What is the advantage of a travel agent vs the cruise line direct?

[iancal]

Better pricing.  Agents who will give you the straight goods on ships-good and bad points, agents who will tell you about equally or more attractive options on different ships/cruise lines.  Agents who work for the cruise line have a different master than independent agents.   This ha a definite impact on the information  and the advice that they provide.  And it often shows...if you get the right independent agent.

Edited November 27, 2018 by iancal

[iancal]

Keep in mind that every time we have checked the price of a cruise on a TA site has always been identical to the cruise line price.

 

But that is not the price we pay.  Once we get on the phone, or deal with the agent by email the net price drops. Sometimes by as much as 10-12 percent in the form of TA provided OBC or taking advantage of group rates.  I suspect that travel agencies are not permitted to advertise rates less than cruise line list.  And if the TA does not offer additional discounts you only have to ask...or find another TA.  Once in a while you also get a TA sponsored excursion thrown in-especially if the agency is hosting a small group.

 

We want a TA who will say ....don't go on that dog...I had several clients come back and they had multiple complaints.  Or say....yes, that is great ship..recent feedback from my clients has been excellent.  The cruise line agent may say the latter, but not the former.  Or suggest that you not book cruises before or after drydock. Cannot imagine a cruise line rep saying don't book the ship because it is coming out of drydock and most likely there will be ongoing issues that will impact the enjoyment of your cruise.

Edited November 27, 2018 by iancal

[DaveOKC]

If you book through a TA, are you able to get the Casino RATE?  We save 10-15% with this.

 

Also, just off the phone with my PCC and she was able to get me another $150 off per person from yesterday's booking.  This was due to some confusion with my rate and what was being shown on the website - long story........  SUPPOSEDLY she got them to make an exception and give me the lower rate.

 

 

[*Miss G*]

Well, despite the title of this thread and the majority consensus, I prefer to book through the PCC.  I have travelled the TA road and it is not what it’s cracked up to be.  The only exception was the first TA we had; she was exceptional.  But then she was gone and it was a steep downhill slide from there.  At the enough-is-enough point I received an email from HAL, quite out of the blue, introducing me to my PCC.  Considering I’d been sailing with them for years I found this quite surprising, but the next time I wanted to book I picked up the phone and called him.  Wow.  It was like night and day, and the pricing was the same, but usually better, with the PCC.  When I book a guarantee I am assigned a room immediately and it is always a higher category.  When my PCC is not working someone else immediately responds to my query in his place.  They don’t lie to me and they don’t fudge the truth.  I am a very happy customer.

[iancal]

Our experience is that the TA's that want to be your new best friend are typically the least business like and the least likely to provide a booking incentive in the form of an OBC.   As per the OP, we are simply not interested in wine, flowers, chocolate, or a dinner as an incentive.   We prefer an agent who is all business and just wants to book us and get on to the next customer.

 

Booking a cruise is strictly transactional for us.   Strictly price and  delivery as it were.   We view cruises as a commodity product.  No different than booking an airline ticket, a rental car, or an AI vacation. 

Edited November 28, 2018 by iancal

[caribill]

15 hours ago, iancal said:

Keep in mind that every time we have checked the price of a cruise on a TA site has always been identical to the cruise line price.  How are you checking? Looking at web sites or contacting the TA? Most cruise lines do not allow TAs to advertise prices lower than the cruise line displays, but the TAs can offer lower prices if you contact them (which is what you have done per the next paragraph).

 

But that is not the price we pay.  Once we get on the phone, or deal with the agent by email the net price drops. Sometimes by as much as 10-12 percent in the form of TA provided OBC or taking advantage of group rates.  I suspect that travel agencies are not permitted to advertise rates less than cruise line list.  And if the TA does not offer additional discounts you only have to ask...or find another TA.  Once in a while you also get a TA sponsored excursion thrown in-especially if the agency is hosting a small group.

 

 

see above in red

[caribill]

16 hours ago, iancal said:

Better pricing.  Agents who will give you the straight goods on ships-good and bad points, agents who will tell you about equally or more attractive options on different ships/cruise lines.  Agents who work for the cruise line have a different master than independent agents.   This ha a definite impact on the information  and the advice that they provide.  And it often shows...if you get the right independent agent.

 

That describes good agents. Many TAs know very little about cruising and cannot provide the depth of information you want. Of course cruise line agents may also have a big lack of knowledge and may never have actually been on a cruise.

[kazu]

17 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

If you book through a TA, are you able to get the Casino RATE?  We save 10-15% with this.

