Should I Switch Booking To a TA?

[TravelGal22]

I contacted a cruise TA because I was looking into an Alaskan Cruise. I had mentioned that I booked a cruise with Celebrity recently and the agent told me I could switch the booking to him and I would get $50 OBC. Would there be a down side to doing this?

[FrankinPA]

probably not but the cruise critic rules prohibit any of us from naming a travel agent. Your note will likely be erased by one of the hosts.

[ghstudio]

You can transfer a booking to a TA within 60 days of making the booking. As far as I can tell, there is no downside.

 

I would suggest that you look at other TA's including those who participate on cruise critic to see if one of them might offer a larger OBC or other perks. $50 seems low, but I don't know what type of cabin you booked.

 

Finally, we aren't allowed to mention TA's by name on Cruise Critic.

[TravelGal22]

Thanks. I took the name of the TA off. How do I find the TA's that participate on CC. My cabin is only $589 pp but I am looking to upgrade to a higher deck because we are currently on deck 3 but my husband gets sea sick.

[cruisestitch]

actually, the lower decks are the most stable -- the best place to be is midship, on a low deck. The higher you go, the more you feel the motion.

[ghstudio]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/shipshop/

 

Also...the higher you go in a ship, the more movement you feel....so upgrading to move to a higher deck might not be a plus. Whatever deck you are on, you want to be in the middle of the ship to minimize movement rather than the bow or stern

 

The reality is that on these ships, you really feel very little movement.

[FrankinPA]

Thanks. I took the name of the TA off. How do I find the TA's that participate on CC. My cabin is only $589 pp but I am looking to upgrade to a higher deck because we are currently on deck 3 but my husband gets sea sick.

 

Go to the home page of CC and you will see various ads by travel agents. http://www.cruisecritic.com/shipshop/

The most stable part of the ship is the lower decks and mid-ship. Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

[TravelGal22]

I didn't know that. I thought a mid deck was better for motion than a bottom deck. Thanks for the info. Could someone please tell me how to find the TA's mentioned above?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/shipshop/

 

Also...the higher you go in a ship, the more movement you feel....so upgrading to move to a higher deck might not be a plus. Whatever deck you are on, you want to be in the middle of the ship to minimize movement rather than the bow or stern

 

The reality is that on these ships, you really feel very little movement.

 

Unless you get into 100 mph winds and 45 feet waves on the Mediterranean :D

Cool ride

[packyourpixiedust]

I get sea sick as well, but love cruising- I take a non-drosyw dramamine each day. I know this is in conflict with what everyone else is saying, but I feel more lower- I always feel the ship more on the lower decks while eating than I do in a higher deck in the cabin.

 

As to the TA question- I would recommend developing a relationship with a localT a and use that person. You might not always get the highest OBC but you will likely get amazing personal service. They can work with you, learn what you like, etc. And it is good for the local economy (the local agent will earn a commission as well as their local sales manager.)

 

It sounds like you got value from the agent yoy called, remember they don't get pid unless you use them. And you asked if their was a downside, really the only one is you cannot call Celebrity to ask them a question. You have to call the agent. You can still use the manage booking section on the website to make dining reservations, etc.

[ariawoman]

I get sea sick as well, but love cruising- I take a non-drosyw dramamine each day. I know this is in conflict with what everyone else is saying, but I feel more lower- I always feel the ship more on the lower decks while eating than I do in a higher deck in the cabin.

 

As to the TA question- I would recommend developing a relationship with a localT a and use that person. You might not always get the highest OBC but you will likely get amazing personal service. They can work with you, learn what you like, etc. And it is good for the local economy (the local agent will earn a commission as well as their local sales manager.)

 

It sounds like you got value from the agent yoy called, remember they don't get pid unless you use them. And you asked if their was a downside, really the only one is you cannot call Celebrity to ask them a question. You have to call the agent. You can still use the manage booking section on the website to make dining reservations, etc.

 

I tend to feel the ships movement most when I'm in the main dining room too. Maybe it has to do with it being the farthest AFT on the ship? I feel the "pull" more when there's some motion going on there. I also feel it in the theatre but not as much as at dinner. I too love cruising, but I too do suffer from a level of seasickness (luckily it has never gotten to the upchuck point lol).

 

As for your comment regarding a small TA - thank you for that. I recently started to get involved with a friend of mines very small business. I've started to see the ins and outs of what the mass TAs get vs the "little guy" and well, it's no wonder the little guy can't keep afloat. They are offered lower commissions by several percentages (since it's based on volume of sales, how could a small business compete with say - the TA with the traveling gnome? It's impossible. Thankfully for my friend, there are still some folks who still see the value in having a more personal experience, even if it does mean getting less on board perks. I even told her what i got from one of the cruise critic sponsored TAs - and she couldn't get anywhere near it. She could give me 50, whereas they gave me 400. That's a huge difference. They give up half their commissions just to make the sale. Little guys can't afford to do that.

