Book directly with Royal Caribbean or through travel agent

[bottleblonde_1972]

What are pro's and con's of booking direct through Royal Caribbean, or booking through travel agent. Our travel agent has quoted $900 above what I can get cruise for. Am I missing something? Also, wondering about pro's and con's of aft cabin. Is it really bad if there are rough sea's v's extra room given in balcony?

[Bonnie J.]

I may be wrong but I believe Royal Caribbean & Carnival do not allow any TA or anyone else to charge less than their price. Can anyone say if other lines are doing this? We now book directly with the cruise line, not a TA anymore. We also frequently book on line with the cruise line.

We check available cabins on line and ask for a specific cabin, (you can pull up floor plans with available cabins on line). You can always get someone from the cruise line on the phone at any time. Can you always get your TA, especially if you have a problem or question in the evening? Has your TA been on the ship you want to book so she knows answers about the ship to your questions? We're happy with not using a TA anymore.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Bonnie J.

[mzwaag]

We do better through our TA. We checked online for our cruise coming up and our TA was 100.00 cheaper with an additional 25.00 cruise credit. I used to book through Princess but not anymore! :)

[Nitemare]

What are pro's and con's of booking direct through Royal Caribbean, or booking through travel agent. Our travel agent has quoted $900 above what I can get cruise for. Am I missing something? Also, wondering about pro's and con's of aft cabin. Is it really bad if there are rough sea's v's extra room given in balcony?

 

Did you ask the TA what you were getting for all that extra money?

 

There may be a discrepancy in what you are getting, maybe you're not comparing apples and oranges.

 

I always prefer to use a TA as they have connections at the cruiselines that I will never have

[cb at sea]

The aft balconies are much deeper than those on the side of the ship. As far as how rough it might be, you need to know that if it's really rough, you're going to feel it EVERYWHERE! The ship is but a cork floating on the ocean! Yes....the front and back of the ship do tend to move more than the center....think of a see-saw! In normal seas, there's not alot of difference in location!

[vnyislesv]

expedia, travelocity, all the discount sites make around 30% commish on all sales. 40% on package deals, yes its that high.

 

im not sure TAs commish but regardless i doubt they can charge less than directly through carnival but the money they make, they can give some of their money back as a room credit to get you to book with them as a perk.

[dorisis]

We book with TAs for the service and the discounts they offer. ours are great at solving any problems that arise.

 

AFT BALCONIES ARE USUALLY LARGER.

[webgal318]

We book with TAs for the service and the discounts they offer. ours are great at solving any problems that arise.

 

AFT BALCONIES ARE USUALLY LARGER.

 

My TA is not giving me fast service and I have been hoping that things would get better and since things have not improved, I am going in a different direction.

[GTO-Girl]

We book directly through the cruiseline because I like to be in total control of my booking.

 

If I have a problem I would rather handle it myself directly with the cruiseline than going through a third person.

 

But......that's just the "control freak" that I am.......:rolleyes:

[webgal318]

We book directly through the cruiseline because I like to be in total control of my booking.

 

If I have a problem I would rather handle it myself directly with the cruiseline than going through a third person.

 

But......that's just the "control freak" that I am.......:rolleyes:

 

 

Is there a site that you can go to "anonymously" to easily see which rooms are available? You can send me a PM if you do.

Thanks.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[GTO-Girl]

Is there a site that you can go to "anonymously" to easily see which rooms are available? You can send me a PM if you do.

Thanks.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I just go to the cruiseline and do a pretend booking to see pricing and what rooms are available. Then once I have an idea of what deck,room etc I want I call them to actually book. Remember there are always more rooms than what shows on the website.

 

We have cruised long enough I already know I want a balcony cabin, mid ship, that has other cabins above and below.

Edited March 12, 2014 by GTO-Girl

[aussielozzie18]

I used a bricks & mortar TA the first time I cruised because I had no idea about the different cruise lines, deck plans and the type of cabin I needed. I spent about 1 1/2 hr with the TA working out the best cruise and best cabin location. I was really happy with the cruise & cabin she ended up booking for us.

 

After doing tons of research on CC, I am now confident of where I want to be located on the cruise. So this time, I did a dummy booking with RCI and worked out the best cabin that was available and then took this info to an online TA and asked for a quote. I got the cabin I wanted at a better rate.

Edited March 13, 2014 by aussielozzie18

[webgal318]

Remember there are always more rooms than what shows on the website.

 

 

I did no know that. Thanks.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Nebr.cruiser]

We normally use a TA; we have a couple from two large websites that we have used very successfully. However, once in a while it works better to book directly with the cruise line.

 

For example, we are planning a family cruise over Thanksgiving for our 50th anniversary and I have been researching heavily for the past few days. I contacted our two preferred TA's (different companies) with different cruise lines and itineraries that would work for us. Due to school, sports, and of course price we are very limited as to dates.

 

Even though RCI is running a 3-6 person sail free promo, neither TA could come up with cabins that actually worked for this. The best either could do was 3 inside cabins (12 people going) for several itineraries, none of which were ideal.

