I have only cruised Carnival, I am platinum there. I sailed several times without a Vacation Planner. But chose to get one when I went to Europe. Carnival does things differently and it has helped having one. For example today I needed to ask a question and it has taken forever to get through to NCL. If I had a PCC from NCL I would email them and they can usually get right back to me (I hope). I know how to do everything online, but it is nice when you ask questions or need to make changes on your booking.