Pros/cons of booking direct with cruise line and travel agency

[ItalLine2Cunard]

I search the itineraries and have booked directly with Cunard for my 3 recent past trips on QM2.  My "status" has gone up a little!  I consider myself fairly new to this.

 

I felt that things would be easier to resolve if booking direct.  I'm not sure if treatment would vary before sailing and during the sailing between a direct or a travel agent booking.

 

I'm seeing that airline partner links and wholesale clubs websites have prices that are not all that different.

 

Is there much wiggle room if going through the cruise line?  Do certain other vendors (wholesalers, etc.) have access to better deals with certain cruise lines and how would a person find those vendors?

[Host Kat]

2 hours ago, ItalLine2Cunard said:

I search the itineraries and have booked directly with Cunard for my 3 recent past trips on QM2.  My "status" has gone up a little!  I consider myself fairly new to this.

 

I felt that things would be easier to resolve if booking direct.  I'm not sure if treatment would vary before sailing and during the sailing between a direct or a travel agent booking.

 

I'm seeing that airline partner links and wholesale clubs websites have prices that are not all that different.

 

Is there much wiggle room if going through the cruise line?  Do certain other vendors (wholesalers, etc.) have access to better deals with certain cruise lines and how would a person find those vendors?

 

Hello @ItalLine2Cunard and welcome to the Cruise Critic website & message boards! 

 

Perhaps something in the following oldie but goody 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

Cruise Travel Agent vs. Online Booking

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

How to Save Money on Your Next Cruise

 

And here are some previous threads in this forum regarding your topic:

Booking directly with cruise line versus using a travel group or agency

Travel Agents

 

Please remember no one can recommend or even hint the name of any TA, cruise line "personal cruise consultant" or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise on our message boards. For all the details see 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.

 

The Cruise Critic website and message boards are both great resources for new as well as experienced cruisers and we are so glad you found us! Please click here Cruise Critic Community for our forum categories. I suggest you put the page link in your browser's Favorites for quick & easy access in the future. Please read a few threads in the forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads (aka stickies) on the top of the first page of threads in most forums. You will find very important instructions or information there.

 

Hope something in this information will be helpful and glad to have you a board Cruise Critic!

 

Host Kat

[Hlitner]

We, and others, have addressed this issue with numerous posts , over the years.  Finding the right cruise/travem agent is not always easy.  But one good reason to use a cruise agency is that, with the right choice, you can save substantial money.  Savings are often in the 5-10% range versus booking direct with a cruise line.  While this may not be a lot of money on a short cruise, on a longer voyage you might be talking about saving thousands of dollars.  Just keep in mind to always do your homework and due diligence when selecting an agent/agency.

 

Hank

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We, and others, have addressed this issue with numerous posts , over the years.  Finding the right cruise/travem agent is not always easy.  But one good reason to use a cruise agency is that, with the right choice, you can save substantial money.  Savings are often in the 5-10% range versus booking direct with a cruise line.  While this may not be a lot of money on a short cruise, on a longer voyage you might be talking about saving thousands of dollars.  Just keep in mind to always do your homework and due diligence when selecting an agent/agency.

 

Hank

To add to what Hank has posted, a TA works for you. If there is a problem, you have an advocate. 

[Hlitner]

Just noticed that the OP is relatively new to posting to CC.  To that we say, welcome aboard :).  We would also point out that CC Board rules prohibit us from posting info or recommendations for/against various cruise/travel agencies.  

 

When looking for a decent agency, always read the fine print and specifically pay attention to any agency penalties for changes/cancellations to reservations.  Nothing wrong with an agency charging fees as long as it is fully disclosed, you are aware, and understand the terms.  Also consider that. these days, many cruise/travel agencies are members of various "consortiums" which can help an agency get access to special deals.  Some of the better consortiums (some have hundreds or even thousands of member agencies/agents) can get extra discounts or on board credits for customers, have "hosted cruises" where they will have a rep aboard, etc.   Volume can also mean power/clout and some of these huge consortiums represent hundreds of millions of dollars in bookings.  

 

Ontheweb brought up an interesting issue, which is that a good travel/cruise agent will work for you....not the cruise line.  Agencies also work with many cruise lines, which is a huge advantage for those of us who routinely cruise with different lines.  In the past 2 years we have cruised on 6 different lines, but we only dealt with a single agent for 5 of those bookings.  Over the years, our best source of info about various agencies/agents has been found by simply chatting with fellow cruisers when we are on cruises.  It is amazing what we learn from other cruisers/travelers.  One caution about advice from others is to not rely on info based on cruisers from "years ago."  What existed 5 or 10 years ago has really changed when it comes to the cruise lines.

