Using a travel agent

We have recently booked a Regent cruise for 2016. Friends have recommended that we have a travel agent "pick up the reservation" so that we will have the benefit of a rebate or ship board credits. is there any downside to doing this? Will we still be able to reserve our excursions online? Or will I have to call the travel agent? Same regarding dinner reservations?

Thanks.

We receive benefits upwards of 10% plus other perks. You select your own excursions and dining. We have a good TA that takes care of us well.

We have recently booked a Regent cruise for 2016. Friends have recommended that we have a travel agent "pick up the reservation" so that we will have the benefit of a rebate or ship board credits. is there any downside to doing this? Will we still be able to reserve our excursions online? Or will I have to call the travel agent? Same regarding dinner reservations?

 

Thanks.

No downside, only an upside as Tallship described. Leaving money on the table as well as representation when booking direct. Important, if you want to transfer your reservation you only have 30 days from the day you booked, not when you paid your deposit so the clock is ticking to find the best TA as benefits and abilities vary greatly. You can get a 10% or more rebate from the cruise price booking with the correct agent. After the 30 days the agent you want to transfer the booking to will get nothing from Regent so they most likely won't take the referral and for sure you won't get any additionl benefits or rebates. Good luck and get looking!!

We used an agent and got a substantial on board credit. Once booked, we used the Regents confirmation and web site to book excursions, dinner reservations. Also used Regent's to book business class air. Once they assigned (75 days prior to sailing date) we have access to the airline reservation for each airline to choose or change seat assignments, apply FF# etc.

Only an advantage as I see it.

I do not want to respond on the subject of TA's because some posters seem to have an "in" on that subject (just my opinion).

In terms of Business Class Air, Regent has contracts with specific carriers on specific routes. If you wait until 75 days prior to your cruise, the odds are that passengers that deviated (at a cost of approximately $175/person) have booked the best airlines 280 days prior to the cruise. I highly recommend deviating 280 days out and getting the flights that you want (your TA should be able to tell you which airlines that Regent has contracts with).

Highly recommend you get a TA who specializes in luxury cruises. Not just any travel agent. You can find them online with Google. You still can make your own reservations for tours, dinner, etc.

I do not want to respond on the subject of TA's because some posters seem to have an "in" on that subject (just my opinion).

 

In terms of Business Class Air, Regent has contracts with specific carriers on specific routes. If you wait until 75 days prior to your cruise, the odds are that passengers that deviated (at a cost of approximately $175/person) have booked the best airlines 280 days prior to the cruise. I highly recommend deviating 280 days out and getting the flights that you want (your TA should be able to tell you which airlines that Regent has contracts with).

TC2 - just sent an email to my TA but not sure what relationship his agency has with Regent. This is only the second time I have used them. Can I call Regent to find out about flights? We are past the 280 days for our cruise next April.

Help from anyone would be appreciated.

TC2 - just sent an email to my TA but not sure what relationship his agency has with Regent. This is only the second time I have used them. Can I call Regent to find out about flights? We are past the 280 days for our cruise next April.

 

Help from anyone would be appreciated.

If your TA can not tell you which airlines Regent is contracted with on the routes you will be flying, you probably need to look for another TA in the future as they should have access to this information. We typically send flights to our TA which they send on to Regent. Sometimes negotiations are necessary but other times Regent simply accepts our choices (with the deviation fee which, thankfully, we no longer have to pay as we are "Platinum" Seven Seas Society members).

If our TA does not know or is unwilling to find out, you can certainly call Regent to learn about the flights. Since this thread is about TA's, and we are used to having this type of service, calling Regent ourselves is not what we want to do but have called them (for Oceania not Regent) and did get our flights resolved.

Please post and let us know what you decide.:)

We have recently booked a Regent cruise for 2016. Friends have recommended that we have a travel agent "pick up the reservation" so that we will have the benefit of a rebate or ship board credits. is there any downside to doing this? Will we still be able to reserve our excursions online? Or will I have to call the travel agent? Same regarding dinner reservations?

 

Thanks.

To me a strong travel agent is worth their weight in gold.

Yes, you have the benefit of getting more of a credit (rebate, shipboard credit, etc.) than booking through the cruise line.

On top of that with the right agent you get their expertise and no matter how knowledgeable any of us are there is always something to be learned and a mistake to be avoided with a strong agent.

Should something go wrong a good agent knows how to cut through the red tape.

And finally should something go wrong with the cruise, your TA can be your advocate.

Like all professions, there are weak/poor TA's, average ones, good ones, and excellent to outstanding ones.

The key is to use an Agent who is very familiar with the cruise line and falls in the stronger category. And if you do this, there is no down-side.

