Who books directly with the cruise line and why?

[Murphey]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

I think the concept of "brick and mortar" is no longer the same.

 

I use a real travel agent who lives across the country. She works from her house which allows her to work 7 days a week and even evenings. I call her or email her to book cruises. I have a personal relationship with her. She knows who I am when I call. I consider this the new brick and mortar. I don't use a website when I book.

 

Don't be afraid of those who work from home. My agent would run laps around our local agencies in volume (run laps over a lot of the large agencies also). The amount of cruises she alone books amazes me.

 

Even when I first started booking cruises many moons ago - I booked locally but never went there. I called and emailed her. Now I just use a specialist who works in another state.

 

I would never book direct because I like her prices better, I like that she has actually been on all the ships out there and has traveled extensively. You can't say that about booking direct. Many of those people have never cruised or traveled extensively. I also like that if I say "I am interested in this" - she can even offer another line that may have much better savings. She also offers an amazing insurance policy that I can book at final payment and cover pre-existing conditions. That is difficult to come by with out paying an arm and a leg.

 

Hi Coral....I'm quite sure we have the same agent.  You said it all.  Bottom line, no matter what price find out there, she is consistently 10% lower.  I usually communicate by email, but when I call, she and her associate know me by my first name.  Other "bene's" often show up.  Saves us a ton. 

[CaribbeanIsland]

I also use the same TA as Coral. Once you use a good TA --- it is difficult to book direct. Glad to get the referral from Coral. I have yet to figure out why people book direct. I see no reason to.

[4cats4me]

3 hours ago, Coral said:

I think the concept of "brick and mortar" is no longer the same.

 

I use a real travel agent who lives across the country. She works from her house which allows her to work 7 days a week and even evenings. I call her or email her to book cruises. I have a personal relationship with her. She knows who I am when I call. I consider this the new brick and mortar. I don't use a website when I book.

 

Don't be afraid of those who work from home. My agent would run laps around our local agencies in volume (run laps over a lot of the large agencies also). The amount of cruises she alone books amazes me.

 

Even when I first started booking cruises many moons ago - I booked locally but never went there. I called and emailed her. Now I just use a specialist who works in another state.

 

I would never book direct because I like her prices better, I like that she has actually been on all the ships out there and has traveled extensively. You can't say that about booking direct. Many of those people have never cruised or traveled extensively. I also like that if I say "I am interested in this" - she can even offer another line that may have much better savings. She also offers an amazing insurance policy that I can book at final payment and cover pre-existing conditions. That is difficult to come by with out paying an arm and a leg.

 

Yep, I think we use the same agent.  

[suzyed]

3 hours ago, richsea said:

It has never been advantageous for us to book directly with the cruise line either. If anyone feels they should not use a TA just to get a bottle of wine, I would say they are using the wrong TA. We regularly get $200-400 on board credit from our on line agency. The big box store is good also, but gives store gift cards for some cruise lines, although tgey do gove OBC for Princess.

I have never ever gotten a better deal booking directly with the cruise line!  We will most often get the same deal that Princess is offering (ex. sip and sail, 3 for free) but at a much better price and with more OBC when we book with a travel agent.  I use both a brick and mortar and online agencies.  I have even called the cruise line to see if they will match it or beat it and the answer is always "no".   The prices we get are usually substantially less than booking direct.

[johnmik1]

IMHO,Booking directly with a cruise line is like paying sticker price for a new car.

[suzyed]

3 hours ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

We do the same with the big box but with an added twist sometimes.  We book with Princess direct online if there is a good sale or $1 deposit and then transfer to the big box within 60 days for their substantial OBC.

You don't have to book directly to get the $1 deposit....I got it from an onine TA.
I have several cruises booked presently and went on to the Princess website to see what the fares are.  On one of them I am paying a similar amount for both of us in the same cabin type as the cruise line is charging for one person!  That is not a small savings...that's huge! 

[MCC retired]

There is no Princess rate or promo available to book Direct , that can’t be booked and bettered by “any” TA  . 

If the TA you contact merely quotes what you can get Direct , time to find a TA that appreciates your business 😉

[karatemom2]

10 minutes ago, MCC retired said:

There is no Princess rate or promo available to book Direct , that can’t be booked and bettered by “any” TA  . 

If the TA you contact merely quotes what you can get Direct , time to find a TA that appreciates your business 😉

 

I have to disagree with you on this. As I said, we used to always go through a large TA for the discounts. But if you are a Casino player with some track record the discounts available via the Player’s Club are significant and much better than any TA we have used. 

 

I will also add that since booking directly through Princess with our Casino discount we have also been upgraded twice - one was a very significant upgrade to the Grand Suite on the Grand. These offers came directly from Princess and required fast action on our part to nab the opportunity. In our many, many cruises booked through a TA we never once got an upgrade or even the chance to try for one. I’m not saying it can’t happen but for us it has only happened since we have started booking directly. 

Edited May 19, 2019 by karatemom2

[voljeep]

17 minutes ago, suzyed said:

You don't have to book directly to get the $1 deposit....I got it from an onine TA.
I have several cruises booked presently and went on to the Princess website to see what the fares are.  On one of them I am paying a similar amount for both of us in the same cabin type as the cruise line is charging for one person!  That is not a small savings...that's huge! 

You win !!! - noone has posted they get the equivalent of a full fare as a discount

 

was this the same difference as the date you booked - or after price increases on a booked cruise ?

[suzyed]

8 minutes ago, voljeep said:

You win !!! - noone has posted they get the equivalent of a full fare as a discount

 

was this the same difference as the date you booked - or after price increases on a booked cruise ?

Not really sure how to answer your question.  I thinking it was much higher than the TA price or I would have booked directly but I have yet to see a better price on the cruise line site.  I check the prices very frequently and I have always been at least $1000 cheaper but with this one we're talking way more than that. 

[Bootman4U]

Exactly which TA is giving you anything?  Everything is coming FROM the cruise line, not the TA, including OBC. It could be a matter of a reduction in the TA commission or a perk to the TA from the cruise line for steering a great deal of business to the line but NO TA that I know of is giving you OBC.

[CaribbeanIsland]

26 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

I will also add that since booking directly through Princess with our Casino discount we have also been upgraded twice - one was a very significant upgrade to the Grand Suite on the Grand. These offers came directly from Princess and required fast action on our part to nab the opportunity. In our many, many cruises booked through a TA we never once got an upgrade or even the chance to try for one. I’m not saying it can’t happen but for us it has only happened since we have started booking directly. 

I use my TA with my casino rate and she discounts that. We also get upsells and upgrades.

[oskidunker]

There is a delay getting the upsell offer. Not sure why the email is sent to the TA. She just forwards it to me. She is goo but sometimes 2 hour delay, assuming you check your email often. 

 

Why do do you have to call back? Seems like a reply to the email would be more efficient. 

Edited May 19, 2019 by oskidunker

[CaribbeanIsland]

8 minutes ago, Bootman4U said:

Exactly which TA is giving you anything?  Everything is coming FROM the cruise line, not the TA, including OBC. It could be a matter of a reduction in the TA commission or a perk to the TA from the cruise line for steering a great deal of business to the line but NO TA that I know of is giving you OBC.

The TA is discounting their commission. They often have group space which includes OBC from Princess. You don't get this by booking direct with Princess.

[johnmik1]

7 minutes ago, Bootman4U said:

Exactly which TA is giving you anything?  Everything is coming FROM the cruise line, not the TA, including OBC. It could be a matter of a reduction in the TA commission or a perk to the TA from the cruise line for steering a great deal of business to the line but NO TA that I know of is giving you OBC.

My TA,who has booked over 50 cruises for me ,immediately books group space whenever anyone books a cruise on Princess.That frees up onboard credit  and other amenities and she also discounts her commission and that comes back in the form of OBC.I have 3 cruises booked for later this year and her pricing is 10-15% below the Princess Web Site and a I have extra OBC on all 3 cruises.

[karatemom2]

3 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

There is a delay getting the upsell offer. Not sure why the email is sent to the TA. She just forwards it to me. She is goo but sometimes 2 hour delay, assuming you check your email often. 

 

Why do do you have to call back? Seems like a reply to the email would be more efficient. 

 

Generally the upsell offers go out via email but provide a number you must call back to get it. The number goes to a voice mailbox and then they call you back in the order the call came in. Hence getting the email directly and calling ASAP with the ability to immediately authorize the charges is the key. I have to believe having a TA in the middle could slow that down. 

[azbirdmom]

4 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

We used to book through a specific travel agency where we often found prices better than booking direct. My guess is they were using their clout to get slightly better rates or were rebating part of their commission. It worked well for us for the most part. 

 

However, my husband makes very good use of the casino onboard and as the Player’s Club has grown along with the benefits, we get such advantages in price by booking directly through the Casino program we never use a TA anymore. 

 

I also get the casino VIP offers and am eligible for the casino discount on practically every cruise.  And my wonderful TA has booked all of these casino offers for us - there's no need to go through Princess as it will cost more.  We get the casino discounts and perks PLUS additional discounts and perks from her.  For most things DIY is the best way to go, but for cruises the exact opposite is true.  It's great to receive all of the savings by using a TA, but more importantly we have an advocate if something goes wrong.  Anyone going direct is leaving money on the table and in some cases the $$ are significant.

