Best way to book a cruise

As a first time cruiser and feeling slightly overwhelmed by the booking process, could I ask whether booking direct with P&O or via a travel agent is best? We know which cabin area we would like, are we able to choose this if we don’t book directly with P&O? Thank you.

On a fly-cruise, we always book direct with P&O over the phone. We always know what cabin we want, but we have to call in order to secure upgraded flights as you can't do this online. If we are sailing from Soton, we book online. Easy-peasy. We have never used a travel agent, not even a cruise 'specialist' agent. I believe that only P&O know their own product inside out. We use this approach with Celebrity and Cunard also. Whichever method you choose, you should have a fab time and may become addicted !

I would recommend using a specialist cruise travel agent, not a high street one. We are not allowed to name any on here but if you google “cruise travel agent” you will get some come up.

Brian

We always book with a specialist cruise TA over the phone, and in addition to any current offers from P&O you can negotiate a further discount of up to 5% with most big TAs.

The benefits are that the same TA can handle all your cruise bookings regardless of cruise line, and they will handle any query you have and probably quicker and without you waiting on the phone.

Depends who is cheaper. Usually TAs offer cheaper deals but I've recently booked direct with Celebrity and HAL and saved hundreds.

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Depends who is cheaper. Usually TAs offer cheaper deals but I've recently booked direct with Celebrity and HAL and saved hundreds.

 

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I would ask for a quote from a specialist cruise travel agent then compare it on P & O's website and see who gives the best deal. If you know what cabin you want, you can totally compare like for like and book with the cheapest.

Our P&O cruise next year will be my 6th but first on P&O. Every other cruise I've booked direct with the cruise line, but for the P&O one we booked with an agent- not allowed to name them, but they are a big cruise travel agent who have their own TV show on Ideal World or one of those shopping channels.

They gave us around 5% discount on the advertised P&O price, plus an extra small discount when I rang, and also allowed us to book with only a £1 deposit which was useful as we were trying to co-ordinate 3 different cabins.

They were also very knowledgeable- nothing worse than dealing with a generic travel agent who doesn't know anything about cruising.

The other two couples cruising with us are 1st timers, and they seemed to find some level of security in booking via an agent. So, you might find this suitable for yourselves too! It's hard to turn down that extra discount if nothing else.

WE usually deal with a TA because we have taken to doing pre and/or post land trip[s and our TA (again we cannot name but they are a specialist cruise TA based in Scotland) arranges all the flights, transfers, hotel and the cruise. In each case when we have used them they have also got us a much better cruise deal then we could have arranged ourselves. So at the end of September this year we are off for three days in Rome followed by a weeks cruise on Queen Victoria, in Queens grill, for less than it would have cost us to book just the cruise but in the Britannia restaurant.

Joining Ventura in January next year for a one month cruise to the Caribbean and back and booked through the TA because they could get us the cabin we wanted where P&O on line wouldn't make it available. Yes I know we could have booked it with P&O on the phone but I don't have the patience to wait 15 minutes to talk to someone!!

Peter and Jenny

Hi....we have booked direct with cruise company and used TAs. Usually with TAs you receive a discount on the cruise price but if the price difference between booking direct with P&O and a TA is negligible then I book direct. If you book direct with P&O you have control of your booking which means that if after booking you want to make any changes then you can deal directly with P&O and not have to go through your TA for them to do it.

If you book Select fare then you can choose your cabin number and position and that applies if you both either with P&O of your TA...no difference

Have you sorted out cabin types and the relevance of their locations as to whether they might be better for you?

Regards John

We always book with a Cruise TA. They always have all the cabins available which you definitely dont' get if you book online with P&O, although you may get a better choice with them on the phone. Our TA always gives us extra discount and have been fantastic with the odd problems that have cropped up.

John, yes we have decided on cabin type, we are hoping for a balcony midship. Thank you all for your very helpful replies, I will contact some Cruise TA’s to compare prices with P&O direct and hope to book in the very near future

I prefer to book through a travel agent but it is usually one that I have come to know and have confidence in. I prefer ones which are online and are contactable via email and phone.

If I was a newbie and needed a little extra help then I would go for a high street travel agent. Either a big brand that I trust or a reputable local one.

We have done a mix of cruise line direct, UK agents plus North American agents although in the case of the latter they do not always seem to be able to deal with non-US Citizens for certain cruise lines. I have had a couple of terrific deals when booking through a US travel agent but not every time so shopping around is very important.

I prefer to book through a travel agent but it is usually one that I have come to know and have confidence in. I prefer ones which are online and are contactable via email and phone.

 

If I was a newbie and needed a little extra help then I would go for a high street travel agent. Either a big brand that I trust or a reputable local one.

The last place I would book a cruise is with a High Street travel agency as the majority of staff havent got a clue about cruising or ships and those that have a "cruise consultant" means they have been and viewed a ship for the day. My friends wife works for one and she is a "cruise consultant" for her branch and has only been to Southampton and viewed a P&O ship on changeover day. Contact a cruise TA expert and they will know what they are talking about and will have somebody in branch who as at least cruised with the cruise line if not the ship.

We have used a mixture of direct booking or travel agents. We rarely book flights through cruise lines unless we want to fly the same day as we sail as cruise line flights are massively overpriced.

We have recently booked a cruise ( but not P and O) through a North American Travel Agent because the price was £1500 less than the same cruise with a U.K. TA. We also got on board credit and will get any price drops.

While aboard the Azura we attempted to book a repeat cruise for the following year. Because we are Canadians we were told that one must have a UK address in order to book aboard. We then proceeded to a US TA to complete the booking. But we now wonder if, say, we had friends living in the UK who would allow us to utilize their address for this purpose, passing on all documents and financial transactions, whether or not this would suffice. Has anyone gone this route? I think that booking aboard at the time would have afforded a better cabin selection, the early bird sort of thing.

What are everyone’s opinions on booking onboard these days? Is it worth doing? We are looking at a cruise for next year and thought about booking onboard. I’ve used TAs in the past but just lately found they all seem to charge the same as P&O don’t seem to give discounts to the TAs to pass on to the customer. It’s mainly high street TAs I’ve looked at in the past and have used a Blackpool based specialist agent before. The last couple of cruises we have just gone direct to P&O.

Sam.

What are everyone’s opinions on booking onboard these days? Is it worth doing? We are looking at a cruise for next year and thought about booking onboard. I’ve used TAs in the past but just lately found they all seem to charge the same as P&O don’t seem to give discounts to the TAs to pass on to the customer. It’s mainly high street TAs I’ve looked at in the past and have used a Blackpool based specialist agent before. The last couple of cruises we have just gone direct to P&O.

Sam.

If the timing is right I book onboard to get the extra OBC and transfer it to my TA for their discount.

If the timing is right I book onboard to get the extra OBC and transfer it to my TA for their discount.

Thanks Sharon, I will see if anything is being offered onboard. TAs I enquire in now just don’t seem to offer any discounts any more.

Sam.

In my humble opinion there is very little difference between booking with P&O direct or through a TA because the Company call the shots and the TAs only pass on discounts authorised by them. Once upon a time it was different, competition between various TAs was fierce and you could play off one TA against another to secure the best price even if that might only be a £50 pp or so difference. Now days you will be luck to find a £5 difference between them or it will be a case of what you gain on the swings you loose on the roundabouts. Communication is usually better direct with the Company. To give a very recent example two days before flying out to join our ship in Montreal we received an email from Oceania saying that the ship could not get to Montreal because the water levels were too high and consequently the cruise would start from the 2nd port of call 90 miles away. Of course, the Company laid on transport but we spoke to many guests who said that they had arrived at Montreal airport having not heard anything from their TAs about this change in itinerary and although most were rounded up by Oceania reps one couple we heard misunderstood and hired a taxi from the airport to take them to the 2nd port.

Obviously I can't name any agents but I use the same agent for every cruise (2/3 per year) and get 5% discount. I message the manager then someone phones me with price, cabin, obc etc. Works well for me

Thanks Sharon, I will see if anything is being offered onboard. TAs I enquire in now just don’t seem to offer any discounts any more.

Sam.

You're not asking the right ones then. Choose a specialist cruise agent.

In my humble opinion there is very little difference between booking with P&O direct or through a TA because the Company call the shots and the TAs only pass on discounts authorised by them. Once upon a time it was different, competition between various TAs was fierce and you could play off one TA against another to secure the best price even if that might only be a £50 pp or so difference. Now days you will be luck to find a £5 difference between them or it will be a case of what you gain on the swings you loose on the roundabouts. Communication is usually better direct with the Company. To give a very recent example two days before flying out to join our ship in Montreal we received an email from Oceania saying that the ship could not get to Montreal because the water levels were too high and consequently the cruise would start from the 2nd port of call 90 miles away. Of course, the Company laid on transport but we spoke to many guests who said that they had arrived at Montreal airport having not heard anything from their TAs about this change in itinerary and although most were rounded up by Oceania reps one couple we heard misunderstood and hired a taxi from the airport to take them to the 2nd port.

Absolutely cannot agree with you. I check the P&O price, including my Loyalty discounts and OBC and then my TA gives me 5% on top of that. Why would I voluntarily give up that money and book with P&O