Direct book with NCL - pro's and con's?

[whatawonderfulworld]

I'm interested in your collective thoughts - do you prefer booking directly with NCL or through a TA? Can you also share why you feel as you do?

 

Thanks!

 

Ciao,

 

W A W W

[PDAZ]

Well if you can get someone to help you -- all power to you!

 

Actually, I didn't try to book with them directly. I just had issues after I was booked with shore excursions and cruise information. I didn't think their customer service reps were a helpful lot!

 

I booked both my NCL cruises with agents because the cruises were on sale on their sites. Dont' know if I would have received the same price if I called NCL directly -- does anyone else know?

[kids at home cruisers]

We've just booked our 10 year wedding anniversay cruise on NCL Dawn going in July. NCL couldn't match the price of our travel agent or give us the same upgrade even though we are Latitudes members.

[cruizinwithkids]

First of all W A W W, I loved your comment some months back about opening your suite door and looking out on NY. We ended up in the same or similar room and I thought of you (even though I don't know you) when I opened our door.

 

I am not sure if it's the cruises we book or what, but every time for the last couple of years that I have booked a cruise, the price has been the exact same no matter where I look. Most of our recent cruise have been school vacation week or summer cruises booked well in advance.

 

So, for me if I can't a better price one place versus the other, I like to book direct with NCL. We have a personal cruise consultant who always gets back to us, is very knowledgeable, and friendly. I then check out the web-site regularly for price drops. I don't mind calling NCL for a minimal price drop. I'm not comfortable calling a T/A who may have a million other things so I can save fifty cents (yes this is an exaggeration.)

 

Last year late September/Early October we booked the Dawn direct. I received an upsell offer via e-mail and took it. Friends of ours booked their cruise a week or so later. They booked an AD. Two weeks before the cruise, on a Saturday afternoon, they received a call from NCL with an upsell offer to an Owner's Suite. They took the offer. They also asked if we would receive the same offer. The person asked if we had booked direct and when she was told yes, she said, then I will call now. As it turned out, we were out and my daughter answered the phone. They would not give her a number for us to call back, but said they would go down their list and if no one else took it they would call us back in an hour. Of course we never got a call back.

 

The T/A I use is a small local one. She is not open on Saturday afternoons, so had we booked through her, we would not have gotten the OS offer - not that we ended up getting it anyway, but...

 

I know that people get upsells and very good ones, through T/A's. I also know that on that particular Saturday afternoon, upsells were being offered to people who had booked direct.

 

We were also booked on the Sun for Hawaii. That cruise was cancelled and replaced by the Pride of Aloha. I was very happy with the way that was all handled by NCL direct. I'm not saying a T/A would not have handled it as well, but I was very happy with NCL direct.

[silkhair1]

When I book our cruises, I start with my TA and get a price. I call NCL and get a price, then I check online and get a price. I then book the best value. Just how I do it. I have never booked through NCL, though.

[OceanDreaming2]

Hi WAWW-

 

Your original question and it's responses are here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=524320

 

I wouldn't be surprised if this thread moves too. :rolleyes:

[cruiseinfoseeker]

but i linked through Upromise and I got the 1% in my upromise account. (the college savings plan for those of you who aren't familiar with it). NCL had the same price, but it made sense for me to do it that way. It was really a small amount, but it was something.

[Host CMLA]

Hi WAWW-

 

Your original question and it's responses are here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=524320

 

I wouldn't be surprised if this thread moves too. :rolleyes:

Then I guess you will be surprised that this stays here. But why roll your eyes? :rolleyes: The link you provided is to a question that wasn't specific to NCL and was better suited for the general board. And as you can see it has gotten several responses. This thread is specific to NCL and belongs on this board.

[dwrist]

Our first cruise, we booked with an online agency. After that cruise, with what we learned about cruising from experience and from this board, we decided to book our next cruises ourselves. Using the "old" NCL site to book and search, we were able to compare staterooms, prices, etc. It seemed very easy to us and not many questions that CC could not answer. Never had a excuse to call and ask questions of NCL.

 

Now we have a PCC which we used to book our upcoming cruise with. We booked the upcoming with her because our cruise was not showing online(too far out) for us. She has been very helpful and if she does not have an answer, she will call and find the answer and get back to us within reason. She also watched for lower fares, which never happened.:(

 

But again, in the future, we will be doing the leg work ourselves. That way we have no one to blame if something happens but ourselves. :)

[cruisepal48]

I'm interested in your collective thoughts - do you prefer booking directly with NCL or through a TA? Can you also share why you feel as you do?

 

Thanks!

