How do you book your cruise with Holland?

[lbt43]

I just got off the phone with one of the Holland Agents, as I called direct. Let me tell you, what a great experience!! I will never book another way. The agent had all the knowledge, all the info and all the craft to make my cruise feel just right. Booking with Holland direct gives me piece of mind. I have (had) a TA, but I realized that its best for me to have all the control when it comes to my booking! I urge you all to book with Holland direct!:):D

[Crew News]

We always book with a HAL Personal Cruise Consultant (PCC) but some prefer a long-term relationship with a travel agent (TA).

 

There is strong support for each.

[MilliesMom]

I booked our cruise on-line, then followed up with a phone call when we decided to upgrade our cabin. They have been great to deal with.

[PathfinderEss]

Holland America PCC are wonderful but we book thru a TA. We get a much better price and we like our TA, she works really hard for us.

[solocanadian]

I book through a TA and end up with better pricing than HAL can offer, especially cruising solo.:)

[lbt43]

I booked our cruise on-line, then followed up with a phone call when we decided to upgrade our cabin. They have been great to deal with.

 

Just call initially. Booking online and then calling really frustrates the agent when they could have done it all for you in less time and gotten paid for it.:)

[MilliesMom]

Just call initially. Booking online and then calling really frustrates the agent when they could have done it all for you in less time and gotten paid for it.:)

 

Actually we upgraded a few weeks later. If HAL would of allowed me to make the change myself, I would of done it on-line. HAL forces the customer to contact customer service for changes, so that is what I did. (this is NOT a complaint ... just stating their policy.) I dealt with the main customer service number, not a PCC.

 

I had such a horrible experience this last year with a TA that I want to be the one in control of our reservations at the moment.

 

Since HAL allows us to book on-line, that's what I plan to do. I know that all may not agree, but at the moment it works for us.

[KirkNC]

We also book through an online TA saving 5-10% of the cost vs HAL direct. Its like anything else, if the value of the personal attention and service the OP described is worth it, by all means book direct.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been fortunate to have a TA that we have used for over years 24 years.

[MilliesMom]

The booking with HAL then our booking with Princess were the first time EVER that we have not used a TA. The issue with the past TA was significant enough to convince us that we wanted the "control" over our future bookings.

 

We feel that the pricing we got for both of our cruises are fair, and I can watch the rates as easily as the TA can. The only difference was that "if' the TA had a group going we got extra savings we do not get back booking on our own.

 

At this point, we will be booking our own cruises. Works for us ... may not work for others. Each person has to decide what works best for them.

[whogo]

I check a few reliable online sites for prices, phone the cheapest couple and check for additional discounts. I am not demanding, have no unusual requests, and do not bother using the same agent that booked us before. Buying a cruise from a big agency is like buying clothes from LL Bean, any order taker will do.

[Minoushka]

Lately I find the cruise lines have the best deals .HAL had it for this summer for Canadians for travel to med on Noordam or nieuw Amsterdam .the price was too good to resist

I hope it will e as good next year

I want to do the itinerary on nieuwnamsterdam because it goes to Istanbul and stays in Venice .....2 places I really want to experience

But ...big but .....price has tobe right .excursions,visits and limited shopping anywhere in europeu csts a whole lot .most days I spent over 100 euros in nothing special on tour days easily double that ......not cheap ..when you consider a longer cruise but I am not complaining I really enjoyed the Noordam itinerary very hectic and hot but there are wonderful places I would love to return to ...others spend more time at the beach

I will keep an eye on those

Hal seems to be the only line that does eastern and western med ...which I am interested in .if we pay big bucks for airfare...then our voyage must be longer ....the cost of flying to Europe from Montreal s very steep.and in air sardine can which is so restrictive in baggage allowance I always end up paying more for

and they weigh everything including carryon ...big bummer

 

But all other companies want between 1500$ to 2000$ .....not cheap for 1ridiculous for 2

[gentlemancruiser]

I check online several places to compare prices, then i usually book with a TA. Booking directly with a PCC at HAL I've found to be challenging for CDN travellers because we use a US $ cc, it's hard to book with HAL in US$. They ALWAYS insisit on us paying in CDN$, which ends up cost us more because of the exchange, even with the dollar at par!!!! That is one reason why we stopped using our HAL PCC.

