Having Trouble Getting Cruise Booked

[BiggDawg]

Okay, so I'm not looking for a TA, I understand the rules.

But, I have a problem.  I have decided on a particular cruise, it ticks off all of the boxes.

And, most of the sources have a better deal than the cruise line's own website:  No surprises there.

But, one particular online TA, that I had elected originally selected, had a better upgrade, lower price, and more onboard credit than most others.  It's worth about $400 per person for the spouse and me.

But, before committing a bunch of $$, I checked for reviews of this site, and they came back less than stellar, to be gentle.

Now, I understand that a lot have to do with mismanaged expectations, "I didn't get a refund on a non-refundable deal" or "They didn't give me as much as I wanted, when it said clearly that I was wrong in the fine print," etc.

What I am concerned with is how much should I believe those, or where can I trust?  I don't want to use the cruiseline's own site, since that is the absolute worst deal I have seen.  And, unfortunately, I do not live near a face-to-face office of a TA where I can go in and look at them.  The big travel sites, like Exp and Orb just seem to dump me to cruise agents that seem to work out of their houses independently once you get past the fancy company front. And those seem iffy.

So, where can I go that I can trust? Or can I trust the big Dot-Coms that have less than stellar reviews from the disgruntled?

Edited February 28, 2019 by BiggDawg

[LuckyStar]

4 hours ago, BiggDawg said:

Okay, so I'm not looking for a TA, I understand the rules.

But, I have a problem.  I have decided on a particular cruise, it ticks off all of the boxes.

And, most of the sources have a better deal than the cruise line's own website:  No surprises there.

But, one particular online TA, that I had elected originally selected, had a better upgrade, lower price, and more onboard credit than most others.  It's worth about $400 per person for the spouse and me.

But, before committing a bunch of $$, I checked for reviews of this site, and they came back less than stellar, to be gentle.

Now, I understand that a lot have to do with mismanaged expectations, "I didn't get a refund on a non-refundable deal" or "They didn't give me as much as I wanted, when it said clearly that I was wrong in the fine print," etc.

What I am concerned with is how much should I believe those, or where can I trust?  I don't want to use the cruiseline's own site, since that is the absolute worst deal I have seen.  And, unfortunately, I do not live near a face-to-face office of a TA where I can go in and look at them.  The big travel sites, like Exp and Orb just seem to dump me to cruise agents that seem to work out of their houses independently once you get past the fancy company front. And those seem iffy.

So, where can I go that I can trust? Or can I trust the big Dot-Coms that have less than stellar reviews from the disgruntled?

I go directly to the cruise line now after having tried every online TA out there.  First, most all of them charge a cancellation fee, the cruise lines do not IF you book a refundable deposit.  I have had great online TAs but the companies policies are what is bad.  I don't spend that much more by booking directly with the cruise lines. 

[BiggDawg]

1 hour ago, LuckyStar said:

I go directly to the cruise line now after having tried every online TA out there.  First, most all of them charge a cancellation fee, the cruise lines do not IF you book a refundable deposit.  I have had great online TAs but the companies policies are what is bad.  I don't spend that much more by booking directly with the cruise lines. 

 

Directly with the cruiseline was where I started.

However, the difference from the line directly is a one class upgrade ($100/person) at a $125 per discount, plus $250 onboard credit.

That's $700 for the two of us, which is a noticeable amount, for sure!

[LuckyStar]

17 hours ago, BiggDawg said:

 

Directly with the cruiseline was where I started.

However, the difference from the line directly is a one class upgrade ($100/person) at a $125 per discount, plus $250 onboard credit.

That's $700 for the two of us, which is a noticeable amount, for sure!

I'm sorry, I didn't read it closely enough. That's a lot of OBC!  Are you booking a big group? If so, definitely go with a live TA.  

 

I don't always trust reviews, I take them with a grain of salt.  I've used a few big box online TAs and had little problem. I have only one I do not trust and it rhymes with Texfredia dot com.  I love the site that rhymes with Deep Fuses dot com.  Have you talked to the cruiseline, told them of the fees you are finding and asking them if they will match? All they can say is no.  I do not know that a lot of people get a lot of OBC for using their own TA, so if they say no, go to a live TA and ask them to match the online TA.

