Why ???

[NCTribeFan]

Well, that's interesting. I've booked with a TA my first 2 cruises (got a bottle of wine one night on first cruise, that was the extent of any perks); booked #3 online with the gnome people (didn't call them because that sort of defeats the purpose of booking online-no perks), booked cruise #4 online with a hotel loyalty program to earn hotel points (no other perks); book cruise #5 on the phone with a PVP (no perks other than a PG upgrade); booked my last cruise with the same hotel loyalty program because the person at Carnival insisted there were no PG upgrades available, but the other guy gave us an 8A to 8G PG upgrade.

 

In all cases, the prices were the same as advertised on all websites, including the cruise lines.

 

So, people obviously have a better way of doing things, and they can all post here about the wonderful deals they get, but they can't tell us where they get these wonderful deals?

 

Rather defeats the purpose of having a message board on which to share information, doesn't it? In the end, it just ends up sounding like bragging that some know these secrets that they can talk about but can't really share.

 

:mad:

 

Anyway, to use the certificates I'm going to get through my credit card award points (NOT a Carnival Card), I have to book directly with Carnival.

 

But once that is done, I can then start calling every agency in existence and shop for a better deal?

[MrPete]

Personally, I've never been able to get a better price going through Carnival, at any time. :eek:

[Cruise, J.D.]

This is what I do to find a cheap cruise. Others may have a better way, but this has worked for me.

 

1. Price the cruise through Carnival first. This establishes a baseline.

 

2. Get a quote from an online agency and ask them to beat the Carnival quote. This can be done online without calling using a quote request function for certain agencies. I use a particular agency for this step, but it doesn't matter. The important thing is that you want a quote below the Carnival price.

 

3. Take the quote from Step #2 and go to a website that offers the ability for agencies to compete on cruise prices and submit a quote request. This can be done online without calling. In your quote request, ask if they can beat the quote you got from Step #2. There is only one website I know of that does this. Try Google to find it.

 

4. Choose agency with lowest quote.

[jetskier]

NCtribefan,

To answer your question on tranferring. Yes you can. When you book with Carnival through a PVP or CVS, they earn a point for booking your cruise. You can then transfer your booking to any TA by providing your password to them. Some TA's can further discount the booking or look for a better fare for you.

 

Dave

[CruisinMermaid]

I booked my very first cruise on HAL through an online travel agency and the price we got was the same as the cruise line's. We did, however, get two free soda cards and two cover charges paid for the fancy restaurant onboard. Had we booked directly through the cruiseline we wouldn't haven't gotten those nice little gifts.

[Tapi]

Carnival has price parody, all rates are the same. the are only a few instances you will find a better rate then a PVP and usually its when an Agent takes a cut from their commission, which they are not supposed to do.

 

a PVP does not make percentage commission, so the lowest rate is in their best interest, even if it comes after you put down a deposit. a good PVP will take care of a valued guest and adjust their rate with any promotions or upgrades before final payment.

 

also a PVP can transfer any booking to any travel agent before final payment. this is usually because of incentives like air miles or credit card points that they can not offer.

 

It's price PARITY.

 

Parity: Even, of comparable strength (meaning in this case, even or comparable pricing)

Parody: a work or performance that imitates with ridicule or irony.

 

Although there are plenty of things that can be classified as parody in the cruise industry, in this case, I believe the correct word is parity...

[Knights on the Beach]

Personally, I've never been able to get a better price going through Carnival, at any time. :eek:

Me neither -- EVER, and I've tried several times. I even contacted a PVP a co-worker uses and swears she "always" finds the best rates. My regular TA beat her price AND got us better upgrades right off the bat (instead of us booking a guarantee that time).

 

 

As for point 4, I would avoid them like the plague, Cruise Compete has no quality control and if you take the cheapest you are playing Russian roulette with your money IMO.

