Book Direct or through Travel Agent?

[Matkai]

Looking at booking our very first cruise, was wondering if it is better / safer to book direct or through travel agent... 

 

• Have heard that booking through a travel agent can be cheaper and you may get more perks, however, I just did a comparison with Flight Centre and a Royal Caribbean cruise and found Flight Centre to be actually more expensive than booking direct? (I am located in Perth, any recommendations on a brick and mortar cruise dedicated travel agent?)

 

• I am also wondering which would be easier to deal with in the event of another pandemic or outbreak,  to get your refund / money back - cruise line or travel agent?

 

• Do Australian travel agents monitor your fare for price reductions?  Do they charge you each time (as this could counter any price reduction I would think?)

Any advice would be appreciated, thank you 🙂 

[Bizziecruzer]

Don't mention travel agents name  against CC rules.

I have not known an TA's who monitor price drops. However some may if they have personal relationships with their customers.

Enjoy your first cruise experience.

[Jean C]

Simply from the point of view that if you book through the cruiseline, and I only have experience with Princess, should there be another pandemic that causes the cruise to be cancelled, your fare will be refunded to you. You may have to wait 2-3 months, but you will get any monies you paid over back. If you book through a TA any refund of fare will go to them and you run the risk that they will hold those monies in credit for you rather than paying them over. Princess have Personal Vacation Planners they assign to their customers who act in the same way as travel agents, and like TAs, some are better than others - don't know if RC have a similar team 🛳 🥂🍷 🥳

[subaru94]

We have booked both with TA and directly with cruise line, if you book through an Australian TA very hard to get price reduced, however, if you book directly with cruise line more flexibility in relation to price changes.  That has been our experience, others may have different opinions.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We book direct or through our Princess Planner. 

 

I have used online TAs for last minute deals ie within a couple of weeks of the sail date, but not for early bookings.

[cruiser3775]

I'm also a first time cruiser, and it's a steep learning curve! If you go through a travel agent, avoid a general one and look for the ones that specialise in cruises. Try a google search under 'cruise travel agent Australia'.  Then look at reviews for that company, so you can quickly see the ones that have a poor reputation and the ones that seem to be honest and competent. I found that some cruise TA's in Australia offer a good deal on lower deposits, and increased on board credits, and I also got a better cabin than the ones on offer by booking directly with the cruise line.

[Muffinz]

We booked out first cruise in 2018 through a TA and had no issues, so used them again to book our cruise in April 2020... however the cruise was then cancelled and getting the refund back took over 6 months... the TA just lost interest... just told us to wait.... so my wife had to do all the ringing around and e-mailing. Then to top it all off the TA took some money out of our refund for their 'time' pursuing the refund... when in fact they did stuff all!

We've booked a cruise for Feb 2023 - direct with the cruise company

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

I'm also a first time cruiser, and it's a steep learning curve! If you go through a travel agent, avoid a general one and look for the ones that specialise in cruises. Try a google search under 'cruise travel agent Australia'.  Then look at reviews for that company, so you can quickly see the ones that have a poor reputation and the ones that seem to be honest and competent. I found that some cruise TA's in Australia offer a good deal on lower deposits, and increased on board credits, and I also got a better cabin than the ones on offer by booking directly with the cruise line.

That is such good advice! You beat me to it. I certainly wouldn't book through the agent that the OP mentioned. There can be advantages booking through an agent and also disadvantages as mentioned above.

[Aus Traveller]

44 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

We booked out first cruise in 2018 through a TA and had no issues, so used them again to book our cruise in April 2020... however the cruise was then cancelled and getting the refund back took over 6 months... the TA just lost interest... just told us to wait.... so my wife had to do all the ringing around and e-mailing. Then to top it all off the TA took some money out of our refund for their 'time' pursuing the refund... when in fact they did stuff all!

We've booked a cruise for Feb 2023 - direct with the cruise company

We had several cruises cancelled, but didn't have any money deducted by the TA. I agree that your TA wouldn't have spent any time pursuing your refund - it would have come automatically from the cruise line. I don't believe they should have kept any part of the refund. It certainly means you wouldn't go back to them.

[Tikibird]

In the past I would book through airlines cruise link TAs to get the miles.  But that was way before Covid and there weren't any dramas.  Now we book direct with Princess to keep things simple in case of another major issue like Covid shutdowns. 

[Muffinz]

28 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

We had several cruises cancelled, but didn't have any money deducted by the TA. I agree that your TA wouldn't have spent any time pursuing your refund - it would have come automatically from the cruise line. I don't believe they should have kept any part of the refund. It certainly means you wouldn't go back to them.

The TA hadn't done anything though.... it was my wife that did all the work and found out we had been  put through as a 'group booking' by our TA...  that's what was holding things up, but our TA should have been on their case.

Others who booked the same cruise through a TA got their refunds much sooner than we did

[Aus Traveller]

4 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

The TA hadn't done anything though.... it was my wife that did all the work and found out we had been  put through as a 'group booking' by our TA...  that's what was holding things up, but our TA should have been on their case.

Others who booked the same cruise through a TA got their refunds much sooner than we did

It's really poor that they retained some of your refund. It's a pity you can't name and shame them!

[Muffinz]

5 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

It's really poor that they retained some of your refund. It's a pity you can't name and shame them!

it's not really worth it..... we just chose not to use them again

[Aus Traveller]

6 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

it's not really worth it..... we just chose not to use them again

I agree. Sometimes it isn't work raising your blood pressure by fighting if the amount involved isn't significant.

[Ozwoody]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

We had several cruises cancelled, but didn't have any money deducted by the TA. I agree that your TA wouldn't have spent any time pursuing your refund - it would have come automatically from the cruise line. I don't believe they should have kept any part of the refund. It certainly means you wouldn't go back to them.

