Canadian Traveller

[Cthy651]

Hello fellow cruisers:

I am in the process of planning our next cruise. However, we have not been very happy with our last travel agent. I was wondering as we live in Canada, has anyone used Cruise Compete:confused:

 

Any advice on booking our cruise, myself, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Happy Cruising;)

[BobBeaSea]

I haven't used Cruise Compete. I have used Trip Central, a particular agent. Good but not great or experienced enough with cruising. I book all land travel through her. For cruises I'll do the legwork and just give her the instructions on what to book. RCI does not allow travel agents to lower the cruise price however TA's can offer inducements such as onboard credits etc.

 

There is always the option of booking directly with RCI, you are in total control. This is what a lot of the veterans on this site do. Makes sense as RCI has pretty much eliminated competition between TA's for your business, with the exception of non contract stuff.

 

P.S. I'm just down the road from you but I was born and raised in Hamilton. Oskee-Wewee!

[kingsgirl]

Hey, I'm from the London area!

 

I can't give any advice for Cruise compete. Make sure you find out answers to the regular questions such as price reductions, cancelling fees, or any other hidden costs.

 

I've used Cruiseshipcentres myself before with a rep from London. She was good and accepted price reductions along the way. No onboard credits though.

 

I just found that once you become a cruise fanatic and keep searching cruises on the RCI site like daily...you know the ins and outs really well. Then with all the info available here, it's usually wiser to book yourself so you know you're in control of price reductions and such.

 

I guess the only up-side for using a TA or another booking company is the hope they can go to bat for you if the cruiseline screws something up (like moving your room on you or something).

[juniorsmom]

A friend of mine is a travel agent in Mississauga, so I book with her. Now that I am more experienced in cruising I would say that it would be easy to book directly online.

[DundasONT]

Hi from Dundas

 

I book all of my travel arrangements myself using Trip Advisor and/or Travelocity. For the cruise portion, Travelocity allows you to view cabins available and the price. I then call the cruise line and book direct. However, before booking, it might be worth checking with a travel agent such as Trip Central. Sometimes they may be able to offer extras such as an onboard credit.

[tomko2]

We make our arrangements thru the cruiseline directly for sail portion and thru the airlines directly for flights. It takes time to seek out best options but in the end we are always happy with the results.

Kathy:)

[Nothin' But Sun]

Hey Kingsgirl, where near London are you from? I have used Travel Agents, My Visa Travel Agent (over the phone)--Best one yet!, A cruise line on line agency and RCI. All have honored price drops with no problems when I called. Same difference. I will however stick with RC and My Visa Travel service for bookings.

[Cthy651]

Thank you all;) for your advice, will book myself, as soon as the May 2009 schedule comes out.

 

Thanks again.