To go through TA or not to...

I booked a cruise for February 2016 a few weeks ago. I'm second-guessing my decision to go it alone and wanted other people's take on as this only my second cruise and did EVERYTHING through a TA last time.

Should I have gone through a TA again this time? I watched prices for a couple weeks and saw what I thought was a good deal and jumped on it, but now wondering if I should have called her up and went through her. If so, is it possible for me to cancel my reservation online and go through her now?

I booked a cruise for February 2016 a few weeks ago. I'm second-guessing my decision to go it alone and wanted other people's take on as this only my second cruise and did EVERYTHING through a TA last time.

 

Should I have gone through a TA again this time? I watched prices for a couple weeks and saw what I thought was a good deal and jumped on it, but now wondering if I should have called her up and went through her. If so, is it possible for me to cancel my reservation online and go through her now?

You can transfer the booking to the TA without cancelling:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqType=faq&faqSubjectId=323&faqSubjectName=After+You+Purchase&faqId=2004

I personally prefer just booking on my own as I then have full control of my booking!

If you use a TA and you see a price drop you have to call your TA to deal with it, if it's on the weekend than you have to hope the prices don't go up by Monday! If you book on your own you can take care of it immediately!

I always use a TA because I am eligible for an Interline Rate (airline employee) and it can only be booked through a TA. My TA is OUTSTANDING! But when she retires I will likely start booking myself. My TA has gotten me some wonderful upgrades that I didn't qualify for, specifically a "new booking only" rate when I was already booked. I would not have been able to get that.

But you are right about what happens if it's a weekend and rates drop. You have to go through your TA. My TA reads her emails every day (even on vacation), so it's less of a problem. But it is a problem. When I upgraded on the "new booking only" rate, I did a 24 hr. hold and emailed her. It was 7 am on Labor Day and by noon I had the cabin.

What I like about my TA is I tell her what I need and she does all the work. Makes it very easy for me. Things like cabin changes, linking reservations, rate changes, cancellations, etc. all are done for me with no fuss.

But again, you need a good TA that you trust and who will perform for you. If you have that, then I'd change the reservation.

And it can be cancelled and rebooked if you are outside the final payment date. But the current rate rules will apply. So check it carefully before you do anything.

If having "control" of your booking is not your first concern, why would you give up the wonderful perks and savings you can get through a good TA? (OBC, prepaid gratuities, specialty dining, savings due to group blocks of cabins ...)

A good agancy will have someone available virtually 24/7 to help you out in cases of price drops, etc.

If having "control" of your booking is not your first concern, why would you give up the wonderful perks and savings you can get through a good TA? (OBC, prepaid gratuities, specialty dining, savings due to group blocks of cabins ...)

 

A good agancy will have someone available virtually 24/7 to help you out in cases of price drops, etc.

Ditto that, a good TA will offer perks and match the price.

To the OP, you have 60 days to transfer you booking from RCCL to your TA. Let the TA do the transfer..

I personally prefer just booking on my own as I then have full control of my booking!

If you use a TA and you see a price drop you have to call your TA to deal with it, if it's on the weekend than you have to hope the prices don't go up by Monday! If you book on your own you can take care of it immediately!

Not all TAs are as you described. We can call 7 days a week (even holidays and late in the evening) and either our TA or another within her network will answer and take care of what we want done immediately. :)

LuLu

Not all TAs are as you described. We can call 7 days a week (even holidays and late in the evening) and either our TA or another within her network will answer and take care of what we want done immediately. :)

LuLu

My clients have my e mail - office number - home number and cell number - doesn't get better than that :)

Either way is good, until it isn't. I would never book other than with my TA of +25 years. I do my research and then decide what I want to book. I call her and it's done. Currently, we are doing March Oasis and I want to host a sail away party with bar and food in our cabin. One call and she's got it handled.

However, the biggest reason I would always use my TA is a few years ago just a week before we were to leave our 41 YOA DIL suddenly passed away. It took one call to our TA and everything was canceled and our trip insurance claim was filed. Needless to say we had enough to worry about for a week or so with taking care of son, grandson, and out of town funeral arrangements. So not worrying about dealing with the cruise lines was a God sent.

It's so easy to do it by yourself. We never use a TA. So easy to call and make changes or payments on your own !

I love my TA. find what I want and he does it all. The main reason I use a TA is because the prices are usually way lower. I wrote this on another post just the other day. I'm a huge on-line searcher. We are on the Allure in 2 weeks and friends were thinking about joining us. I started searching prices for them. We're very pleased with our rate but my TA was comparable to RCCL at this time. I did, however find an on-line price for a D3 for almost $300 p/p less than RCCl with many cabins to choose from. I just think you can do better with a TA, at least in my experience it seems to be

I always book through the cruise line. I have tried two major TA's before and price was not lower, and only certain cabins were available to book through them. I called cruise line direct and the cabin I wanted was available . a second call to the TA and then I realized I was being sold cabins from a block they had. Since then, I pick the cabin, I pick a price I am comfortable with, I book and I am very comfortable with that. I am sure there are many TAs out there that could probably provide an incentive. but the control of being able to book and control my cruise is worth the few dollars I miss out on. JMO

Why do people always think they don't have "control" if they use a travel agent?

