Using travel agent vs booking your own

[grandgeezer]

I don't need anybody to do anything but execute the cruise transaction. I book through an online travel agent and always get a ton of money in perks ( a minimum of 15% of the total cruise price). If the price goes down, I get the lower price. I change cabins whenever I feel like it. If the price goes up, I have the $$$ from percs I wouldn't get booking through the cruise line. I'm not willing to give up free money for nothing to gain. A real no brainer as far as I'm concerned. 31 cruises booked this way and things couldn't have worked out better on any of them.

[onlyonetrevorfrancis]

I book through an online travel agent and always get a ton of money in perks ( a minimum of 15% of the total cruise price).

 

This is surely all the commission that the TA is making on the booking?

 

It obviously works for you but being UK based things are different over here so it would worry me when I'm handing over my thousand $ payment to the TA where his profit comes from.

 

Perhaps I'm a suspicious Brit but I deal direct where money is concerned, no third parties....

[geocruiser]

While I would personally never want to have a TA like that where you are heavily dependent on one person, I just wanted to note that in the future, you should put a courtesy hold on a cabin when you are having trouble reaching your TA. That will allow you to lock that price down while you try to get ahold of your TA. If the price goes up before you get to your TA, you can cancel the booking with them and use the one you put on hold instead. If you still want the TA to have it, you can then transfer it to the TA. Not ideal (especially if you have a particular cabin picked out), but could have saved you hundreds of dollars it sounds like. That said, its a big PITA unless your TA is giving you a great perk (like OBC)

I HAD a great TA. But now she has changed with too much work. Her boss brought another agency and she is give too much work too do. I see a down grade of her service. She really was great before the other agency was brought.

On a week end in Feb. I put a hold of a RCCL. It was a great price and a good cabin. Well she was not happy that I did this. She said it was too hard to transfer the booking before the deposit was given to RCCL. So, I gave RCCl the deposit and then it was transferred to her. All was OK.

In April saw a great deal on a cruise on the week end. Sent her a e-mail and never heard from her over the week end. So I put another hold on the cruise. Heard from her Monday and she got into a hissy fit about me putting a hold on it. Told me to keep the booking with RCCl! Well, that got to me. She said she was over worked and took the booking. I had (past)really love this TA, so very helpful in the past. But I am trying to book a cruise and getting some one in a hissy fit because of a hold put on a cruise. I have book about 30 cruises with her and my friends (who I brought to her) have book at least that many.

She has been great for so many years with very good service--but now, I think I am moving on with my next cruise when I book it. As I understand it (from her) if I put a hold on a cruise she can't get into the booking. There for I put the deposit down, and all she has to do is fill out a form and send that to royal. I think filling out a form on a cruise is faster that helping me with a booking from start to finish, ex. what ship, cabin. price. ins, how do I want the beds, etc. I did all that, she has one form to fill out to get the commission.

 

Finial payment comes I will see how she behaves, if I don't like what I hear I will find a new TA in a heart beat. Booking a cruise is to be fun and while I understand what it is like to be over worked, I don't have to deal with it. What do you think?

[matj2000]

Some people would rather sit on hold for 2 hours to speak with either someone from Pakistan, or a high school kid who has never been on a ship.

Just because they need to be "In control". Whatever that means.

I would rather just tell someone what I want and have it done.

Plus the OBC & 4 prepaid tips is a reason of its own.

Also the online TA website is the best cruise search engine that is out there.

Unlike that failed disaster website that RC has...

[josumello]

I think to use a TA successfully there are a few things to consider.

It should be an agency that is open 7 days a week with enough agents to cover for one another.

It should have an excellent web site.

Your agent should respond to calls and emails promptly and professionally and be flexible.

They should offer good perks.

For instance I just booked a cruise for 2015. My longtime TA is now just doing Tours and River Cruises as she has been do busy. She is really good!! So she set me up with another agent in the company who she has high respect for. He took right over where she left off. Very efficient and did I mention the $800 OBC? They are also very good about making changes with price changes etc.

