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papilliontraveler

By papilliontraveler,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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papilliontraveler

papilliontraveler

Posted
Posted

I have been on numerous CCL cruises but have always used a TA. After talking to a couple of them, I can book the cruise for the same price(and avoiding a $35 TA administrative fee) by calling CCL myself. Anyone have any tips, advice, etc. by doing it this way?

I will also need to book one nights stay at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale and ge transfers set up. This all appears to be relatively easy.

I have always booked our other vacations ie: Vegas, New Mexico, Virginia, etc. myself with no real problems.

Thank you.

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Fazzdaan

Fazzdaan

Posted
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You can call Carnival at 1-800 819-3902 and ask for a PVP (Personal Vacation Planner). Board rules here prohibit me from giving out the name of my PVP, but I have been happy with her.

 

If you do call a PVP take the time and tell them what you like in a cruise, what port you prefer to sail from and what ports you would like to visit. Also let the PVP know about yourself, specifically you age, whether you are over 55, if you are a past Carnival cruiser and if you are in the military or are a Vet. Those things can effect the rates that can be offered to you.

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tak81288

tak81288

Posted
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I took my first cruise earlier this year and we booked everything ourselves without any issues. I'm in the process of booking my next one the same way. Im usually able to find cheap plane tickets and hotel deals by researching on my own.

 

I guess my only advice would be to have the website up when you call Carnival to make sure what they are telling you on the phone is the same thing that you are looking at online. We pretty much already knew what we wanted before calling, but I found the person I talked to at Carnival to be very helpful and was able to answer the additional questions that we had before we actually booked.

 

The hotel we chose had shuttle services to/from the airport and to the cruise terminal which made getting around the next morning really easy. If you hotel doesn't have it though, getting a taxi or making arrangements with another shuttle service will also worked.

 

Enjoy!

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elcuchio24

elcuchio24

Posted
Posted
I have been on numerous CCL cruises but have always used a TA. After talking to a couple of them, I can book the cruise for the same price(and avoiding a $35 TA administrative fee) by calling CCL myself. Anyone have any tips, advice, etc. by doing it this way?

I will also need to book one nights stay at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale and ge transfers set up. This all appears to be relatively easy.

I have always booked our other vacations ie: Vegas, New Mexico, Virginia, etc. myself with no real problems.

Thank you.

 

I never use a TA with CCL, and frankly rarely talk to a PVP either. If you are computer literate you should be able to book everything yourself thru the CCL web site. If not you can always call. I think it's great since you have more control of your booking and can always view all your info online. Plus if you book ES you have to power to send in claims for OBC and not have to rely on a possibly lazy TA.

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blindrid

blindrid

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It's a no brainer as I've done it with online TA's, brick and mortar TA's, online with cruise lines and PVP's. There really isn't much of a difference but you know in a PVP's case, you can always get ahold of someone if you need to. Back in the days when PVP's were higher, I didn't use them. Now I do.

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elcuchio24

elcuchio24

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Ok, clue me in.

What is ES and OBC?

 

If you end up booking ES, you have to make claims if the price goes down from what you paid. If they are approved, you get OBC for the difference (or an optional upgrade or both). Some people have had trouble because if you book thru a TA, they are the ones (not you) who put in the claims for OBC. Of course if you don't book ES it isn't as much of an issue.

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elcuchio24

elcuchio24

Posted
Posted
Ok, thank you.

I believe it is still Early Savings, I am about 5 months out. I will check.

Good info though.

 

They keep ES as an option up to 5 months out on 7nighters, so you are probably right around the time it will disappear. There are allot of string attached so check it out, but we have walked away with a couple grand in OBC in the past two years.....

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papilliontraveler

papilliontraveler

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I don't believe that's possible anymore. Carnival put the kabosh on TA lowering prices or giving OB credit.

 

That is exactly what a TA I have used before told me. If they are caught lowering prices, etc., Carnival will drop them.

 

FWIW, I just booked with a PVP. He basically had exactly what I had found online, except for some rooms on the 7th deck that didn't show up online.

He had one in the back with an oversized balcony for a regular balcony price, I hope we like it.

Using our Past Guest discount was actually less than the ES discount and now we don't have all the strings attached. Also, the option to get the $200 OBC would have cost $240 more, so it didn't make economic sense.

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blindrid

blindrid

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I don't believe that's possible anymore. Carnival put the kabosh on TA lowering prices or giving OB credit.

 

CCL has either severely limited OBC or will. With "free" travel insurance, you get what you pay for as I checked into one of the policies and it didn't provide the coverage that I expected to be as a minimum.

 

Wait til a TA slaps you with a $25 transaction fee up front or a cancellation fee. It does severely limit the TA's promotional and incentive pricing:

 

From CCL:

 

In order to do so, effective August 1, 2010, Carnival's Pricing Policy will be extended to apply not only to advertising, but to all forms of communication, including in-person, phone or any other means. The expanded policy will require that all travel partners sell Carnival at the prevailing rates. Since Carnival offers the same pricing to all travel partners, this change will ensure that only Carnival's approved pricing is made available in all media and communications, so your customers will have access to the same price wherever they shop.

 

Currently, our Advertised Pricing Policy permits our travel partners to market, fund and provide certain value-add items, such as onboard gifts, amenities, etc., provided the value does not exceed 10% of the complete cruise fare. We continue to receive positive feedback from most of you that these value-adds, when used in conjunction with a specific sales and marketing plan, are a great tool. Based upon this feedback, the new Pricing Policy will permit certain value-adds and require that they only be used as part of a sales and marketing plan promoting Carnival. So, for non cash-equivalent value adds over 5% of the complete cruise fare, or $25 (whichever is greater) and for all cash-equivalent value-adds regardless of amount, plans will need to be submitted to Carnival in advance for pre-approval. Pre-approval of sales and marketing plans will not be required for non cash-equivalent value-adds of less than 5% (or $25), but in order to be fair to all, we may request these at any time. As always, your Carnival sales team contact will be more than happy to assist in creating the right plan for you.

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mahicks1976

mahicks1976

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I never use a TA with CCL, and frankly rarely talk to a PVP either. If you are computer literate you should be able to book everything yourself thru the CCL web site. If not you can always call. I think it's great since you have more control of your booking and can always view all your info online. Plus if you book ES you have to power to send in claims for OBC and not have to rely on a possibly lazy TA.

 

 

I usually did this too but on the last two cruises, when I called.....I ALWAYS got a little better rate than if I would have booked directly on the website. YMMV

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glrounds

glrounds

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Book exclusively with an ONLINE TA that uses a unique process. Usually last minute so cancellation fee is a non-issue. Almost always get OBC and upgraded by Carnival about half the time, but last booked almost a year ago, so this may have changed. Only used a brick'n'mortar TA the first couple of cruises, the rest have always been an ONLINE TA.

Enough said. :D

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ANGSWIN

ANGSWIN

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I have booked my last two cruises myself online. I like the feeling of EMPOWERMENT I get when I research it, book it, pick the exact cabin I want, and pay for it the way I want.

 

Then, I can always pull up my info online, book my own excursions, etc.

 

I love it.

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gargoyle999

gargoyle999

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I am not a phone person and prefer to do as much as possible either via a web site or email.

 

But last week I called the 800/888? number to book a cruise because I had a FCC "on file" to use from a canceled cruise. It was a pretty painless process all things considered. :)

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