Back from first cruise. Planning next one, tried with a TA but got questions (bonus, pretty sunset pictures)

[SVoyager]

Hello fellow cruisers, got back from my first cruise on Freedom (may 6th to may 9th, cococay and nassau). Absolutely loved it, already planning my next 2 cruises! I knew I wanted a balcony because I wanted my own chill time, reading a book and just looking at the ocean. Was really worth it! (Pictures!) Even had a thunderstorm off in the distance for a good part of the night on the way from cococay to nassau. The views were incredible, stayed up really late just looking at it!

 

So, barely a week off the ship, I was already planning for one, maybe 2 more cruises. Having heard so much about how useful it is to use a Travel Agent, I was thinking of going that route. I am a lone traveler with limited budget so I seek the best deals and adapt my itinerary accordingly. The next cruise had a tighter schedule tho and had to be in november. I had to be in orlando between nov 11 to 13 and wanted to stay about a week there to enjoy the theme parks. The cruise would have been either before or after that date. The other cruise I plan for in 2023 (alaska probably) is really open, no timetable.

So I check for prices for the november trip and I spot a nice balcony on Libery OTS nov14th from FLL about 150$ cheaper than the other 2 ships that sail from miami and port canaveral (4night cruise). I then ask a quote and what I get is pretty much higher prices overall and the agent doesn't see the deal I spotted. Ask another TA, again pretty much the same thing and they tell me its pretty much the price as it is right now and they don't watch for upcoming deals. So I endedup planning this trip by myself again.

I've never dealt with TA before so maybe I don't understand their role very well and my expectations are wrong. I thought that TA could find great deals, warn you should opportunities becomes available, tell you when to get the plane tickets, help you plan your itinerary, know about the destination, suggest places to go to, and help you out should trouble arise. Example of what I would expect: One day I would get a call from my TA saying, "Hey you wanted to go to Alaska? Check this out, the price for balconies on X ship just dropped this week and the ports are great, seems like a great deal, you interested?"

Doesn't seem to work that way. Instead, I could get better deals myself, I can subscribe for price watch sites for the cruise and plane tickets so that I get warned of drops. I might not have the best itinerary tho.

Unfortunately, the fact that I am a lone traveler forces me to be very budget minded. I do understand that TA can't spend hours on a single client but hopefully they would have tools to automate things a bit. Doesn't seem to be the case tho.

 

Knowing many people use TA here, I was wondering if anyone could clarify / help me have the right expectations of a TA. Does my priorities makes it so that TA are not meant for me or was I not lucky with the ones I tried? (sorry if this post might feel like a rant. It is not my intention, just genuinely wish to know more)

[Ampurp85]

I use a TA that doesn't cost me anything, he gets a commission on my cruise that wouldn't really affect me but keeps him employed. I sometimes spot price differences before he does and its okay as he is the one who spends the time dealing with RCG. 

I would also like to point out that prices the TA see will often have port fees, taxes, gratuity, etc. all included. Sometimes I see a cheaper price but it's for a lesser category and other things I forget to take into consideration.

I would say that yes, your expectations of what a TA can and will do is a bit skewed. Brick and mortar TAs might do some of the things you want like plan your itinerary, suggest times to purchase tickets, etc, but that's if you are paying a TA, which imho defeats trying to be budget oriented. But a free TA is there to really there to keep an eye on price adjustments and offer peace of mind when things arise like cancellations. You might need several TAs to do what you want because most TAs have a specialty; a cruise TA can tell you the best time to visit Alaska but may not have any insight in regard to flights, the same for theme parks, cities and so on. 

 

[smokeybandit]

Don't let "great deal" be your #1 reason for picking a TA

[twangster]

You need to build a relationship with a TA to achieve some of those goals.  As a stranger a TA doesn't know your likes or dislikes or when something may fit your particular desires.  Otherwise it's an email blast with the latest deals  of the day and that will include destinations all over the globe because they don't know you.

Once you have worked with a TA for a while and they better understand the sort of thing you tend to do only then can they see something and recognize it might be a fit for you.  

[wordell1]

You can always book your own cruise on the Royal Caribbean website yourself and then transfer it to your TA.  I do this most of the time. My TA will then manage the booking and watch for price drops.  I regularly receive price drops that my TA spots and emails to me.

I enjoy booking my own cruises and used to book either directly with Royal, or used one of the big online TA's.  During Covid, with multiple cancellations/rebookings I was spending way too much time following up on FCC's and other issues.  For me, the biggest reason to use a TA is for when things go wrong.

[JC Pats]

10 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

I enjoy booking my own cruises and used to book either directly with Royal, or used one of the big online TA's.  During Covid, with multiple cancellations/rebookings I was spending way too much time following up on FCC's and other issues.  For me, the biggest reason to use a TA is for when things go wrong.

This exactly - I can book everything myself without issue. I choose to use a good travel agent (2 actually) because of the service I get and that I don't have to call royal to re-price cruises on price drops or deal with finding FCC or missing deposits or Royal losing my money.. wait.. off track sorry.. 

A great travel agent will take care of all this for you. If you're the type that enjoys the booking process and planning your vacation and you don't mind calling royal for re-pricing and whatnot - maybe a TA isn't for you. If you don't mind someone handling that for you - maybe it a TA is for you. 

[ChessE4]

My experience is that the advertised prices are for the cheapest available room, not necessarily what you really are going to want.  Our TA knows (or is told) our preferences, and then looks for the best deal she can get.  For example, we might see that balconies are not much more than ocean view on a particular cruise, so our TA will get us alternative quotes on a balcony rather than an ocean view.  The final quotes are close to the sale price, but not exactly the same because of our room selection and refundable deposit (we book 1-2 years in advance).  An immediate cruise doesn't require a refundable deposit so you can get a price break on a "last minute deal".  We notice price drops, but when we check with our TA, our selected room is rarely significantly cheaper.  We do find that our TA can help us with excursion ideas, if we want them, but a majority of the time we do that ourselves.  It kind of depends upon your real goals for the cruise and what you expect. Lastly, it takes time and effort to build business relationships, whether with a TA or a hairdresser.  

Whatever you choose, have a great cruise!

[Pattycruise]

I've read of some travel agents having great things to offer (like OBC, free gratuities, free wifi) when you book with them.  I don't know who they are, Ive never tried this.
I did have a local gal who was my TA and I was not pleased with her "non answers" of questions I would ask.  I did try an MEI agent (highly recommended by people here, and of course my luck, I was not satisficed with her, almost one year later I am awaiting a response from a few emails I had sent her), but others here can recommend their acclaimed tried and true MEI agents.  I am now on my 3rd agent, and she answers my emails in a very reasonable time and actually answers what I ask.  However I do regularly check my pricing and let her know if there is a price drop and she contacts Royal to get that price drop for me (once you have a TA all things must be done through them when dealing with Royal for price adjustments, cabin changes)--this is under the best price guarantee that Royal had been running.
One thing I do love about a travel agent, you can ask them to put a hold on a cruise (if you anticipate a big sale) and then confirm the booking at the better price.

I will say get used to looking at Royal website and carry your mock booking  through to the point you would have to add your name/address.....the "cover page price" on the website is NOT accurate, it's a starting point.  When you travel you pretty much are paying almost double that (there are a few exceptions which are hard to find).  Also, you need to understand if your price includes the gratuities or not.    Most times a "sale" on Royal has an increase in prices, so I write all my notes down on sailings I am interested in.

If you book onboard at Nextcruise you will more than likely get OBC (onboard credit) towards your next cruise, be sure to ask them-sometimes they "forget"  AND you get reduced deposits....so it is typically only $100 per person deposit via next cruise as opposed to $250 per person when you book online.  (keep in mind that the $100 per person is based on standard cabins-not the high end suites, and I believe for sailings 7 days or less)  You would have 30 days to transfer anything you booked onboard to a travel agent of your choice -if you choose to do that.   If you are already on a sailing that was booked utilizing a travel agent whatever you book at Nextcruise will automatically be assigned to that travel agent....unless you don't want that to happen, then there is a form that you sign that indicates you no longer want that travel agent, you can then provide new travel agent info at that time OR you can use the 30 day time frame to transfer the booking to someone else.   Please know your pricing before going to next cruise, I was onboard last September when they were quoting some higher prices to friends.  I had the internet package, did the mock booking and screen shot what it should be and next cruise met that price.

[Pattycruise]

Re: excursions.  You can always look at what Royal offers, then google the name of the excursion and you may find reviews of it on Cruise Critic.  You can also use CC to look at other reviews.  If you are going to Alaska do not wait to book what you want, sometimes things will sell out (learned that the hard way_.  Excursions can be booked and if you find it goes cheaper (just like anything else in the cruise planner) you can cancel your order and do an immediate rebooking.
I recommend you maintain a folder/print outs or other system to keep track of what you have purchased and anything that you cancel and be sure your credit card is refunded appropriately.    Typical best time for best pricing in the cruise planner (which has the excursions, internet, drink packages etc) is Thanksgiving time.  That's not to say you shouldn't book something when you see it, but it may be a possibility of a better price at that time.  

[SVoyager]

Thanks for all your responses, very appreciated!

@wordell1 's TA seems like what I would need. Else, indeed I don't think I would need a TA very much, besides for when things go wrong and their knowledge of the destination.

I did not think of it as being a 'relationship'. Instead I was seeing it more as a 'service' (ouch that sounds cold). So maybe building a good relationship with a TA is what makes it worth it long term but then it comes to the problem of finding a good one lol. @Pattycruise my first attempt was at MEI and comparing apples to apples, room type, gratuities etc, I had cheaper, which did put me off seeing how much praise there was for them here.

So I'm a bit on the fence but might approach it differently for my Alaska cruise. Thanks again for the help!

[Snowchaser]

Like above the TA is there for when things go wrong so if you find a good deal just book it and have it transferred.  Like you I have done mock bookings to the point of needing a CC, then my TA does the same booking and her price is close but slightly more ($25-$100 more).  This happens only once in a while on cruises and more with all-inclusive vacations it seems.

As of late though I have been doing more bookings on my own due to twice having missed out on pretty good price drops.  One time my agent was on a cruise vacation of her own and was unavailable to handle the re-booking and the second I work nights and caught the last few hours of a sale that was unable to be re-booked the following day.  Both of these if under my control could have be done by me with a phone call so I go back and forth, TA or no TA.

[KJ777]

18 hours ago, wordell1 said:

You can always book your own cruise on the Royal Caribbean website yourself and then transfer it to your TA.  I do this most of the time. My TA will then manage the booking and watch for price drops.  I regularly receive price drops that my TA spots and emails to me.

I enjoy booking my own cruises and used to book either directly with Royal, or used one of the big online TA's.  During Covid, with multiple cancellations/rebookings I was spending way too much time following up on FCC's and other issues.  For me, the biggest reason to use a TA is for when things go wrong.

We just booked another cruise while on our current cruise.  Came back up to the room and emailed an MEI travel agent. So far, I'm already impressed with her.  Great communication and she already found us an additional $550 onboard credit!

[wordell1]

22 minutes ago, RDU said:

We just booked another cruise while on our current cruise.  Came back up to the room and emailed an MEI travel agent. So far, I'm already impressed with her.  Great communication and she already found us an additional $550 onboard credit!

Yes, I use MEI also and have received reductions on almost every cruise.