This is why I use a TA....

[nhwwdebbi]

And I'm also with Danno, having been stuck overseas during 9/ll, having a ship pulled out of service 3 days prior to our sailing, and 2 pre-booked cruises cancelled, I'm sticking with my flesh & blood TA. We have never paid more than $100 over the best internet pricing for any of our cruises, seem to get upgraded on an average of l out of every 3 cruises and just like having a person I can actually speak to in case of an emergency. We narrow things down to 2 cruises, turn it over to him, then go with the best pricing.

debbi

[isujim]

I also agree with Danno...........a good travel agent is worth every penny of commission they get..............I have a great one myself that has booked my last 7 cruises................won't change for any money.

 

YOU DON'T NEED A TRAVEL AGENT..........UNTIL YOU NEED ONE!

 

Jim

[Joe_Antonelli]

I have a gem of a Travel Agent. We're retired and can travel at the last minute and our TA has given us great discounts. I'm so tired of reading posts of people whining about wanting low prices and then when something goes wrong or they need to change, they wonder why they can't get good service from the agency they booked with... And my TA, she's right there at the top with the low prices of all those so called discounters - you know the ones I mean - cruise411 and cruisebrothers...the point is, half the time her prices are even better! She's going to be running a special starting tomorrow for Valentine's Day (02/13/05) on the Millie. I got first crack and I'm booked :D $25 per person deposit. If you want to give a first rate TA a try and not get nickled and dimed, I'll recommend her: Tina at Ready 2 Go Travel - email her at rdy2gotvl@aol.com and tell her Joe Antonelli refered you!

 

To all the rest of you TAs out there - you're the best and you'll always have the support of customers like myself!

 

Joe

[kwpatel]

Let me pose this question for an opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

We have a neighbor who is a travel agent with a large So. Cal. travel agency. She is constantly telling us what deals she can get for us. She has given us quotes that are identical to the Celebrity web site. What do you think?

 

Thanks in advance.

If she can match the CL then she can beat the CL price... she would just have to shave off 5% of the cruise fare to get your booking... I do it all the time for my clients... and can beat most web fares...

[Shirley and Les]

Hi, my name is Les and I am very anal. It's not all my fault. I have an engineering degree and was taught to investigate everything to the Nth degree. OK. that ends the formal meeting of AA!

Our first cruise was a retirement gift from HJ Heinz Co. Only rules, I had to book it through the company travel department and it was $1000 max. I called the Heinz travel department and said Nov, 2002, Celebrity Horizon, western Caribbean, cat 3 cabin. I did the air and hotel on my own using work-related miles/points. Heinz said OK, price was somewhat higher than $1K for two of us but they would pick up the difference. Cursed myself for not trying for a suite.

Second cruise, did the homework on the internet. Picked Celebrity Horizon, 11 day eastern Caribbean purchase cat5 upgrade to cat4 based on Captain Club membership. Got internet prices from *****.com (?). Internet TA's were confused about Captain Club's discount coupon and free upgrades. Some used it in their price calculation, some didn't. No apples and apples quotes.

Sent an email to a local TA based on recommendation by a friend. Local TA said all of my info was bad. No more Cat4 cabins since they were now all CC cabins. They did arrange a Cat 6 price with a free upgrade to Cat 5. Phone call from local TA. I told them they are completely wrong about ship cabin ratings and pricing. They said "Let us check." One half hour later, they admitted to following advise in advance catalogs about possible changes on the ship but they quoted a new double price for cat5 within $125 of best internet price on this category. She agreed to using two $50 off coupons (sorry, Danno) from our local phone book. We said, Go ahead, bookem! (sorry again, Danno).

OK, for an extra $25, we met faces we could yell at if things went wrong, a TA in the same building as my DW's hairdresser, a TA who has invitied us to about 5 presentations from Cruise lines (we took home door prizes from 4 of the 5) and a bottle of wine in our cabin when we boarded the ship.

I will continue to do all of my pre-cruise internet research because of my instincts and free time (being retired has its advantages). My DW and I will continue to pick our cruises based on our preferences. But we will always give our local TA the last shot at pricing. There is a comfort level where we want to see a face.

If we used the TA to help us plan our trips, we would, of course. be more loyal. Or. if we were more proven travelers, we would expect her to call us and say, "Do I have a deal for you!"

It really boils down to the type of traveler you are, (Bags packed, ready to go.) tightness of your schedule (Last work meeting at 4:45 on Friday before vacation.).

[boten]

...I'm sure I've saved $500-1000!!

And that's still about US$10.

[pkexton]

Parrotgirl - if you email me I can give you the information - I am not sure if we can put that info. on these boards. pkexton@aol.com

[Longboysfan]

I have been using the same TA for years also. I have her number on speed dial. She's come to be a good friend as well. I like knowing I have a "real" person in my area that is watching out for me. Deb is great about watching out for specials and getting my CC coupons applied after the fact. Upgrading rooms - getting the last minute specials on outside gurantees. And the like.

As for air and hotel - you can get that on-line if you watch.

And that is what price line is for anyway.

[Longboysfan]

pkexton - I'm in Caln Twp. Which agency do you use? I use one thousands of miles away but would like to find someone GREAT close to home for the more personal touch - although the one I use now is pretty good. Just curious.

 

Patricia

 

Bounce me an Email off my link in my profile.

I will give you my TA's phone and internet connection.

 

She is great.

[Danno]

Tatka...Try the email again, I think I've got it turned on now, or use the email below near my signature.

 

Good looking kid (for a non-goaltender ;-) )!!

 

Hockey, like cruising, should be kept as a secret only to be enjoyed by those who truly understand it!!

