mcoler18 Posted September 10, 2019 Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 It is my mother in laws 60th birthday in March 2021, so was having a look at cruises yesterday. On the UK RC site there was a 7 nigth Oasis sailing on the 28th March 2021 out of Fort Lauderdale (this is the start of the two week school easter break in the UK), it is coming out at £1050.00 pp, had a look on a site www.vacationstogo.com which is an American cruise site, the very same cruise £636 pp plus a $50 on board credit. For the wife and I and the two kids thats a £1656 difference, surely that cant be right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaMG Posted September 10, 2019 Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 47 minutes ago, mcoler18 said: It is my mother in laws 60th birthday in March 2021, so was having a look at cruises yesterday. On the UK RC site there was a 7 nigth Oasis sailing on the 28th March 2021 out of Fort Lauderdale (this is the start of the two week school easter break in the UK), it is coming out at £1050.00 pp, had a look on a site www.vacationstogo.com which is an American cruise site, the very same cruise £636 pp plus a $50 on board credit. For the wife and I and the two kids thats a £1656 difference, surely that cant be right? There can indeed be big differences in price and, in fact, someone fairly recently on this board did a detailed comparison and ended up booking through a US agent and saving money. I'm afraid I can't remember the poster's name or the title of his thread, but maybe someone else can and can post the link for you. One reason can be that sometimes travel agencies make block bookings of cabins on certain sailings. This means they get them cheaper from the cruise line and can pass on the savings to their customers. Anyway, you do need to make sure you have taken all the details into account. One especially important one is the cost of the taxes. Some sites show you the base price as the lead-in price but then as you get further into the booking you still have to add on taxes. Another thing to bear in mind is that when booking through a US agent you don't get the same protection benefits that you do when you book in the UK, e.g. ABTA protection and the EU rules regarding compensation in the case of cancellations and alterations by the cruise line (although who knows where you'll stand on that until this whole Brexit mess is sorted out). On the other hand, you can benefit from certain US rules such as re-pricing if the cruise fare drops. It pays to shop around too. These boards are sponsored by a US agent - MEI Travel - that posters usually speak very highly of, so it might be worth contacting them too for a quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoler18 Posted September 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 4 minutes ago, FionaMG said: There can indeed be big differences in price and, in fact, someone fairly recently on this board did a detailed comparison and ended up booking through a US agent and saving money. I'm afraid I can't remember the poster's name or the title of his thread, but maybe someone else can and can post the link for you. One reason can be that sometimes travel agencies make block bookings of cabins on certain sailings. This means they get them cheaper from the cruise line and can pass on the savings to their customers. Anyway, you do need to make sure you have taken all the details into account. One especially important one is the cost of the taxes. Some sites show you the base price as the lead-in price but then as you get further into the booking you still have to add on taxes. Another thing to bear in mind is that when booking through a US agent you don't get the same protection benefits that you do when you book in the UK, e.g. ABTA protection and the EU rules regarding compensation in the case of cancellations and alterations by the cruise line (although who knows where you'll stand on that until this whole Brexit mess is sorted out). On the other hand, you can benefit from certain US rules such as re-pricing if the cruise fare drops. It pays to shop around too. These boards are sponsored by a US agent - MEI Travel - that posters usually speak very highly of, so it might be worth contacting them too for a quote. Thanks, i'll have a look at that MEI. Now you have said that the American site does state the price does not include taxes or fees, so will actually be more than the quoted price, but still cheaper I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoSmith Posted September 10, 2019 Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 It seems that its much cheaper to book from America. We rebooked our 2020 cruise while onboard last month and had the option of the US or the UK offer.Going with the US saved us £700 per cabin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted September 10, 2019 Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 VTG generally has some of the cheapest prices out there for Royal cruises. I have used them many times after being gouged by booking directly with Royal. Taxes prob add 80 pounds to your charge. You could almost take 2 cruises for the cost of one cruise with Royal....insane. And usually the perks are much better with VTG. Not sure what your options are from the UK..but over here it defn pays to shop. I learned that the hard way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted September 10, 2019 Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 6 hours ago, FionaMG said: There can indeed be big differences in price and, in fact, someone fairly recently on this board did a detailed comparison and ended up booking through a US agent and saving money. I'm afraid I can't remember the poster's name or the title of his thread, That was me spiralqueen and FionaMG 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebAtSea Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 On a Disney board I was read about sites licensed to sell Disney tickets at a discount. Disney uses them to get business that wouldn't buy at full price, without having to post the lower prices on their website. My guess is that the discount cruise sites work the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 50 minutes ago, DebAtSea said: My guess is that the discount cruise sites work the same way. They work a little differently. The discount cruise sites are basically large TAs. They can reserve blocks of rooms and lock in a set price for that group of rooms. This price may be lower than what the current advertised rate is because they locked in that price early on before prices increased. I don't believe they are allowed to publish this rate and they have to show the same lowest rates as the cruise lines are offering directly. However if you get a quote from a TA and they happen to have that particular cruise locked in at a group rate, they can offer that to you. Generally you will see the big TAs advertise "discounts" in the form of incentives they you get with booking from the TA such as OBC, prepaid gratuities, specialty dinners, wine, etc. The TA is using some of their commissions to cover these incentives which they can buy from the cruise line in bulk at a reduced rate. DebAtSea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebAtSea Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 Actually, yes. I think you're right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PG Cruiser Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 I have never used the services of travel agents for booking my cruises but I've been reading about the advantages of doing so in these message boards. My question is, if I have already booked a cruise with Royal (online or over the phone), can a travel agent still have my booking repriced if I endorse/transfer my booking to them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 1 hour ago, RatedPG said: I have never used the services of travel agents for booking my cruises but I've been reading about the advantages of doing so in these message boards. My question is, if I have already booked a cruise with Royal (online or over the phone), can a travel agent still have my booking repriced if I endorse/transfer my booking to them? Yes, as long as final payment hasn’t passed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PG Cruiser Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 Just now, WAAAYTOOO said: Yes, as long as final payment hasn’t passed Is there a "How to Deal with Travel Agents" tutorial somewhere on these message boards? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 2 hours ago, RatedPG said: My question is, if I have already booked a cruise with Royal (online or over the phone), can a travel agent still have my booking repriced if I endorse/transfer my booking to them? You have 60 days after booking to get it transferred provided isn't paid in full. Once it's paid in full, no transfers, once you are 60 days past the day you booked it no transfer. There is an appeals process but YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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