Booking direct or through a TA.

[rubyclaret]

It's been a good 8 years since we booked our last Azamara Cruise,  we live in the UK and remember booking on the Azamara website whilst exchanging emails quite regularly with Richard Twynam ?  a UK based director i think of Azamara,who was a great help with our booking.

I think he's now long since moved on and looking at the booking process  on the Azamara website now seems more complicated....or perhaps its me !

I suppose my question is to UK Cruisers, is there any particular national TA that you book with or a local TA or do you book direct on the Website ?

Sorry for the long question, not sure about the best way to book.

Thanks.

[Grandma Cruising]

Cruise Critic won’t let us mention TAs by name. 
We use our daughter who is a self-employed TA who is a consultant  with a national travel company. 

[rubyclaret]

3 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Cruise Critic won’t let us mention TAs by name. 
We use our daughter who is a self-employed TA who is a consultant  with a national travel company. 

They won't ?....Thanks anyway Grandma.

I've heard a few people going down the route of Independent TAs, perhaps that's the way........are you allowed to give the initials of National TAs 🤔

[Riocca]

24 minutes ago, rubyclaret said:

They won't ?....Thanks anyway Grandma.

I've heard a few people going down the route of Independent TAs, perhaps that's the way........are you allowed to give the initials of National TAs 🤔

No if you even hint at the name of a travel agent the post will be deleted. However it is possible to use the “Find a Cruise “ feature on Cruise Critic to look for your selected cruise and you will see prices from CC”s selected travel partners, but this of course is no real recommendation for a travel agency.

On a personal note we used to always use a travel agent but had several bad experiences during the dark days of COVID and now book directly with Azamara, to date we have received very good service even during the troubled times of the introduction of the new system.

[rubyclaret]

Thanks for that Riocca. Just seems a little more complicated booking on the website than previously......when you say you have received very good service, I presume that means Azamara are replying to your emails and calls ?

Regards Mr & Mrs Rubyclaret 

[Riocca]

12 minutes ago, rubyclaret said:

Thanks for that Riocca. Just seems a little more complicated booking on the website than previously......when you say you have received very good service, I presume that means Azamara are replying to your emails and calls ?

Regards Mr & Mrs Rubyclaret 

Yes customer service has improved greatly over the last few months, website does take a bit of getting used to and it’s much easier to phone Azamara on the UK number. Recently waiting times on the phone lines have reduced to just a few minutes.

[shank63]

We always book with a TA or transfer an onboard booking to a TA.  A good TA will add some OBC or other benefit, and generally offer superior customer service.

[blag]

Use a good TA! 

[KevintheIrishDJ]

TA

 

[Harters]

22 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Cruise Critic won’t let us mention TAs by name.

Although it has no such qualms mentioning names itself. As in this article about the various UK travel agencies which are cruise specialists. I found it very helpful for picking one.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=3850

[rubyclaret]

2 hours ago, Harters said:

Although it has no such qualms mentioning names itself. As in this article about the various UK travel agencies which are cruise specialists. I found it very helpful for picking one.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=3850

That's great, thanks Harters, you can't beat face to face contact when booking a holiday and there are 1 or 2 options there.

[Harters]

37 minutes ago, rubyclaret said:

there are 1 or 2 options there.

I'd suggest doing a bit of research - like searching, say, Tripadvisor's cruise forum for mentions of your "options". Even though it's Cruise Critic's parent company it isnt as coy about naming . Some seem better than others. And obviously double check they are ABTA bonded.

 

John

[hawkesbaynz]

I used a TA who is on that list and got a Much better cooool price than the Azamara website price. When I sail with Celebrity I go direct as receive a decent military discount. However the TAs discount was much better than the usual 10% discount.

 

As for Azamara advisors. Our South Africa cruise had the itinerary changed. I had an email advising me but no updated itinerary (why do that?). I called the office as advised but they knew nothing. Promised to call me back. Am still waiting.

[rubyclaret]

2 hours ago, hawkesbaynz said:

I used a TA who is on that list and got a Much better cooool price than the Azamara website price. When I sail with Celebrity I go direct as receive a decent military discount. However the TAs discount was much better than the usual 10% discount.

 

As for Azamara advisors. Our South Africa cruise had the itinerary changed. I had an email advising me but no updated itinerary (why do that?). I called the office as advised but they knew nothing. Promised to call me back. Am still waiting.

Thanks for that hawksbaynz, South Africa is also the Cruise we are looking at for Jan 2025. We nearly went this January gone, but chose a Marella cruise from Jamaica to Central America.....which we thoroughly enjoyed BTW !...plus you only need to go into a Tui ship and everything is done for you !

As I say in the OP, our only other Azamara Cruise when we went Auckland to Sydney, we booked it via their website, booking flights, transfers and hotels ourselves.

The website doesn't seem as good as it was to me, will probably book with a TA who can factor in the flights and hotels etc...

Thanks again.

 

[hawkesbaynz]

Glad you had a good cruise with TUI. We had an enjoyable cruise in East Med on one of their old ships (now scrapped) but really due to the ports and company.  I’d try them again but DW not keen.

 

I would have booked the whole package but plan to use Airmiles for direct business class.