Travel Agent???? HELP

[albean86]

Hello Ladies,

 

I am still in the very beginning stages of planning our cruise wedding. I am scheduled to meet with a travel agent this friday but she has already sent me over the group rates, which are much higher than the prices on carnival's website. Now I know the benefits of using a travel agent, keeping my stress level down (just being able to say "call the travel agent to book your cabin" just seems so easy haha) But should I really expect my guests to pay $200 more per person for me to use a travel agent.

 

Did anyone else that used a travel agent notice this price difference and was it worth it? My future in laws are already complaining saying they'd rather book through carnival directly.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

[WendyinOC]

Your seeing early saver rate I bet on the website. I have a bride right now who booked it direct and could not be part of her group cruise. You can get this rate in group as well. My concern with it is for a group if god forbid you had to cancel your guests would not get a refund on deposit but a future shipboard credit. It also has a $50 cancelation fee. Agents have the same pricing as Carnival so if you want it ask her about it. lots of rules with ES so just read the fine print.

I have some who take the early saver in groups but not all. In the end my bride was put in her group. Why because she used a TA. I paid to move her out of ES from my commission. Now she gets attend her own group party, amenities, and tour conductor credit etc.

[aprill121]

Hi, and first, congrats!

My family goes on a cruise each year for our family reunion, (some years we have 80 people!) up until this year I booked directly with carnival, (for 8 years) it just seemed easier, and I could always get better prices. However, in light of my recent engagement, I decided to use a travel agent for our family reunion, I wanted to try using a travel agent before I definitively decided what to do about our wedding cruise. Thus far, I have seen NO benefit in using a travel agent, for me, it seems like every time I need to deal with an issue that the TA is just a middle man. If you book through a TA carnival will not discuss your booking with you, I repeat, they WILL NOT discuss YOUR booking with you. That makes me uncomfortable. I have made the decision NOT to use a TA for our wedding cruise, which will have 64 sailing guests. I believe as long as you keep people well informed, it shouldn't be an issue. Besides if you book through carnival as a group, just give your guests the info the group booking number and carnivals phone number, and let carnival deal with them. I have also booked the early saver rate many times, and had no issue being included in the group booking. This is just my experience, and this is a decision you need to make for your group. I hope this helps,and good luck!

[Bostoncruiser35]

I have been doing TA research myself and have found that travel agents can sometimes save you $$$ but when it comes down to it, they can save you alot of stress. I have talked to several people who tell me a travel agent is the way to go and here are some of the reasons:

1) If you see a lower price somewhere, just ask. It is nice to have someone do the research for you and always speak to the same perspn

2) If there are ship board credits they will find them

3) They will make sure everyone who can be together is

4) they can contact people for you about paying for thier cruise and if a payment is due

 

So all in all I would say a ta would give you discounts if they could but thier main purpose is to be a well informed stress reliever!

[lostaddict]

You want to talk about stress- I'm getting married in March, and am a TA- I decided to handle my own wedding. MISTAKE. It is so much better to have someone managing your group. People are going to have questions, issues...

So in regards to the pricing, it should not be different with a TA. There's different types of pricing, early saver, fun saver, etc. But also, sometimes with group rates, there is a pricing difference because of the group amenities you get. My group rates for my wedding are a bit higher because A)no one booked early saver and B)we have 5 points worth of amenities.

 

Also, if you book 8 or more cabins, you should earn a free berth as well, so that can be some savings for your guests.

 

There's pros and cons to both. When dealing with groups, I can say now that I would have loved to have someone besides me to deal with all the potential dramas of cruise bookings.

At the same time, you can easily form a group with Carnival and have people book under that. Congrats on your upcoming wedding!

[albean86]

Thanks so much ladies, I am meeting with her Friday with lots of questions and I hope to have everything figured out after that. I just want to get this booked so I can start the actual planning haha :)

[pankajs]

Well , all the best for that

[jebuell]

My TA's prices were actually lower by about $100. Maybe the prices are outdated?

 

My TA also offered OBC and other perks that we culdn't get from booking through RCI in addition to the discounted rates. I'd say if your TA won't price match the website, find one who will.

[albean86]

Well I met with the TA yesterday and actually booked with her right away. The prices she was quoting us were for different category cabins then we were getting quoted on carnival. So actually we are saving money going through her for better cabins. We are also getting onboard perks and different credits too. So this was huge stress reliever for me. So cruise and wedding are officially booked time to start planning :)

[Herbaltees]

Well I met with the TA yesterday and actually booked with her right away. The prices she was quoting us were for different category cabins then we were getting quoted on carnival. So actually we are saving money going through her for better cabins. We are also getting onboard perks and different credits too. So this was huge stress reliever for me. So cruise and wedding are officially booked time to start planning :)

 

Great! Congratulations. Happy Planning.