Booking with Carnival V an Outside Travel Agent

[Rowan555]

I don't know if I'm allowed to make this VERY general comment, but here goes. For those of you who are new to cruising or who have dealt only with travel agents in the past, I can't recommend strongly enough that you book directly through Carnival. I have had a 15 month nightmare with an outside TA, and I'm completely exhausted from dealing with it. My cruise is tomorrow and I'm still having problems that need to be fixed before we leave. On the contrary, my bookings through Carnival have been nothing but pleasant and positive experiences. I'm sure there are people who have had problems through Carnival as well, but all in all you'll have a better experience booking direct, and the PVP's really seem to want to help you save money, not only when you book but after you book as well.

 

Just my two cents.

[swiss]

I could not agree with you more! I will never go back to an outside travel agent again when I book with Carnival. I could not believe how wonderful the Carnival agents are to work with and how much money they saved me. We just got through booking our family cruise for this next summer, the Carnival agent came up with a discount that I had no idea was out there for us. My husband works for the FAA and the discount that we get is the same as a military discount. No other travel agent had ever told us that that was available to us until we went through Carnival. It Knocked over $1300. off of our cruise price, plus we were able to get 3 balcony aft cabins instead of what we had originally booked which was 2 balcony cabins and 1 inside cabin.

I wish I had tryed the PVP's a long time ago, I can only imagine how much money that I have lost not using them all along.

[onceagain]

Sorry, but we always book with a TA and have never, ever, had a problem. We've been on 11-12 cruises (plus other land vacations) and they have always been incredible. They almost always beat the cruise line's prices. They charter their own planes and bring a load of us down at one time, so prices are great. Someone is always waiting for us at the gate to help us get our luggage and get us on the shuttle to the ship and same when we get off. I wouldn't do it any other way. Glad your way works for you though.

[Top-Cat]

Ditto direct booking. I have done both, but we book direct now. Mostly because of all of the horror stories I have read on here. They matched a TA's price for me on our last cruise in May.

[Kurbanfan]

Sorry, but we always book with a TA and have never, ever, had a problem. We've been on 11-12 cruises (plus other land vacations) and they have always been incredible. They almost always beat the cruise line's prices. They charter their own planes and bring a load of us down at one time, so prices are great. Someone is always waiting for us at the gate to help us get our luggage and get us on the shuttle to the ship and same when we get off. I wouldn't do it any other way. Glad your way works for you though.

 

Ditto here!!! We have been with the same TA for about 10 years now.

Don't think I will be using anyone else........

[bchbum641]

I have always used the same TA, but this time I booked with a PVP and she told me I could transfer my reservation over to our TA before the cruise. We did so only because we wanted the insurance that this TA offers. Last yr our insurance was just $29pp for a 7 day cruise through our TA. This yr we are paying $49pp for our 8 day cruise. Carnival's cheapest insurance this time around was $129pp and didn't cover if your flight was delayed and you missed the boat. With our insurance now we get up to $3000pp to get us to the ship. My PVP told me that she gets the credit for the booking even when we transfer it just so we didn't cancel it. And she doesn't get paid a %. They get promoted by the # of booking- not by the amount of the cruise.

[hdawson]

I saw a deal offered in an email night before last, and IMd my agent. I was booked and had my confirmation in under 10 minutes. Single cruiser for five nights,

$274, all taxes included. My 19th cruise and I've always used a TA with total satisfaction. She takes real good care of me and selects excellent cabins. She also had all the relavent information about me, on file, to complete the booking.

[socal cruzin]

We are doing our 3rd cruise in as mant years in may on the pride,ive booked both ways ta and pvp .

the pvp is much better in my opinion,and i think the reason is that a ta gets paid on comision were as a pvp gets paid on the number a cabins booked,so they should be looking out for your best interest.

 

 

either way the very worst thing u could do is take your ta frustration with u on board.

shake it off and have a great time.:D

[yearnin4cruisin]

I have to agree with booking directly with Carnival. The only time I did have a problem was with a TA. To each his/her own...at least we'll all be cruising!