 

I finally called Royal Caribbean direct yesterday. Within minutes the agent found exactly what I was looking for--family OV cabins right next to each other that hold six each, at a price well under what the other agents were quoting. We got the 3-6 persons free (except for taxes and fees) even though the TA's insisted 1. Those cabins weren't available and 2. There weren't any 'free' cabins left in the cheaper categories we needed. And, it was a ship we wanted to sail on; itinerary was okay.

 

Plus, deposit was only $50 pp. So, I don't know if all the cabins weren't available to book for TA's or what. One of the travel agents did offer some onboard credit, but even then I am coming out well ahead. Another major site is offering some great sounding perks and I may investigate to see if it is worth moving the booking to that company; my experience is that often those perks aren't for every cabin. And, this company will charge for changes which is important as there is a strong possibility we may have to change plans, due to several factors.

 

The reason the quotes were so much lower (over $700 per cabin) was totally because of the sail free promo, which the TA's could not seem to make work for us.

 

So, sometimes you just need to try all your options.

[Hlitner]

Lets try to clear up some misconceptions. While it is true that many of the mass-market cruise lines have imposed stringent price controls on TAs, that has not stopped TAs from continuing to offer better overall booking packages then you will ever get by booking direct with the cruise line. As very frequent cruisers (we cruise over 70 days a year) we have long wondered about this and have actually spoken to management at one cruise line (Princess) about the issue. They told me that (at least in their case) they do not want to get in competition with cruise and travel agencies since they do depend on them for a lot of marketing and customers. So we have said (and posted) for many years that the best deals will usually go to those who simply shop around (online) for the best overall deal.

 

So what does overall deal mean? Some agencies will still discount the actual cruise price, but they often do it quietly so as not to upset the cruise lines. It behooves cruisers to find a few reputable online cruise agencies and simply get your e-mail on their mailing list. This should not cost you anything except too many e-mails..and if this is an issue you can just set up a new separate e-mail account with Hotmail, Gmail, etc.

 

Now regarding "overall packages" this can be things like on board credits (OBCs), pre paid gratuities, free excursions, actual discounts, upgrades, perhaps a free pre-cruise hotel, drink packages, free alternative restaurants, etc. All these are real money! Sometimes these extra amenities can amount to thousands of dollars in savings on a single cruise (this is for longer more expensive cruises). On the short 7 day cruise market you will not normally get huge savings, but it still can amount to a few hundred dollars.

 

So, here is a question for the doubters. What do you have in shopping around...other then a little time? Just make sure you only deal with reputable agencies (check them out online, with the Better Business Bureau, with other cruisers, etc). Also be aware that some agencies will their own cancellation fees (we generally avoid these agencies) and some will charge a "change fee" if you keep changing your booking. Most agencies have no problem getting you price reductions if the cruise line drops the price (or has a promotion) after you book (hard to get much after you have made the final payment).

 

There is one other booking strategy used by many informed cruisers which can work to your benefit (we have just done this for an upcoming Celebrity cruise). There are sometimes (not always) decent advantages to booking a future cruise while you are onboard a cruise. We recently did this with Celebrity because they where offering a nice upgrade and an on board credit. Once booked onboard, you can ask the cruise line (you can usually do this at the same time you book) to transfer that booking to any travel or cruise agency. Sometimes, it can be a win-win if a particular agency is offering additional amenities. In our recent booking we were able to get an upgrade and nice onboard credit from the cruise line. After we transferred the booking back to one of our favored cruise agencies that agency agreed to pick up the tab for pre paid gratuities (worth $322). If we had not transferred that booking back to the TA we would not have that $322...which is like cash in our pocket.

 

Hank

[mom says]

I would revisit your TA to find out why there is such a large discrepancy. I don't think you are comparing apples to apples here.

 

We book our cruises through the same TA that we have worked with for many years. And given the very undependable website and questionable ability of some of RCCLs phone reps we are happy to have our TA handle things for us. I have better things to do with my time.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I absolutely agree that most of the time we get much better deals with TA's. The two we work with have been fantastic at getting us great prices with lots of other amenities like OBC.

 

But, for some reason, neither one could get us on a RCI ship, in our time frame, utilizing the 'sail free' promo from Royal Caribbean. I do not know why; it's not that they didn't try and didn't work at it; I know they did.

 

Not only did we get the cabins we wanted (family OV) but at a big savings. The agents could not find these cabins available at all on the same sailing, let alone with 3-6 sailing free.

 

Since we are sailing with 12 (7 kids) this was what we needed. We've sailed in those cabins before and they are great for families. And they are side by side. And, only $50 pp deposit.

 

So, it pays to do your research.

 

I may move the booking to a TA if I see a great offer, of course.

[webgal318]

Dropping my TA

 

I just missed out on a chance to upgrade from an OV to a Balcony because my agent was unavailable over the week-end when a week-end sale occurred. She finally called on Monday afternoon and told me the price I quoted over the week-end was different from what she was "seeing." On Saturday, the difference between an OV and a Balcony was less than $100. The price has now gone up again and I would have to pay $550 more for an upgrade. Needless to say, I am not a satisfied custormer.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[NEMMRRC]

I've had good results by comparing the cruise line's price to various travel agents'. I try to find an agent that will throw in on-board credit and/or cruise insurance with the purchase. I've also seen some agents provide vouchers for specialty dining as well. I'd rather have my cruise insurance paid for though.