 

Ciao,

 

W A W W

Hi WAWW,

 

I used a TA but, I have to say I am a latitude member and saw the 7 catagory sale in a mailer I got from NCL. She then booked my cruise and NCL did the rest. Flight, transfers to the pier and hotel and airport. They also booked my post cruise stay. They did a wonderful job. They are very organized. What my TA did for me was get my rental cars and help me with a stateroom assignment. If you want any changes you have to go though your TA. She gets your travel Docs for you also. I looked on-line and didn't find any better deal then what I got. Good luck:)

[watchdiva]

WAWW:

 

We've done both - booked through a TA and through cruise lines direct. On one HAL cruise, the online TA was a nightmare and I swore I would never do it again (and haven't!). Granted, there are some good online TA's (and on a different HAL cruise, we had an outstanding experiece). Originally I booked my 4/13/07 Pearl cruise with an online TA and the experience was SO bad, I cancelled with them and rebooked immediately (within an hour) with a PCC at NCL. The $$ we would have saved keeping the original booking were not big enough to put up with such horrible service.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to book direct again - when I booked with the PCC, I let him know that I would be very interested in an upsell when the time came. The "upsell fairy" did visit us and we are VERY happy:D .

 

For us, great customer service is very important and my PCC sure provided that!

[NowVoyager908]

I've done both. If air travel is involved, I usually contact a TA. But my last two cruises, and my next one, are all from my home port so I made the reservations directly with the respective cruise lines, RCCL and NCL. For my cruise coming up in June, I contacted a TA only because I'm travelling with some family members who wanted to find out if they could get better prices than I had booking directly with NCL. The prices were exactly the same.

[Markandrews]

I always want to book direct with NCL but the prices I get with my T/A are ALWAYS lower. I have even questioned my NCL PCC about this. He says that some larger T/A's get better deals and pass them along to the customer. My PCC is very nice and still calls from time to time. I do believe that those booked directly with NCL get a better shot at an upsell. It just makes sense that they contact the ones that are easiest to reach. Going through the T/A and then waiting for the T/A to call the passenger...etc...etc is time consuming. When it gets close to sailing and I see an upsell possibility I make my T/A call NCL. They will take an upsell call from a T/A.

[whatawonderfulworld]

First of all W A W W, I loved your comment some months back about opening your suite door and looking out on NY. We ended up in the same or similar room and I thought of you (even though I don't know you) when I opened our door.

 

I am not sure if it's the cruises we book or what, but every time for the last couple of years that I have booked a cruise, the price has been the exact same no matter where I look. Most of our recent cruise have been school vacation week or summer cruises booked well in advance.

 

So, for me if I can't a better price one place versus the other, I like to book direct with NCL. We have a personal cruise consultant who always gets back to us, is very knowledgeable, and friendly. I then check out the web-site regularly for price drops. I don't mind calling NCL for a minimal price drop. I'm not comfortable calling a T/A who may have a million other things so I can save fifty cents (yes this is an exaggeration.)

 

Last year late September/Early October we booked the Dawn direct. I received an upsell offer via e-mail and took it. Friends of ours booked their cruise a week or so later. They booked an AD. Two weeks before the cruise, on a Saturday afternoon, they received a call from NCL with an upsell offer to an Owner's Suite. They took the offer. They also asked if we would receive the same offer. The person asked if we had booked direct and when she was told yes, she said, then I will call now. As it turned out, we were out and my daughter answered the phone. They would not give her a number for us to call back, but said they would go down their list and if no one else took it they would call us back in an hour. Of course we never got a call back.

 

The T/A I use is a small local one. She is not open on Saturday afternoons, so had we booked through her, we would not have gotten the OS offer - not that we ended up getting it anyway, but...

 

I know that people get upsells and very good ones, through T/A's. I also know that on that particular Saturday afternoon, upsells were being offered to people who had booked direct.

 

We were also booked on the Sun for Hawaii. That cruise was cancelled and replaced by the Pride of Aloha. I was very happy with the way that was all handled by NCL direct. I'm not saying a T/A would not have handled it as well, but I was very happy with NCL direct.

 

 

That was very lovely of you to remember my comment...it is one of those moments that I will never forget. To think of it now...well it still has the same impact.

 

Regarding the upsells, which we also received directly through NCL, we received the call on a Tuesday night around 630. If we had gone through a TA, how would we have received the notification?

 

Again, thank you so much for remembering my comment and responding to my question.

 

Ciao,

W A W W

 

p.s. I have also found that our Personal Cruise Consultant to be extremely helpful and responsive to every inquiry I set forth...I always hear back from him within within 24 hours.

[whatawonderfulworld]

Hi WAWW-

 

Your original question and it's responses are here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=524320

 

I wouldn't be surprised if this thread moves too. :rolleyes:

 

I thought I had lost my mind...I came looking for the post and then, when I couldn't find it, I posted again.

 

I thought I was having yet another pre-senior moment wherein you THINK you did something and then...well I'm sure you get the picture!

 

Thanks again!

 

W A W W

[whatawonderfulworld]

Our first cruise, we booked with an online agency. After that cruise, with what we learned about cruising from experience and from this board, we decided to book our next cruises ourselves. Using the "old" NCL site to book and search, we were able to compare staterooms, prices, etc. It seemed very easy to us and not many questions that CC could not answer. Never had a excuse to call and ask questions of NCL.

 

Now we have a PCC which we used to book our upcoming cruise with. We booked the upcoming with her because our cruise was not showing online(too far out) for us. She has been very helpful and if she does not have an answer, she will call and find the answer and get back to us within reason. She also watched for lower fares, which never happened.:(

 

But again, in the future, we will be doing the leg work ourselves. That way we have no one to blame if something happens but ourselves. :)

 

First, I whole heartedly agree with your final comment - I too enjoy doing my own research and, if something goes wrong (which it hasn't so far), I would have no one to blame but myself. My PCC is terrific...he worked out a problem for us quickly, efficiently and, most importantly, to my satisfaction.

 

Secondly, I know from reading that you're on the Pearl's inaugural sojourn through the canal next month...I am so looking forward to our own cruise, the opposite itinerary next September! I hope you'll be coming back here and reporting on your own trip...I am extremely anxious to hear all about your experiences!

 

Finally, and maybe this should have followed my first paragraph, I cannot say enough about what I've learned on this board. The posters here are terrific...the best advice was "go with the flow."

 

Again, thank you for your response and know that while you and your fellow passengers are transiting the canal, there is one person back here who will be thinking of you!

 

Ciao,

 

W A W W

[dwrist]

WAWW

 

Thank you for the kind comments. A review will be done and just may be a group review.

[whatawonderfulworld]

WAWW:

 

We've done both - booked through a TA and through cruise lines direct. On one HAL cruise, the online TA was a nightmare and I swore I would never do it again (and haven't!). Granted, there are some good online TA's (and on a different HAL cruise, we had an outstanding experiece). Originally I booked my 4/13/07 Pearl cruise with an online TA and the experience was SO bad, I cancelled with them and rebooked immediately (within an hour) with a PCC at NCL. The $$ we would have saved keeping the original booking were not big enough to put up with such horrible service.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to book direct again - when I booked with the PCC, I let him know that I would be very interested in an upsell when the time came. The "upsell fairy" did visit us and we are VERY happy:D .

 

For us, great customer service is very important and my PCC sure provided that!

 

I'm very hesitant to use one of the online TA's. I much prefer having one person to speak with...my very first cruise was with Carnival...they immediately assigned one staff person to me (just like NCL does now) and the experience was nothing short of perfection. I was extremely happy to hear that NCL started doing this as well.

 

I see you're booked for the Pearl next month...we are as well, albeit for next September. We can't wait...but then again I guess we have too!

 

Thanks again for your response.

 

Ciao,

 

W A W W

[Too blessed to be stressed]

I have never been able to look at NCL prices on line. I just booked through a big online TA. I would like to monitor the prices. I would also like to monitor for upsells. How would you go about doing this and on what web site?:confused:

[brunolvr]

I have never been able to look at NCL prices on line. I just booked through a big online TA. I would like to monitor the prices. I would also like to monitor for upsells. How would you go about doing this and on what web site?:confused:

 

Just go here and put in the date you're interested in cruising:

https://seaweb.it.ncl.com/consumer/

You can get the cost and also find out how many cabins are left in each category.

[Leafpeeper]

When we first started cruising years ago, I booked the cruises myself. However, one year I had a major problem with an internet agency where you don't have one specific agent to speak with each time. We never got our documents and ended up having them emailed and printed them myself--after being charged an upfront mailing service fee.

 

My DD got fed up in a similar way and actually ended up becoming a travel agent herself after much frustration. Now she sits on hold and handles all my problems for me and I pay the same amount I would have paid if I had booked it myself. What makes her special is that she contacts her clients if prices drop and notifies them of any promotions to keep them coming back time after time. I'm so glad I don't have to keep following prices anymore. Having a travel agent in the family is almost as important as having a plumber in the family.

[Too blessed to be stressed]

Thats great, this will make my life alot easier, not having to depend on the travel agent keeping me upto date.:)