BOOKING question

[dinoz2724]

I'm going to be booking a NCL Cruise to Bermuda for my family of 6. I do need to book soon as we would like  adjoining rooms. Any thoughts on the best site to book through? Any to be aware of, or do you book direct through the cruise line? Looking for some tips! Thanks

[tallnthensome]

Simply book through NCL's website and have control over your booking from there on out. 

[roger001]

I shop through NCL's web site, find the cruise, rooms, prices, that I like, then I go through a TA.  She does the booking, her company provides travel insurance options, and she gives me some on board credit.  For me, that the painless way.  If you do use a TA, be sure they don't have penalties that they charge in case you change things or cancel.   For the past 22 cruises, been super happy with our TA and company.  Almost like a family member.   However, as previously mentioned, buying direct from NCL works happily for many.  

[shof515]

15 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

Simply book through NCL's website and have control over your booking from there on out. 

 

i agree with this. while it is a true you can book with a travel agent (cruise critic rules prevent naming them) to get onboard credits and other perks, i find a better value to me is booking direct with the cruise lines to prevent any issues

 

when you book with a travel agent, they own your booking and have full control over it. Any payments issues, need to be done through them, ,any questions will needed to be contacted to them first, etc.

[pete_coach]

Call NCL and book with them. They will assign a Personal Cruise Consultant to answer any questions or make changes and arrangements.

No third party issues as NCL is your travel agent.

[mjkacmom]

If you want to book 2 cabins, you will have to call, I’m guessing you want connecting, not adjoining?

[FredZiffle]

Always shop around.  While the actual price of the cruise is usually (but not always) the same, different TAs will have different perks, which are sometimes fairly substantial.  

[senseib]

1 hour ago, tallnthensome said:

Simply book through NCL's website and have control over your booking from there on out. 

I agree.  I like to be in direct control of my booking.  NCLs customer service for any issues has been great.  

 

For travel insurance I go to insuremytrip.com.  You get a lot of quotes to compare and all parts of the trip are covered.

[MCC retired]

54 minutes ago, FredZiffle said:

Always shop around.  While the actual price of the cruise is usually (but not always) the same, different TAs will have different perks, which are sometimes fairly substantial.  

 A Good TA should always get you something better than booking NCL directly and if you have a problem , you don't want to own your booking . A Good TA has connections @ NCL .

[BirdTravels]

We always book direct with NCL. It is well worth having total control over our reservation. 

Edited December 9, 2018 by BirdTravels

[www3traveler]

Find a local travel agency whose agents are Certified Travel Consultants.  They can be a huge help.

 

PCC's can only book the cruise and sometimes a hotel or air.  Most of them work for a Call Center someplace and not in NCL's Miami Headquarters.  They only know what their computer screens tells them.

[CincyJen]

We book direct through NCL. I shop the website, get some cabin location ideas and prices, and then call our PCC. We really lucked out with our PCC and she's like family now. We even got to meet her for drinks on our Bliss sailing two weeks ago! 

 

Interesting discussion. Let us know what you decide!

 

Edited to add: In March, a four hour flight delay caused us to miss our ship, the Star, in Los Angeles. Throughout the process, our PCC was invaluable. We were able to speak directly with her while we decided whether to continue with the flight or just take our lumps. She also had her supervisor on the phone helping us. In the end, we were happy we had insurance, and our PCC found a great deal on the Bliss for us. For this reason alone, I don't think we'll use a TA again and will stick to booking direct with Norwegian using our PCC. Just a thought!

Edited December 9, 2018 by CincyJen
Reasons

[dubroben22]

it is correct that you can get extra perks through TA but unless it is a an agent and not online big cruise website, it is easier to do any changes with PCC.

for my upcoming trip we booked a suite with our parents and they had to opt out 2 days after the booking because of medical issues. It was after the final payment but our PCC talked to her supervisor and they cancelled their charge with no penalty. Not sure if TA could have accomplished that

[xcell]

The price of the cruise is the same regardless who you book with (unless the TA has prebooked a bunch of rooms and gets a group discount).

 

The TAs can only offer additional bonuses (OBC, free meals, etc...).  The benefit of going directly is that when there are price changes, you can just call NCL, whereas thru a TA, there's that middle man/woman.

 

You can transfer from NCL to a TA within a specific amount of time -- I think it's 30 or 60 days.

Edited December 9, 2018 by xcell

[dinoz2724]

8 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

If you want to book 2 cabins, you will have to call, I’m guessing you want connecting, not adjoining?

I did not know there was a difference?

 

[dinoz2724]

Thanks for all the advice. Sounds like going direct is the best option. I did know that I had questions when I booked with Expedia and NCL kept advising me to all Expedia. Would have been a lot easier to just be able to call Norwegian direct. When I called Expedia it was not as easy. I guess just bite the bullet and book it through NCL....the trip we went on was amazing and worth every penny! Thanks again!

 

Edited December 9, 2018 by dinoz2724

[esm54687]

47 minutes ago, dinoz2724 said:

I did not know there was a difference?

 

- adjoining is directly next to each other

- connecting is adjoining with a door to allow going from one to the other without exiting to the hallway

[MCC retired]

There are many large online TA’s , that specialize in Cruises , where you work with one  individual agent . 

You enjoy  the benefits that you can’t receive by booking direct , yet have 1 TA 

handling your booking.

Ask  your friends , family , neighbors , co workers who cruise “often” ,who they use .