Book cruise direct or with TA ? pros / cons ?

[Bluemoose]

historically, we use a travel agent to book cruises.... however, their response time hasn't been too good and we're wondering if we are better off booking directly with the cruise line ?   would TICO still apply ?   cheers

[LHT28]

I think to be be covered by TICO it has to be an Ontario  TA or Company

You could read the T & C on TICO website

JMO

[Fouremco]

Up until a few years ago, there really wasn't much of an incentive booking with a Canadian TA if you had the time and inclination to research your cruises. Group rates occasionally saved a few dollars, but getting a bottle of cheap wine was about the extent of the perks offered. Then the big box store added its Canadian travel department and things changed overnight. Between the perks offered and annual cash back on purchases, we save ±10% of our cruise booking costs. Personally, I would never go back to booking solely with the cruiselines, but it does depend on your TA and what they have to offer. 

[Bluemoose]

14 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Up until a few years ago, there really wasn't much of an incentive booking with a Canadian TA if you had the time and inclination to research your cruises. Group rates occasionally saved a few dollars, but getting a bottle of cheap wine was about the extent of the perks offered. Then the big box store added its Canadian travel department and things changed overnight. Between the perks offered and annual cash back on purchases, we save ±10% of our cruise booking costs. Personally, I would never go back to booking solely with the cruiselines, but it does depend on your TA and what they have to offer. 

who do you book with ?

 

[Fouremco]

52 minutes ago, Bluemoose said:

who do you book with ?

 

A big box store that can't be named due to CC rules.

[Travelexpert35]

Does the big box store travel dept have a 24/7 emergency number to call if you needed them? I would definitely look for a TA with this feature as you never know what can happen on your vacation.

[WESTEAST]

We always use a TA and have found it has paid off having someone to advocate on your behalf, provide us the best perks, share knowledge of destinations, etc. She responds quickly to our emails or calls even when we have been cruising and not sure if big box does. 

[Fouremco]

6 minutes ago, Travelexpert35 said:

Does the big box store travel dept have a 24/7 emergency number to call if you needed them? I would definitely look for a TA with this feature as you never know what can happen on your vacation.

While I book my cruise with this TA, I don't book my flights through them. On two cruises, one in the Caribbean and one in Europe, my DW had medical emergencies that resulted in changed flights home and, in one case, several days of accommodation in the port of disembarkation. In the other, we had to leave the ship mid-cruise and fly home directly from St. Lucia. These I dealt with directly, quickly and easily, and involving the TA would not have been beneficial.  While the big box store offers more limited hours for travel assistance, they would have been available had I chosen to reach out to them.

 

Everyone has different levels of travel experience and different needs and priorities. I've been very happy with this TA and the services provided, and wouldn't consider switching simply because they don't offer 24/7 travel assistance. 

[WESTEAST]

Unless we are using our points to obtain our airfare, our TA books our air through her wholesaler which is always to our benefit.  Once we had to change our air and the TA dealt with the changes quickly. If the cruise line is offering air upgrades, we sometimes take with them. If it is health emergency, your insurance provider is the one to call first. 

[cmich068]

I generally use said big-box store for booking cruises as well, but I don't expect anything special of them other than the perks that Fouremco mentioned, and make all of my other associated travel plans myself.

[iancal]

We do not need much service other than booking.

 

We typically book inside the final payment window (have to pay the entire fare) with our US based on line TA.   Her price is usually better than we can get from the cruise line or from a Canadian TA.

 

One thing though.  TICO is not so good.   My understanding is that there is a $5K limit per claim. That limit is very low.  You probably have better protection with your credit card.

 

The absolute last thing you should be doing is paying with a debit card.  Always use your credit card.

Edited April 18, 2022 by iancal

[daisy-mae]

4 hours ago, iancal said:

 

 

One thing though.  TICO is not so good.   My understanding is that there is a $5K limit per claim. That limit is very low.  You probably have better protection with your credit card.

 

 

I spoke to a TICO rep at a travel show a few years ago and was surprised to learn that it is not like an insurance product (as I had been led to believe) but rather something akin to a consumer advocacy agency. It will help a traveler navigate the dispute process in the case of a service issue, but will not unilaterally provide a refund. 

Edited April 18, 2022 by daisy-mae

[cmich068]

TICO has a compensation fund that will essentially cover against the insolvency of the travel agent, airline, or cruise line resulting in loss of funds or travel arrangements. It's better than nothing but very minimal, not something that would personally sway my decision to use an agent one way or another. 

[cdn_tbird]

On 4/16/2022 at 2:33 PM, Fouremco said:

Up until a few years ago, there really wasn't much of an incentive booking with a Canadian TA if you had the time and inclination to research your cruises. Group rates occasionally saved a few dollars, but getting a bottle of cheap wine was about the extent of the perks offered. Then the big box store added its Canadian travel department and things changed overnight. Between the perks offered and annual cash back on purchases, we save ±10% of our cruise booking costs. Personally, I would never go back to booking solely with the cruiselines, but it does depend on your TA and what they have to offer. 

Add as well that said big box store usually has very attractive group rates on cruises and really it's a no brainer for us.

[MaddyandMax]

My family and I have always used a US TA from a big chain.  My parents have used the same specific agent there for over 20 years.  She's always gets us amazing deals.  Plus, if I remember correctly Americans pay less tax than Canadians.  Down side is you must pay in US funds but we all have US credit cards through our bank so no big deal.

 

We cruised in March and booked another cruise onboard.  The price was just under US$4k on board (2 rooms and 4 people - Oasis June 30, 2023).  Came home and moved the booking to our US TA.  They had a group rate for that cruise because they had bought something like 100 rooms and our rate dropped to US$1,100 a room.  So from US$4k to US$2,200. 

[iancal]

TICO is absolutely meaningless to me.

 

We get far more protection from our credit card (for travel that has not commenced) and for travel interuption.

 

From my perspective TICO is a bit of selling tool for Ontario travel agents who know that their clients have no idea about how TICO works or the limitations.

Edited April 19, 2022 by iancal

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, iancal said:

TICO is absolutely meaningless to me.

 

We get far more protection from our credit card (for travel that has not commenced) and for travel interuption.

 

From my perspective TICO is a bit of selling tool for Ontario travel agents who know that their clients have no idea about how TICO works or the limitations.

TICO  is  a compensation fund all Ontario travel agencies pay into Mandatory in Ontario

If the agency you booked with should go out of business  with your funds  you would be covered 

 

There have been many cases in the past of airlines, tour wholesalers going bankrupt  while their clients are at the destination with no way to get home

 

If your CC covers bankruptcy  of the travel supplier  that is good  not all do

 

Anyone booking with an agency in Ontario should check to see if they are registered  with TICO  not just show the logo on their webpage

JMO

[iancal]

10 hours ago, MaddyandMax said:

My family and I have always used a US TA from a big chain.  My parents have used the same specific agent there for over 20 years.  She's always gets us amazing deals.  Plus, if I remember correctly Americans pay less tax than Canadians.  Down side is you must pay in US funds but we all have US credit cards through our bank so no big deal.

 

We cruised in March and booked another cruise onboard.  The price was just under US$4k on board (2 rooms and 4 people - Oasis June 30, 2023).  Came home and moved the booking to our US TA.  They had a group rate for that cruise because they had bought something like 100 rooms and our rate dropped to US$1,100 a room.  So from US$4k to US$2,200. 

We have done exactly the same for about 20 plus cruises.  We have only booked two in Canada. One in Australia.  The rest we booked with US on line TA's. 

 

Typically we have seen a 10-13 plus percent price delta, adjusted for currency.  Sometimes considerably more.  Last time we had a slight cabin upgrade and a complementary full day Barbados tour w/ lunch from our TA after she joined us with another group from her agency.

 

We will take these savings any day over a bottle of wine or a plate of chocolate covered strawberries.

 

We typically book inside the final payment window.  We know exactly what the comparative prices will be adjusted for currency,

 

We view a cruise as a commodity item.   We are buying the same ship, cabin etc no matter who we place the order with.  So why pay more.  But...we do not require much service or any hand holding.

Edited April 19, 2022 by iancal

[bennybear]

We have done it all,  local, specialty, online and best by far is the big box.   You only find out how good your TA is when things go sideways . That’s when we parted ways with the US online T A.  The big box has gone to bat for us on several occasions, plus with their rebates the pricing is best. 
Also nice to have their clout when needed.

[Magicat]

On 4/16/2022 at 10:53 AM, Bluemoose said:

historically, we use a travel agent to book cruises.... however, their response time hasn't been too good and we're wondering if we are better off booking directly with the cruise line ?   would TICO still apply ?   cheers

Used a TA once.  Was great until it was time to plan everything before and after the cruise.  Even on our B2B on 2 different cruise lines with a day apart we were told "Just sort it out yourselfs".  Well, we did for almost 20 years.  Then we got connected with at US based TA and my DW now works for.  So I refer any questions to my TA or AKA, my DW.

TAs have their good and bad.  If you find a good one, stick with them.  Let them handle the heavy lifting like the cruises and do everything else yourself.

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Magicat

[iancal]

We do not view booking cruises as heavy lifting.  We do all of our own travel booking with the exception of a cruise.  For us booking a cruise is not much different than booking a hotel room.    Just finished booking a month long Portugal trip for next month-transportation, hotels, etc.  On the web.  

 

Cruise cabins are a commodity product for us.  We can buy the exact same cabin/ship from multiple sources.   It comes down to price and the services that we value.

 

Cannot imagine ever booking with the cruise line and dealing with someone who is bound to follow the company line. 

 

In addition to great service, why would we give up better pricing, heads up on better offers that we were not aware of, group pricing at times. etc?

 

More than once our TA has told us about a competitive offer on another cruise line that we were not aware of.  Once she warned us off a dog of a ship based on recent customer feedback.  Would a cruise line employee do any of that?  I do not think so.

 

On one cruise she suggested we cancel and then rebook a few weeks later inside the final payment window.  She knew the cruise occupancy was light.  Sure enough we followed her advice.   We enjoyed a significant saving.

 

She exited the business last year.  Next time we may try a box store or go back to the agency that she worked with.

Edited April 20, 2022 by iancal

[cdn_tbird]

1 hour ago, iancal said:

She exited the business last year.  Next time we may try a box store or go back to the agency that she worked with.

If I were you, I'd give the agency a chance to keep your business. You never know, you may find another gem of a TA. The big box warehouse TA is great if all you're looking for is to maximize your value. From my experience it's purely transactional and I have never dealt with the same person twice. The only time I had an issue, they did step up and help get it resolved to my satisfaction.

[bennybear]

2 hours ago, iancal said:

We do not view booking cruises as heavy lifting.  We do all of our own travel booking with the exception of a cruise.  For us booking a cruise is not much different than booking a hotel room.    Just finished booking a month long Portugal trip for next month-transportation, hotels, etc.  On the web.  

 

Cruise cabins are a commodity product for us.  We can buy the exact same cabin/ship from multiple sources.   It comes down to price and the services that we value.

 

Cannot imagine ever booking with the cruise line and dealing with someone who is bound to follow the company line. 

 

In addition to great service, why would we give up better pricing, heads up on better offers that we were not aware of, group pricing at times. etc?

 

More than once our TA has told us about a competitive offer on another cruise line that we were not aware of.  Once she warned us off a dog of a ship based on recent customer feedback.  Would a cruise line employee do any of that?  I do not think so.

 

On one cruise she suggested we cancel and then rebook a few weeks later inside the final payment window.  She knew the cruise occupancy was light.  Sure enough we followed her advice.   We enjoyed a significant saving.

 

She exited the business last year.  Next time we may try a box store or go back to the agency that she worked with.

How recent is your experience?    We have noticed a lot of changes in the last few years.

Edited April 21, 2022 by bennybear

[iancal]

8 minutes ago, bennybear said:

How recent is your experience?    We have noticed a lot of changes in the last few years.

Have not booked any cruises.  Just finished booking air/hotels, transport, etc for a month long trip to Portugal next month.  We have made  a booking (tentative) for accommodation in Thailand next winter.

All as we have done in the past.

 

Last travel pre covid was eight weeks of independent travel in Mexico.  Included last minute 5 days stays in AI's in Playa and in PV booked through a UK on line site.