Benefits of a TA over Carnival PVP?

[Lady_Jag]

Hi! I just got off the Glory 2 weeks ago, and I want to book a cruise on the Dream for next year. The TA that I went through to book our Glory cruise had a special promotion that gave us $100 OBC.

 

Well, since we're so far out from our Dream sail date, there is no special promo right now with the TA, and the pricing is the same if I book directly through Carnival. The TA charged a $20 processing fee with our last cruise, which is not a big whoop, but if I get the same deal directly through Carnival, why do I need a TA?

 

So can you think of any benefit to booking through a travel agent over a Carnival rep or vice-versa? (Other than saving the TA's $20 processing fee, that is!)

 

I've never booked a cruise directly through Carnival before, so I'm sort of dragging my feet on this one until I hear about other people's experiences.

 

Thanks for the help!

[Traveler353]

One thing to keep in mind. If you book thru a TA and have a problem Carnival will not help you. You must trust the TA to fix it. If you book directly thru Carnival you have a much better chance of getting a satisfactory resolution to you problem.

 

Disclaimer: This observation is made thru personal experience. Your experience made be different.

[EmmasNana]

I have only booked one carnival cruise so far, but am expecting to like it and most likely will book more.

Here is what I did...I originaly booked an early saver through carnival directly. Later one of the TA's I get emails from was offering the same price and in addition a $100 OBC. I called carnival to make sure it would not take anything away from the carnival person who origanally booked me. They insisted it would not...so I called the TA and was told I could keep the early saver deal and price and get their $100 OBC. So, I transfered by booking to them.

[Ken076]

If you're not helpless and like to do some research and can deal with Carnival yourself on the phone, you really don't need a TA's "services". However, as mentioned above, you CAN find TA's that will in effect kick-back some of their commission (in various forms); if you want to take advantage of this, you can either initially book with one ofthese TA's or book with Carnival, shop these TA's at leisure, and transfer the Booking to the TA -- note that Carnival has a new Policy that allows transfer to TA's only within 30 days of booking with Carnival, so be careful of this.

You can also contact various TA's that belong to consortiums that have "discounted" group space on specific cruises.

ken

[singbluesilver1]

i personally think ta's are useless.....i booked mine with a pvp andf have 2 price reductions so far

[keishashadow]

note that Carnival has a new Policy that allows transfer to TA's only within 30 days of booking with Carnival, so be careful of this.

 

ken

:eek: must've missed this! is it posted on their website somewhere?:confused:

[poobears]

Did you make any changes to your booking last time? My guess is your TA probably will charge more then a $20 processing fee if you have to make changes like price drops etc because it cuts into their comission. Think standard is becoming $25 per change.

 

Do some serious research before locking in with your TA again. Make sure there are no hidden fees for any changes or price drops. and that they are willing to do price drops. Some flat out refuse because they will lose $$.

[Ken076]

:eek: must've missed this! is it posted on their website somewhere?:confused:

 

It's in their Instructions/Policies to TA's, effective 01 May 2009. Interestingly, TA's I mentioned it to weren't aware of it, and /carnival probably isn't concentrating on enforcing it with all their "Flu" issues. ken

[firefly333]

If the TA charges a fee just to book your cruise, they may have other fees, like change fees, if you want them to process a price reduction.

 

My TA is now charging $25 fees to make changes, or they can, or waive the fees. They do discount the cruise, but if they dont process the price drops, you can wind up no better off ..... better to just book direct I think now.

 

With the early booking fare, I hear commissions are cut to the bone, so TAs are finding other ways to add more profits.

[soulfulone]

I went with a Ta frist and last time. Did second cruise booked thru a PVP savings a wooping 500.00. Did the same ship twice. Stayed in same room too. But like others said do your reserch.. Have a great time on the cruise.

[Lady_Jag]

Thanks for the replies and insight! My TA really didn't do much last time. I was the one who kept an eye on prices and called her everytime the price dropped. (My hubby even teased me and said I would probably call if the price dropped so much as 50 cents. :D)

 

Before I made my final payment, the price drop was just deducted from the amount I owed, though, rather than getting an OBC. If I book through Carnival, do they do the same thing, or once you book with a certain rate, it's OBC, upgrade, or tough luck?

[jnjcruiser]

I guess I'm lucky. I have a very good TA! Carnival has never even gotten close to her deals. Had a little trouble with Carnival double dipping and charging me tips twice. Our TA gave us a check from there own company to reimburse us and they handled Carnival.

 

I woud use Carnival if I didnt have such a good TA. From what I've read on this forum, good TA's may be hard to find!

[mojo22]

Sorry, what's a pvp?

[tovin]

I love my TA (having been one myself) and would never consider going through the cruise line directly after knowing the work she'll put in to get what I want, or fix issues. Plus she's backed by a travel co-op that has more push than just one brick and mortar agency. I've had HER rep call directly from the cruise line to resolve an issue (Princess)....talk about amazing service

 

If you have a good TA they're worth their weight in a bouquet of flowers after every cruise (or returning the favor of OBC when they take their own cruise!). If you don't have a good TA - I am very, very scared for you, cause a bad one can not only turn you off of a cruise line, they can turn you off of cruising (or any particular vacation that leaves a bad taste in your mouth).

 

Scary thought either way, imo.

