Poor deal for UK cruisers?

I often read on CC postings by cruisers in the US that their travel agents give them on board credits, free gratuities, gifts of wine etc. We spend a lot of money on cruises (3 or 4 a year) with TAs in the UK but never appear to receive any benefits - other than good service. Are we alone? Are we missing out?

I think it's because in the US the travel agents buy blocks of cabins in advance which they then have to sell on, and so offer OBC or freebies.

We've always had OBC from our TA's. We had $200 OBC for our Emerald Princess cruise in May, and that was from a major High St TA owned by a German company.

We've always had OBC from our TA's. We had $200 OBC for our Emerald Princess cruise in May, and that was from a major High St TA owned by a German company.

How do you know if the OBC was from your TA or from the cruise line? I've had OBC sometimes but it's been from the cruise line even though I booked through a (online) TA.

Check the cruiseline website first, if they're not offering any then it's from your TA.

I often read on CC postings by cruisers in the US that their travel agents give them on board credits, free gratuities, gifts of wine etc. We spend a lot of money on cruises (3 or 4 a year) with TAs in the UK but never appear to receive any benefits - other than good service. Are we alone? Are we missing out?

Why don't you book with a US TA and get the same benefits. I understand many people do and don't appear to have any problems getting OBC etc.

We have usually booked through a UK TA and often had perks such as OBC or free parking.

We have usually booked through a UK TA and often had perks such as OBC or free parking.

But were those really what the cruise line were offering, rather than the TA who just passed then on?

Not always easy to tell. The free parking on our next cruise, though, is definitely from the TA -- which is not to say that it might have been negotiated if I had talked directly with the cruise line's sales team.

Maybe it has more to do with the cruise-line than the travel agent and that some lines give a higher rate of commission than others so the agents will be able to afford to give freebies.

The following article is interesting:

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/captain-greybeard/2012/10/travel-agents-declare-war-on-c.html

CCS, the umbrella organisation handling bookings for P&O, Cunard and Princess last year reduced its commission from 15 to 5 per cent, hoping to reduce the opportunities for agents offering unauthorised discounts.

(They finally agreed on 7½%)

I have been told part of the problem is that we have better consumer protection in the UK/EU than in the USA, it costs holiday suppliers money, and that is why agents have less freedom to discount. I looked at buying in the USA but needed an address there and would lose the protection we enjoy in Europe if a holiday provider failed.

Can anybody comment?

Pay by credit card to a US agent and get the same level of protection?

Pay by credit card to a US agent and get the same level of protection?

Agreed.

The downsides are

- a currency-fluctuation risk between booking & final payment. Though that can work in you favour. And because when buying thro the US you can cancel without loss of deposit, if there's a big drop in the value of sterling that makes it unviable, or for any other reason including you've simply changed your mind, you'll only lose any sterling/dollar drop in value of your deposit.

- pay by credit card protects your money but can mean paying credit card commission, mebbe 2 - 3%, instead of cost-free debit card.

- certain inclusions in UK pricing such as port taxes are add-ons in the US

But the real problem is Balloon Man's other point. For many cruise lines you need a US or Canadian (or Mexican?) address.

A friend or relative will do as long as you can trust them not to take the cruise in your place :D

JB :)

With NCL you can book direct in the US with others you often have to use a TA as the cruiselines won't take UK booking direct.

CC % charges often not charged by US TA most of the time it is the cruise line that takes your money not the TA so your protected from the TA going bust unlike in the UK.

Don't just look at the UK and US prices, other EU areas, Germany, Spain, Italy have different pricing and can be cheaper than the UK or US sometimes.

Just make sure you are comparing like for like on the final price.

We are booked on an Oceania cruise on 1st July. After we booked I looked at the roll call for that cruise and US members were talking about getting free internet, free on board credit and free excursions in St Petersburg.

UK passengers can only get free gratuities. All these free items are on the US Oceania website but it's not possible to access the site from UK computers so we don't see the offers that US customers get. We only hear about them on Cruise Critic.

I contacted my travel agent and also Oceania but neither were able to get us the free excursions in St Petersburg. We will be on the ship paying really high prices for trips and the Americans will pay nothing.

It really is very unfair and very annoying. It leaves a nasty taste and I am thinking this may be the first and last Oceania cruise for us.

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If you can't work around the redirection use a US proxy server to get to the US web sites, Oceania seem to have done it quite well to make it harder to get to the US than most other lines.

hidemya**.com works for Oceania

We have booked through a Miami based TA and got a good deal, but the problems are currency exchange rates and the time differences if you get problems close to departure.

However, all the cruise lines have websites and web based deals for all TAs regardless of which country you live in. Some in the US do pass on some of their commission however, which high street agents in the UK tend not to do.

Recently I have found that a cruise club, close to were we live in Bolsover, offered excellent deals and can often match the US agents. I find the best way to get good deals is to watch for when, in our case, Royal Caribbean, release new offers and get in first thing.

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We have used the cruise club you mention many times and they were unable to get any of the free offers that US customers were getting. We always pay less than the brochure/internet price though.

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I have cruised a number of times booking through a UK Travel Agent travelling to the Caribbean

If you are not 'fussy' about which ship you want to go on then it is fairly easy (and seems significantly cheaper) to book a flight covering your chosen sailing dates independently.

From July 2014 onwards Norwegian airlines are operating a twice weekly direct flight between Gatwick and Fort Lauderdale for approx half the cost Virgin and BA currently offer - I am booked in November for £360 return.

I am then using a website to track the price of multiple sailings during my stay in Fort Lauderdale - CruisePriceTracker,com

If I booked the cruise now I could get a 10 day trip for less than £1,000 but hope to get a better rate on the cruise as sailing date gets closer (Received a price drop notification today!)

Ask the US Travel agent to use their own US address. This is just a formality as far as I understand and no documentation is sent to the US address.

Good Luck!