I can't imagine booking myself and giving up OBC or gratuities etc. BTW I always research ahead of time so when I call to book I know exactly what I want and what the price should be and My cruise line promos.

Good luck whatever you decide

 

 

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[onlyonetrevorfrancis]

I think to use a TA successfully there are a few things to consider.

It should be an agency that is open 7 days a week with enough agents to cover for one another.

It should have an excellent web site.

Your agent should respond to calls and emails promptly and professionally and be flexible.

They should offer good perks.

For instance I just booked a cruise for 2015. My longtime TA is now just doing Tours and River Cruises as she has been do busy. She is really good!! So she set me up with another agent in the company who she has high respect for. He took right over where she left off. Very efficient and did I mention the $800 OBC? They are also very good about making changes with price changes etc.

I can't imagine booking myself and giving up OBC or gratuities etc. BTW I always research ahead of time so when I call to book I know exactly what I want and what the price should be and My cruise line promos.

Good luck whatever you decide

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Can a TA offer 7 days opening with enough agents to cover one another if they are giving away their commission in OBC?

 

Perhaps this is a UK/USA thing but I just don't understand the concept of RCI inflating the cruise price by say 15% for the TA's commission (because that will be included within the rate advertised to everyone) and then the TA then has to give most of that away to get you to book. You then get the holiday at what it should have cost originally without TA's commission, RCI gets a customer for no work and the TA earns nothing.

 

Then you channel $1000's via the TA in payments bearing in mind he has earned little or nothing from the deal originally.

 

This seems a scary prospect to me but it obviously works for you guys over there so fair play to you :)

[summersigh]

We always book with a TA ... BUT ... we use a lady in an office with multiple agents so there's always someone who can deal with anything that might come up is our Lisa is unavailable.

 

We don't get OBC with her ... again there's a BUT ... the discount we get on travel insurance through Lisa's company is more than the OBC offered by the online agents. When we booked our upcoming cruise on HAL through Lisa we got all of the OBC and special past mariner prices we were entitled to.

 

I do have to qualify the above satisfaction with the statement that we always pick our cabin based on personal criteria :D and do not do guaranteed rooms or accept "upgrades" so timing with those changes is not a factor for us.

[grandgeezer]

Pricing for our next cruise, 13 day Med cruise on Celebrity Equinox, for a 2D balcony. Celebrity website $3046 p.p. Reputable online travel agency $2323 p.p. (group rate) plus $300 obc.

Pricing verified, via telephone, five minutes ago. Enough said.

[MrCruzeaddict]

We too, always use a TA. In fact, the same one for 13 yrs. He's ALWAYS checking prices for you everyday to get the best price even AFTER you have booked. We've gotten some good price reductions after booking. Try to get that from the cruise line! ;)

 

 

Joe

[ryano]

Some people would rather sit on hold for 2 hours to speak with either someone from Pakistan, or a high school kid who has never been on a ship.

 

...

 

Uhhh, takes me a whopping 5-10 minutes online to book a cruise :rolleyes:

 

I have never talked to anyone from Pakistan or a high school student when calling RCI. Never has taken 2 hours either.

 

Sorry bout your luck

Edited May 13, 2014 by ryano

[lovesthebeach2]

I always book our cruises thru RCI. I like having control of my reservation and I can call when I see the price go down, as many times as I want and not depend on anyone's availability. A couple of times we have gone on a group cruise and we had no control and that was ok.....but I would rather do it.

[cruzsnooze]

Hi everyone:)

I am curious how do you guys feel about using a travel agent vs booking your own. I am a little bit frustrated lately. We booked a future cruise on explorer and the booking went to my agent the day we got off the ship the price went down by 400 dollars. I emailed my agent who I found out is on a cruise currently tried to call royal while she was in port but after 40 minutes on hold with royal she had to hang up because her ship was about to sail so when someone called the next day price went back up so I lost in essence 400 dollars. Yesterday I emailed her about moving our reservation from quantum to back to back independance she said her daughter will call today so now when I checked the prices are again 500 dollars higher than yesterdayI am so frustrated. I love my agent a lot but not having control of my reservation is driving me nuts and instead of saving money I am loosing money. Also the prices fluctuate more than the stock market.

