Booking cruises using USA travel agent by UK resident - Any issues???

Hi Everybody,

I would like some advice on booking cruises please.

We have only been on one excellent cruise with Celebrity and booked that through the Celebrity web site direct. However we have got the cruise bug and would like to take some more and try to save some money at the same time.

Could all you seasoned cruisers advise me on the pitfalls, if any, of booking a cruise with an American travel agent over the web. I have been getting some very competitive quotes from the cruise compete web site, but I am unsure if they are valid or financially protected?? They seem excellent value, but is there a catch???

What financial safeguards, if any are there for UK residents booking via US travel agents over the web? In the UK we have ATOL and ABTA protection plus credit card company should the travel agent go bust, but what happens in the US and do we have the same protection as you US residents??

Often heard in the past of an agent taking funds but not passing them onto cruise / travel company and then going bust, lots of crooks out there on the web so a bit wary.

Any comments positive and negative would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Regards

Geoff C

Nr Cambridge

UK

First of all you can't book thru an American TA because the cruise lines prohibit it . The only to book is the US is if you have a residence in the US not just PO Box. The reason is because what you mentioned . There are travel regulation in the UK that American agents can't conform to.

Hi Doopydozer,

Thanks for the quick response, just as I thought and thanks for confirming my fears.

Regards

Geoff

We have friends from the UK and Australia that routinely book cruises through US agencies. The trick is that they use a Canadian address (it works with a US address too) which actually belongs to a good friend of theirs (not me).

Hank

First of all you can't book thru an American TA because the cruise lines prohibit it . The only to book is the US is if you have a residence in the US not just PO Box. The reason is because what you mentioned . There are travel regulation in the UK that American agents can't conform to.

Errrr, vaguely right.:)

But only vaguely :p

A number of cruiselines no longer accept bookings from US T/As for folk not resident in the US or Canada. Note- that's a residency thing, not a nationality thing.

Some cruise lines don't have this rule.

Some US T/As ignore this rule.

Some cruisers outside of US/Canada overcome this rule by quoting a friendly address in the US or Canada. Relatives & such. But, as the dozer's post, a PO box doesn't cut it.

If you - or the T/A - can jump through the hoops, you'll find that you will save a chunk of money. You will also find a much more customer-friendly cancelation policy re deposits/payments.

The downsides:

The savings aren't as great as they used to be, due to the value of sterling vs the dollar.

In the UK, all mandatory charges must be incorporated in a cruise price - I'm not up-to-date with US law or pricing practice, but you may find that taxes and/or port fees are in addition to the ticket price. You will also want to pay by credit card rather than debit card, costing you typically around 3%. These will reduce the margin of savings.

You don't have the security of ABTA, so if the T/A goes belly-up, runs away with your money etc you have no safeguard such as ABTA. Not a "regulation" as suggested by the dozer, but certainly the loss of that safeguard. I don't think US customers have an equivalent safeguard.

So it's most important that you pay only by credit card, as your credit card supplier is also liable to you in the transaction.

You agree to a price in USD, so when payment is due you may find you gain or lose depending on currency fluctuations.

No reason you can't check these things out with your chosen T/A or any other US T/A. They can't do worse than say no.

JB :)