[Danno]

... rather than the trap and goon tactics. (My son now works for that team)

 

 

OT

 

And a great job they did!! The fact that you even know what the "trap" is, more than makes the point that you know the game....well done. If find it amusing watching soccer players being helped off from a simple trip while hockey players routinely get split for 8 stitches, finish the shift, backcheck hard, get sewn up with no freezing and are ready to go for their next shift...no tougher athlete in the world than a pro hockey player.

 

The "goon tactics" have a small place in the game...as a friend of mine who played in the NHL once told me "without the fear, we will become the NBA...the disrespect and trash talk in basketball is horrible". Just try laughing in the face of a tough defenseman after you have beaten him to the outside. You'll be on the ice picking up your teeth. I'll take the on-ice justice over the smug, profane, arrogance of basketball anyday.

 

And I love to cruise!!

[bac513]

I'll e-mail you and see if you are interested in swapping hockey stories - I have a couple of good ones (separate) involving Dale Hunter and Mike Gartner plus some not so good ones involving Montreal fans in this year's playoffs. Maybe we need a good hockey cruise with a couple of goons thrown in to police those violating Celebrity's dress code (LOL).

[amanda blake]

so who is this agent...or agency....I also shop around and whoever can beat it gets it.....

[eboon]

I'm a newbie at cruising (actually any travel) and had no clue as to what to do and where to find it! I heard of a TA on another forum and contacted her. Before I was even convinced that I should take a cruise, she had done tons of research for me. Now that we are booked for a cruise, she has so many tips and tricks for cruising! I would never have heard of these if I were to book this cruise on my own! She has been wonderful and taken the stress out of this whole vacation!

[tlm]

Tatka...email me and we can swap hockey stories. Who knows hockey better than a Canadian and a Russian. These American folks, while well intentioned, haven't quite figured out the beauty this game has. Hope your son had the good sense to become a goaltender (they HATE being called GOALIES!!) ...my son could never figure out why everyone didn't want to play goal!!

 

 

Danno

 

My daughter played goal for 16 years and was fortunate enough to play for the Brampton Thunder where she played with and against quite a number of Canadian and US Olympic players. She never minded being called a goalie in fact she was quite proud of it.

 

Toni

[hajekfam]

Our local TA will book our cruise vacation - I do a lot of the legwork myself and see what she can do. She usually books us with cruise air especially when the cruise leaves from one port and disembarks in another (in this case, the cruise air is ususally the cheapest). Then she searches for better deals on air - if she finds one, she will cancel the cruise air (no fee if cancelled before final payment). She also will book us cruise only if we request.

When I just happened to catch an extremely low price on Celebrity's website for the Horizon adults only cruise ($500 pp for a cat 4 - with captains club a cat 3) and did some checking on air and got an unusually low price on air from Chicago to Tampa from ATA ($232 round trip including taxes for two) - I immediately booked the air and called our TA and asked her to book the cruise only. I explained what happened and why I was booking our own air and she told us that we did good - that there was no way she could have gotten us that air price.

But I do like the TA for dealing with the cruiseline. When international flights were suspended after 9/11 and finally resumed, our AirFrance flight number was cancelled but the early flight was rescheduled for our time slot. I noticed this when checking to see when flights would resume. I called our TA immediately and she called the airline to find that we were bumped. She then dealt with Celebrity to get us on this new flight. She also deals with keeping us at the lowest price for our cruise as prices fluctuate. It is wonderful having her to deal with hassles that occur.

So we actually do a combination of TA and own bookings.

[Danno]

I don't work for free...I expect everyone here who can afford to cruise, doesn't work for free. Then why do we expect TA's to work for free?? If we book online we do ALL the work and take all the risk. When a TA books us the spend the hours and make available to us their expertise, experience and savvy...yet people demand that they be LOWER than online, minimum service, internet cruise agents...I don't get it?

 

This sounds a lot like the union that my father belongs to that made a major investment on behalf of the members in a developement in SC...why SC you ask?? Because labour there (at that time) was CHEAP!!! We demand to be paid well for what we do, yet we expect others to work for nothing.

 

Find a good TA, preferably in your hometown, and help them make a living...in time this will benefit your ability to make a living...

[Tatka]

I'll e-mail you and see if you are interested in swapping hockey stories - I have a couple of good ones (separate) involving Dale Hunter and Mike Gartner plus some not so good ones involving Montreal fans in this year's playoffs. Maybe we need a good hockey cruise with a couple of goons thrown in to police those violating Celebrity's dress code (LOL).

 

 

Uh..oh..Dale Hunter :)

 

I "don't like" those.... HABS fans SOOO MUCH ! ;) You can tell from my signature I can't like them or their "glorioux" team to save my life!

 

I don't have many stories but I did meet many hockey players, including all B's and Pavel Bure and Victor Kozlov. When I met Pavel Bure it was sooo unexpected and I was so confused I forgot to speak Russian ;)....I said something like "Can I take a picture with you?".

 

Danno, your e-mail option still doesn't work. I would post my e-mail here but I am getting so much spam already!

[Danno]

Danno

 

My daughter played goal for 16 years and was fortunate enough to play for the Brampton Thunder where she played with and against quite a number of Canadian and US Olympic players. She never minded being called a goalie in fact she was quite proud of it.

 

Toni

 

Really...it used to drive my son to distraction, must be a guy thing!! Actually one of my son's best goal coaches was a girl. She was an excellant technician and made him a very solid technical goal tender. He played most of his years at AA and has an NOHA Major Bantam gold to show for it...

 

He's cruising with us in Feb...I can't wait!!