PVP or TA? I've only been on two recent cruises

[Cruzzinagain]

both of which were taken or paid for before I found this site. I notice that some people use the Carnival Personal Vacation Planners and some use Travel Agents. I used PVP's for my two recent cruises. Is there any advantage to going with a TA?

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

[cubdaddy]

If you have a good PVP, stick with them. Since the PVP's get a flat fee for each booking, they will do their best to get you price drops and upgrades. I am not knocking TA's as there are many that love theirs but my TA wasn't very good which was the reason I went directly with a PVP. He is awesome and even recogonizes me by voice when I call. Very personal and professional service. We were so thrilled by all his hard work for our next sailing, we sent him a gift certificate. Not expecting anything more than the service he has already provided.:)

[Guest YesitDonna]

I got prices from both to compare. The TA was cheaper the last time.

[CruzVinnieCruz]

Booked all of our Carnival cruises with a PVP. We really like this guy and he has been great. Last June the cruise price dropped close to the sailing date other cruisers started posting the savings and we called our PVP. I really believe he tried his best and could do nothing. We went all the way through Carnivals management structure and the best we could do was an upgrade. The last Carnival manager we talked too said in this case customers with TA's probably could get on board credit because TA's have more clout with Carnival. Don't get me wrong we booked our next cruise with our PVP because he took care of us in the past.

[Cruiser23490578]

Our experience using a pvp was better than our experience using a travel agent. When we used a travel agent, in order to make a change to our booking, they had to call Carnival and get back with us. This opened the door to a lot of back and forth communication, which was really inconvenient, and we didn't save a whole lot of money. It was much more convenient for us to call Carnival directly and get things handled ASAP. Any questions were also handled right on the spot with the pvp, but again, our travel agent would have to research and call us back. Our pvp also told us that they would match a lower price, so really I don't see the need for our family to use a travel agent in the future to book a cruise.

[popsec]

I have a great PVP at Carnival. I booked the upcoming cruise through him and he told me I could always switch it to a travel agent before final payment was due. I noticed an online agency having a one-day sale so I switched to the TA and not only saved another $98 off our already cheap military rates but he got us switched from a guarantee 8A to the exact aft balcony cabin we wanted at no extra charge. :)

[Cruzzinagain]

service, plenty of emails, and seemed like a nice person. I guess I'll stick with him.

 

Thanks,

 

Steve