Booking direct versus travel agent

[Beh789149]

I booked our May cruise with a travel agent (inside, resident rate). Called yesterday to upgrade to Oceanview and to get the beverage package as part of the promotion. We would be paying more money in this scenario. I was told that they will not add promotions to existing bookings after final payment.

 

I've booked directly with Celebrity before and haven't run into these issues. So my question is... Is Celebrity more flexible with direct bookings than TA bookings?

 

 

 

Avalon Scenery Burgundy and Provence-June 2010

Celebrity Infinity Alaska-May 2012

Celebrity Century Pacific Wine-Sept 2012

Celebrity Millennium N Alaska-July 2013

Celebrity Century Pacific Coastal-May 2014

Celebrity Millennium Malaysia and Indonesia-Nov 2014

[miched]

It it really tough and almost impossible to change anything after final payment.

 

At the worse scenario if you haven't paid much for the cruise you could cancel and pay the penalty and then rebook if it works out to your advantage cost wise considering what you would gain.

 

 

🚢🌅

[Hlitner]

Because we do an awful lot of cruising (70-100 days a year) friends often ask us whether to book directly with a cruise line or though an agency. Our answer is always quite simple. If you want to spend more money than its fine to book directly with a cruise line. But if you want to save money (and we have saved thousands of dollars on some longer cruises) then shop around among several reputable major cruise agencies for the best overall deal. As a simple example, we will shortly be leaving on a 26 day Princess cruise. Our cruise agency was able to provide us with an $835 onboard credit (as good as cash on a cruise) which would not have been available had we done the exact same booking directly with Princess. The situation with X is the same.

 

Hank

[cruisingsince94]

We have found that we tend to get more perks for less money by booking with a TA. As to your situation once final payment is made a TA will not make changes and even Celebrity has said no to changes after final payment in some cases with us.