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Book Direct or through Agent?


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Since I started cruising with RCI, I’ve always booked direct with an amazing Sr. Royal Vacation Agent and used Air2Sea for much of my air/ground transportation.

I’ve lost our agent and not overly happy with delays in quotes and endless phone wait queues.

Considering using an independent cruise agent.  Question….

1) What are the benefits, pros and cons, with an independent agent?

2)  Who is an agent who knows RCI inside and out?

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1) They deal with Royal directly when there are any problems or issues, saving you time and frustration.  They get to know your likes/dislikes over time.  You allow some independent travel advisor to get the commission that Royal would keep if you booked directly with them.

2) MEI Travel is a sponsor of this website, and many of us use them.  There are many there who are awesome.  I personally use Michelle Cunningham ([email protected]), or you can fill out the yellow form on the home page of this website and one will contact you.  Others will likely chime in singing MEI's praises as well.

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1 hour ago, TXCoastPatriot said:

Since I started cruising with RCI, I’ve always booked direct with an amazing Sr. Royal Vacation Agent and used Air2Sea for much of my air/ground transportation.

I’ve lost our agent and not overly happy with delays in quotes and endless phone wait queues.

Considering using an independent cruise agent.  Question….

1) What are the benefits, pros and cons, with an independent agent?

2)  Who is an agent who knows RCI inside and out?

One pro is that your agent should be on the lookout for price changes.  My MEI agent emailed me last week with almost $500 in savings on 2 different cruises.  

I actually like to book my own cruises, but I then transfer them to my agent to handle from there.  As Matt said above, there are no charges and lots of benefits.

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42 minutes ago, Matt said:

Having a travel agent is like having a lawyer in court: it makes everything easier. Unlike a lawyer, a travel agent costs you nothing extra for their services!

Check out Top things you didn't know travel agents can do for your cruise vacation

Great article Matt.  Some interesting information a TA can do, especially dealing with Casino Royale offers.

Thanks…

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I believe in using an agent and do so myself. However, you asked about disadvantages and I've only encountered one.

If an agent is servicing your booking, then Royal will not discuss your booking with you.  Normally, this isn't an issue, but it can become an issue if your travel agent proves unresponsive. (this might happen if you get a bad agent that just doesn't care, or if he/she has health or other issues)

If this happens, you can have your booking transferred to someone else, but it is painful.  I've never had it go that far, so I don't know exactly how to do this.

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4 minutes ago, steverk said:

I believe in using an agent and do so myself. However, you asked about disadvantages and I've only encountered one.

If an agent is servicing your booking, then Royal will not discuss your booking with you.  Normally, this isn't an issue, but it can become an issue if your travel agent proves unresponsive. (this might happen if you get a bad agent that just doesn't care, or if he/she has health or other issues)

If this happens, you can have your booking transferred to someone else, but it is painful.  I've never had it go that far, so I don't know exactly how to do this.

I have a knack for getting that travel agent who is not up to par.  

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10 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

I have a knack for getting that travel agent who is not up to par.  

There are a lot of part time travel agents out there.  Much like real estate agents, this is not a place where you want to hire a friend or relative who is getting into the business. 

One of the reasons I chose MEI was that they are involved as a sponsor of this board and there are many agents under their umbrella.  If you are having issues with a particular agent, there is a way to address it and be assigned a new agent.

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