Book With Celebrity or TA?

We now have 4 Celebrity cruises booked through Celebrity. We are very disappointed with the TA we've been using. Are there advantages staying with the Celebrity bookings or should we transfer them to another TA? If so, what's the best way to find a good one? Thanks!

I'm one of the contrary ones who never use a TA. In the past I've had good and bad TA's and ended up deciding I prefer to keep control of my own bookings. :)

It I should all about which you are more comfortable with, oh, and which gives the best add-ons!:confused::D

The bookings that you made direct with Celebrity can be transferred to a TA within 60 days of booking. If you are outside of that window then the booking can't be transferred.

We regularly use a TA. We have worked with 2 over the past 8 years and have 2 bookings with a 3rd as that TA had some excellent group rates on a B2B we wanted to book.

We prefer to let the TA deal with Celebrity when changes or issues arise. We dropped 1 TA as they no longer offer OBC but changed to store credit instead. What drew us to TAs was the additional refundable OBC. Last cruise OBC was $1,000 next cruise it is $350.

I would suggest you ask others on you cruises what TA they use and why.

So we will ask a simple question! Why would anyone book directly with a cruise line when they can save money (sometimes a substantial amount of money) by using a high volume reputable cruise agency? In most cases (not always the case with some shorter cruises) a cruiser can save 7-10% (total cruise price adjusted for amenities such as OBCs, pre paid gratuities, etc) on a booking by simply shopping around for the best deal.

A few years ago, another Cruise Critic poster (an online friend) challenged me to prove my point. We happened to be booking a Princess Cruise (we have cruised on 14 cruise lines over the years) and so we shopped around among our favorite cruise agencies and found a pretty good deal. I then called Princess and spoke with one of their customer service folks (who handles new bookings) and asked them for their best deal on that same cruise/cabin category. The Princess price was several hundred dollars more then the agency. So I told this to the Princess customer service person who quickly transferred me to a supervisor. I told the supervisor that I would book directly with Princess (which saves them from paying a commission) if they would simply match the cruise agency deal! The Princess employee told me that they did not match cruise agency deals and they were happy to have us book with that particular agency (who did a lot of volume with Princess). In fact, the Princess employee even offered to do the booking and simply transfer it to the agency so we could get the lower price! She further explained that Princess did not try to compete (in terms of pricing) with cruise agencies. Go figure!

A few years ago there was an excellent cruise line (Renaissance) who decided that they would only sell cruises directly....and not deal with any travel/cruise agencies. Their business plan was that they could avoid paying commissions, overrides, etc (which can be in excess of 10%) to agencies....and pass some of the savings along to the cruisers. Renaissance was a fabulous line (they had 8 identical ships)...but alas, they went bankrupt during an economic downturn! They could not make their business model work (financially) because they really needed the marketing and support of the cruise agency industry.

One very big reason to deal with agencies is that they work with many cruise lines. There are many times when DW and I might decide to book a certain itinerary (such as a 30 day Transatlantic repo cruise plus the following cruise in Europe) where we might find 2 or 3 different lines (who we like) doing similar things. We can call or e-mail one (or more) of our favorite agencies/agents and ask them to give us pricing (and their thoughts) on those 2 or 3 cruises! Within a short period of time (no more then a few hours) we will have an e-mail (or phone call) with the pricing on all of those different cruises. The agent might also toss in some advice such as telling us that a few recent customers really liked a certain ship (and why) or that they had heard a lot of recent complaints about another ship. That is the kind of service and advice/tips we cannot get by simply calling one cruise line (directly).

Hank

I've only booked cruises with a TA.

I think I have used 3 or 4 so far.

The last and current one I have used for about 12 plus cruises.

She fights for me for upgrades and OBC.

Best TA in the business - from my perspective.

You have to get a TA who will work for you - not just get their 6% and sit back.

We have used both TA and booked directly with the cruise line. Personally I prefer to deal with a TA for issues instead of my being on the phone with a particular cruise line. With that said my two upcoming cruises with Celebrity are booked directly with them as we got rid of our TA due to poor service. I too listen to others discuss who they use to get ideas on future TAs. Oh, and the other reason for using a TA is for the OBC we usually get.

I just saved 15.6% by using the online company that lets you list your date, ship name, and specific cabin category and then several online agents provide quotes. Celebrity price was $4,383. Online TA's offer was $4,000 plus one free perk. I took $300 OBC for extra perk, so I saved $683 on a $4,383 cruise. Real money.

