Jump to content

Who to book through


Unprotected
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hello! I know the curise I want... I’m trying to decide who to book through. Is *************.com a legitimate source... I found the best price through them. Just double checking before I book. Thanks

One of the rules of this website is that we cannot discuss specific travel agents.

 

I'd check with others who use agents and get recommendations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Prices vary little TA to TA to cruise line. It's the perks like pre-paid gratuities, additional OBC, specialty dinning, a beverage package and free insurance. If your TA dosen't offer some of them you should go someplace else. 10 to 15% of the cruise price in perks is not uncommon. happy cruising

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Prices vary little TA to TA to cruise line. It's the perks like pre-paid gratuities, additional OBC, specialty dinning, a beverage package and free insurance. If your TA dosen't offer some of them you should go someplace else. 10 to 15% of the cruise price in perks is not uncommon. happy cruising

This is not true. Some cruise lines allow a TA to discount fares. Others do not. For those allowing discounts, there can be a significant difference in prices

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello! I know the curise I want... I’m trying to decide who to book through. Is *************.com a legitimate source... I found the best price through them. Just double checking before I book. Thanks

 

If you know the cruise you want you could use one of those websites where TAs can give competing quotes. If you search for something like 'cruise quotes' you should find such sites. Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to let everyone know, the big box travel agency that you can shop at locally, now includes the price of your cruise when they figure your 2% rebate yearly rebate for being an executive member. They are still offering store gift cards, or onboard credit too.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We never book with the cruise line unless their price is 'right'...which it usually is not. We deal with an agency that provides us with fare rebates in the form of OBC's (on board credits). We also prefer to deal with large on line agencies because they tend to have far better availability in off hours or stat. holidays.

 

We look for several things. No charge for booking, re-pricing, or changing cabins. No agency charge for cancellations. Our cruise payment (credit card) must be processed by the cruise line not the agency. We will never, ever pay cash or debit card for a travel product in the future.

 

Having said that when we contact the agency it is to either get a firm written quote or to place an order. We realize that we get less hands on service from an on line or warehouse agency but we do not require anything else. And we seldom re-price because most of our buys are in the final payment window. Nor do we want the TA to be our new best friend. Just give us the price, book the cabin and thank you very much.

 

Two additional services that one on line TA provided to us on booking was to make us aware of special offers that we had not seen on the web or considered. The second service was that she typically passed on prior customer feedback on some ships/cruise lines if asked. But she only did the latter after we became regular customers as it were. In many instance the only time we spoke live on the phone was to provide her with our credit card details. The rest was by email.

Edited by iancal
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is not true. Some cruise lines allow a TA to discount fares. Others do not. For those allowing discounts, there can be a significant difference in prices

 

Correct.

Princess , Cunard and HAL are 3 that allow discounting , just not advertising that discount rate .

Must contact TA for "their" rates.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...