Book direct or with a travel agent.

[tigger89]

Hi

Am I better to book direct with MSC or with a travel agent. Which TA do you recommend. We are looking at the 14 nights from Miami.

 

Thanks Judith

[MotownVoice]

Most people will likely encourage you to use a Travel Agent. So I'll be the lone voice giving the opposing view.

 

Travel Agents make their money from the industry by referrals. There's an old saying: "If you ain't payin' you ain't the customer. Your the product."

 

But there are real, practical reasons for not using a travel agent. One of the biggest reasons is that if something goes wrong, you are at your travel agent's mercy to straighten it out. Let's say you made final payment, but for some reason the cruise line didn't get it. A human mistake, stuff happens. But you can't speak with the cruise line and straighten it out yourself. You have to wait til the TA calls them. Now suppose it's a weekend or a holiday, and your travel agency is closed. It could be days before he or she will even answer the phone. It happens.

 

When you use a travel agent you aren't necessarily seeing all of the options open to you. They're showing you what they think will most interest you. But when you do it yourself, you may sit down and spend more time looking at other dates, comparing rates, researching websites like this great one to find out things about your intended cruise and make changes based on what you've learned. A travel agent is just going to hand you what amounts to a search string on travelocity.

 

One benefit of a travel agent? They get discounts. Sometimes. That you can't get for yourself. Usually.

 

A family vacation, or a romantic get-away ... to me anyway ... is far too important to leave in the hands of someone who really doesn't have any vested interest in making sure everything goes perfect, follows the trip day by day dealing with details that could go terribly wrong if they're not addressed immediately.

 

Book your own cruise. Book your own flight. Keep everything, receipts, correspondences. And get trip insurance.

 

That's my opinion.

[riclop]

Better prices and perks with a TA . We got paid gratuities and OBC and a lower price than booking with MSC.

[jchipgcs]

Travel agent, without a doubt.

[The_Big_M]

Either way :-)

 

Sometimes you get a better deal that's worth it with a TA. Sometimes you don't. And then have a third party that you have to go through which complicates things.

[Deckhandoug]

If its a cheap cabin on a simple cruise, usually not much benefit in a TA

 

If its a better cabin/suite on a longer, more expensive cruise, TA can offer some great benefits/discounts.

[AmoMondo]

Depends which country you live in. Here in the UK there doesn't seem to be much benefit of using a TA. I always book direct now. I still get the same price, I don't have to pay the final payment so early and I'm not reliant on a TA to find things out for me. When I did use TAs, I often was told various things weren't possible when in fact they were. I think some TAs may be very good but others once they've got the booking are not that interested in doing any more work for you unless you are following up with an additional booking that will earn them more commission.

[tigger89]

Thanks for your replies. We are in the UK and the prices I have had are the same as MSC. Just wondered if there was a company I had missed.

 

Thanks again Judith

[canny_cruiser]

Thanks for your replies. We are in the UK and the prices I have had are the same as MSC. Just wondered if there was a company I had missed.

 

Thanks again Judith

Up until 2011 I found I always got a better price with an agent but since last year they are the same prices as MSC. I've booked my last two MSc cruises direct and there have been problems both times - particularly annoying was the last one where I discovered the day before I left that they had charged my credit card twice. More worrying, they didn't even know they had done so until I contacted them. What sort of accounting system do they use I wonder?

 

One can still sometimes get a saving of sorts by using one of the agents who offer loyalty discount incentive schemes.

[Skipper Tim]

Now MSC has clamped down on travel agents discounting, I think the administrative convenience of dealing with MSC Direct far outweighs any potential minor perk of booking with a travel agent.

 

You can see all details of your booking online, make amendments and add drinks packages and excursions etc. to it only if you book with MSC directly (and online).

 

The complication of dealing with an intermediary, especially with a less than conventional cruise line such as MSC, to me simply invites trouble. I feel it is best to deal with MSC Direct (who are in effect the in-house travel agent for MSC) and make my own interpretation of what they say rather than rely upon someone less capable and willing to represent my interests and understand what I want.

 

No travel agent in the UK is advertising any discount or perk whatsoever with MSC. It is just a shame that the 5% online booking discount has been removed. I imagine this in practice was accompanied by reduced commissions to travel agents so they have no or very little scope to discount and avoided a price-rise across the board compared to last year.

 

Also I have not yet come across any agent website that is able to incorporate the MSC Club discount to the fare before clicking 'book'. So this results in phone calls and repeating all the details, and generally being reliant on someone who has less knowledge of MSC and may be 'busy on another call' or 'out of the office' etc.. Those days are gone for me.

[tigger89]

Hi I think I'll stick with booking direct with MSC as we are hoping to get 3 cabins together so will probably be easier to book direct.

 

Thanks Judith

[The_Big_M]

It's your choice but that sort of cabin availability should be similar either direct or through a TA.

[janny444]

Thought I would just add my "tuppenth"....I have always booked through a TA until recently...discount...OBC offered...it was worth it. Now the "perks" if any seem to be very far and few between so not much incentive. The deciding factor for me happened with our cruise in May....we had booked the cruise 12 months previously through a TA then a few weeks before sail date a massive price drop...approached my TA to ask what could be done....nothing....they said that they had tried...I contact acted cruise company myself ...put my point forward...they agreed but couldn't deal with me direct had to be done through TA.

There was an happy outcome ..fortunately...but because we had booked through a TA it was more of an hindrance and if I had listened to them initially there would have been no happy outcome.