I totally agree! When we went on the Glory a few years ago, a friend wanted to book a single cabin last minute. My TA gave her a pretty good quote, but she got an UNBELIEVABLE quote from some guy who turned out to be a shady character working out of his home under the "umbrella" of a large cruise agency. She had a written quote via e-mail, but when she got her credit card statement right before the cruise, she was charged more than double what he quoted her. He kept telling her it would be corrected, but wasn't. When we got back from the cruise, she disputed it with her credit card company and finally got it all worked out. The head of the company called her and apologized to her and told her that "agent" was no longer affiliated with them.

[Cruise, J.D.]

I totally agree! When we went on the Glory a few years ago, a friend wanted to book a single cabin last minute. My TA gave her a pretty good quote, but she got an UNBELIEVABLE quote from some guy who turned out to be a shady character working out of his home under the "umbrella" of a large cruise agency. She had a written quote via e-mail, but when she got her credit card statement right before the cruise, she was charged more than double what he quoted her. He kept telling her it would be corrected, but wasn't. When we got back from the cruise, she disputed it with her credit card company and finally got it all worked out. The head of the company called her and apologized to her and told her that "agent" was no longer affiliated with them.

 

Sorry, I don't see the problem. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that brick and mortar TAs can screw people over too. Heck, an entire cruise line screwed people over at Windjammer. Carnival PVPs have made mistakes and screwed people over. There are bad apples in any business. I've booked and sailed on 2 cruises and had no problems.

 

I would be suspicious of an "unbelievable" quote. Most quotes I get are fairly close to one another, but all are much better than the Carnival price. If I saw an "unbelievable" quote I would be doing some serious due diligence before booking. You can see the agency name before booking. Do some research. Post a question on a message board asking for confirmation that the company is legit.

 

I get a booking confirmation # as soon as I give my credit card info and an invoice by email. All charges are through Carnival. It's going to be hard for any merchant to dispute the invoice. What more can you ask for?

 

In the end, you stated she got it worked out. Like I said, the CC billing rights and fraud protection will protect you. She may have had an unfortunate hassle due to a rogue agent, but did she pay more than the original quote?

[bakechef]

Well I really like my PVP.

 

One thing that I noticed was when I booked my NCL cruise through a large online TA, there was a fee to book, and a fee to change anything with the booking, with my PVP there is none of that.

 

My PVP gave me a price better than the online agencies were quoting (didn't call though) and has been extremely knowledgeable about the ships I have booked, even sent me a photo of what the obstruction would look like on a 7a spirit class.

 

I have peace of mind that I can call Carnival anytime with questions and don't have to wait until a local TA is open to call or wait for an e-mail.

 

If the savings are small, I just don't see using a TA anymore, since I research my vacations before I book them, my last 2 local TAs were so bad that I did most of the work on the booking myself, so I am a little turned off by TAs right now.

 

And how hard do you think a TA is going to work, when they have deeply discounted their commission to you?

 

MAC

[nevarez]

I've booked my three cruises through a couple of internet agencies and have been quite happy with the results. I've also taken the time to check their reputation/rating with their local Better Business Bureau.

[Knights on the Beach]

Sorry, I don't see the problem. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that brick and mortar TAs can screw people over too. Heck, an entire cruise line screwed people over at Windjammer. Carnival PVPs have made mistakes and screwed people over. There are bad apples in any business. I've booked and sailed on 2 cruises and had no problems.

 

I would be suspicious of an "unbelievable" quote. Most quotes I get are fairly close to one another, but all are much better than the Carnival price. If I saw an "unbelievable" quote I would be doing some serious due diligence before booking. You can see the agency name before booking. Do some research. Post a question on a message board asking for confirmation that the company is legit.

 

I get a booking confirmation # as soon as I give my credit card info and an invoice by email. All charges are through Carnival. It's going to be hard for any merchant to dispute the invoice. What more can you ask for?

 

In the end, you stated she got it worked out. Like I said, the CC billing rights and fraud protection will protect you. She may have had an unfortunate hassle due to a rogue agent, but did she pay more than the original quote?

 

The problem was, it was a big hassle for her and it took months to get it straightened out. I was leery of the quote because it was so much lower than what my TA could give her. By the way, my TA works for a large internet based cruise agency, so I have NOTHING against them whatsoever. I've never met him, but have booked over the phone with him or via e-mail many times over the last several years and I have nothing but good things to say about him and his agency.