What should I do in the future? Should I hold my own reservation and transfer it to her before the final payment? What do you guys suggest. I hate bothering her on her vacation with my emails but at the same time money is a factor here.

I keep control of my own bookings. You learned how expensive using a TA was the hard way.

[CVU]

"On the statement with this bogo promotion they have prices much higher and then they are doing a discount that still comes out higher than if I just went to a royal website and then just planned a cruise myself." YEP I think this BOGO sale is a bit of a scam --not on all categories, but on some. We had priced right before the sale came out, so I KNOW what the prices were, and yes, on some categories, they were the same (even with the so-called discount), some higher within a couple days of the sale, and some lower for the first few days of the sale, anyway. That being said, I did read where folks were getting some really great deals, but mostly way, way out in time. I think the whole thing was heavily dependent on the ship and the time of your cruise.

Some prices are up from when we booked but others were down for Jan/15 etc. and we have done very well with our bookings.

I call RCL and get the adjustment and am a happy camper. No TA.

We have done very well with this sale but we have many bookings!!:)

Some people would rather sit on hold for 2 hours to speak with either someone from Pakistan, or a high school kid who has never been on a ship.

Just because they need to be "In control". Whatever that means.

I would rather just tell someone what I want and have it done.

Plus the OBC & 4 prepaid tips is a reason of its own.

Also the online TA website is the best cruise search engine that is out there.

Unlike that failed disaster website that RC has...

Always had someone from the US that speaks perfect English and no problem.

Everyone has their own way and we are happy being in Control.

Edited May 13, 2014 by CVU

[grandgeezer]

I keep control of my own bookings. You learned how expensive using a TA was the hard way.

 

You just picked the wrong TA. I'm sure you can find a customer service rep from the cruise line that is just as bad. Don't condem an occupation on one bad experience. I've used an online TA 31 times and by my best guesstimate, they've saved my over $9,000 from what I would have paid going right through the cruise line. I also got everything the cruise line offered.On a scale of 1-10, I give them a 12.

[matj2000]

I have 2 cruises booked through an online travel company.

What is the "control" issue that everyone else has that I don't?

I am missing something??

[bighairtexan]

I am a control freak but not THAT much of one, I guess. I use the same large cruise only online TA for every cruise. I normally get prepaid gratuities and dinner for 2 at a minimum. Usually much more. And that doesn't mean that the TA is giving me their entire commission. My agency "purchases" blocks of cabins on almost all Celebrity and RCI cruises and pass the savings on either as a lower cruise fare and/or generous OBC's etc. I've literally saved many thousands by using them. And I use the same agent for probably 35 of the 40 cruises I've booked with them since I settled w/ this agency. So I have something of a "relationship" and working rapport w/ her.

 

Last night about 30 minutes after the agency's office hours were over, I realized that a prime cabin became available on an upcoming Celebrity cruise. I emailed and left a voice mail about my desired switch.

 

I was fully prepared that by the time they opened in the morning the suite would be taken. About 90 minutes after closing time, I got an email and a phone call that it was taken care of. But for this particular cruise I got pre-paid gratuities, they upgraded my pick a perk to a Premium Alcohol Beverage Package and I got an OBC. If I'd have lost that prime cabin, I'd have been completely fine w/ that. As it turned out I got great perks and great service.

I have to admit that I usually change my cabin on average 2 or 3 times on each cruise and I've never (YET) lost out on a desired cabin change. It'll eventually happen. I'll live.