 

Also, just off the phone with my PCC and she was able to get me another $150 off per person from yesterday's booking.  This was due to some confusion with my rate and what was being shown on the website - long story........  SUPPOSEDLY she got them to make an exception and give me the lower rate.

 

 

Yes Dave, if you book with a TA you still get the Casino rate. 🙂 

 

the TA will usually even say something like "great, you have a casino rate".  Keep in mind though that not all cruises have the casino discount applied to them.

[terrydtx]

We Have used the same TA for 10 years who specializes in cruises. I have her cell number and can reach her anytime. In addition to the extra OBC and others benefits she has provided she has our interests in mind. For example when we booked our Alaska cruise for next year  for a SS cabin, the rate we booked has dropped twice and she caught them and notified she was rebooking at the lower price. The last time not only did the price drop $200pp but she got the Explore 4 promo added at the new cost. BTW HAL's website said the X4 promo was available for new bookings only. That alone was worth over $800 so having our TA is a bonus for us. I doubt a HAL PCC would have done all of this for us.

 

One other thing to consider is a TA has more options for trip insurance that are independent from the cruise lines. When I have compared the TA insurance options to those offered by the CL the TA insurance covers a lot more for about the same price or sometimes even less in cost.

Edited November 28, 2018 by terrydtx

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

Yes Dave, if you book with a TA you still get the Casino rate. 🙂 

 

the TA will usually even say something like "great, you have a casino rate".  Keep in mind though that not all cruises have the casino discount applied to them.

Thanks!  

[Jareds_mommytoo]

The only travel agency I see in Canada that give any perks is Costco 

 

[iancal]

A number of years ago, the first time we looked at insurance, our TA told us not to bother with the policy that her agency sold or with any cruise line insurance.  She said it was too expensive and lacking in many areas.   She even recommended a vendor that we call directly.  Would a cruise line rep do this?

 

 The upshot was a one year policy with unlimited  3 week out of country medical and evac  periods for less cost as her considerably less comprehensive agency or cruise line offering for a single three week period.    She had to call me back from home later that day as she was in the office when I called and did not want to have the conversation in the 'open' as it were. 

 

Now, we typically use an online TA based in the US but we also price overseas cruises with agents in those countries.  We gave up on the Canadian agencies.  Especially the franchise ones that advertise themselves as cruise specialists.

 

We save anywhere from 8-12 percent on each cruise.  Usually in the form of TA provided OBC's.  For us this works out to one free cruise for every fifteen or so that we take.  Far better in our view than than a free meal, bottle of wine, etc.

Edited November 28, 2018 by iancal

[kazu]

34 minutes ago, Jareds_mommytoo said:

The only travel agency I see in Canada that give any perks is Costco 

 

 

You don't have to use a TA in Canada. 😉. 

There are TA's south of the border too and some of them let you book in Canadian $ 😄 

TA's deals are better than Costco - at least for me. 😉 

[iancal]

The only time we have found that Canadian warehouse store to be beneficial was two years ago when Princess had a Canadian dollar at par offer (for about 8 hours only).  We had to book in Canada and we had to do it quickly or the offer would pass us by.  The OBC's were not great but certainly better than what the cruise line was offereing (ie zero).  

[Himself]

I am a priest and usually go as a Service Staff member.  However, I have also travelled as a passenger. When I do this I always book through the cruise line,  These responses

have opened my eyes a bit.  Thanks to all for their insights.

[iancal]

Just keep in mind that many TA's will not volunteer to provide OBC's or if they do they offer just a little.  You have to press them and make them aware that you are shopping and will be going with the person whose service/price equation is the most advantageous to you based on your needs and requirements.

[Randyk47]

38 minutes ago, iancal said:

Just keep in mind that many TA's will not volunteer to provide OBC's or if they do they offer just a little.  You have to press them and make them aware that you are shopping and will be going with the person whose service/price equation is the most advantageous to you based on your needs and requirements.

 

Luckily I haven’t had to worry about that with my TA.   We’ve been with her eight years now and have always gotten a pretty standard cash discount of 10-12%.  I don’t remember if we’ve ever discussed that after she told me about her agencies benefits way back when we first booked with her.   

[Wombat706]

Do any of the Australian CC contributors get offers/reductions/OBC from their TA's above and beyond what the cruise line advertises?

[Kruzer Zuker]

I have been experiencing with booking with independent TAs lately and yes you get perks and obc and lower prices but most TA don’t work 24/7 like most cruise line customer services do and you may miss a sale if it happens on weekends.   Still worth it though. 

 

Next time I will give big box TAs a try.  

Edited November 28, 2018 by Kruzer Zuker