Travel agents....useless...

I am frustrated and disgusted with any of the T/A's I've tried.

How do you find a GOOD T/A who will help you, rather than finding all the info myself and giving the booking to an agent.....

I know that posters cannot recommend...just let me know how you found your GOOD agent.

Recommendations by friends. There are good ones out there. Just ask your friends or people who cruise a lot on Princess and respect their opinion.

Ask other cruisers.

Do a search for one of the online bidding sites.

Wait until a week or 2 before final payment and then switch to any TA you want for a trial run. If the TA is no good, he'll only have a week or 2 to show how terrible he is.;)

If you lack a significant number of friends who cruise you could ask people onboard who they use and if they are good bad or indifferent.

Regards John

We have a good agent, but we do 95% of the research ourselves. We just tell the T.A. what we want, that way if we are disappointed it's on us.

Our only experience with travel agents cost us money and tons of stress and frustration.

It is absolutely worth it to find a good travel agent. I do all my own research, but my TA is has access to higher people at the cruise line (meaning she can get a 'yes' when I can't) and is available to intercede for me -- with good phone and internet connections -- if something goes wrong. We just had to cancel an expensive hiking tour, and she bird-dogged the insurance company through the approval process. Plus I get a small rebate on every booking. Others have agents who may not give personal service like that, but who give 10% rebate. Either is better than leaving all the money on the table with the cruise line reps who can't do anything but book your cabin.

I found my TA by asking people on cruises. When any one said they had a good TA, I asked the name, etc. I made a list. Work thru the list to find the best one.

Found ours thru recommendation from cruising friend .She is great.

Look for one who specializes in cruises and keeps their training up to date. One who really knows the cruise industry is invaluable.

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For years I had a wonderful travel agent. Then she was promoted and she was not allowed to book anything for me after that. Good for her, bad for me! And THEN the agency she was with was purchased by one of those giant agencies and the service was painfully awful. I tried finding a good, local agency to use, but had a terrible time with incorrect bookings (wrong dates!) and no return phone calls, etc...

After searching for about 5 years with horrible results, I started booking all of my cruises and travel myself and guess what? I've had NO more problems!

I've found the Princess rep to be great. She got us better pricing and more perks than any of the TAs I checked with.

I did use a TA for my royal Caribbean cruises as they did a better job than the RC folks.

I am frustrated and disgusted with any of the T/A's I've tried.

How do you find a GOOD T/A who will help you, rather than finding all the info myself and giving the booking to an agent.....

I know that posters cannot recommend...just let me know how you found your GOOD agent.

Been cruising for 30+ years... now with the internet. a TA is of no value to me... I book my air, my own cruise directly... do hotels, insurance all myself... I am in control of all my bookings and prefer it that way. The days of a TA being of real ended 25+ years ago.

I use the cruise consultant Princess assigned to me..she is great 🍸🍸. But I complete most of the research myself but she gets me better prices vs the princess web site.

I'm aware that you can't post any travel agent information on CC. Is it allowed for me to post how to reach me so I can send them my travel agent information? That's how I found my agent, someone emailed me the information.

Tom😎

I'm aware that you can't post any travel agent information on CC. Is it allowed for me to post how to reach me so I can send them my travel agent information? That's how I found my agent, someone emailed me the information.

Tom

Based on this CC statement from their guidelines (Advertising Is Not Allowed) that is not permissible to do.

"This means you should not ask about someone's travel agent, nor should you respond in kind. Offering to email someone your travel agent's name or info is also not allowed, nor is asking members to email you for the information".

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/faq.php?faq=guidelines

It is absolutely worth it to find a good travel agent. I do all my own research, but my TA is has access to higher people at the cruise line (meaning she can get a 'yes' when I can't) and is available to intercede for me -- with good phone and internet connections -- if something goes wrong. We just had to cancel an expensive hiking tour, and she bird-dogged the insurance company through the approval process. Plus I get a small rebate on every booking. Others have agents who may not give personal service like that, but who give 10% rebate. Either is better than leaving all the money on the table with the cruise line reps who can't do anything but book your cabin.

Would you provide your TA through Private Messaging? Ours only offers small onboard credits. Rather have 10% off. Thanks!

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Ask around. Your friends, family, etc. may know or know someone who cruises to give you recommendations.

Finding a good travel agent is worth the effort. (y)

Would you provide your TA through Private Messaging?

There is no PM function on CC

Based on this CC statement from their guidelines (Advertising Is Not Allowed) that is not permissible to do.

"This means you should not ask about someone's travel agent, nor should you respond in kind. Offering to email someone your travel agent's name or info is also not allowed, nor is asking members to email you for the information".

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/faq.php?faq=guidelines

I think word of mouth is the best way to find one. That's how I found mine. I hate that I can't tell you there web site. If you see me on a cruise. I will be happy to tell you.

Tony

I've found TAs through a website that lets different travel agencies compete for your cruise business. One of them was very good--but then his prices started getting worse and worse. I eventually switched to another agency and now I booked our most recent cruise through a third agency. I'll probably go back to the second agency when the TA I like there is available immediately. The reason I switched this time was that he was unavailable when I was ready to book. I like saving money over booking directly with the cruise line.

I'm aware that you can't post any travel agent information on CC. Is it allowed for me to post how to reach me so I can send them my travel agent information? That's how I found my agent, someone emailed me the information.

Tom😎

People post their email addresses all the time, for many allowable reasons--coordinating a tour, sharing cabs, making contact because both in the same town, making pre-or post-cruise dinner plans, notes on blogs or other helpful info, etc.

I am sure you have many questions/thoughts to offer, that may not interest everyone on a particular thread.

Good luck

ML

A cruising friend recommended his TA. Haven't tried but now have one in case I decide to shift.