Keith

To me a strong travel agent is worth their weight in gold.

 

Yes, you have the benefit of getting more of a credit (rebate, shipboard credit, etc.) than booking through the cruise line.

 

On top of that with the right agent you get their expertise and no matter how knowledgeable any of us are there is always something to be learned and a mistake to be avoided with a strong agent.

 

Should something go wrong a good agent knows how to cut through the red tape.

 

And finally should something go wrong with the cruise, your TA can be your advocate.

 

Like all professions, there are weak/poor TA's, average ones, good ones, and excellent to outstanding ones.

 

The key is to use an Agent who is very familiar with the cruise line and falls in the stronger category. And if you do this, there is no down-side.

 

Keith

I agree Keith. Having an excellent TA is worth its weight in gold. I've gone through many frogs and finally have found my prince! From discounts to SBC's and the most important, troubleshooting when something isn't right....

I agree Keith. Having an excellent TA is worth its weight in gold. I've gone through many frogs and finally have found my prince! From discounts to SBC's and the most important, troubleshooting when something isn't right....

So how do you find an excellent TA? I emailed mine yesterday about flights and possible travel deviation for our April cruise and never heard back. Have only used him twice and thinking I need to find someone different who will work more for us. Can you change TA's mid-stream?? :confused:

Neither Keith or Host Dan are familiar with Regent policies as they sail on other luxury cruise lines. They obviously know a lot about TA's. Unfortunately, once you have booked with a TA and 30 days have passed (I believe it is 30 days but not certain), you cannot change and go with another TA. What you may be able to do is cancel the cruise and rebook with someone else (check with Regent to verify this).

I did change TA's several years ago and did so when I was booking a cruise while onboard a Regent ship.

You may want to stay with your TA and call Regent regarding flight plans. Hopefully you are receiving a rebate from this TA as well as OBC's. We are not allowed to give any type of clues as to which TA we use. I don't blame CC because many TA's are affiliated with them. What we can share are consortiums such as Virtuoso, Signatures and some others. We used Virtuoso for a few cruises - no rebate but they had other benefits. Signatures does have OBC's on some cruises.

I do suggest that you do some Googling on the subject. I personally want a TA with a staff. Otherwise, if they are on vacation, there is no one to speak with. I would interview (via phone or internet) the TA to see how often they book Regent cruises - whether they would have been able to assist you with the questions that you currently have, etc. I would expect any TA to respond to you within 24 hours. I would also ask if they receive upsell offers from Regent as, IMO, that is important.

I really wish that people would check Cruise Critic before booking a cruise instead of after, however, only 5% (approximately) of Regent cruisers ever check CC. Hopefully these numbers will increase in the future.

Hope this slight bit of information is helpful.

Thanks TC2. Have been a member of CC for quite awhile. I do not post much - just no time. I did check Regent CC before booking - just did not see anything about TA's at the time I checked. I did get a good discount plus substantial OBC so all is good in that department. I really don't think we will have problems with weird flights anyways since we are on the East Coast and can fly out of any of the DC airports. Worst case scenario is that we will have to do a short flight from here to connect to our overseas flight. I just wanted to check and see what was available.

I am a believer in finding a TA for the long term.

So if you booked a cruise already and can't change the TA (by the way the cruise line that I sail regularly while you can move your booking to another TA because the commission is substantially reduced the reality is it really does not make it worthwhile to move an existing booking to another TA).

To find a good TA my recommendation is to speak with friends and that includes cruising friends and even to acquaintances that you know from cruising and ask for recommendations. Then interview several TA's by e mail and telephone before you make your choice. That should be no different than finding a lawyer or a surgeon where I would get recommendations and basically interview them.

Decide from that interview if they meet the criteria you had (for me it was strong knowledge of luxury lines including someone who had sailed on all of them, a good amount of time in the business and knowing how to get things done with each cruise line, strong back ups so if TA is out of office there are people who can take care of requests/issues, part of a group that could add value in other travel related areas (tours, hotels, etc.), knowing what they will do for you in the way of amenities, and someone with brains who can evaluate things and figure out what is best for you. Finally two other items: someone who loves what they do and has a passion for this industry and someone who I felt a good rapport with.

Again, a strong TA is worth their weight in gold and is worth spending time finding.

As independent and knowledgeable as I think I am, a strong TA will know quite a bit of things that I don't know and that is the way it should be.

Keith

Neither Keith or Host Dan are familiar with Regent policies as they sail on other luxury cruise lines. They obviously know a lot about TA's.

TC2 please don't speak to what I know or don't know. As a matter of fact, my TA not only specializes in Regent. he has been a host on Regent ships numerous times.

Thanks. :rolleyes: