Book Direct RC or via TA?

[pokyjones]

Looking at RC prices with their never-ending promo's, I continue to see better prices through Travel agencies. Hundreds of dollars better for 2 persons combined (plus better OBC). What are the advantages of booking direct through the cruise line as opposed to the TA? I am rather new at this...

[Clarea]

The nice thing about booking direct is that you can call Royal directly to make changes, payments, etc., and they have a 24-hour toll-free number. Many people like having this direct access.

 

However, we book with a TA all the time, and we have a very good TA, so we don't miss much. If you are saving a significant amount of money, I'd go with the TA.

 

Before you book, ask the TA if they have any change fees, cancel fees, limits on price drops, and what would be the reduction in perks if you get a price drop.

[RadioRob]

The answer to that question ultimately can be summed up in one word...

 

CONTROL

 

By booking direct, you can pickup the phone at anytime can call RCL directly. You can make modifications, watch for price changes (until date of final payment), etc. If you book with a travel agent, the agent is the person that interfaces with RCL. You can't call RCL if you see an awesome deal Sunday at 2am and want to snap it up before someone else does.

 

For my first cruise, I handled everything myself. It was fairly straight forward and I was able to get any questions I needed answered taken care of by the RCL phone team. With my next cruise, I worked with a TA for the extra perks. I decided on Saturday I wanted to upgrade from a GS to an OL for the Star class benefits. I had to wait for Sunday afternoon when my travel agent was back for her to make the change.

 

The agent I've worked with has been great... for a different cruise I have booked with her, there were some questions about the new Aqua Theater 2 bedroom suites qualifying for the new Star class benefits. Some RCL folks were saying it was Star, some were saying it was Sky... literally a different answer each time the question was asked. She took ownership of the question and got it confirmed by Resolutions so that I did not have to deal with the headache.

 

The whole idea behind a travel agent is to make your life easier and to let someone who deals with the cruise lines regularly handle the details. However if you're a person who loves being in the weeds and loves keeping control, a TA is not going to be helpful to you.

 

Hope that helps! :D

[yuvraj]

From a UK perspective, may be different elsewhere ...

 

TAs chase you for full payment a lot sooner than RCI. So my sister prefers to book with RCI.

 

Sometimes TAs put together a better package deal and provide a better service so I sometimes prefer TAs.

 

There is one further gotcha. If you book via a TA then book next cruise while on the ship, the booking is allocated to TA and you are tied. You can stop them doing this but it is a hassle and difficult to undo if you want to use a different TA. I got into this mess which could have been avoided if I booked directly in the first place.

[Keith1010]

I would book with a TA.

 

Often they can provide you with amenities beyond what RCI can provide.

 

And should something go wrong they can be your advocate with the cruise line.

 

Keith

[island lady]

Unfortunately for myself and the DH, our TA was quite lazy and just wanted to do what was easy. She liked booking all the overseas travel for the DH, getting the most bang for her buck before he retired, but was inflexible and did not give a lot of choices. We retired, and then retired her. ;) I started getting used to booking all of my own trips, including our "land yacht trips, time share trips, cruises, etc. It is my "full time job" now and I love it. :)

 

Control freak....yeah..that's me. :p

Edited February 22, 2016 by island lady

[Clarea]

Unfortunately for myself and the DH, our TA was quite lazy and just wanted to do what was easy. She liked booking all the overseas travel for the DH, getting the most bang for her buck before he retired, but was inflexible and did not give a lot of choices. We retired, and then retired her. ;) I started getting used to booking all of my own trips, including our "land yacht trips, time share trips, cruises, etc. It is my "full time job" now and I love it. :)

 

Control freak....yeah..that's me. :p

We had a TA like that, lasted one cruise. Switched to a TA that our dinner mates had been using, and she has been outstanding over 60+ cruises.

[island lady]

We had a TA like that, lasted one cruise. Switched to a TA that our dinner mates had been using, and she has been outstanding over 60+ cruises.

 

You scored!! Nice!! :) I could have done that by now, but then how could I earn my keep? :D

 

 

I actually really enjoy doing all of our travel plans. The land yacht does not come with a TA anyway. ;) :p

Edited February 22, 2016 by island lady

[RadioRob]

And by the way... when I mention control, I do not mean to imply it in a negative way. I'm not trying to call people control freaks, etc.

 

Instead I know people sometimes like arranging the details themselves. Doing so helps them know it's done exactly like they're expecting, etc. For some, part of the fun of the vacation is arranging all the little details as it helps build excitement as they wait for their sail date to arrive.

 

Normally that's exactly me! The perks however were too much for me to pass up. (On cruise 1, I'm getting an extra 1000 OBC on top of my RCL provided 250 and for cruise 2, I'm getting an extra 700 OBC in addition to my 250 RCL credit.)

 

So the compromise was finding the right agent to work with that understands me and does not mind me asking tons of questions and expecting her to make a few extra phone calls. Yes, I can't call and wake her up Sunday morning at 2am... but she's been very responsive and willing to answer questions about how changes would impact that cost/benefit analysis.

[debgreg]

For the cruise i have just booked from the UK, it was £250 cheaper booking direct, than with a TA

[island lady]

And by the way... when I mention control, I do not mean to imply it in a negative way. I'm not trying to call people control freaks, etc.

 

Instead I know people sometimes like arranging the details themselves. Doing so helps them know it's done exactly like they're expecting, etc. For some, part of the fun of the vacation is arranging all the little details as it helps build excitement as they wait for their sail date to arrive.

 

Normally that's exactly me! The perks however were too much for me to pass up. (On cruise 1, I'm getting an extra 1000 OBC on top of my RCL provided 250 and for cruise 2, I'm getting an extra 700 OBC in addition to my 250 RCL credit.)

 

So the compromise was finding the right agent to work with that understands me and does not mind me asking tons of questions and expecting her to make a few extra phone calls. Yes, I can't call and wake her up Sunday morning at 2am... but she's been very responsive and willing to answer questions about how changes would impact that cost/benefit analysis.

 

That's OK...I like being a control freak. Not an insult for me. :D

 

Sounds like you found a great TA! Congrats!

[Crazycombine64]

I do my research first directly with RCL, then I call my TA. On my last 3 cruises the TA found me better deals, better staterooms, group pricing, on-board credits, etc.

A good TA will make a huge difference. Check for fees or cancellation policies first.

[island lady]

I do my research first directly with RCL, then I call my TA. On my last 3 cruises the TA found me better deals, better staterooms, group pricing, on-board credits, etc.

A good TA will make a huge difference. Check for fees or cancellation policies first.

 

Best of both worlds! Nice! :) I also do my homework, and then book on board with what is now called "Next Cruise" to get the OBC. But I still miss the original Next Cruise Certificates. They are pretty much worthless now. :(

Edited February 22, 2016 by island lady

[hapster85]

We have 2 cruises booked for this year. One booked directly, the other via TA. I do like having the control but a TA can have advantages as has been stated by others. The TA got us a cheaper rate than posted online for the fall cruise, plus when some friends who don't like MTD decided to go, the TA was able to get us early seating in main dining, even though the website showed it as wait listed at that point. YMMV of course.

[north29]

On RC web site the prices are the same as on a TA computer. The only difference is that the TA can some times give perks of OBC, Dining, etc. I have a good friend who is a recognized TA from a major company and I only use her when they offer PERKS. I have some other friends who believe in a big box internet company and uses them exclusively. I guess after several cruises they get extra perks.

[robtulipe]

From a UK perspective, may be different elsewhere ...

 

There is one further gotcha. If you book via a TA then book next cruise while on the ship, the booking is allocated to TA and you are tied. You can stop them doing this but it is a hassle and difficult to undo if you want to use a different TA. I got into this mess which could have been avoided if I booked directly in the first place.

 

We're in NA and never had a problem with being tied to the TA we booked with for the cruise we are doing an onboard booking with. Yes, your onboard booking will be given to the same TA unless you specify otherwise. We never had a problem and it was easily to change to another TA or going direct with RCCL but you must do that while booking, not afterwards. After the onboard booking is done it is too late as then it belongs to the TA it has been assigned to and it is a real hassle to take it away from that TA. In fact it is almost impossible to do so if that TA won't release the booking unless you can show to RCI that the TA is incompetent and isn't providing the normal service expected of them. :eek:

In fact on our last cruise, on Anthem, which was booked in USD onboard a previous cruise booked direct with RCI, we assigned that Anthem cruise to a US TA that was offering a decent OBC. While onboard that cruise we wanted to book our October Brilliance TA in $CAD, as that offered us an exchange advantage compared to USD pricing so we went direct with RCI. Most US TA won't accept $CAD bookings as we learned the hard way from another onboard $CAD booking assigned to one. Just this past week we transferred that Brilliance TA booking to a US TA that would accept $CAD booking and offered OBC as an incentive to book with them. ;)

Edited February 23, 2016 by robtulipe

[RocketMan275]

And by the way... when I mention control, I do not mean to imply it in a negative way. I'm not trying to call people control freaks, etc.

 

Instead I know people sometimes like arranging the details themselves. Doing so helps them know it's done exactly like they're expecting, etc. For some, part of the fun of the vacation is arranging all the little details as it helps build excitement as they wait for their sail date to arrive.

 

Normally that's exactly me! The perks however were too much for me to pass up. (On cruise 1, I'm getting an extra 1000 OBC on top of my RCL provided 250 and for cruise 2, I'm getting an extra 700 OBC in addition to my 250 RCL credit.)

 

So the compromise was finding the right agent to work with that understands me and does not mind me asking tons of questions and expecting her to make a few extra phone calls. Yes, I can't call and wake her up Sunday morning at 2am... but she's been very responsive and willing to answer questions about how changes would impact that cost/benefit analysis.

 

I don't take the term "control" as a negative but I often wonder when people mean when they talk about losing control of their reservation. What can't you do when you book with a TA that you can do when you book direct?

 

The only things that I've seen are those that affect the original booking, ie, if you are using a TA and you wan't to change from TD to MTD, you have to call the TA; if there is a price drop and you want to rebook, you have to call the TA; and, of course, if you wish to cancel the reservation, you have to call the TA. But, other than those few things, you can deal directly with the cruise line. You can book specialty restaurants. You can book excursions. You can purchase things from their website, etc? So, exactly what have you given up?

 

OK, price drops. But, a good TA will often give you a 'price drop' when you book with the TA. I've yet to see a price drop that lowered the price below what my TA gives at the beginning. My TA will always give the new prices and still discount off of them too. The only thing I can see is that proverbial 2AM price drop that disappears quickly. Well, who is really checking prices at 2AM anyway?

 

Another factor not often mentioned is this. Most TA will book you on different cruise lines. Here's an issue my TA just resolved. I had a cruise booked on Allure and one booked on Silhouette. I decided I wanted to rebook on Holland and Princess. If I had booked those directly, I would have made four calls and spoken to four people. With my TA, I made one call, explained what I wanted, confirmed the rooms and pricing, and the cancellation and new booking emails. Total time, maybe 5 minutes on the phone and another 15 minutes to get the emails. BTW, I got a discounts on both bookings of over 10%.