Booking a Mediterranean Cruise from Australia

I'm hoping there is someone from Australia (or anywhere else if they experienced the same thing) that could answer a few questions. Ive done search but booking conditions/procedures seem to be different when booking from different countries.

I'm planning a trip next year and want to combine a RSS cruise, a Silversea cruise and a few days in between land based. I thought it would be easier and possibly cost less/equal to booking direct but that doesn't seem to be the case. The prices I was quoted from our local travel agent were significantly higher than what we pay booking direct.

I'm wondering if others have had the same experience. I don't want to waste the time of another travel agent if they all just add thousands to the cost.

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Does your local travel agent have experience booking Regent and other luxury cruise products? I mean, REAL experience? If not, you might want to shop around. A good TA is invaluable when booking cruises, especially the way you're trying to put together all the moving pieces.

Good luck!

Agree with Bill. You need to talk to a TA that regularly books Regent. Luxury TA's usually give OBC's (on board credits) and some give a percent back on your cruise fare (not sure if this is true in Australia). A cruise fare should never be higher than the fare on the Regent website.

That's what I thought. What he's quoted me is nearly $2000 AUD per person dearer than the standard brochure fare. Given the demographics of the area where we are, I'm guessing luxury cruises is not something he would book regularly.

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We are in Australia and our travel agent is in Queensland. They are a Virtuoso Travel agent and book a lot of Regent and other high end cruises. The last quote I received from them for our Regent cruise was the exact amount of the brochure fare and they offered us some onboard credit. We booked with another agent we used in the US as with the currency exchange that agent quoted $2,000 less when converted to AUD. I book with both agents depending on the fare they offer.