obc from a Ta vs going direct with RCI

[jpolm]

is it really worth 100-150.00 OBC to book with a TA vs. going through RCI? I mean 150 is not that much is it?? just curious on thoughts ? I usually like having the control myself, when booking as i feel bad if i a make any changes having to constantly bug my TA and i am a travel/research nut? so being that the cruise is the SAME prices as RCI quoted me is it worth that little bit to go with a TA? I know some will say for peace of mind,have someone that can help you if needed etc??

[SPacificbound]

Admittidily this is my first cruise, but for me it is not worth OBO to not be able to control my own cruise. I also am a travel/research nut. :D

[Daghis]

It's worth it to me. I do all of my basic cruise research up front, book directly with Royal Caribbean, and then I've got about two months to do additional research regarding travel agencies to see which of them would provide me decent benefits.

 

For my upcoming cruise, I've got $100 onboard credit from booking this cruise onboard during my last cruise. After I got home, I found a travel agency who had a group booking on the cruise I selected, so I'm getting an additional $75 onboard credit, plus they're paying my gratuities, another $163.10 in benefits. So, by transferring my booking to a travel agency, I'm saving about $240. That's worth it to me.

[Ashland]

No..Not worth it to me either...Booking directly with the cruiseline and keeping ownership of my booking has worked out very well for many many cruises....including my flights, all transportation and private tours etc. when needed...I tend to micro-manage our vacations and have had no complaints..The only thing they need to do is Enjoy and do they Ever..;)

[The_Big_M]

I don't think it's something that can have a single answer, due to the variety of TAs. Some have had bad experiences with them, and just selecting one can result in less flexibility than doing it yourself. For example, some have wound up paying more either in change fees or not been able to change to a special that they would have if they were direct with the cruise line. Others have found a great TA so if you hear from them they will say that the TA is available as much as the cruise line, when that's not always true for many TAs.

 

Similarly, some TAs - a minority - have been tardy or messed up bookings (or worse!), whereas others have been of more help to people than the cruise line when there has been an urgent situation such as the volcano preventing flights over a year back. Thus, it comes down to both personal preference, as well as the TA that you may find to deal with.

[kruzerci]

We tried it for our upcoming Freedom cruise. Not worth it in my opinion. We got $100 obc, specialty dining, and wine but I hate not having control of my reservation, I've missed 2 price drops because of it. I've gone back

to controlling my own for our Navigator cruise.

[Starry Eyes]

I have done it both ways...generally I am happier if I book directly. Then If I see a price drop, I can just call the cruise line. Or if a better cabin in my cabin opens up, I can call and get it fast. I generally find the agent to be a useless middleman. agents have offered advice, unfortunately some was really bad advice (before I found cruisecritic), ouch.

[sherilyn70]

is it really worth 100-150.00 OBC to book with a TA vs. going through RCI? I mean 150 is not that much is it?? just curious on thoughts ? I usually like having the control myself, when booking as i feel bad if i a make any changes having to constantly bug my TA and i am a travel/research nut? so being that the cruise is the SAME prices as RCI quoted me is it worth that little bit to go with a TA? I know some will say for peace of mind,have someone that can help you if needed etc??

 

I can't say how much is "not that much to you" but to me... $150 is a decent amount of spending money. It's always relative to how much you make. I know a lot of people are shocked when I say a $20-50 is pocket money and something I don't think twice about spending when they have to check their balance to see if they can afford that much. $150 gets up into the I have to think about it and budget it amount so it's appreciated by me. That's how many drinks and/or specialty dinners?

 

My TA offered a $100 credit plus pre-paid gratuities. I didn't care about price drops as I didn't want to stress over "did I get the best deal?" but instead paid what I felt was fair for what I got. Even if I had booked it on my own I probably never would have checked back on pricing. The free specialty dinner for 2 and the spa treatment we're also getting are just icing on the cake.

[bigeagle12]

Always use TA. Always get some combination of OBC, gratuities, or special dining. Always book early and get great rate. If rate goes down TA takes care of price reduction.

 

I book my own flights and private excursions.

 

Why would I want to turn down "free" money :rolleyes:

[jpolm]

Thanks. I think it depends on what u r getting. If I were gee

Toting 500 obc yes. Or gratutities and obc and dinner yes. But for 125 not too worth it to me. Now is this something u can negotiate??