 

My friend did some research on the company before she booked, and I did post questions on this site asking about the company. The COMPANY wasn't the problem, it was that one agent who is no longer affiliated with the company thanks to how he handled that booking (and maybe others, who knows). We've been on several cruises and I handle all the research, reservations, deposits, payments, etc. for us -- I know how it is supposed to work. Unfortunately, my friend has only been on a couple cruises and handled her booking on her own and ran into some serious problems with an agent.

 

You may still not see the problem in all this because she eventually did get it all worked out, but it was a completely unnecessary and stressful event for her. My point was that choosing the agency with the lowest quote may not turn out to be the best deal after all. I will stick with my TA who consistently gives us good quotes AND good customer service.

[cruiseco]

 

But once that is done, I can then start calling every agency in existence and shop for a better deal?

 

No one said it would be easy. It's kind of like buying a car. You can go to one of those no-haggling dealerships and know that you're probably getting an OK deal -- or at least are not paying more than anyone else that uses them. Or you can go to one dealer over the course of several years and be pretty sure you're getting at least a fair deal because you're a repeat customer.

 

Or, you can do lots of shopping on the web and then call around to every dealer within 100 miles of you, play one off another and not give up until you've got the best deal possible.

 

Everybody has their own way of doing this. Happy with a fair deal? Not satisfied until you have the lowest fare ever? It's up to you as far as how much work you're willing to put in.

[garptsmqt]

We booked through our TA last year, but a PVP called us in September and offered us a price that was below the on-line PG price so we took it with air. A month later, the price was the same on-line as we got, then - we couldn't get our air until after our final payment. Our flights are terrible, not the PVP's fault, but to change now costs us $100.00 and all the cheap flights are gone. So - our 'deal' was no deal - and our PVP, while reasonably responsive to questions (and did get us an aft balcony), has not been able to do anything for us price-wise or flight-wise.

 

I did find our cruise about $150 less on the previously mentioned compete website. I also called my TA and apologized for 'cheating on her'...

[Cruise, J.D.]

You may still not see the problem in all this because she eventually did get it all worked out, but it was a completely unnecessary and stressful event for her. My point was that choosing the agency with the lowest quote may not turn out to be the best deal after all. I will stick with my TA who consistently gives us good quotes AND good customer service.

 

My point was that a rogue agent can cause problems for anybody, no matter how you book. A trusted TA could be facing financial difficulty and is pulling shenanigans with bookings. It doesn't even have to be the TA - a dishonest employee of a trusted TA could cause problems. My friend's business was nearly ruined by a dishonest bookkeeper. Do your research and get everything in writing!

 

It sounds like you have an excellent TA. Whatever makes someone comfortable is the best for them. There is no need to worry about what someone else pays as long as you are satisfied with your deal. I don't need any hand holding so I go for the lowest rate I can get and I don't really care about customer service.

 

Happy sailing!

[Darlipoo]

NCtribefan,

To answer your question on tranferring. Yes you can. When you book with Carnival through a PVP or CVS, they earn a point for booking your cruise. You can then transfer your booking to any TA by providing your password to them. Some TA's can further discount the booking or look for a better fare for you.

 

Dave

 

I know my PVP told me when I booked my first cruise with him that I could transfer my booking to any TA. But I don't understand why I'd want to do that. I mean, what would be the advantage? I looked at rates on-line, I called and got a cabin 4 floors higher than shown on internet site, I got a much needed handicap cabin, and an OBC. What would be the advantage of getting a TA involved now? I know everyone else "gets it" but I honestly don't.

[spikester]

On my cruises I checked with some of the "major" online booking places and they charged additonal fees so the price was higher.

 

However, I book the cheapest cabins because I don't care where I sleep and prefer to use the savings for on board/on shore purchases.

[Cruise, J.D.]

Inadvertent post . . .

[VentureMan_2000]

Inadvertant post...

 

Way too big of a word for this forum. Let's stick to "Double Post" next time... ;)