Well said.

To be or not to be, that is the question, when deciding to use or not a TA.

People tend to be very strong one way or the other.

Unfortunately the bad TA's confirm peoples fear of using them.

And the good one's get tarred with the same brush.

Those that have had good one's swear by them. I have been very lucky with ours, he's very proactive and professional.

The advice given above about researching a TA, and seeing what their reputation is like was excellent.

The only problem with booking direct is, if you are travelling and staying other than with the ship, you either have to do it yourself, or go to an agent.

my wife and I do a little of both, check with the line, and the TA, take which ever we think is the better deal.

 

As you are finding this is a bigger subject than it looks, as there are problems that can arise from either direct or from TA's.

 

In the end go with your gut.

 

Have a great, and a most memorable trip.

Regards

 

[Elorac123]

I have used a TA and so far so good I have nothing to complain about, did a name change for a cruise coming up and didn’t get charged,  refunds from cancelled cruises dealt with timely and she will rebook for me if I see a booked cruise at a better deal for no charge.

Cheers Carole

[Cascade1]

My comments relate to pre-Covid only as we have not cruised recently although we have a couple booked for next year. We always book direct with Princess and then we monitor price changes all the time. Each time there has been a reduction we have called Princess and they have honoured the price reduction every time. On one occasion there were actually two price reductions for the one cruise. We received both reductions by calling them. If our cruise is part of an overseas holiday, we still book our cabin direct with Princess and have our travel agent handle all the other aspects of the holiday - plane tickets, accommodation etc. Our attitude stems from our first experience when it became quite obvious that a Travel Agent does not monitor price reductions.

[Ozwoody]

31 minutes ago, Cascade1 said:

 Our attitude stems from our first experience when it became quite obvious that a Travel Agent does not monitor price reductions.

 

Some may not, a good one always does, ours has quite often advised us of not only price drops but of free upgrades to better cabins.

We found ours by talking to other cruisers, and hearing about their experiences, both good and bad. 

 

[gogo65]

I would never book through the TA you mentioned.

If it’s a normal cruise then I generally book direct but if it’s an expensive cruise (over $20k) I check out two TA’s and see what they can give me. Generally I can get 5% off.

I refuse to book through a TA if they charge a credit card fee as the cruise lines do not charge them.

[Aus Traveller]

7 hours ago, gogo65 said:

I would never book through the TA you mentioned.

If it’s a normal cruise then I generally book direct but if it’s an expensive cruise (over $20k) I check out two TA’s and see what they can give me. Generally I can get 5% off.

I refuse to book through a TA if they charge a credit card fee as the cruise lines do not charge them.

I am surprised that you say the cruise lines don't charge a credit card fee. The first time we ever encountered a credit card fee being charged was on cruise bookings many many years ago. Since then, every time we have booked direct with either Princess or P&O (or with a TA), they charged us a 1.1% credit card fee. The cruiselines also charged the fee on our on-board accounts. They state clearly that they charge the fee on credit cards, but not on debit cards. My latest couple of experiences with this have been within the last month.

[gogo65]

7 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I am surprised that you say the cruise lines don't charge a credit card fee. The first time we ever encountered a credit card fee being charged was on cruise bookings many many years ago. Since then, every time we have booked direct with either Princess or P&O (or with a TA), they charged us a 1.1% credit card fee. The cruiselines also charged the fee on our on-board accounts. They state clearly that they charge the fee on credit cards, but not on debit cards. My latest couple of experiences with this have been within the last month.

Interesting, I haven’t sailed princess (ever) or P&O for a long time. Celebrity and RCI don’t charge fees and neither do Ponant and Silversea.

Maybe it’s a question to ask both the cruise line and agent prior to booking. If it’s important to you.
I’m a frequent flyer point collector,  so every point has a value, and every transaction is based on that value.
To many that is not important and happily pay by direct debit to minimize fees but for others, including myself, I choose services (including TA’s) based on credit card fees. Hence having/finding  two excellent TA’s that don’t charge fees. 

[MicCanberra]

Whether you book directly or with a TA make sure you do some comparisons first, check pricing and what it includes I.e drink package, OBC, etc, type of cabin and also the T&Cs of both the cruiseline and the TA.

[Muffinz]

If we were booking multiple cruises / trips / hotels, then we’d use a TA

but for our cruise next year we’ve booked the cruise through Princess and will book a hotel for the night before and airfares ourselves 

[TwoWestAussies]

Thank you for all of your advice, to cover all bases and options we spoke to our local 'cruise specialists' and were horrified that we knew more than they did and they blatantly lied to try to get us to commit to the cruise on the spot and also to upsell flights and accommodation before and after the cruise.  What we were told:

 

• Royal Caribbean does not offer a 'refundable deposit option' - all bookings are non-refundable 
• Royal Caribbean will not price match if the price goes down prior to the cruise (RC do, as long as you booked a 'refundable deposit')
• Given really bad recommendations for cabins based on their location
• Advised that certain activities on the ship were included e.g. iFly and Northstar (both are at an additional fee, though some complimentary times may become available)
• Told specialty dinning onboard will only cost us about $25 per head if we wanted to go(cheaper than on land restaurant) ?

 

One minute she was talking from her experience onboard a Royal Caribbean Cruise, the next she is saying she has never cruised with Royal Caribbean?  I was totally confused by the end of the session.

 

We then went home did a bit more research and bit the bullet and booked ourselves, for the exact same price, but with the confidence of not only knowing that we can cancel and amend without fear of  charges or fees and we have control of our booking!

 

So thank you once again to everyone for your advice, you have all been a great help 🙂

 

[fairywren]

It looks like you are on the ball and have been doing lots of research. There are a few seasoned RCI cruisers on here who will give you exact answers especially to do with onboard situations. Fire away.