[Jasalth]

I was going to say you generally have to look at reviews of things with a grain of salt, but then I googled my online TA for reviews, and they have a 3.9 to 4 star rating most places and that place the competes for your cruise business has them at a 99% rating with over 1000 reviews.  

 

In truth I adore my agent there who has been with them for 10+ years. Actually I have had a good response for everyone there, including wanting to book or change things with my normal TA isn't there, and he still gets credit for my booking and handles it all. But that being said, I never have written a formal review about them. Sure, I have my TA's cards and I give them to people I know, but word of mouth is different from the interwebs. 

 

The best question I have for you is how needy are you after you book? Do you like to change things, or want them to book things like your airfare and/or hotels and excursions? If so, then I would go with someone who is considered reliable. 

 

If you book like me and are pretty much doing it for the OBC then you can get away with pretty much anyone who can make the booking. Even though we aren't booked until 2020 right now, I probably won't be contacting my TA again until about 6-8 months out, and that is only if there are enough price drops for me to switch rooms since my category is already sold out. I will contact him to see if he can meet or beat the hotel/airfare package I find myself and give him all the details for. If he can match or beat it great! If not, we go our separate ways on it with him doing minimal work because I already know exactly what I want. 

 

That being said, my current cruise I was offered $150 more OBC by a different TA on that site that competes for your cruise. Looking into it, I just wasn't comfortable with it (even though they have pretty decent reviews they are a smaller family operation it seems and I since I have to keep 9-5 hours at work now, I can't do much during the day!) so I passed knowing if something does happen this far out, I have a TA team who will deal with it who is open 8a-11p EST. 

 

The only thing I really look for is to make sure they don't charge fees for bookings, changes or cancellations. In truth I went through 4 different TA's before I decided on the one I liked. Its just like finding a hairstylist or any other service. Sometimes its good, sometimes its bad, but as long as you get to the end result you want without to much problem, then there is always next time to change

 

 

 

 

[BiggDawg]

13 hours ago, Jasalth said:

I was going to say you generally have to look at reviews of things with a grain of salt, but then I googled my online TA for reviews, and they have a 3.9 to 4 star rating most places and that place the competes for your cruise business has them at a 99% rating with over 1000 reviews.  

 

{snip}

 

The best question I have for you is how needy are you after you book? Do you like to change things, or want them to book things like your airfare and/or hotels and excursions? If so, then I would go with someone who is considered reliable. 

 

If you book like me and are pretty much doing it for the OBC then you can get away with pretty much anyone who can make the booking. Even though we aren't booked until 2020 right now,

 

{snip}

 

The only thing I really look for is to make sure they don't charge fees for bookings, changes or cancellations. In truth I went through 4 different TA's before I decided on the one I liked. Its just like finding a hairstylist or any other service. Sometimes its good, sometimes its bad, but as long as you get to the end result you want without to much problem, then there is always next time to change

 

 

Nope, no booking fees. No cancellation fees from the TA, though they never said "No fees," just that they never said there were in any of the documentation.  i copied the "Terms and Conditions" so I have in writing that they did not say there would be fees.  I don't actually expect to cancel, but of course you never know.

 

I have never used an online TA except once for flights years ago from the place that sounds like you went around the planet.  They do, of course charge booking fees, but they had a better price than I could get direct, and I just have never gone there again.  I have always booked direct with the airlines, or the cruiseline.  I am considering this solely for the discounts and the OBC, as you guessed.

 

But, what threw me was that I did google them, never having dealt with them nor known personally anyone who had.  The reviews were not of the Google or Yelp variety, but what popped up was BBB, and of course all complaints.  But then, who writes the BBB unless it is a complaint?

 

I did, as everyone has suggested, take the reviews with a grain of salt and I bit the bullet.  I went ahead and took my chance, and the cruiseline has already confirmed back that everything is consistent with what I thought was going to be the case.  So, if there are any problems now I can cut past the TA, should I need to. 

 

I guess sometimes you just gotta' pays your nickels to take your chances, I am expecting this to work out.

 

BTW, since I booked, both the TA and the Cruisline directly have upped the entry cost for the same voyage by $125/person, the online TA discount has evaporated, and the OBC has gone away for now.  I got them all, but had I waited it would now cost me about $700 more to get the same accommodations, so as long as everything continues to work out I got a great deal!

[cb at sea]

Don't just look at BBB complaints...check to see HOW the complaints were handled!  What is the company's BBB rating?  That can tell you a lot!