Any pros to having a travel agent book your Carnival cruise?

I think so.....TA's find you the best room for the money and a good one gets you perks and doesn't mind price drops. Plus they are willing and able to get things fixed without charging you a change fee.

Not sure if it's the same as a TA, but I use a vacation planner from Carnival. Besides trying to get us upgrades when booking, she also will email the maitre'd if we have any requests and notify us of any price drops among other things.

I would say no. I only used one once because the price was better with a different company. But Carnival WILL NOT GIVE YOU any information , make any changes etc. It must be done through the TA. If your TA is away and something urgent comes up you are out of luck.

I would suggest using one of Carnival's PVPs.

Next time you cruise just call Carnival and say you want to book but you'd like to be assigned a Personal Vacation Planner (PVP)

I found no pros, as others have said, Carnival will not even speak to you about a booking made through a TA.

I wouldn't let a travel agent handle my bookings even for $100 OBC. I used one for one cruise in my life and it was pointless. You can do and control 99% of what a travel agent will have control of. Instead of sitting in the agents office, I can do it myself on my couch with a beer in my hand.

As with most things in life, you have to be careful with who you select to handle your travel/vacation. I have personally never used one because I have a control problem. The most often shared perk would be a small amount of OBC.

I have a sailing booked currently with another cruise line and I am debating switching over to one of their brand ambassador type representatives. He is only offering $50 OBC but we have 2 rooms and he is very closely affiliated with that cruise line.

The pro would be if you aren't internet proficient and cant do it yourself. Otherwise, no.

I agree with elcuchio and tallnthensome. In 1990 or if someone doesn't know how to use the Internet or maybe has never traveled outside of their neighborhood before then maybe it would be beneficial. Some agent giving me a bottle of wine or chocolate strawberries or even $50 isn't worth it to me to have them involved in my vacation. I want complete control, I want to be able to call Carnival (or email my PVP) if I need anything or there's a price drop or something. I don't want to have to dance around a TAs schedule or contact them for everything I need.

We've only booked twice through a TA. The first time was the first cruise - we didn't know any better. The 2nd time was when the gnome was offering $75 obc.

I'm curious about the perks TA's give out. Do PVP's ever do this? I've used a PVP for at least 6 or 7 cruises and have never been given any kind of perk.

Have booked my own cruises on line since early 2000's ..... Allows you to do research and get the best deals. Have always cruised for less due to OBC offered. Never once have I had to call my internet TA. Always receive same day response to my emails on any question I may have. Like others I am sort of a control freak and since we've cruised so often I know the ins/outs of booking. Obviously if you don't have the time.... this option may not be for you. But I enjoy doing it and ensuring my pre and post cruise arrangements are coordinated as well. There are some very good internet agencies and I have 3-4 I do comparison checks with before making my choice.

My first (and by far, the most outstanding) PVP kept an eye on price drops for us and OBC would show up without any effort on my part. It was great! The replacement PVP (first one retired/left?) is a dud. I won't even call that person again; he did nothing more than I could do myself, online. I'll take a lucky dip when I call Carnival next time - and hope for someone outstanding!

We have an excellent Travel Agent and have used her for booking transportation and cruises for years. She works for one of the big companies so if we ever needed to get in contact with her and can't there are numbers we can call in a pinch.

We choose our cabin very carefully and have no desire to change so it's not an issue with us having to hurry to call her back over an upsell offer. She makes sure we get our perks and often throws in some OBC herself. If there's a price drop I email her and she takes care of getting it.

Issues with the actual booking go thru her but we still have control of buying from the Shops, booking excursions, reserving dining at specialty venues.

When we had to cancel for med reasons 4 days before our sailing I emailed her. She canceled the cruise, opened the account with the insurance company and emailed me copies of the documents I needed to submit - all before I got home from the hospital the first day.

It does not cost us any extra $$ and it's nice knowing somebody has my back.:)

We have an excellent Travel Agent and have used her for booking transportation and cruises for years. She works for one of the big companies so if we ever needed to get in contact with her and can't there are numbers we can call in a pinch.

We choose our cabin very carefully and have no desire to change so it's not an issue with us having to hurry to call her back over an upsell offer. She makes sure we get our perks and often throws in some OBC herself. If there's a price drop I email her and she takes care of getting it.

 

Issues with the actual booking go thru her but we still have control of buying from the Shops, booking excursions, reserving dining at specialty venues.

 

When we had to cancel for med reasons 4 days before our sailing I emailed her. She canceled the cruise, opened the account with the insurance company and emailed me copies of the documents I needed to submit - all before I got home from the hospital the first day.

 

It does not cost us any extra $$ and it's nice knowing somebody has my back.:)

Very good point for those who book outside of Carnival direct. Once you get your reservation /booking number you can sign into the Carnival website and do almost everything through their site .....so the only real difference is the initial booking process and dealing with your TA on questions instead of Carnival. Everything else once booked is the same for everyone

Pros. A good travel agent will take care of things for you so you don't have to. They will get you the price drops. They will include you in a group to lower your cost. They will inform you of opportunities to upgrade (maybe for free). A travel agent can give you additional benefits on top of what Carnival will. Some will give you additional OBC. Some will give you gifts onboard. Some have went ahead and surprised us with decorations. Some will have inventory that is not available online. Another pro, is that by using a local travel agent (not one of those giant companies), you support your local economy with little to no cost to yourself. Personally, I use my travel agent because they are friends and I'm supporting their business and in return, they give me great benefits and service.

Cons. As with any professionals, beware the bad travel agents, who will do the bare minimum once you've booked, to, actually stealing from you, letting your reservation get cancelled because they failed to make final payment when they said they would and stealing your money. The hard part is finding one that would fit the criteria above.

Can you do everything on your own. Sure you can. You don't need a travel agent. But when you have a good one, it beats doing it on your own.

We book fairly late (after final payment) so we'll use a TA. There's a site that you can get several quotes from with the OBC they offer, not allowed to name it here. My cruise here in a few weeks will have $250 OBC plus we got $50 off a hotel from our TA.

I have a company I use, but I will book the cruise with the cruise company online exactly how I want, then transfer the booked cruise to the TA for OBC/perks. They also put in dining requests, which we've always gotten. So that way I book what I want then transfer it after.

I haven't read all the answers, but what I have, have been good.

I have always had a TA over the 25 some years of my cruising. Mainly because their office is close if I need to contact them by phone/person. They do the OBC if coming to us, and once in a while a couple of strawberries as mentioned. The only drawback I find, if Carnival prices go down, they will never tell me, even if I find it on my own. Once I book it, it is locked in. Some way or another, they don't have a good relationship with Carnival, but will do the booking for me anyway.

I can find just about anything on the computer, but just "afraid" :confused: to take a chance doing it on my own. If we lived close or in the same state of where the ship leaves, that would help also, but we don't.

I've never used a TA. I'm currently getting quotes from some on an upcoming cruise. Their prices are the same as carnival. The only difference is the OBC. Most of them are offering $75. One is offering $95. I can get $50 from Carnival booking within two weeks of my cruise that starts a week from Sunday. So a little bit of benefit but not sure it's worth it.