[iancal]

I have never understood what people mean when they say they have more 'control' when they book direct with HAL, or any other cruises line for that matter.

 

We have always used an on line TA who has been very responsive and very efficient. Just wondering what control we may be giving up by using a TA since we have never booked direct.

[cmaygar]

I've done both but I get better pricing using my TA. I will use my TA exclusively now for that reason.

[Cruising-along]

We have had a HAL PCC for the last 9 cruises and are very happy with her. She knows what we like and she's proactive in helping us. We had a bad experience with a TA so since then we don't want a "middle man". We prefer to have direct access.

[vbmom87]

1st cruise: booked with a local TA...good experience...

 

2nd cruise: booked with a warehouse club....saved us some money

 

3rd cruise: used an online service in which different TAs compete for your business. We got our best deal going this route. You know the names of the agencies so you can google them for reviews and you can check them out on BBB.

 

All of our experiences were good, with our third cruise realizing the biggest discount and everything promised was realized.

 

I did notice that the TA office we used for our first cruise is now advertising they will match prices. If this is really true, I will likely go back to using the local TA should we ever cruise again. I like having someone other than the cruiseline working for me.

[luvs2travl]

We have been fortunate to have a TA that we have used for over years 24 years.

 

Same here. We have gotten great pricing and perks through our TA. For example we received $450.00 in OBC's and a complimentary dinner @ The Pinnacle Grill for our upcoming cruise. HAL reps may offer similar perks but since we have not booked directly through HAL I would not know.

Guess when our TA retires we may give it a try.

 

Smooth Sailing!!

[George C]

We always book with a HAL Personal Cruise Consultant (PCC) but some prefer a long-term relationship with a travel agent (TA).

 

There is strong support for each.

 

our TA retired and we used Hal Personal cruise consutant for last 3 cruises and very very happy with the results

[readytogo2]

I always shop online for the best price of the cruise we are interested in, then I call the cruise line to make inquiries of that cruise. If the cruise line offers a better deal, then I will go with them. But more often than not, my online TA always sweetens the deal with OBCs for our loyalty to him.

 

In my experiences of speaking to the cruise line reps, some know squat about the ship in question yet others know more. It's always hit or miss. I get more solid info from Cruise Critic.

[Randyk47]

We book all our cruises through an on-line agency. Been doing that for 8+ years with no issues or problems.

[Viesczy]

We've gone several routes and end up going with typically the best deal that tickles our fancy if it is a spur of the moment thing.

 

For our fall cruise, I booked directly with HAL. I had contacted HAL back in the spring of '11 to see if there was going to be a fall repeat in '12. The PCC got back to me that the calendar wasn't up yet and that she'd let me know when she knew. True to her word she was in contact with me several times, confirming our interest and checking in for any other needs, all in a personal and professional way. From all the lines we've worked with she was by far the best PCC! She actually notified us a good 50 days + before it was anywhere else that the cruise was being offered and we booked with her despite the fact that various TAs (local and electronic) had slightly better deals with OBC and such.

 

Derek

[innlady1]

Holland America PCC are wonderful but we book thru a TA. We get a much better price and we like our TA, she works really hard for us.

 

Same with us. I did have a PCC who was wonderful but on one particular Noordam cruise, the FCC encouraged the audience to change the bookings from HAL to a travel agent in order to save money.

We have the same travel agent as you, Melodie. And, yes, she works very, very hard for her clients!

[Joan G]

I book with a TA. If there is any OBC offers I don't believe you can get them thru HAL direct. If you absolutely want a HAL cruise it would be OK but if there is a really good special from another line, I would want to know about that before I decide. Not to mention my son is a TA.

[iancal]

We use an on line TA for two reasons. The first is the OBC's that we would not otherwise get if we booked directly.

 

The second is that our TA has, on occasion, told us about very good offers on other lines. A cruise company rep would not be aware, or make us aware, of great offers from other cruise lines. We value this since we are not married to any one cruise line.