Travel Agent vs RSS

[swabs]

I live in the UK, we took our first ever cruise -sailing from Rome 16th June to Istanbul on the Mariner. I booked direct with Regent - phoning their UK office based in Southampton. They were really helpfulparticularly re: arranging suitable flights, we had no problems and I had done a lot of research prior to booking. Please can anyone in the UK tell be are there any benefits from booking through a travel agent? Would we get on board credits etc as mentioned by our USA friends?

[OrpingtonT]

I live in the UK, we took our first ever cruise -sailing from Rome 16th June to Istanbul on the Mariner. I booked direct with Regent - phoning their UK office based in Southampton. They were really helpfulparticularly re: arranging suitable flights, we had no problems and I had done a lot of research prior to booking. Please can anyone in the UK tell be are there any benefits from booking through a travel agent? Would we get on board credits etc as mentioned by our USA friends?

 

We have sailed with Regent 8 times and for the first 5 or so we booked direct. We got to know the staff in Southampton very well and the MD was very kind to us when we had a personal problem. However, I found that a TA, which I now use, offered cruises at a discount from Regent's quoted price and we now book through that TA. I save money but I miss the personal chats with the Southampton staff and their ready and willing approach when we talked to them.

[tallship]

We have sailed with Regent 8 times and for the first 5 or so we booked direct. We got to know the staff in Southampton very well and the MD was very kind to us when we had a personal problem. However, I found that a TA, which I now use, offered cruises at a discount from Regent's quoted price and we now book through that TA. I save money but I miss the personal chats with the Southampton staff and their ready and willing approach when we talked to them.

 

Do you use a UK TA?

[OrpingtonT]

Do you use a UK TA?

 

Yes. I should have said. I get material from US TA's but it is too much bother to check whether I would make much of a saving.

[tallship]

When we were both on Mariner, there was a group onboard with a UK TA based towards the southern coast. Some folks had pretty amazing fares which included a stint on the Orient Express.....

 

That TA did contact us and we are eligible to book with them but what I learned is that they are not familiar with the Amex OBC and they would book cruise only, no air nor insurance

 

Since we are in Canada, the Amex OBC is gone now as of July 1 so it might be enticing to check back again

[OrpingtonT]

When we were both on Mariner, there was a group onboard with a UK TA based towards the southern coast. Some folks had pretty amazing fares which included a stint on the Orient Express.....

 

That TA did contact us and we are eligible to book with them but what I learned is that they are not familiar with the Amex OBC and they would book cruise only, no air nor insurance

 

Since we are in Canada, the Amex OBC is gone now as of July 1 so it might be enticing to check back again

 

I think I know the agent you mean and they specialise in "add-ons" such as the Orient Express you mention which in total offer very good value. However those add-ons are not suitable for us.

[rarin2go]

Yes. I should have said. I get material from US TAs but it is too much bother to check whether I would make much of a saving.

 

I have checked the 'bottom line' of quotes last year and this from a luxury cruise specialist US TA (ie after rebates & OBCs) and the best price (discounted) from a UK TA was lower in both cases - but I did have to shop around the UK TAs to get that price. Even if the US$ price had been marginally lower than the UK TA's, there was still the risk of the exchange rate going against you and wiping out the saving. Although it could go the other way of course - but I'm not a gambler!

[jetset23]

Are you sure? I know of people that live outside US and use TAs here (actually, one of these customers is from Australia).

Absolutely, Australians can deal direct with TA's in USA, I don't buy any cruise through an Australian company. Some USA TA's can't sell all cruise lines - (it seems the Australian TA's have got in the ear of some big companies and limits some lines sales to Australian's), but so far so good, I work around which lines I can purchase, and usually save heaps !