Travel Agents

[UkuleleCruiser]

We only used a travel agent once. That was for our first cruise on the venerable Carnival Conquest. Well, my first cruise. My wife has cruised before. I don't recall a pro/con situation back then: I just have always signed up online after that. So, I am not worried about the time or finding my way through the website: That's fine. I am just wondering if there are perks, discounts, or upgrades I might be missing out on by booking direct. Thoughts?

[LetsTryThisPlace]

Yes and no. A good TA will have incentives but not all. I normally shop around (and I mean shop around) for the best bang for the buck and personally, I find 90% of the time it's cheaper or get benefits elsewhere.

[Matt]

The #1 reason to use a TA is for the service.  They free you up and do those little things instead.  This means more time not doing it.  It's not to say you can't do them, but it's the same reason you might hire someone to clean your house: you don't have to do it.  (Of course, a TA is paid by RC and not you, so their service is free).

Along the way that service may produce savings or money back, but when you talk to folks that love their TA, they talk about the services they've provided primarily.

[JLMoran]

What I've liked about my TA is the fact that she knows not just Royal, but Celebrity, MSC, and a bunch of others. So as I'm looking at 2020 and this Norway / Iceland or Eastern Mediterranean trip I want to take when the itineraries come out, I'm talking with her about the pros and cons of each line. Not just which line has the best port stops or gives the best bang for my buck; things like what do the different lines offer for activities if I want to bring my teenage girls and keep them entertained on sea days vs. if it's just my wife and me. What if I want to feel a little pampered because it's a big event trip, or want to splurge on a suite but not break the bank and have enough funds left in the budget to cover excursions. Or, for that matter, whether I should skip getting a suite because it's so port intensive that I really need to save my budget for the excursions.

She's also been really good about watching those sales and letting me know when she was able to save me some money. I've tried many times now to self-reprice and see if I was right that the latest deal does come out better, and every time she points out something I missed -- the cost of the trip insurance, or the OBC I'm losing that makes it a net worse proposition. At the same time, she respects my choices if I decide to change a JS reservation from refundable to non-refundable so I can save a couple hundred on the base rate and also get some better OBC, even though it means I'm risking that deposit if the worst happens and I have to miss the sailing.

I don't get any discounts off of what I'd see if I just bought directly on Royal's site, or any other "perks" in terms of an up-front cash reduction. But that expertise is definitely a big help, especially when it ventures into topics that the folks here can't readily answer because I'm looking at another cruise line they may not have sailed, or an itinerary that few have done.

I confess to thinking about changing agents to save some money up front, especially when I'm such an alpha planner and tend to get all the info myself. But looking at my future plans in areas that are harder to learn about on my own, even with the resources available here and other places on the 'Net, I have to say that I'm finding myself willing to sacrifice a few hundred on any given itinerary in exchange for someone who returns my emails, patiently deals with me being a little neurotic over what direction to take, and genuinely gets excited when I mention an idea about a possible trip that we can work out together to make what will hopefully be a great experience in the end.

[J. Woody]

My TA is allways sent me email back when I asked something to email her.  That all......sad.

[LetsTryThisPlace]

7 minutes ago, J. Woody said:

My TA is allways sent me email back when I asked something to email her.  That all......sad.

There are many great ones and many bad ones. That's why I say to shop around. If they seem like they care about you, they are more likely to actually take care of all your needs. Where you get some who act like your bothering them by talking to them. (If its the latter run... run fast lol) 

[Beachbum]

Personally I have never seen the need for a TA.  I don't mind doing the ground work and research for a cruise or any vacation for that matter.  If people are too busy or just would rather let someone else do the work then I think a TA would be helpful.  We are going on our first RC cruise in May on Oasis of the Sea.  We have cruise before on Disney and 15 years ago on Carnival.  I am not sure we are really cruise people but I am taking my In-laws and 2 toddlers so it seemed like the best bet for everyones enjoyment.  We went to Iceland, France and Spain with our two kids last February which i did all the planning and it went great.  I think i like the control and maybe nerd out on the research a little.  There is so much great info out there (LIKE THIS BLOG) it makes it pretty easy.  @JLMoran definitely go to Iceland.  Its an amazing place.  A lot of cheap flights and a quick flight from your area.

[FLGooner]

Just had a frustrating call with AAA travel regarding our March cruise on Oasis, obviously I've cruised many more times than her and thanks to these boards and the interweb thingy appear to be considerably more knowledgeable. Evidently according to AAA you can't book My Time Dining!! At this point I gave up and told them not to bother and I'd do reservations myself.

I've always booked onboard and handled all reservations myself in the past, including re-booking when prices dropped, but was persuaded that the free bottle of wine and $100 OBC was worth transferring our booking to to an agent. As others have said, there's good and bad in every profession so would welcome any input on any good TAs.