[kruzerci]

Thanks. I think it depends on what u r getting. If I were gee

Toting 500 obc yes. Or gratutities and obc and dinner yes. But for 125 not too worth it to me. Now is this something u can negotiate??

 

Not from what I've seen. The benefits always seems pretty set in stone

[bigeagle12]

But for 125 not too worth it to me. Now is this something u can negotiate??

 

Let me know next time you find $125 laying on the sidewalk .. I will send you my address so you can mail it to me :D

[Pack My Bags]

Really? Any money saving is a bonus. Otherwise the cruise line keeps all the commissions for themselves.

 

You are still paying it either way, booking with a TA gives them a living. And frankly, if something should go wrong, a conglomerate is more likely to brush you off whereas an agent may personally put loving care into your trip making sure every detail is taken care of. I know I would!

[Beachin2]

You just gotta find the right TA - one you connect with. Least OBC we have gotten is $300 on a 7 night sail.

 

Shop around - find your "dude" (or Dudess"). Hard to pass up FREE $.

[tmilak]

I agree about finding the right TA. I have always gotten hundreds in onboard credit. My OBC for my next cruise is $550.00 plus 3 bottles of wine in my cabin. Everytime i want them to amend my booking they call RCCL with me on the line. No complaints here.

[RWMike]

My TA never mentioned OBC or anything else.

Is this common practice from TA's?

It's our first cruise so I had no idea.:confused:

[silentbob007]

I've been using a TA for the last few years and *knock on wood* have always gotten a price drop if one came available after an email or phone call. Even if I end up misisng one because I cannot call RCI directly, I have a feeling the cumulative thousands I've already gotten for doing nothing different but booking with someone else.

[BLAMBKY]

It seems like most indicate that they like to have control due to price drops/changes. I have yet to see the first price drop on ANY cruise that I have been watching. :rolleyes: sooooo.... Maybe I need to start hunting a TA to get me some OBC! ;)

[The_Big_M]

But for 125 not too worth it to me. Now is this something u can negotiate??

 

It comes out of the agent's commission, which is a fairly fixed percentage. Thus, the OBC's offered - when offered - tend to be quite similar so it's not generally negotiable as such.

[sugarking]

I did not know that the booking must be turned over to the TA within two weeks of making the reservation with the cruise line. Unfortunately, I missed out on OBC. I don't know if this is only RCCL. I never had this problem with other cruise lines. I would wait until final payment and shortly before transfer it over to a TA.

[DonnaK]

When we used to book with a TA, we had two separate problems while traveling that I expected a TA to work out for me (after all, that's why people book with a TA, to have an advocate to mediate your problems). Well, the TA did absolutely nothing for me, and I had to resolve both issues on my own, while in the middle of my trip. So, I stopped using a TA - it was too frustrating. I am my own best advocate, and I didn't like having to use a middleman who turned out to be useless.

 

Yes, $150 is a lot and so are pre-paid gratuities. (We don't really drink wine or use specialty restaurants, so those perks wouldn't be useful to us). None of these are worth the peace-of-mind of retaining control of my own reservation.

[PCWalton1]

is it really worth 100-150.00 OBC to book with a TA vs. going through RCI? I mean 150 is not that much is it?? just curious on thoughts ? I usually like having the control myself, when booking as i feel bad if i a make any changes having to constantly bug my TA and i am a travel/research nut? so being that the cruise is the SAME prices as RCI quoted me is it worth that little bit to go with a TA? I know some will say for peace of mind,have someone that can help you if needed etc??

 

The control freaks will tell you that no amount of money is worth giving up the reins. :rolleyes: More power to them. We book with a large online T/A that has someone manning the phones even on weekends so communications has no been a problem. They had no problems with handling three price drops, a cancellation of a cruise by RCCL, an upgrade and numerous cabin change requests (blame that last part on me :o). For the first two cruises we had with them (and the three currently booked) we have received free gratiuties and a minimum of $100 OBC per cruise so it has been worth it. and we have got that with booking inside cabins on half those cruises so I don't imagine they are getting a hefty commission off us. Of course when we have booked we tell them both the cruise and cabin number we want so there are no surprise there.

[silentbob007]

I did not know that the booking must be turned over to the TA within two weeks of making the reservation with the cruise line. Unfortunately, I missed out on OBC. I don't know if this is only RCCL. I never had this problem with other cruise lines. I would wait until final payment and shortly before transfer it over to a TA.

 

I thought it was changed to 60 days after booking with RCI (assuming final payment is not first).