Booking with TA vs. Princess Directly???

[snoopy5386]

What are the advantages of booking through a TA as opposed to directly w Princess? Do TA's have better prices? And also, how do I find a "good TA". We are the only ones in our circle of friends and family who travel, short of picking one out of the yellowpages, I don't have a clue on where to find one. And finally, do TA's only have the ability to book certain cabins on the ship, or can they book you any cabin that is free on the ship?

Thanks,

Nicole

[bruce-r]

Good TA's often offer prices that are lower that Princess offers directly. The best TAs will look out for you after the deposit is made in case of a price drop. They are your best source of help if you have any problems. They also sometimes offer onboard credits or other benefits not offered by the cruise line.

[rferr]

I have been on seven cruises in ten years and have bought them all from high volume discount TA's. I always let them bid against each other and took the cheapest. I just booked the Golden Princess for Dec. 12th about two weeks ago but this time, for the first time in my experience, direct from Princess beat all their prices. No one was more surprised than me about that one but I bought direct this time. As for finding a good one I would say the internet and the bargains section on this site would be a great start.

[Coral]

Some travel agents quote the same price as the cruise line.

 

Others discount part of their commission and will provide a better price then Princess offers. My TA always gives me a better price then Princess - I know this, because I will often hold the cabin with Princess directly. If I decide to keep the booking (I hold a lot more cruises then I actually cruise), I transfer the booking to my TA and she discounts the price.

 

If a cabin is available, either Princess or your TA can reserve it for you.

[srphnx]

Bottom line.. Princess does NOT discount the % set aside for TA commission, a high volume TA does DO this. Booking direct thru Princess is more convienent as you can call most any time but some TA's offer this as well. You save at LEAST 10% booking thru a TA.

[CruiseFever]

What are the advantages of booking through a TA as opposed to directly w Princess? Do TA's have better prices? And also, how do I find a "good TA". We are the only ones in our circle of friends and family who travel, short of picking one out of the yellowpages, I don't have a clue on where to find one. And finally, do TA's only have the ability to book certain cabins on the ship, or can they book you any cabin that is free on the ship?

Thanks,

Nicole

 

 

Excellent questions

 

Finding a good TA is much like finding a good insurance salesman. Travel Agents are sales persons, make no mistake about it. If you can find one that will be an advocate for your travel needs that's great. But it IS common for them to attempt to "upsell" you into a higher cabin category, going on and on about the wonder of a balcony cabin if you have an outside cabin or a suite if you have a balcony.

 

There's nothing wrong with this commonly used sales tactic.

 

Other travel agents might get you into some group booking space where they have said to the cruise line "Give us a bunch of cabins at a reduced rate and we will sell them". The cruise line in return says "Ok great, the more you sell the more goodies we will give you. You can make these goodies benefit your group by adding amenities or reducing fares or you can make these benefits benefit you with free cabins or extra commissions".

 

One of the most important features of a good cruise travel agent is efficiency. You need the behind the scenes part of your booking to be handled correctly and on time. Attention to detail in this area is a must.

 

But you need to be your own advocate too.

 

You're doing that right now by coming here to learn about this stuff and gain valuable information that could make or break your cruise later.

 

To find a travel agent, much like finding an insurance salesman, you can look to professional organizations like the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA, http://www.cruising.org ) who helps train and certify cruise travel agents, awarding various levels of competency. Look for one that's at least a Master Cruise Counselor(MCC) (There's also an "Elite" designation). They've gone through training, attended seminars and toured various cruise ships to get a goodunderstanding of what they need to know.

 

Another professional organization that is a good indicator that an agency is at least doing some business is The American Socisty of Travel Agents (ASTA, http://www.astanet.com), the members here have rigorous criteria to meet in order to join and maintain membership.

 

If you do an Internet search for travel agents remember that in many cases the listings you see first are sponsored meaning those people pay the search engine to be listed at the top of the list.

 

Word of mouth, of course, is one of the best sources of finding a good travel agent. Because recommending specific travel agents on an Internet based forum such as this is NOT the same as a recommendation from, say, your neighbor we don't allow it on Cruise Critic and you should be happy that we don't. The people you come to "know" here could be travel agents, sales people, trying to make a sale without the best interest in mind that your neighbor might have.

 

My point here is to find neutral, unbiased sources, ones with documentation to support their recommendations if possible like your state attorney general or consumer affairs office.

 

Personally, I think its important to develop a good business relationship with your travel professional, be that an agent you find from one of the professional organizations, a neighbors recommendation or, yes, even an attractive yellow pages ad.

 

Armed with the right information about agents and the knowledge to ask the right questions you'll fare much better than blindly accepting somebody's suggestion.

 

Before you contact that agent get an idea of what you want. Search online or send off for some cruise brochures. Read reviews and other first timer information here on cruise critic. Ask questions (there are NO dumb ones) and get answers from the members here.

 

THEN make that call

 

Welcome To Cruising!

[kruisey]

Chris what a great post for any beginner to read....I myself have learned from it.

Wonder if it could be placed in the permanent section at the top of the posts.?

This post was so unbiased and truthful.

[Fab]

Hi all,

 

I don't want to be a kill joy, but please keep in mind not to ask for or solicit email information regarding your travel agents.

 

Thanks

 

Fab

[cnmiranda]

I have found the online TA's to have the best discounts by far. One can't disclose names anymore but if you check websites that publish travel guides you should get pretty good ideas. Before I had to rebook the Pride of Aloha NCL was actually $1000 higher per person than the rate supplied by my ta. I have always saved at least $150pp or more when booking online. I love my local travel agent but she just can't compete with the large online consolidators.

[CruiseFever]

Hi all,

 

I don't want to be a kill joy, but please keep in mind not to ask for or solicit email information regarding your travel agents.

 

Thanks

 

Fab

 

Fab-

 

Too late

 

;)