Ridiculous...

Why do people always think they don't have "control" if they use a travel agent?

Ridiculous...

Not so ridiculous. :)

It depends where you live and the differences between what Travel Agents do. I don't know where the OP lives, but generally in the UK there is no great benefit to booking with a TA in terms of incentives. Travel Agents here tend to be large companies who often are part of a holiday company eg. Virgin, Thomsons etc. They are not in a position to offer big discounts and incentives in the way perhaps US customers receive from independent TAs. There are a small number of independents, but not many.

In my experience booking with TAs can be very restricting. They are not open all hours, and can be reluctant to fight your corner if they think it might put them in the bad books with the cruise company. RCI, or any other cruise line, will NOT engage in communication directly with the customer if they have booked through a TA. I discovered this to my cost, and I prefer to have a say when it is my money that has been paid.

It's a matter of preference.

Here in Norway using a TA is usually something only larger companies do by outsourcing their traveldepartment.

A TA would charge normal travelers a large fee for doing a job most can do themselves online. I would see the point if the final price would be lower, but as most airlines and hotels have guarenteed lowest prices on their own homepage, it is no use.

I see that my current booking would be $600 more expensive if I had used one of the TAs offered on cruisecritic front page, meaning a $200 obc would not be worth it.

Why do people always think they don't have "control" if they use a travel agent?

Ridiculous...

Not ridiculous at all. If you use a TA, the cruise line won't talk to you regarding price drops, cabin changes, etc. Not everyone is comfortable using a third party. I, for one, will not use a TA simply because no one will do a better job for me than I will. Certainly there are a lot of folks that are more than happy to let someone else handle their booking, and that's fine for them. The few "perks" that a TA might give me is really not enough to entice me to change my mind. So if that makes me ridiculous, then so be it.

Not so ridiculous. :)

 

It depends where you live and the differences between what Travel Agents do. I don't know where the OP lives, but generally in the UK there is no great benefit to booking with a TA in terms of incentives. Travel Agents here tend to be large companies who often are part of a holiday company eg. Virgin, Thomsons etc. They are not in a position to offer big discounts and incentives in the way perhaps US customers receive from independent TAs. There are a small number of independents, but not many.

 

In my experience booking with TAs can be very restricting. They are not open all hours, and can be reluctant to fight your corner if they think it might put them in the bad books with the cruise company. RCI, or any other cruise line, will NOT engage in communication directly with the customer if they have booked through a TA. I discovered this to my cost, and I prefer to have a say when it is my money that has been paid.

 

It's a matter of preference.

I was refering to the US.

Don't know what the Euro's do...

I was refering to the US.

Don't know what the Euro's do...

I don't think there will be any uniformity regarding how Travel Agents operate in Europe, as many of the 50 countries will have different laws and ways of doing things. I don't know where the OP is based.

These boards are good for learning about other people's experiences :)

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I personally prefer just booking on my own as I then have full control of my booking!

 

If you use a TA and you see a price drop you have to call your TA to deal with it, if it's on the weekend than you have to hope the prices don't go up by Monday! If you book on your own you can take care of it immediately!

Exactly!

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Exactly!

The online TA is open very late and weekends.

You can take care of it immediately and don't have to sit on hold for 45 min and wait for the cruiseline rep to become available...

My clients have my e mail - office number - home number and cell number - doesn't get better than that :)

So I take it you work "in the industry"?

Why do people always think they don't have "control" if they use a travel agent?

 

Ridiculous...

I simply don't like calling a business that I am paying money to and having them tell me they can't talk to me because I have a TA. I've used one before, didn't have a bad experience, but I haven't found one that gives me enough of an incentive to prefer a TA. Plus, I'm afraid of hidden charges with a TA.

As for getting the best deal, when I called Royal Caribbean to make the final payment on my next cruise, they gave me the bogoho without my asking. -- I hadn't realized it could be applied. Saved me about $400. :D

I like handling these things myself. But I have never used a travel agent who didn't cost me more money by delaying, purchasing the wrong thing, or just not being there when I needed them. YMMV.

I have an online TA that's open on WE and until midnight weekdays.

On the latest BOGOHO, I decided to get a quote directly from RC.

Went back to my TA, because she always offers free grats, and asked me if I wanted to pay the full deposit instead of half, and gave me another 50$ (group booking) for paying the full deposit (500$ instead of 250$). I have her direct extension, email and work hours. The "basic" price is also cheaper, so I save around 500$ per cruise.:)

Thanks everyone. I am usually the type of person who prefers to do it herself as I feel like I can do a pretty good job at whatever I put my mind and energy to, but we are still so new to cruising that I am nervous I am going to forget something so we've decided to go through our TA this time. We belong to a company that TA services are included in annual fees so we wouldn't be out of pocket.

Thanks for your feedback!