[cruisingcanadian]

Hi janny444,could you please tell me if the "happy outcome" means you got the lower price or you were upgraded to higher category cabin? Also,what was the weather like in the Fjords in May? I am asking because I am sailing there next year in May/June. Thank you:).

[janny444]

Hi janny444,could you please tell me if the "happy outcome" means you got the lower price or you were upgraded to higher category cabin? Also,what was the weather like in the Fjords in May? I am asking because I am sailing there next year in May/June. Thank you:).

 

Hi cruisincanadian...we got both!! We were booked in a standard balcony cabin and they upgraded us to a concierge cabin PLUS they refunded £750..$1000...as I stated I wouldn't have received that if I had just left it with the TA.

 

It was a 10 night cruise and we had one showery day...not all day...the rest of the time is was lovely and at times quite warm...26C....I would say the average temp was about 21C with some days considerably warmer. We thought that it was going to be a bit chilly so we had taken a lot of warmer clothes and quilted jackets...they all stayed in the wardrobe.

[cruisingcanadian]

Hi cruisincanadian...we got both!! We were booked in a standard balcony cabin and they upgraded us to a concierge cabin PLUS they refunded £750..$1000...as I stated I wouldn't have received that if I had just left it with the TA.

 

It was a 10 night cruise and we had one showery day...not all day...the rest of the time is was lovely and at times quite warm...26C....I would say the average temp was about 21C with some days considerably warmer. We thought that it was going to be a bit chilly so we had taken a lot of warmer clothes and quilted jackets...they all stayed in the wardrobe.

janny 444,thank you very much for your response,and congratulation on a wonderful "happy outcome":D. I was hoping for a price drop on my coming Infinity cruise (Panama Canal) but prices are going up....:(.

I think you were really lucky with the weather in the Fjords....we'll see what happens next year.

 

Happy sailing on all ships of your choice:D!

(sorry for hijacking the thread)

[sidari]

C.C ... We were in Norway mid June this year and got lucky with the weather in Flam sunshine all day and hot, Stavanger some sunshine and Oslo also sunshine and hot, only bad day was returning to the UK with Fog and Heavy rain all day.

[cruisingcanadian]

C.C ... We were in Norway mid June this year and got lucky with the weather in Flam sunshine all day and hot, Stavanger some sunshine and Oslo also sunshine and hot, only bad day was returning to the UK with Fog and Heavy rain all day.

Thank you Sidari,and hope for the same on our cruise.:)

[TWELVEOHONE]

In my opinion a Travel Agent, but it’s important to find a good travel agent.

.

In the U.S. travel Agents do not make money by referrals they get paid a commission from the cruise line. They are agents for the cruise lines the same as insurance agents who get paid a commission from the insurance company.

.

Even though the Cruise lines pay them you are their customer as they want you to come back and if possible refer others to them.

.

SOME travel agents (especially online ones) have a variety of service charges, such as a booking fee, a fee if you make a change, etc. The vast majority do not have these fees. I would not book with any that has these fees.

.

In the past when there is a problem my travel agent has always helped me. They know the people to contact and how to get it fixed. I tell her everything that happened and she takes care of it. No hassle no follow up telephone calls get switch around no problems. I leave up to her and she always come through

..

An example is when a flight was cancelled I called her on my cell while in line and had her rebook me on the next flight out. When I got to the airlines counter the next flight was already all booked up but I simply showed my ID and was told I was already booked and everything was taken care of.

.

A good Travel Agent will take care of you as they want you back.

The key is to find a good travel agent. I always use one in my general location so I can sit down with them across a desk and discuss everything in person.

.

It’s interesting how Royal Caribbean recommends using a travel agent

[moomoocow]

In my opinion a Travel Agent, but it’s important to find a good travel agent.

.

In the U.S. travel Agents do not make money by referrals they get paid a commission from the cruise line. They are agents for the cruise lines the same as insurance agents who get paid a commission from the insurance company.

.

Even though the Cruise lines pay them you are their customer as they want you to come back and if possible refer others to them.

.

SOME travel agents (especially online ones) have a variety of service charges, such as a booking fee, a fee if you make a change, etc. The vast majority do not have these fees. I would not book with any that has these fees.

.

In the past when there is a problem my travel agent has always helped me. They know the people to contact and how to get it fixed. I tell her everything that happened and she takes care of it. No hassle no follow up telephone calls get switch around no problems. I leave up to her and she always come through

..

An example is when a flight was cancelled I called her on my cell while in line and had her rebook me on the next flight out. When I got to the airlines counter the next flight was already all booked up but I simply showed my ID and was told I was already booked and everything was taken care of.

.

A good Travel Agent will take care of you as they want you back.

The key is to find a good travel agent. I always use one in my general location so I can sit down with them across a desk and discuss everything in person.

.

It’s interesting how Royal Caribbean recommends using a travel agent

 

See Twelve this is another reason why I'm envious of US nationals.

 

You can arrange CFAR insurance - unknown here in the UK

 

Your travel agents do things like the above. UK travel agents are a dying breed because they don't provide anything like that service. They might beat the direct price but in my experience that's about it.

 

Plus I bet if you got a quote for two weeks on Divina it would be about 40% cheaper than I'd pay. :-(

[MotownVoice]

... travel Agents do not make money by referrals they get paid a commission from the cruise line (...) they want you to come back and if possible refer others to them ...

 

 

Hewwww-kayyyy.