.

 

There are travel agents that are members. However, they have the Participation of Travel Agents section in the Guidelines they must follow.

 

Participation of Travel Agents

Travel agents (and their associates, employees or designated representative) are encouraged to participate in the discussions on the Cruise Board and establish themselves as experts on a particular topic by responding to members' inquiries with useful answers. You are welcome to sign your first name and note your professional business as long as you comply with the following:

• You may not use your business name as your Cruise Critic user name.
• You may sign your posts with your first name only.
• You may include your company name in your signature.
• No phone numbers, business location (city or state), web site address, contact info or e-mail address are allowed either in signatures or your Cruise Critic profile.
• Responding to member's inquiries on the boards with an ad for your services is not allowed.
• Only items of a general nature may be discussed on the forums by any travel agent.
• Travel agents are not allowed to solicit for tours on Roll Calls.

Cruise Critic considers requests to be E-mailed for additional information as soliciting and will return those postings to any travel agent trying to sell or promote themselves on Cruise Critic. Additionally, attempts to circumvent our rules may result in your company name being censored from our forums. The above guidelines are not all inclusive, and Cruise Critic reserves the right to remove any image, logo, byline, user name, posting, avatar, or picture that, in the sole opinion of Cruise Critic is too promotional in tone.

Cruise Critic reserves the right to remove any material from our message boards without notification.

 

Perhaps something in the following oldie but goodie Cruise Critic articles will be helpful:

Finding a Cruise Travel Agent

What to Expect on a Cruise: Booking a Cruise With a Travel Agent

What to Expect on a Cruise: Booking With a Cruise Line

Secret Agent Deals: How to Find Prices Cruise Lines Don't Offer

How to Save Money on Your Next Cruise

 

I sincerely hope this information will be helpful and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic!

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat