I'M AFRAID TO BOOK ON-LINE! Any preferences or stories?

[thefirstnoel]

Can anyone tell me what is better/easier/more cost effective for booking cruises. On-line or travel agent? We have cruised 3 times and have always went thru our travel agent, usually after I have found a deal. But, I see so many deals on-line thru the various sites that e-mail me that I'm really not sure the best way to book. I've heard a few horror stories regarding people booking on-line. PLEASE GIVE ME ANY EXPERIENCES YOU'VE HAD W/EITHER BOTH OR ONE. I've learned so much thru you guys I was hoping to get good responses on this one. Thanks so much.

P.S. This next cruise will be a biggie for us as we would be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary. Yes, high school sweethearts!

[cuyahoga11]

Have done both but have only got price reductions after booking when I booked directly with the cruise line, so if I have a chance of refunds or OBC this is way I will go from now on

[melika091900]

we always use an online agency .. and never have any problems,,

the only thing is if you are intitled to past cruiser discounts , you might not get them, but sometimes they are cheaper online anyways....

what i usually do is find the price, compare on all the online agencies and then CALL the online agency and book it , that way they can send you an email confirmation right away....

any questions about who ive used email me ..

Melissa

[melika091900]

we always use an online agency .. and never have any problems,,

the only thing is if you are intitled to past cruiser discounts , you might not get them, but sometimes they are cheaper online anyways....

what i usually do is find the price, compare on all the online agencies and then CALL the online agency and book it , that way they can send you an email confirmation right away....

any questions about who ive used email me ..

Melissa

[Cuizer2]

A good travel agent is worth his/her weight in gold. A bad travel agent can be a real pain where you sit. However, I am starting to look into more complicated cruises and felt I needed a real TA. I found a good one and I am very happy with him.

[chasetf]

We always use a TA and almost always the same one. We like having one person we know who can call the cruise line and has pull with them. Cannot beat that. ;)

 

We always do our shopping on line so know what to expect to pay. Our TA is always able to beat, meet, or get real close to any online price we find. :D

[CoachTerry14]

Remember it is against policy to mention specific TA

[lvtotrvl1]

If you were happy with your TA, I would suggest calling him/her with the quotes to see if they can match them. Depending on the cruiseline, they may be able to help you. You mention this is a "big" cruise. For that reason alone, I would want to be sure I am dealing with someone I trust and can call at any time for questions etc. Good Luck and have a great cruise!

[dateacher]

Because I am one of those people who has to do all of my own research (afraid someone else might miss something), I find the cruise and then call a TA and do the online competing. I go with whoever has the best price. For three cruises, it has always been the online agency.

 

If, however, you don't like to do your own legwork, a TA can be invaluable showing you the ropes and handling the details.

[navybankerteacher]

Can anyone tell me what is better/easier/more cost effective for booking cruises. On-line or travel agent? We have cruised 3 times and have always went thru our travel agent, usually after I have found a deal. But, I see so many deals on-line thru the various sites that e-mail me that I'm really not sure the best way to book. I've heard a few horror stories regarding people booking on-line. PLEASE GIVE ME ANY EXPERIENCES YOU'VE HAD W/EITHER BOTH OR ONE. I've learned so much thru you guys I was hoping to get good responses on this one. Thanks so much.

P.S. This next cruise will be a biggie for us as we would be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary. Yes, high school sweethearts!

 

I've found the best bet is to do your "shopping" on line -- gather info on all cruises/lines that interest you. Then, for each line that interests you, call the LINE directly -- discussing with their Rep each cruise you like. After talking with each line -- they know you are shopping, and will try to be competitive - compare prices with desireability of the cruises in question. Then get back to the line with the best deal, and book directly with them. If there are subsequent fare concesions, you are most likely to benefit if you have booked directly. You can often get a better deal through the line because there is no agent commission. Finally, I find that anticipation is part of the fun of a cruise -- and doing the research and booking yourself really adds to the experience.

 

Try *****.com for initial info on cruises and destinations - with rough pricing information. After selecting a few, start specific research on the lines' sites -- but do the actual negotiating/booking on the phone ---the person-to-person feedback is what gives you the break. Booking on line simply means paying the posted price.

[gizmo]

Much depends on which cruise line you are interested in. RCL and Celebrity do not allow TA's to give discounts. Other cruise lines do, so you can make out much better.

 

Many TA's now have a web site. I have used them but only if I know I can talk to someone on the phone if I need to.

Beware, some of them have 2 different prices, one if you actually go through the booking process on line and another if you call them.

 

There are horror stories about BOTH brick and morter local TA's and On Line TA's.

 

My last cruise I went to the site where you enter what cruise you want and TA's compete for your business and will send you quotes. The one I choose did an excellent job and I was very pleased with them. I received an excellent price. I talked to them a couple of times to get some things handled. I requested a certain table, needed my booking linked to two others, also on board stock credit and another credit. Everything was taken care of.

 

When I submitted my cruise I listed all my requirements for example, I must be able to call the TA, have my stock handled etc. I did not want an email only TA. I also asked them to list ALL fees including cancellation fees, any processing fees, mailing fees.

[Cuizer2]

A good travel agent is worth his/her weight in gold. A bad travel agent can be a real pain where you sit. However, I am starting to look into more complicated cruises and felt I needed a real TA. I found a good one and I am very happy with him.

 

I have also used one of the better known online sites for three of my cruises. Since I used the same one I mentioned the name and it was edited out of my post. So this time I'll be more generic. I had no problems with any of my three bookings using a well known online agency. The first time I needed three cabins in a row, so I called and received exactly what I wanted. The second time I ended up changing cruises. They rebooked me on the new ship no problems. The last time I was very basic. I ended up in the cabin I booked.

 

However, now that my interests have expanded, I need the wisdom of someone I can trust. I found a good one (through ship tours with the agent) and asked him to book a very hard to get cabin for me, which he did (there are only four, and they sold out the first hour they were available). I also will be looking to longer more exotic cruises in the future, so I feel more comfortable with someone I can trust.

 

So, you can book online. Use a credit card and verify your booking with the cruise line if you feel nervous. If you decide to go with a local TA, test him/her on a easy booking and see how (s)he handles it. This board is full of more problems with TAs who are not good then with problems with online agencies.

[DEL67]

We almost always book on-line and have used several of the largest agencies to do so. I like being able to check the deck plan befor choosing my own cabin (or a guarantee,) I also like seeing all the costs in black and white. However, I did book my next cruise directly with carnival since they offered a lower price than on-line and gave me a free upgrade.

 

Another poster mentioned not being able to take advantage of lower prices when booking on-line. This was true with one site, but two others have given us lower price. In fact, we saved $350 when the price of our transatlantic cruise was reduced last year about 2 weeks prior to sailing.

[michmike]

Have used 2 different online agencies to book our last 4 crusies and have been well satisfied w/ the results. I do my research ahead of time so pretty much know exactly what I want when I contact them. All I'm really looking for at that point is price.

 

I agree with the poster who said you want to avoid any online agencies who do business by e-mail only. I want a real person I can talk to if I have any questions or problems.

 

We've used a brick and mortar agent in the past, but after calling him with pricing on 3 of the past 4 cruises to see if he could get anywhere near the online pricing ( and his failing to do so) we don't bother with him anymore.

 

Feel free to e-mail me at tohoku at cablespeed dot com in the usual format for more info. please put cruise critic in the title line

[98Charlie]

We too book through an online agency. But, we have one person that we deal with at the agency.

 

We found her when booking our 3rd or 4th cruise of the 17 that we have booked. Since then, we do our own legwork, watching the cruises that we are interested in. When we are ready to book, we call or email her and she takes care of the booking.

 

If there are any problems that arise or price drops that show (we keep checking ourselves) she takes care of it. So far, she has never failed us.

 

Charlie

[KKB]

First thru major online TA. Very satisfied. Received upgrade plus many goodies in room (and we booked inside GTY)

 

Have booked next one thru large online cruise TA. Actually booked one for last Oct. but had to cancel. Our fault. Changes made w/o issue.

 

We do it for the fantastic prices. Have had to speak to reps w/ both and pleased w/ them as well.

 

No TA in town could even come close to the prices we received online. But we were booking typical Caribbean on mass line booking inside GTY. No special needs.

 

If best price is your goal, online is almost certainly your best bet. If you have special wants & needs, use a local TA.

[buddyjo143]

We booked our first cruise through a local branch of a nationwide agency. Our second was booked directly with Carnival since we were booking 3 cabins for our extended family of nine people. Our third cruise was recently booked online through an airline. I have been happy each way and feel we got a great deal each time.