 

Hank

[sanger727]

I don't know much about Cunard specifically.  I've never seen a cruise line have "wiggle" room.  They have sales and promotions but that is about it.  TA's do sometimes have wiggle room. TA's can book blocks of rooms as a group booking to get discounted rates.  They also sometimes offer OBC or something else free using a portion of their commission.

 

The treatment will def be different.  Once you have a TA involved in your booking, you can no longer call the cruise line for anything.  You must do everything through your TA.  If you book with a bad TA, it can get really frustrating.  Once a TA is on your booking, it is hard to get them off. 

 

So, until you find a TA that does a good job, it's always a gamble.  Certainly, don't book with a TA if they aren't offering either a better price or some bonus.  And keep in mind that they may have their own cancellation fees, separate from the cruise line.

Edited September 12 by sanger727

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, sanger727 said:

I don't know much about Cunard specifically.  I've never seen a cruise line have "wiggle" room.  They have sales and promotions but that is about it.  TA's do sometimes have wiggle room. TA's can book blocks of rooms as a group booking to get discounted rates.  They also sometimes offer OBC or something else free using a portion of their commission.

 

The treatment will def be different.  Once you have a TA involved in your booking, you can no longer call the cruise line for anything.  You must do everything through your TA.  If you book with a bad TA, it can get really frustrating.  Once a TA is on your booking, it is hard to get them off. 

 

So, until you find a TA that does a good job, it's always a gamble.  Certainly, don't book with a TA if they aren't offering either a better price or some bonus.  And keep in mind that they may have their own cancellation fees, separate from the cruise line.

To say "once you have a TA involved in you booking you can no longer call the cruise line for anything" is an overstatement. There are many things you can call about. One example is booking excursions. Another is you can ask for instance if there is more than one dock in one of your ship's ports which one the ship will dock in. You can ask for help with the cruise line's website. All of these are things I have called and received answers in the past. I am sure there are others. And yes, there are things that must go through your TA such as getting a lower fare if the fare has been reduced or wanting to change your cabin.

[MCC retired]

If you blindly just book Direct with a cruise line without comparing to what is available from the Travel Agent world , you are cheating yourself out of potential savings , benefits , knowledge and help with potential problems .

 

Edited September 12 by MCC retired

[CaptainSeaBreeze]

We used to have a travel agent and they retired. We just booked a cruise on our own because we needed to commit quickly to another part of the trip, and didn't know how to find another agent so we booked directly.

It was Celebrity and was offering 75% off for the 2nd guest. i figured it would still likely be a "normal price", i.e t hey'd have another promotion of XX% off next moth that would work out to almost the same price, but since we needed to make a decision quickly we booked online.

 

The invoice shows "No Perk Rate with BOGO75", so it would imply that maybe we could have gotten a Perk Rate that wasn't exclusive of the discount and maybe my travel agent could have gotten a preferential rate.

 

Then today I discovered that I should have asked for one cabin level upgrade because we're part of the "Captain Club" (sailed with Celebrity once years ago). Fortunately I was able to chat with them online even though my purchase was complete and they honored the upgrade, but a cruise travel agent would have known to ask for it form the start.

 

Also while booking online we had to pick a cabin. Celebrity doesn't have a function to suggest the "next best available" online. I hear they do make suggestion if you call the cruise lime directly. but that's one thing I loved about our travel agent. They would be able to say "oh good, 1249 is open, it's a great room because it's next to the firewall and more quite, and because it's a slightly different shape, you get a larger couch and it's one of the few truly private balconies....". Without them it's a bit of a shot in the dark. decipher the floor plan and hope the "closet" next to your room with clicking all night long.

Of course after agonizing over which cabin lowly cabin to get, I got upgraded to a much better cabin when I called today, see above.

 

All this to say that booking just this one cruise without an agent makes me realize the value of the one we lost, and will be looking for someone new. (thanks for some of the oldie but goodie threads above, I'm also new to cruisecritic)

 

oh and once our travel agents were able to gift us 2 bottles of wine to complement the 2 we were bringing onboard ourselves, and on the last cruise they booked for us they were able to get us $80 on-board credit.

 

 

 

Edited September 12 by CaptainSeaBreeze

[Host Kat]

4 hours ago, CaptainSeaBreeze said:

... (thanks for some of the oldie but goodie threads above, I'm also new to cruisecritic)...

 

You are most welcome and glad to be of service! 

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat