Purchasing cruise from US TA vs in the UK

[Curleegirl]

Greetings! One of my goals is to see the Fjords of Norway. I am interested in booking a P&O cruise after watching Emma Cruises an Ben and David on YouTube. A little background about myself, I am a 60 yr old solo traveler that lives in the US and has only taken cruises to the Caribbean. 
The good news is that I am almost ready to book.  I was wondering if booking with a TA from abroad would be more advantageous than booking with one here in the US. I appreciate your feedback!

Edited March 17, 2022 by Curleegirl
Added my age

[amajaa]

Oh gosh that is a difficult one. Most people in this forum are Brits so would automatically book with a British T A . You probably need to ask others from The States or even Canada as they might have experienced this. I have met Americans on board P & O but they are often, although not always, with friends from the UK , also met quite a few Canadians. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by amajaa
Typo

[terrierjohn]

Our Canadian relatives have sailed with us and used our online TA to book the cruise. Since Covid there have been tighter restrictions and I think at one point only UK citizens could  cruise with P&O. CC  prohibit us from giving you TA names so you would need to do your own research, however Cruisecriric do have an article  found under home > first time cruiser > best UK travel agents, and I would try the one listed second.

[amajaa]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Our Canadian relatives have sailed with us and used our online TA to book the cruise. Since Covid there have been tighter restrictions and I think at one point only UK citizens could  cruise with P&O. CC  prohibit us from giving you TA names so you would need to do your own research, however Cruisecriric do have an article  found under home > first time cruiser > best UK travel agents, and I would try the one listed second.

Hiya, how far down that forum is it, because I can’t find it. 

[Host Sharon]

1 hour ago, amajaa said:

Hiya, how far down that forum is it, because I can’t find it. 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/ftc/

[amajaa]

1 hour ago, Host Sharon said:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/ftc/

Many thanks. I still can’t find the list of best UK travel agents though but never mind 

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, amajaa said:

Hiya, how far down that forum is it, because I can’t find it. 

If you google cruise critic uk,  home, first cruiser, best uk travel agents, it should take you to the article.

[BrianI]

1 hour ago, amajaa said:

Many thanks. I still can’t find the list of best UK travel agents though but never mind 

Try this link

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=3850

 

Brian

[amajaa]

27 minutes ago, BrianI said:

Try this link

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=3850

 

Brian

Thanks, yes I agree with previous poster, second on list is good. Might have a problem phoning from the States as so popular might have to hold for 5 or 10 minutes

[Curleegirl]

Thank you everyone. 

[emdia43]

Be careful to read the booking conditions and especially cancellation regs before booking with a UK agent. Very different rules apply. 

[Snow Hill]

10 hours ago, emdia43 said:

Be careful to read the booking conditions and especially cancellation regs before booking with a UK agent. Very different rules apply. 

Does ABTA/ATOL protection apply to non-U.K. residents in the event of a travel provider going out of business? 

[Billish]

3 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

Does ABTA/ATOL protection apply to non-U.K. residents in the event of a travel provider going out of business? 

If payment is taken by a TA with funds going direct to the cruise line, as is done by the TA favoured by many on here, would it make any  difference if the TA went bust ? Your "cash" would be safely in the hands of the cruise line. 

[Snow Hill]

20 hours ago, Billish said:

If payment is taken by a TA with funds going direct to the cruise line, as is done by the TA favoured by many on here, would it make any  difference if the TA went bust ? Your "cash" would be safely in the hands of the cruise line. 

True, unless of course cruise company failed. 

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

True, unless of course cruise company failed. 

In that case I assume ABTA would cover any passenger losses.