To our friends in the UK...

[blindrid]

I found this interesting as to Europeans using American Travel Agents to book cruises. With the american dollar getting weaker it makes sense.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23450612/

 

It's an article on MSNBC's website. Good luck.

 

And no, I'm not affiliated with anything or anyone that may be mentioned in the article.

[Mim Lloyd]

I booked our upcoming RCCI cruise through a US based TA. We've saved just over £200 each (about $400), plus we got onboard credit. Other benefits with booking through a US agent is that if we decide to cancel we can get our deposit back, plus we can move our booking if we find a better deal elsewhere. I've also been told that if RCCI have any price drops before we sail, our TA will match it. We paid by credit card so our money is safe, and we weren't charged a 2% or 3% fee for using a credit card. None of these things apply when booking through a TA in Britain.

 

I trawled the internet and TAs in Britain before booking and none could beat the US agent. We really get ripped off in Britain - in particular by getting charged a fee for paying by credit card. You spend a lot of money on a holiday so a 2% or 3% charge can be a lot.

[huskypup]

We have also booked with a US agent, and the price we have paid, plus 4 nts hotel in San Diego before and after, flights, parking and hotel at Heathrow before the flights & 2 excursions, is abour £200pp cheaper than a UK tour operator was quoting me for the cruise alone, plus no onboard credit, could not arrange our dining arrangements and a no bottle of champagne in our cabin on arrival.

 

At the moment a US tour operator wins hands down, also they couried our cruise docs to us in two days!!! from America, its takes 4 days to send anything in the UK.

 

Its whats ever works for you.

[AnDeNo.UK]

Any good American TA's you can share names with. I know you cannot post on here, my email is in my profile. Each TA I have checked online, is more or less what we pay thro' our TA here. Would love to get the great bargains for 2009. :D

 

BTW, I fully agree about us Brits getting ripped off !!! :D

[Benjismum]

Blindrid, thanks for this information, we have always been happy with our UK TA, but it doesn't hurt to shop around - I will check this out.

 

cheers :)

[koala jan]

Hello - we'd be grateful for the info on booking via a US travel agent - we,too, have thought we pay more in the Uk despite the good £/$ exchange rate.

email is - jphandscomb@hotmail.com

Many thanks

[blindrid]

I have typically used online TA's for my cruises. I shop it pretty hard and also check out the one that has TA's bid the cruises. After I select one, I either attempt an email or phone call (easy for me in the US) to try to get an idea as to service, location etc.

 

I've never had any problems doing it this way as the last one I used, Princess had the reservation by the time I got off their website on a Saturday night. I always try to verify booking as soon as I can to avoid any last minute confusion.

 

 

Good luck.

[Rock Chick]

I'd also like the info on booking via a US TA please, for our next cruise. Email is cagsy_uk@hotmail.com

[Dorset Cruiser]

And me please. I get so frustrated when I hear how we are ripped off by the cruise companies in the UK. I booked a cruise last year for this April but, for personal reasons, had to cancel after a couple of months. I lost my deposit. We then found recently that we could, in fact, manage to get the time off and rebooked. They refused to reinstate my lost deposit and I had to pay more for a gu. BF balcony than I did for my chosen original BF balcony. Luckily, when the cabin was assigned I was upgraded to a BB balcony. My email is dittonparkobs@hotmail.co.uk

 

Many thanks

[saltypeer]

Very interesting posts. Anybody able to help us with a reputable American travel agent please.............moc.12klat@notniar_retep..................is my life in reverse?

[cuthey]

Has anyone got any good recommendations for US T/A would be very interested in booking this way as i think there could be substantial savings look forward to hearing from you at cuthey50@aol.com

[berlingo]

Same again! Any suggestions of good US TAs for booking a cruise would be gratefully received.

My email address is: victoria_mccormack@hotmail.com

With many thanks.

[Roxally]

What interesting posts. If anyone is able to help us with the name of a reputable American travel agent it will be much appreciated.

Many thanks marym@fsmail.net

[hooked-on-travel]

I use the "cruise compete" site so that the travel agents tell you what they can do and you pick the one that is best. (Put those words together and use dot com.) I've used it twice and it worked well. It was for new bookings only, if that matters.

[blindrid]

I think there was a TA listed in the MSNBC article. I have not used them (her) but that may be a start.

[SteveNorthampton]

As a Brit who has booked to cruise this autumn with my wife and three teenage sons. I have just read about booking through US travel agents.

After searching for a few minutes, I'm now a bit annoyed.

 

I did plenty of searching amongst UK agents to get my best price, but Wow! If I had booked via the US I think we would have either saved 40%, or would have got cabins about three decks higher and twice the size.

 

I will not book through a UK agent next time. :mad:

What a shame I had not discovered Cruise Critic three weeks ago:mad:

[Mim Lloyd]

Another thing that gets to me is deposits. In Britain, you pay any kind of deposit for ANYTHING, and you're lucky to get it back if you cancel - and if you DO get anything back you have to fight for it.

 

We had confirmed by the US agent we used Vacations to go, that we could cancel without penalty right up to the last week or two of our cruise. Also, if there are any price reductions, we'd get them.

 

We're also going to Las Vegas in October for 6 nights. We've booked the Mirage for 3 nights and had booked the MGM for 3 nights. Both charged my credit card a deposit of one night. We booked direct with the hotels as they guarantee to price match (they were the cheapest anyway). My husband changed his mind about the MGM so I logged in to their website and simply clicked to cancel our booking. I got a refund back into my credit card in 2 days - and got more than I paid originally because the dollar is weak against the pound!

