Travel Agent-Yes or No?

[malteselover1]

We are thinking about booking our first cruise for July 2010. Should I go directly thru Carnival's website or use a TA? If I use a TA what questions should I ask?

 

Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated! Thanks and have a great day!

[Aquahound]

Your T/A can be the one to battle the cruise line if there are any problems with your booking. Since this is your first cruise, you may have a lot of questions. A T/A can help you through that.

 

Personally, I do not like to use a T/A. I like to be in control of my own booking. If you use a T/A, you have to go through the T/A for any change you want to make. This could be a problem if there is a price drop or if a more desirable cabin opens up on the weekend. You can not make any changes yourself.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We use a personal TA that we can call whenever we want to -- go and talk to whenever we want to.

And if there are any problems -- she can take care of them for us.

[Juliebear60527]

A travel agent can help you identify the ship that is right for you. He/she has skill at identifying the better cabins at your price point. If there are "issues" , they can negotiate-sometimes for upgrade, shipboard credit, whatever. They can also find better air fares than the cruise line may offer. Happy sailing.

[Essiesmom]

The travel agent knows what questions to ask you to get the best fit in cruise line, ship, cabin...After you have a cruise under your belt, you will have a better idea of what it is all about and may feel comfortable booking yourself. But choose a travel agent you can sit face to face with, not an online agency. EM

[uppitycats]

Our first couple of cruises we used a travel agent, as we knew nothing and weren't internet literate. With the next couple of cruises we were part of a larger group, and the group had a TA who did all the work; we didn't have to do much more than offer personal information. For our last cruise, last Fall, I did all the work.

 

We're planning another cruise for early 2011...and I'm back to a travel agent. It was a lot of work and stress to put all the details together. While it worked, and we had a lovely cruise, I'm just not willing to do that again. So this time I did a lot of research on the Net, identified what I think we'd like to do, worked out some logistics issues that will need to be addressed, wrote down a list of questoins, and now I've been in touch via e-mail with a travel agent who is in the next town over. We're doing very preliminary stuff by e-mail, but when we "get serious", I'll head over there, sit down with her, and go through everything line by line. I'm feeling much more comfortable about this already.

[eandj]

Definitely if this is your first cruise, book with a face to face agent. You will get more info right up front to help advise and book the category you want, itinerary you'd find interesting etc. Once you have cruised a couple times, and know the ropes, you can do it on your own or use a web agent. look for a cruise specialist. They will have all the ins and outs of cruising.

[Glaciers]

Definitely if this is your first cruise, book with a face to face agent. You will get more info right up front to help advise and book the category you want, itinerary you'd find interesting etc. Once you have cruised a couple times, and know the ropes, you can do it on your own or use a web agent. look for a cruise specialist. They will have all the ins and outs of cruising.

 

At least the last time I checked, travel agents get their commission directly from the cruise lines and not the passenger. Air, on the other hand, is usually assessed an extrA fee by the travel agency and paid for by the passenger. Book your own airfare, if you feel comfortable with it.

 

As noted, look for someone who specializes in cruises. When a TA books a lot of cruises they get a kick back in the form of cruise line credits. Many TAs use the credit and actually pay for some onboard perks for their repeat travellers such as a bottle of wine in your room or some have actually paid for shore excursions for their clients.

[Jesscap5]

Travel agents get commission but the agency that they work for might take the commission and decide what to give there own agents for commission. Usually it's based on the catergory booked. A lot of them also get incentives as well.

[skankycat]

It all depends on what you're comfortable doing. If you normally make your own travel arrangements, then you'll probably enjoy doing it yourself.

 

If you like feeling that someone else is taking care of you, use a TA. But double check that each payment you make is listed on your credit card as going directly to the cruise line. The TA's commission should be a separate entry.

 

Lots of TA's frequent the CC boards and of course they strongly believe in the product they sell.

 

We enjoy booking our own travel and look around for the best prices before we book. Haven't used a TA in over 20 years, but I enjoy making our arrangements.

[MedicKen]

We use a TA, one that has become a friend as well as OUR Travel Agent. So, echoing most of the learned people above, you need to have a TA you can see and touch, not an internet one. We have only used our TA for the cruise portion of out past, and future, vacations as my DW loves to do the air portion herself. That being said our TA has worked in conjunction with DW for some of the other members of our group for air. The door can swing both ways. I would caution you to discuss ALL aspects of charges, such as booking, cancellation and change fees, with your TA BEFORE committing. IMHO there whould be none of these fees. Don't let anyone push you into anything you don't want. Some dishonest folks may try to upsell or not be willing to persue a price drop as it may affect their commission.

 

If you think you can handle the process on your own for your susquent travel, please have fun. I know DW loves to do the air thing, that's about all she has time to do.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[beaming90]

I had never dealt with a travel agent before I started planning my first cruise but someone suggested one so I went to them. My TA was WONDERFUL!!! She gave me so many suggestions that I had no idea about. Then I found this board and between the two we had no major problems at all on either cruise. I think a TA is a great way to plan your first cruise. :p

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

 

Do your research and lots of it. Look at the travel websites such as orbitz, Vacations to Go, Expedia, and Kayak to see what the prices are and interaries.

 

Read reviews (but read carefully to screen out bias).

 

Have a good idea of what you want to do in terms of budget, itineraries, and any air arrangements. Then see a TA. I use a TA even after 30 cruises because it is a good idea (to my wife and I) to have a travel pro in our corner if problems come up.

 

And do not forget the following...plan on arriving at your port of departure the day before your cruise (two days if for international travel) unless you can drive to the port.

[skankycat]

Before you make a decision, read this CC thread

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1025166

 

and you can avoid the problems Karen had.

 

It was a lesson to us all.

[Goldryder]

I definitely recommend using a good TA. Mine is an absolute star...only today he has unmuddled a problem with the cruise line that has ended a bit of frustration over a possible charter of the ship I am sailing on next year.

 

A good TA is definitely worth their weight in gold.

[Travelcat2]

I definitely disagree that you need to meet a TA in person. Some of the best TA's are online. There is absolutely no reason not to use one. Just do your homework. I posted the items below on another thread. . . her it is again:

 

There are a few things you need to look for and some questions:

 

1. Is the speciality of the agency cruising? Look for agents that specialize.

 

2. Ask, for instance, what would you do if I booked a cruise and six months from now the fare comes down? The answer should be that they will be aware of it and will adjust your invoice.

 

3. Ask if there are ANY fees you need to pay -- for cancellation or ??? The answer should be NO. TA's are paid by the cruise line.

 

Some cruise lines list recommended TA's on their website. You may want to check.

__________________

[Jesscap5]

Please keep in mind some travel agency's do have a customer service department and although they may be "trained" they may not be actually be agents, thus not get paid by the cruise line. Like I mentioned before a lot of people will book a cruise and decide well we have nothing to lose if we cancel it..so let's cancel it and all of a sudden you have a lot of people doing that and the agency starts losing money because they may have to send that money back or part of it (depends) to the cruise line and not only that but the agent loses his or her commission from their check.

So too go through the process of getting information for the client, booking it and then having customer service work on any issue's including a possible cancellation..then yes that's a waste of time and money. I think a small fee from the agency is reasonable for cancellations.

 

With that being said I don't agree with processing fees and extremley high cancellation fees from the agency.

 

There are cruise agencies mentioned on this board that do charge a small cancellation fee.

[ehfl]

My recommendation: Say NO to TAs....inviting a middleman into your vacation is just inviting trouble.