[sandgrand]

I learned the hard way...... After all the promises of a TA with a "big on-line" agency -I booked with no deposit.......2 weeks later I tried to get a $400 price drop and was told RCCL was "closed!!!!"

 

Well......Not true because TA's have a 24 hour service for reservations but I lost the price drop - it ended while I was on the phone again with TA.

 

ALSO - once I accepted the booking - I read the fine print where I have to pay $100 to CANCEL...........so beware: after 20 cruises with RCCL - I am gonna pay to cancel this one and "accept my hard lesson learned!"

$24.99 to book the cruise and $100 to CANCEL it..........watch that fine print and/or "fast" talking TA.

 

BOOKING MY OWN RESERVATION ~~~ Priceless :):)

[Zou Bisou Bisou]

Hi everyone:)

I am curious how do you guys feel about using a travel agent vs booking your own. I am a little bit frustrated lately. We booked a future cruise on explorer and the booking went to my agent the day we got off the ship the price went down by 400 dollars. I emailed my agent who I found out is on a cruise currently tried to call royal while she was in port but after 40 minutes on hold with royal she had to hang up because her ship was about to sail so when someone called the next day price went back up so I lost in essence 400 dollars. Yesterday I emailed her about moving our reservation from quantum to back to back independance she said her daughter will call today so now when I checked the prices are again 500 dollars higher than yesterdayI am so frustrated. I love my agent a lot but not having control of my reservation is driving me nuts and instead of saving money I am loosing money. Also the prices fluctuate more than the stock market.

What should I do in the future? Should I hold my own reservation and transfer it to her before the final payment? What do you guys suggest. I hate bothering her on her vacation with my emails but at the same time money is a factor here.

 

Unless you are receiving about 10% of the actual cruise FARE in OBC, perks, or cash back then keep control of your own booking. Even if you are receiving that...sometimes control is more important. I receive at least those type of perks and when the cruise I have booked is worth a lot, (suites or multiple cabins) I go for the perks from the TA. With just one cabin at a good rate I sometimes just keep control. It is your call.

[Zou Bisou Bisou]

I keep control of my own bookings. You learned how expensive using a TA was the hard way.

 

I have to disagree. Maybe if it is just you and a traveling companion with one cabin. But we, more times than most, travel with family and friends booking anywhere from 2 to 6 cabins. Since 2009 we have received over $9,000 cash back from our cruises on top of all sale prices and balcony discounts, etc. We have been cruising since 2000 and I only wish we had used this agency for those prior nine years.

[Rala]

Some people would rather sit on hold for 2 hours to speak with either someone from Pakistan, or a high school kid who has never been on a ship.

Just because they need to be "In control". Whatever that means.

I would rather just tell someone what I want and have it done.

Plus the OBC & 4 prepaid tips is a reason of its own.

Also the online TA website is the best cruise search engine that is out there.

Unlike that failed disaster website that RC has...

 

For once in my life, Matt, I agree with your post!!!!:D I don't know how people can turn down pre-paid tips, OBC, free dinner for two in specialty rest., spa credit, etc.. I have received all of these...sometimes two or three of them on the same cruise and I have always had any problems or questions taken care of very promptly and to my satisfaction. I use a large online cruise travel agency and have had no problems. But as they say ...to each his own!:)

[matj2000]

For once in my life, Matt, I agree with your post!!!!:D I don't know how people can turn down pre-paid tips, OBC, free dinner for two in specialty rest., spa credit, etc.. I have received all of these...sometimes two or three of them on the same cruise and I have always had any problems or questions taken care of very promptly and to my satisfaction. I use a large online cruise travel agency and have had no problems. But as they say ...to each his own!:)

 

Thank You..

I started using the big "Cruise" online travel site because I was always using their site just to look up cruises.

It was the best place to go because you can skip all the BS that the cruise lines make you through just to get a quote.

You can also look at every cruise line at the same time for the entire month and compare everything at the same time.

Finally I started booking with them and have never looked back.

I don't even use any particular individual, just whoever picks up...