One big reason I use a travel agent to book my cruises is to make things easier for me.
Ever since I started using travel agents, I realized the services they provide can save me time and money, as well as simply taking the burden off of me.
I've been using MEI Travel for a couple of decades now, and by now I have a good rapport for what I look for in my cruise. Just like the waiter in the dining room that knows what drinks I like to have every night, my travel agent knows which booking preferences I have.
On any cruise I book, I always ask my travel agent to do four important things. Truthfully, they already know to do most of these before I ask, but I think these are the things I'll always verify are done before I set sail.
Specify my Main Dining Room time and table
When you book a cruise, one of the first decisions you have is which dining option you prefer.
Guests have the choice of Traditional Dining or My Time Dining, and I always pick Traditional Dinner for the simplicity of having a table each day waiting for us.
When I started cruising, we picked the late dining time, but since we started cruising with kids, we've switched over to early seating.
One thing I never liked about late dining was when we got out of dinner, it felt like we missed all the prime evening entertainment. But when we do early dining, it still feels like "the night is young".
As I'm writing this, I might start considering more the new middle dining time that Royal Caribbean recently added to its ships for that Goldilocks time slot.
My travel agent will always subsequently ask me if there's someone else onboard the ship I want to dine with in the Main Dining Room.
When you link reservations together, Royal Caribbean should put everyone at the same table together. Or at least, that's what's needed to hopefully make that happen. I'll still verify the table assignment one I get onboard the ship.
Pre-pay my gratuities
Royal Caribbean offers its guests the choice of pre-paying gratuities or having them charged automatically each night of the cruise.
Personally, I prefer to pre-pay them before the cruise begins so there's one less charge on my onboard bill.
When I started cruising, I always hated having a big bill waiting for me at the end of the cruise. To avoid this, I pre-pay as much as I can so I can budget accordingly.
Another advantage of pre-paying gratuities is it locks in the gratuity rate, even if Royal Caribbean raises it later.
I'll ask my travel agent to add the gratuities to my reservation, and then I'll go into the Cruise Planner to pre-book specialty restaurants, drink packages, shore excursions, and WiFi.
Not only does pre-booking make it easier to pay things off before my vacation begins, but it will save me money too with all the various sales Royal Caribbean runs.
A cabin near the elevator
I really cannot recall the last time I didn't ask my travel agent to pick a cabin near the elevator.
Having a cabin near the elevators and stairs means it'll be convenient to going in and out of my room when I need it.
While I can appreciate the views an aft facing balcony can have, I'd prefer to minimize the walk to and from my room. This is especially true on Royal Caribbean's really big cruise ships.
I used to be concerned about noise from the elevator lobby, but in my experience I've never any noise from the elevators, and most guests are pretty quiet walking past.
Sure, there is the occasional couple having a loud conversation, teenager running down the hallway, or someone yelling at someone else, but that can happen anywhere on the deck.
If I want to buy travel insurance
I recommend everyone get travel insurance for every cruise they take, and it's one of the things I'll always double check with my travel agent.
Not all travel insurance policies are the same, so it's important to look into what's covered or not.
Royal Caribbean sells its own travel insurance policy, which is underwritten by Arch Insurance Company.
Their policy includes six primary benefits:
- Trip Interruption: Up to 150% of total trip cost if you can't start or finish your cruise vacation because you're sick or hurt, there's a death in the family, or another covered reason.
- Trip Delay: Up to $2,000 ($250 per day) for catch-up expenses
- Missed Connection: Up to $300 if you miss your trip departure for covered reasons by three hours or more.
- Accident and Sickness Medical: up to $25,000 if you get hurt and $25,000 if you get sick on your cruise vacation.
- Emergency Medical Evacuation: Up to $50,000 for emergency medical transportation during your vacation.
- Baggage Protection and Delay: Up to $1,500 if your bags are lost, stolen, or damaged and up to $500 to buy necessary personal items if your bags are delayed.
My advice is compare a few travel insurance policies to find the best one that fits your needs. Don't just buy travel insurance for the sake of buying travel insurance.
In fact, your travel agent can be a good resource for recommending a good policy or company to use. Don't be afraid to ask their opinion.