 

4 hours ago, Coral said:

I think the concept of "brick and mortar" is no longer the same.

 

I use a real travel agent who lives across the country. She works from her house which allows her to work 7 days a week and even evenings. I call her or email her to book cruises. I have a personal relationship with her. She knows who I am when I call. I consider this the new brick and mortar. I don't use a website when I book.

 

Don't be afraid of those who work from home. My agent would run laps around our local agencies in volume (run laps over a lot of the large agencies also). The amount of cruises she alone books amazes me.

 

Even when I first started booking cruises many moons ago - I booked locally but never went there. I called and emailed her. Now I just use a specialist who works in another state.

 

I would never book direct because I like her prices better, I like that she has actually been on all the ships out there and has traveled extensively. You can't say that about booking direct. Many of those people have never cruised or traveled extensively. I also like that if I say "I am interested in this" - she can even offer another line that may have much better savings. She also offers an amazing insurance policy that I can book at final payment and cover pre-existing conditions. That is difficult to come by with out paying an arm and a leg.

 

So true!  As an example, I've been following fares for one of our future cruises.  This morning I noticed a significant drop in rates and sent an email to her thinking that she would respond on Monday.  Within 2 minutes I had an email back saying she would look at it right away and within 5 minutes she had refared our trip saving us more than $1400.  A good TA is worth their weight in gold and she is a true gem - the best!

Edited May 19, 2019 by azbirdmom

[yerdua]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

 She also offers an amazing insurance policy that I can book at final payment and cover pre-existing conditions. That is difficult to come by with out paying an arm and a leg.

 

Coral, would you mind sharing the travel insurance company that your TA uses? Not asking for the TA's name (much as I would like to) just the insurance co. Thanks.

[yerdua]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

 She also offers an amazing insurance policy that I can book at final payment and cover pre-existing conditions. That is difficult to come by with out paying an arm and a leg.

 

Coral, would you mind sharing the travel insurance company that your TA uses? Not asking for the TA's name (much as I would like to) just the insurance co. Thanks.

[azbirdmom]

14 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

 

Generally the upsell offers go out via email but provide a number you must call back to get it. The number goes to a voice mailbox and then they call you back in the order the call came in. Hence getting the email directly and calling ASAP with the ability to immediately authorize the charges is the key. I have to believe having a TA in the middle could slow that down. 

 

If a TA isn't on the ball, you definitely could miss out on these offers.  And big box agencies do not forward them.  My TA has forwarded lots of upsell offers as well as a moveover offer within minutes of receiving them and we haven't missed the opportunity to avail ourselves of one of these offers yet.  It's a matter of doing business with the right person / agency.

Edited May 19, 2019 by azbirdmom

[Katjoy]

I have booked with a travel agency in the past & was mostly satisfied.  I started booking direct with Princess when the Big Box Store wanted to charge me to switch to their new lower price before I made the final payment.  Their extra change fee ended up not saving me any money to change to the lower price.  That upset me.  As a result I now only book direct with Princess. 

 

If Princess' price lowers prior to final payment I call & they lower their price for me.  Also, last September after final payment their price dropped & I was super blessed Princess credited back to my Credit Card the difference when I called them.

I love the fact that I can deal with them direct.  We get the Casino discount, which is awesome.  My hubby gets the Military OBC,  we also do the future cruise form & get OBC for that. It just seems to work out beautifully for us.

[Coral]

4 minutes ago, yerdua said:

 

Coral, would you mind sharing the travel insurance company that your TA uses? Not asking for the TA's name (much as I would like to) just the insurance co. Thanks.

The company is Allianz but it is a policy that is written specifically for agents in this company. I have not seen this specific policy on insurance websites that sell Allianz. Another benefit of using an agency.

[meatloafsfan]

accessible cabins are tough enough to find (especially for 3 people); when I find them online for a cruise we want, I'd rather just book it.

 

Sometimes I have used an online agency (especially for Royal or Celebrity).

[bemis12]

1 hour ago, suzyed said:

 On one of them I am paying a similar amount for both of us in the same cabin type as the cruise line is charging for one person!  That is not a small savings...that's huge! 

 

That's just not possible, given the amount of the TA commissions. Their ENTIRE commission becomes the maximum benefit to you.  You can't be comparing fares at the same point in time.

[Coral]

10 minutes ago, bemis12 said:

 

That's just not possible, given the amount of the TA commissions. Their ENTIRE commission becomes the maximum benefit to you.  You can't be comparing fares at the same point in time.

Technically it could be true if they booked into group space that the TA acquired when the prices came out and then the prices skyrocketed.