Travel Agent or book yourself-opinions

[drakes2]

I've always booked with a TA never the cruiseline, for my most recent booking on the Royal in January I booked with the rep that answered the phone and she was excellent. I booked a guarantee balcony with an obstruction and was assigned a "deluxe" midship balcony with a partial obstruction so I'll be anxious to see what that obstruction really is. On top of that I received a discounted cruise fare and a fair amount in OBC. I'll definitely use her again and have already recommended her to a friend.

Perhaps your post was modified, but it is OK now. You can ask general questions about TAs, cannot request or communicate specific TA's names.

 

I always use a TA for Princess cruises because Princess allows TAs to offer discounts. I also make sure that the TA does not have any additional fees for changes and cancellations. I have found one that I really like and I always use her.

 

Good luck

[YumYumSweetiePie]

I usually book close to the sail date, have inflexible dates, don't book that many cruises (I'm in awe of the number of cruises some people on Cruise Critic have booked, what a lovely life), and use Friends and Family on Princess. So personally, I book straight through the website and am probably not a desirable client for TAs nor do I think they would get me such great discounts because of when I usually book. It's easy and I don't have to call around to get a good price, the price for F&F is already pretty good. Plus I'm the kind of person who likes details and immersing myself in my upcoming cruise. So, if a rate goes down I'll catch it. You've all made me very curious though, maybe one of these days I will call a TA and see if, given my usual constraints, they can get me a better deal. Do FCCs have to be used directly through the Princess website or can a TA use them too?

[Times Prince]

Do you use a TA? Or do you just book yourself online or by phone with Princess. What are the advantages or disadvantages in your opinion.

 

The last 4 sailings I booked with a TA and this last time I was so thoroughly disgusted with them. I found a discounted price and called my TA. He wasn't quick enough and I didn't get it. I fought with him stating this was not fair and I told him I would call his supervisor, as it was several hundred dollars worth of savings. His company finally honored it, out of their own pocket. I reported it timely. He just didn't take care of it timely (although he blamed the dept that takes care of pricing and stated he did give in the info in time.

Discounted prices can be limited offers. We have had several where the available cabins were sold out within 2 hours of us receiving an email from Princess. After the first such occurrence we contacted Princess directly to put a hold on the cabin, only to find that, again the offer was sold out, but a different ship same itinerary at the same time had cabins available at the offer price. We put a hold on it, got a confirmation number, and transferred the booking to our TA. Finding the unpublished alternative was a good reason to contact Princess directly.

 

Since that time, our TA will immediately initiate a booking for a cabin when we ask for a quote so she can guarantee the price to us. Similar to Pam's TA, we get a reduced price and often get an OBC unless it was a really low price on a Princess flash sale.

 

Do FCCs have to be used directly through the Princess website or can a TA use them too?

Your TA can use the FCC deposit just like Princess direct. No problem there. Edited December 4, 2013 by Times Prince

[tngeebee]

Always use the same TA. If I see a lower price posted all I do is give her a call and she makes the call to see if I can get it. Besides there is no price difference if you use a TA or call the cruise line direct and you are supporting a local business.