[TheDMan]

Sorry, what's a pvp?

 

Personal Vacation Planner

[poobears]

A pvp works for carnival. They are a personal vacation planner that is assigned to you and each time you book you can go through them. Suppose to make things easier since you can email and call them direct. But just like TAs there are good and bad ones. Mine has gone from a not so good one to an awful one and this will be my last cruise with him. He's done absolutely nothing for me, if there is a problem he keeps putting it off until I fix it myself. So what do I need him for?

 

In the future I'll just book directly through the toll free # with a customer service rep. No TAs no Pvps.

[jayscore]

Being I live in a remote area, my closest TA is 60 miles away, and they keep "banker's hours" only.

A PVP, or someone from CCL is there every day! My last PVP was new at the time, but she always did me well, even when I had to "nudge" her in the right direction.:rolleyes:

[terryinal]

I just left my PVP last week after 10 yr's for not being able to put a 24 hold on the room I wanted. Later that night the last room was booked and now I have to use RCC for my back to back cruise.This isn't a fight between me and my PVP but me and carnival. Why can a TA put a hold on a room and not a PVP. If the TA don't work out I will go back to my PVP. I go on 2 or 3 cruise a year

[ivycruise]

I do all my own research so no need for a TA to book, I don't need the advice or guidance. I do deal with a national warehouse chain that offers travel benefits and books cruises with all the lines. I deal with them as they discount, give back part of their commission. Its always cheaper than what Carnival PVP or online prices are. The PVP's will tell you, as they once told me, that they can't do that. Not true. I've saved a couple hundred off on some cruises. They can't discount RCI lines so what they do there is give you OBC. I once got $250 OBC for my Grandeur trip in a junior suite. They now will charge 50.00 for any changes but I've yet to ever make any changes and even if I did, still cheaper than going through Carnival directly. I would not deal with any TA's that had up front fees like you mention, especially when they dont offer significant discount on their commission.

[keishashadow]

It's in their Instructions/Policies to TA's, effective 01 May 2009. Interestingly, TA's I mentioned it to weren't aware of it, and /carnival probably isn't concentrating on enforcing it with all their "Flu" issues. ken

 

u r probably right, thanx for the info

 

while i tend to book a cruise to 'cover' a vacation week,i tend to switch things around...different lines/itineraries up until final payment (mostly based upon price/deals, yet sure would be antsey re booking a western caribbean this fall due to the swine flu)

 

Hate to get a TA involved before i really know which cruise im going to take. IMO this is yet another way to steer peeps to non-refundable bookings:rolleyes:. I'd have never been able to jump upon the great rate i got for upcoming alaskan cruise if i was locked into something else.

[TheHowards]

I have a wonderful TA; however, I will probably only use the Carnival website or PVP for any future bookings. The reason for this is that I have no access to my Carnival account online and I can't make payments or see my balance owed online. Also, I called Carnival and they cannot even give me information to verify if the TA made changes I requested. All info must go through the TA. You have to have a lot of trust in who you are dealing with to no be able to verify their work. Carnival and TA's should get together and work this glitch in the system out.

[Flynlo]

Avoid the TA. Book online or call Carnival direct. You get help 24/7.

[CRUISEMAMMA]

I agree our TA has been useless, worthless, waste of my time, whatever you want to call it. I will go thru Carnival from here on out. No more TA's for us!

[d-dubya]

Did you make any changes to your booking last time? My guess is your TA probably will charge more then a $20 processing fee if you have to make changes like price drops etc because it cuts into their comission. Think standard is becoming $25 per change.

 

Do some serious research before locking in with your TA again. Make sure there are no hidden fees for any changes or price drops. and that they are willing to do price drops. Some flat out refuse because they will lose $$.

 

I don't know about "standard" or about "processing fees"...but I know there are ton's of us out there who don't charge stuff like that. I don't charge my clients for anything. In fact I typically give them stuff, to thank them for their business.

 

Whether you go direct or thru a TA is your choice, but some of the things said here just aren't true. A good TA will get your problems resolved a lot faster and easier than you likely can yourself (I have a host of phone numbers, and am on a first name basis with some of the people you will get transferred to, after holding three times). A good TA will absolutely check, find, and get you any fare reductions. I don't look at that as "reducing my commission", because my commission isn't earned until you sail, and THAT'S the price my commission is based on. And there are many things, like the OBC deal the OP mentions, when a TA can get you a better deal than a PVP. I can't think of a single instance where a PVP can get you a better deal than a TA.

 

My personal opinion is that a GOOD TA is better than a PVP...but I am the first to admit there are bad TA's out there, and you are better off going direct than dealing with them.

[d-dubya]

I have a wonderful TA; however, I will probably only use the Carnival website or PVP for any future bookings. The reason for this is that I have no access to my Carnival account online and I can't make payments or see my balance owed online. Also, I called Carnival and they cannot even give me information to verify if the TA made changes I requested. All info must go through the TA. You have to have a lot of trust in who you are dealing with to no be able to verify their work. Carnival and TA's should get together and work this glitch in the system out.

 

Every time a payment or other change is made, Carnival e-mails a new confirmation to your TA, and to you if the TA requests that. Most of my clients don't really want that level of detail, but for those that do, they know when I do something to their reservation, minutes after I do it.