Interesting discussion.

We have only booked through 1 TA. We mostly book onboard and Celebrity transfer it to our TA. Our next cruise will be my 50th with the same TA.

I did ask this question on another thread, but never got an answer.

Does anyone know if TA's get commission on a fare that was booked onboard and then later transferred to TA control?

Thanks

I did ask this question on another thread, but never got an answer.

Does anyone know if TA's get commission on a fare that was booked onboard and then later transferred to TA control?

 

Thanks

I get pdf's from my TA that have her copy and guest copy, only 2 time now. As just about all my cruises are booked onboard I want to say yes. I got 1 in the last 2 months, just trying to find the copy. As I have 6 cruises booked right now it is taking time.

I regularly book on board then transfer it to my TA. I have been booking since my 2012 cruise with her. I might save a little or get a little bit of OBC with a different one (current does give me some OBC) but she is easy to work with, and all I need to do is text or email her and she deals with any issues that crop up.

Things like : my invoice says we have Go Best, but when I log in, we are missing the drink package. She sat on hold to get to Resolution to get it put back on. Not me.

I booked B2B recently through a TA, same Celebrity perks, total through Celebrity is $10.8k, total through TA is $7.2K, plus additional OBC perks from TA. The difference is due to use of TA's group rates vs. Celebrity current rates. The rates would have been the same if I had booked through Celebrity when the sailings were first released. Not all staterooms classes or cruises have group rates, so if you are flexible, you can get some great group rates when you miss the initial sailings release.

I would suggest you ask others on you cruises what TA they use and why.

~FYI~ It is against posting rules on this website to specifically name TA's. You can't even tell someone contact me via email and I will give you my TA information. I did that not knowing it was against posting rules years ago and got a cruise critic warning.

With that said, I mostly book with a TA. I always get a discounted price and sometimes additional perk like OBC. The TA is ALWAYS cheaper than the cruise line. I will take the money in my pocket for not being able to talk directly with the CL. My 2 cents.

I used to book with a TA but past couple of cruises have opted to keep the booking with Celebrity. Celebrity sometimes does significant price-drops that only last for short periods of times. One booking I had with a TA had a price-drop of well over $1,000 per/person; it occurred on a weekend (the TA was closed) and by Monday morning the price was back to what I paid. I also like to be able to make a quick phone call to Celebrity if I notice a better stateroom become available or if I notice a price-drop on a higher level category and want to upgrade. Within minutes I have my price-drop or stateroom change and a confirmed e-mail of my new invoice (whereas if I used a TA I have to try and reach them, hope they are open and keep my fingers crossed they close the deal in time). Sure I miss out on some OBC and perks, but I find it much less stressful keeping the booking with Celebrity and also ensure I do not miss out on price-drops and better staterooms. On one of my cruises I currently have booked I have already caught five separate price-drops, all obtained within minutes. On my most recent previous cruise I was able to score the Penthouse Suite at a super discounted price with a quick phone call. There are pros and cons to both; you just have decide which you are most comfortable with.

I guess I've just had bad luck in the past with TA's, which I have always used until now. The first one didn't give any OBC, but since we were new to cruising I didn't question it. We used her for years and she never once got us a reduction in fare. Then we tried another one which gave us a basket of wine and snacks (which we couldn't use) in lieu of OBC. Again, no reduction in fares. The one we've used most recently only gives us $25 a piece OBC and has made a lot of mistakes, including forgetting to give us any OBC on one of our sailings which she said she would remedy on our next cruise and

never did.

Again, no lower fares. So I'm really afraid to try another one. I should say that we always know which itinerary we want on which ship and which Aqua Spa cabin we want. Has anyone actually had Celebrity make mistakes on bookings or found them hard to deal with after booking? Thanks so much for any feedback.

I did ask this question on another thread, but never got an answer.

Does anyone know if TA's get commission on a fare that was booked onboard and then later transferred to TA control?

 

Thanks

You would have to ask a travel agent, but nobody does work for free. ;)

We use a TA that consistently offers better prices than celebrity. We took advantage of price drops and are currently paying $1,700 pp less than celebrity is charging for the exact same cabin category. But they are still offering significant discounts on our sailing. I would not book with a TA if there were no savings/additional perks.

