Cruisealot2020 Posted November 8, 2019 Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 Sorry if the question as been answered before, but I tried searching for the answer but couldn't find it. I'm from Canada, friends of ours from Denmark booked a cruise and asked us to join them. I went on line to book and the CDN cost was +/- $12,000 I went through their agency and it was +/- $7,000 Everything is the same, Is this normal? Do you get better price with agencies? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGSLC5 Posted November 8, 2019 Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 6 minutes ago, Cruisealot2020 said: Sorry if the question as been answered before, but I tried searching for the answer but couldn't find it. I'm from Canada, friends of ours from Denmark booked a cruise and asked us to join them. I went on line to book and the CDN cost was +/- $12,000 I went through their agency and it was +/- $7,000 Everything is the same, Is this normal? Do you get better price with agencies? Thanks Their agency most likely had block group space available.. This is when agencies buy up a bunch of rooms at a discount price and "freeze" the price so it won't go higher.. I am a travel agent and my host agency does this all the time.. I am going on a family cruise in December and was able to save my family $3000 per cabin on celebrity by booking them into the group space.. So to answer your question it is very possible you just need to find out from the travel agency if that includes all taxes fees and costs.. YOLO and ChessE4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12thman Posted November 8, 2019 Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 Welcome to the board @Cruisealot2020 that's a large amount in difference. Not sure why it's that different without knowing what you told the agent. I know my MEI travel agent uses several options when looking at cruise fares. Like age, residence, C&A status, special offers etc. The advantage of using a travel agent is if there's a problem they will handle it for you. You don't waste your time on the phone or emails with Royal. Plus most travel agent offer a perk of some kind for booking with them as the cruise line pays them a commission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12thman Posted November 8, 2019 Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 1 minute ago, AGSLC5 said: Their agency most likely had block group space available.. This is when agencies buy up a bunch of rooms at a discount price and "freeze" the price so it won't go higher.. I am a travel agent and my host agency does this all the time.. I am going on a family cruise in December and was able to save my family $3000 per cabin on celebrity by booking them into the group space.. So to answer your question it is very possible you just need to find out from the travel agency if that includes all taxes fees and costs.. That's good to know! What happens if the agency can't sell a the cabins purchased? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGSLC5 Posted November 8, 2019 Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 Just now, 12thman said: That's good to know! What happens if the agency can't sell a the cabins purchased? after final payment if they cant sell the cabins the get released back into general inventory but at current pricing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairlynew Posted November 8, 2019 Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 I use MEI travel and have never any information about a block of rooms. Does MEI not do this? How can you find out if there are less expensive ways to book a cruise that MEI does not discount? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGSLC5 Posted November 8, 2019 Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 30 minutes ago, Fairlynew said: I use MEI travel and have never any information about a block of rooms. Does MEI not do this? How can you find out if there are less expensive ways to book a cruise that MEI does not discount? its not something that agencies advertise.. When MEI does the group cruises for Matt they use this method to obtain pricing.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12thman Posted November 8, 2019 Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 59 minutes ago, AGSLC5 said: after final payment if they cant sell the cabins the get released back into general inventory but at current pricing. So agencies can take blocks of cabins early at very low prices which drives up the price I see on Royal's website, then after they don't sell the cabins are released to the general public? I wouldn't be happy if I found out my cruise had that happening. It's mentioned all the time the cruise lines increase cabin fares as inventory for that particular category diminishes. So when I see those ads about ridiculous prices for a particular cruise that's what that agency did? Block out several categories of cabins? Always thought it was like a new car selling at a really low price and when you look at the details it's only for one car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOLO Posted November 8, 2019 Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 @Cruisealot2020 Hi and welcome to the RCB forum. With enough research you will find that travel agencies will almost always have better overall deals than booking directly with Cruise lines. I do wonder if booking with a US based agency (if even possible) will get you a better deal than booking with a Canadian one. Did you check this out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlantix2000 Posted November 8, 2019 Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 18 minutes ago, YOLO said: I do wonder if booking with a US based agency (if even possible) will get you a better deal than booking with a Canadian one. Did you check this out? There may indeed be a price difference when booking through a US vs non-US agency. However, booking rules are based on where you book your travel. For instance, US bookings are able to get price reductions but that isn't true in the UK. On the other hand, UK bookings sometimes have drink packages included and that never happens in the US. Another cause of price differences will be what consumer rights/protections are included based on country of booking. I've heard European fares are generally higher but they have a lot of protections we don't have here in the US. So to sum up, price isn't everything, make sure you understand what you are getting depending on how/where you book. YOLO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisealot2020 Posted November 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2019 Thank you everyone, I thought about bulk with agencies, but the difference in price was huge. I ended up buying through the agency and they are from Denmark. (second time) Also, maybe because the cruise is in Europe, leaving from Rome helps the agency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGSLC5 Posted November 9, 2019 Report Share Posted November 9, 2019 5 hours ago, 12thman said: So agencies can take blocks of cabins early at very low prices which drives up the price I see on Royal's website, then after they don't sell the cabins are released to the general public? I wouldn't be happy if I found out my cruise had that happening. It's mentioned all the time the cruise lines increase cabin fares as inventory for that particular category diminishes. So when I see those ads about ridiculous prices for a particular cruise that's what that agency did? Block out several categories of cabins? Always thought it was like a new car selling at a really low price and when you look at the details it's only for one car. That is exactly right.. Its very frustrating for me. I am a small agent who cant compete with big guys like vacations to go or cruises.com.. They buy up blocks of cabins when itineraries are first released and that's how they give people deals.. Now I have a host agency that buys some but they don't buy it for every sailing so its a crap shoot on whether I can actually save people money.. What I can do is offer really good customer service and OBC.. But plenty of times I lose out to big guys. Im not mad about it. its business and I understand but yes you now know how the big guys get deals lol. 12thman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted November 9, 2019 Report Share Posted November 9, 2019 On 11/8/2019 at 3:10 PM, Fairlynew said: I use MEI travel and have never any information about a block of rooms. Does MEI not do this? How can you find out if there are less expensive ways to book a cruise that MEI does not discount? MEI does room blocks, primarily when they see a need for one. The most common scenario is an event like a RoyalCaribbeanBlog group cruise or a large family gathering or company event. Basically, if it makes sense to grab a bunch of rooms on a select sailing, they can do it. Moreover, an agency such as MEI is part of a larger network of travel agencies. MEI could potentially have access to room blocks that other agencies in that agency have set up. I often advocate to use a travel agent for the fantastic service they provide, but from time to time, they can also net you a great deal too! In short, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. 12thman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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