 

I then booked the Flamingo but after seeing the poor reviews on Trip Advisor, I cancelled that - and again got an automatic refund. I'm now thinking about booking the Paris Hotel. Imagine trying to get away with this in Britain - I'd be well out of pocket!

 

Oh, by the way - if any Las Vegas devotees read this please recommend a hotel on the strip! We've been to the Luxor so don't want that. I fancied Caesar's but it's a little more than we want to pay.

[PrincessRobbo]

Mim go for the Paris hotel in Las Vegas. Its bang in the middle of the strip and does great pastries and bread for breakfast.

[Mim Lloyd]

Just been checking reviews for Paris and they're all good - especially for the pastries! :p So I think we'll book that. Although we won't be spending an awful lot of time in our room, we want it to be a good one when we are there.

[compman9]

I would like to bump this thread because the OP is absolutely right, we get ripped off big time in the UK by our TAs. I would never have gone on a cruise if I didn't find a US based agent.

 

They are great, and have arranged my last three cruises for me. If doing any trip that could remotely include travelling via America, I would use them; South America vacations, Caribbean, anything.

 

There is also a very good TA that advertises on most pages here.

[Taxguy77]

I would like to bump this thread because the OP is absolutely right, we get ripped off big time in the UK by our TAs. I would never have gone on a cruise if I didn't find a US based agent.

 

They are great, and have arranged my last three cruises for me. If doing any trip that could remotely include travelling via America, I would use them; South America vacations, Caribbean, anything.

 

There is also a very good TA that advertises on most pages here.

Our daughter and family lived in Surrey for five years and we visited every year. We always took a few days on a side trip by ourselves, which she booked though a local agent. Very good accomodations, :) but my wife said "don't ask how much it cost". That's code for "work harder when we get home":(

One year the 6 of us (3 generations) went to Spain for 2 weeks in a villa, 3 BR and swimming pool with a view of the med from a sun deck, easy walking from 3 restaurants on the waters edge, etc. She called me and asked me to find out the price to rent a van from the US, as she heard it was cheaper. IT WAS A LOT! She said the van was about equal to the rest, so I paid for the van and they paid the rest! :cool: So your address dooms you.

[Soccerfan]

Another thing that gets to me is deposits. In Britain, you pay any kind of deposit for ANYTHING, and you're lucky to get it back if you cancel - and if you DO get anything back you have to fight for it.

 

We had confirmed by the US agent we used Vacations to go, that we could cancel without penalty right up to the last week or two of our cruise. Also, if there are any price reductions, we'd get them.

 

We're also going to Las Vegas in October for 6 nights. We've booked the Mirage for 3 nights and had booked the MGM for 3 nights. Both charged my credit card a deposit of one night. We booked direct with the hotels as they guarantee to price match (they were the cheapest anyway). My husband changed his mind about the MGM so I logged in to their website and simply clicked to cancel our booking. I got a refund back into my credit card in 2 days - and got more than I paid originally because the dollar is weak against the pound!

 

I then booked the Flamingo but after seeing the poor reviews on Trip Advisor, I cancelled that - and again got an automatic refund. I'm now thinking about booking the Paris Hotel. Imagine trying to get away with this in Britain - I'd be well out of pocket!

 

Oh, by the way - if any Las Vegas devotees read this please recommend a hotel on the strip! We've been to the Luxor so don't want that. I fancied Caesar's but it's a little more than we want to pay.

 

Hi Mim Lloyd,

 

I live nr Toronto but grew up in Kirkby. :D

 

I have stayed at Caesars, The Mirage, Mandalay Bay, The Hotel and The Venetian. My favourite was the Venetian but it can be a bit pricey. I always book directly with the hotels as I find they have the best prices and you can book in advance to find the "low cost" periods. I book the low cost period first then find the flight to match the dates.

 

My brother in law has stayed at the Paris Hotel many times. I have been into the rooms etc. and would have no problem staying there. The Paris offers the best breakfast brunch anywhere and we always make a point of eating there when we go.

 

I always book the cruises for friends and relatives who are going from England. The great thing though is that you can access the websites yourself, the one mentioned above,cruise compete, is a great starting point and will give you info about the TA.

 

I have heard that the Pier Head has undergone extensive renovations recently with the Culture 08 program, that's great news.

 

Good Luck with your travels! Enjoy :D

[Mim Lloyd]

Hi Soccerfan

 

You certainly wouldn't recognise the Pier Head now - or Kirkby for that matter! We now get the large cruise ships and the improvement in the city centre and dock area is amazing.

 

I've booked Paris for our additional 3 nights now. We got back from our Voyager cruise last night so now we've got Vegas to look forward too!

 

BTW. Last year on the Serenade we met a couple nearing 80 who had emigrated to Canada from Liverpool in the early 1960s. They still had Scouse accents as strong as they were when they left!

[Soccerfan]

Hi Soccerfan

 

You certainly wouldn't recognise the Pier Head now - or Kirkby for that matter! We now get the large cruise ships and the improvement in the city centre and dock area is amazing.

 

I've booked Paris for our additional 3 nights now. We got back from our Voyager cruise last night so now we've got Vegas to look forward too!

 

BTW. Last year on the Serenade we met a couple nearing 80 who had emigrated to Canada from Liverpool in the early 1960s. They still had Scouse accents as strong as they were when they left!

 

Hi Mim Lloyd,

 

I have been here for 27 years and my accent is also still the same. You can take the girl out of Scotland Road but not Scotland Road out of the girl ;)

 

Have a great time in Vegas, hell of a flight for you guys though! You'll have a ball in Vegas. One of those places that you have to see at least once in your life.

[worldly wanderer]

I would be very grateful if a fellow cruiser could give me contact details of a US TA. I was always under the impression you had to have a US address, isn't that so?