Should I transfer to a Travel Agent

[EBFURR]

I have to say no, do not transfer. We have 35+ cruises over 25 years and have used various TAs on occasion including recently when we tried to give our business to a local TA who seems to be  nice guy. I had to end that relationship for a variety of reasons including his failure to make our payment when requested, not answering emails, not answering phone calls or returning calls, etc. Again, nice guy but very disorganized. As has already been stated, you give up any direct control or the ability to speak directly with the cruise line to resolve issues, make changes, etc. Unfortunately, we have never found a TA or agency that was fully responsive to our needs including being available to make a booking if a sale came up and we wanted a specific cabin. Simply put, when you are dealing with a single agent he/she will not  always be available for you. This is understandable since people need to have a private life as well. Bottom line is if they are out or tied up you are stuck. Basically, you become of a slave to the TAs schedule and not yours. If it is a multi agent operation you are often not able to get the same person when you want them and the other person does not know you or your situation. They will offer to have your TA call you back but you are back to the TAs schedule again. When you deal with the cruise line someone is available 24/7 and they can all do whatever you need. Additionally, you never hear "I need to call the cruise line and get back to you". You are dealing with the cruise line. Which brings up another point. I have been told many things by TAs that I knew from experience were not true. These things were said in good faith but were said from an uninformed point of view. On occasion a TA will offer a little extra perk which essentially comes out of their commission. This can often be in the form of an on board credit of $25 or $50, maybe more with an expensive cabin. We have found that the hassle of not being able to work directly with the cruise line is just not worth it for us. Add the fact that this last TA "forgot" to put the promised $50 credit on our account and we found out on board. This was despite the fact that I transferred the paid in full booking to him 8+ months prior to the cruise. I know some TAs will be upset with this but it is all true experience with at least a dozen different TAs over a lot of years. We are just fine booking direct and see no need to involve a third party.

[Robinsoncruiseso]

Way back when, before computers, I used a TA to book cruises. We would take only one or two every here or there. Internet came and I started booking my own. Then the big box came along and I used them for once and perks but I had to call them to ask for a re-fare. Now we were cruising 4 to 5 times a year. Well we retired last year. I am 51 and got bored, so I became a TA. First for the perks and discounts. But I absolutely love it and every single client is so important to me and I am not commission driven but satisfaction driven. While many TA’s think it is just a job, I know there are several out there that share their clients dreams and offer excellent service. The trick is to find them. When you do, there is definitely a benefit to book a cruise, land tour, even a rental car.  I am not looking forward to the first time I have to call myself to change a non refundable deposit to refundable.  Maybe I need a TA.lol

[Djptcp]

Using a travel agent is a very subjective thing. We stopped using travel agents in the 90's when the Internet came and we could book our own land vacations and cruises. Got tired of hearing "you can't do that" when we found out we could customize our trips (different travel agents). I recently had a Holland America agent screw up our booking and we eventually cancelled the cruise. Sometimes, we need to use a cruise line agent to book special casino rate cruises so we do that. Many people have great things to say about their travel agents and others not so much. The OP is a first time cruiser and may benefit from having a travel agent, but needs to find one that is a cruise specialist. There was another thread on CC recently about a first time cruiser who used a TA who had never even been on a cruise and provided lots of inaccurate information. I still prefer doing my own research and booking our cruises on our own.

[beshears]

I have not read any of your replies, but this is what I did.  I have always had a TA for my 15 or more cruises I have done. I had heard of the PVP, but was a little uneasy to use one. I decided to branch out a few weeks ago, and contact the TA I always use, as well as try for a PVP.  I won't go into all the details, but my TA did a great job in what I was looking for (I had done quite a bit of research before, so she only needed to tell me the cost, etc.), and the PVP that I contacted wound up giving me the same rates (not quite as much information, but enough).  I still had a few questions, sending to both of them, they not knowing I was using both of them.  I know Sunday people normally don't work.  I did send the TA a question on Thursday evening, and received an automatic reply that she was unavailable.  In the meantime, I sent a couple questions to the PVP, thinking she would not be working over the weekend either.  The next thing I knew, she had replied back, and any other questions I would ask, she was answering.  By the time she answered everything I needed to know, since I had not heard back from the TA since Thursday, I decided to go with the PVP.  I know I will miss the $50 OB C that I and a friend will share from the TA, but everything will be fine.  I knew the longer I waited to hear back (remember I had not heard from the TA since Thursday), I was seeing where some of the rooms that had been mentioned that I could be picking from, were already being picked, and I needed to pick the rooms now!