 

So anyway back to the original topic at hand - transferring to a TA can definitely offer you some nice perks - so it's always good to see what is out there. You do lose the ability to talk to the cruise line directly but if you choose a good TA - that shouldn't matter. You do, however, want to make sure they are responsive to you, because if they get an upsell/upgrade offer for you, you want to be sure they are on top of their game and get to you with that info so you don't potentially miss out. It is in their best interest to get you to upsell anyway since that would increase their commission by a small margin - but if you have one that has too large a volume - you might end up missing out if they can't keep up with all their clients.

 

Just food for thought for small vs big when deciding. I've gone the direct to cruise line route, and the large TA route. Next year i might go the small route, who knows.

[Setme2sail]

Unless you get into 100 mph winds and 45 feet waves on the Mediterranean :D

Cool ride

 

No truer words spoken Mark. But, I'm homesick for my ship and my before dinner wine at the Passport Bar;)

 

Tonia

[phoenix_dream]

I am not sure I would switch to a TA for just a $50 OBC. I like to check for price drops near the sail date for potential upgrades, and one thing I hate about the TA I have used before is that they are not available on week-ends (this is an online TA). I have seen a few good cabins at great prices come and go because I had to wait to Monday to call them for upgrading. If the OBC offered were higher, then I would probably switch, but for $50 I would rather retain control over my own reservation. My opinion.

[TravlGrl]

I didn't know that. I thought a mid deck was better for motion than a bottom deck. Thanks for the info. Could someone please tell me how to find the TA's mentioned above?

 

Not mid-deck...mid-ship! Best place to be to control motion sickness is mid-ship on a lower deck.

 

If it were me, I'd transfer to the TA for a $50 OBC. I like OBCs as every little bit helps.

[4774Papa]

You can transfer a booking to a TA within 60 days of making the booking. As far as I can tell, there is no downside.

 

I would suggest that you look at other TA's including those who participate on cruise critic to see if one of them might offer a larger OBC or other perks. $50 seems low, but I don't know what type of cabin you booked.

 

Finally, we aren't allowed to mention TA's by name on Cruise Critic.

The downside is that you lose control of your reservation. This may not be a problem, but if you need to change or cancel your reservation due to events, you have to go through the TA.

[ghstudio]

The downside is that you lose control of your reservation. This may not be a problem, but if you need to change or cancel your reservation due to events, you have to go through the TA.

 

Assuming you are using a reputable TA (99.9% of them), making a change or cancellation will be just as easy as working directly with Celebrity.

 

For whatever reason, some feel "safer" booking with the cruise company directly and have all kinds of fears of what could happen if they use a TA. We travel quite a bit (just look at our map) and the only things we ever book directly are air tickets and hotels where I get some special deals due to membership in AAA, AARP, etc. The only reason I would ever book with Celebrity directly would be if they have a "book through celebrity" deal that either isn't offered or matched in some way by a TA.

[4774Papa]

Assuming you are using a reputable TA (99.9% of them), making a change or cancellation will be just as easy as working directly with Celebrity.

 

For whatever reason, some feel "safer" booking with the cruise company directly and have all kinds of fears of what could happen if they use a TA. We travel quite a bit (just look at our map) and the only things we ever book directly are air tickets and hotels where I get some special deals due to membership in AAA, AARP, etc. The only reason I would ever book with Celebrity directly would be if they have a "book through celebrity" deal that either isn't offered or matched in some way by a TA.

I have read several comments on cc about people that had issues with their TAs not returning phone calls. We booked a hotel in Venice with a TA that went bankrupt and we lost our payment and had to pay twice for the hotel.

While, rare, it still happens.

I like to check the cruises that I book with TAs or online purchasers and generally don't find what they offer is worth going with them. Most of the cruises we book are those that are popular (not in the Caribbean) and fill up early. I am not saying that TAs are wrong, but just not always the right way to go.

[Linda-E]

A reputable TA will call your credit card payments directly into the cruise line, so you don't stand to lose if the TA goes out of business as was mentioned earlier. A good TA will monitor prices, and get you any appicable price reduction the cruise line offers.

 

A TA can be very useful in getting you advance notice if there are changes to embarkation time or to the itinerary. And if you run into a problem, you have someone to call for assistance. A good TA has been on a variety of cruise ships and destinations and can help you with your planning (hotels, excursions, speciality dining) based on his or her personal assistance.

 

I think it's a no brainer. Where else does someone PAY YOU to offer you this type of service? And if your online TA doesn't offer this personalized service, find yourself a new one!