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I guess I've just had bad luck in the past with TA's, which I have always used until now. The first one didn't give any OBC, but since we were new to cruising I didn't question it. We used her for years and she never once got us a reduction in fare. Then we tried another one which gave us a basket of wine and snacks (which we couldn't use) in lieu of OBC. Again, no reduction in fares. The one we've used most recently only gives us $25 a piece OBC and has made a lot of mistakes, including forgetting to give us any OBC on one of our sailings which she said she would remedy on our next cruise and

never did.

Again, no lower fares. So I'm really afraid to try another one. I should say that we always know which itinerary we want on which ship and which Aqua Spa cabin we want. Has anyone actually had Celebrity make mistakes on bookings or found them hard to deal with after booking? Thanks so much for any feedback.

Yes celebrity makes mistakes. Booked a cruise direct with X a few weeks ago & planned to transfer it to one of the TAs I use. This was for the Edge and deck plans weren't showing on line but the agent could see them and selected a great cabin location (his words) for us.

When I got the booking confirmation the were a number of errors. In spite of giving the rep our Capt Club numbers he didn't put them on the booking, both of our middle names were omitted, my DHs last name was spelled wrong, the perks we selected were not what showed on the booking confirmation. I called the next morning and the person I spoke to said it would be easier to just cancellation and start over rather than get all the errors corrected. That rep suggested that I look at the deck plans as he thought we may want to select a different cabin-he was right!

From what you posted it sounds like you may have been using "brick & Mortar" TAs who normally have higher overhead and can t offer the OBC or group rates than a high volume on-line TA will.

I just saved 15.6% by using the online company that lets you list your date, ship name, and specific cabin category and then several online agents provide quotes. Celebrity price was $4,383. Online TA's offer was $4,000 plus one free perk. I took $300 OBC for extra perk, so I saved $683 on a $4,383 cruise. Real money.

We have used this same method for many cruises. The savings are quite impressive. We r talking over a thousand dollars on our last celebrity cruise and a little more on our upcoming Azamara cruise. A no brainer for us.

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I used to book with a TA but past couple of cruises have opted to keep the booking with Celebrity. Celebrity sometimes does significant price-drops that only last for short periods of times. One booking I had with a TA had a price-drop of well over $1,000 per/person; it occurred on a weekend (the TA was closed) and by Monday morning the price was back to what I paid. I also like to be able to make a quick phone call to Celebrity if I notice a better stateroom become available or if I notice a price-drop on a higher level category and want to upgrade. Within minutes I have my price-drop or stateroom change and a confirmed e-mail of my new invoice (whereas if I used a TA I have to try and reach them, hope they are open and keep my fingers crossed they close the deal in time). Sure I miss out on some OBC and perks, but I find it much less stressful keeping the booking with Celebrity and also ensure I do not miss out on price-drops and better staterooms. On one of my cruises I currently have booked I have already caught five separate price-drops, all obtained within minutes. On my most recent previous cruise I was able to score the Penthouse Suite at a super discounted price with a quick phone call. There are pros and cons to both; you just have decide which you are most comfortable with.

I understand your concern about timely booking changes- to get short term price drops; so I have both a question and a comment:

- When you are booking directly through Celebrity and there is a price drop for your current booking, do they automatically reprice your reservation - or do you have to notice the price drop and then give them a call?

- The TA that I normally use is also not available 24/7 - so when I am online and see a great deal or a price drop outside the TA's hours, I merely put a 24 hour hold on a new cabin at the reduced price and then contact my TA the following day to have the new deal transferred to my existing reservation.

- When you are booking directly through Celebrity and there is a price drop for your current booking, do they automatically reprice your reservation - or do you have to notice the price drop and then give them a call?

I notice the price drop and call them.

i did ask this question on another thread, but never got an answer.

Does anyone know if ta's get commission on a fare that was booked onboard and then later transferred to ta control?

 

Thanks

yes

Remember that everything depends on the type of cabin booked, along with its location; I have yet to see a group booking for suites...prices are dynamic and timing is of the essence. I have a great TA whom always gives me lots of OBC that is refundable. Her agency is open seven days a week and I can use anyone wiring if she is not.

Just be careful using agencies that bid on your cruise, as a friend of mine actually ended up paying more than what she thought. Yes, a good price is important, but so is trust and safety. Someone will always get a better deal than you, but if you are happy, that is the important thing! I have never received any extra perk for referrals, just great OBC consistently.

However, I always shop around too.

We all have a method to our madness...

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