What is the benefit of booking with Disney directly vs Travel Agent?

[99taylorpn]

We are about to book a Disney cruise for Easter 2014:), but I am not sure the best route. Last Disney Cruise we used a local travel agent and received free photos, but could we get a better deal with booking directly with Disney? What does everyone think?

[Shmoo here]

We are about to book a Disney cruise for Easter 2014:), but I am not sure the best route. Last Disney Cruise we used a local travel agent and received free photos, but could we get a better deal with booking directly with Disney? What does everyone think?

 

There won't be any difference in cruise fares booking with DCL vs TA. The "deals" come in if the TA offers you any perks for booking through them vs DCL.

 

We usually book directly with DCL. Only because I feel like it gives me more control on my own reservation. Others prefer using a TA.

 

:)

[BonnieGreen]

We are about to book a Disney cruise for Easter 2014:), but I am not sure the best route. Last Disney Cruise we used a local travel agent and received free photos, but could we get a better deal with booking directly with Disney? What does everyone think?

 

I got a lot of onboard credit by booking with an agent ($350 for five of us)!

[99taylorpn]

Thanks very much. The credit does sound appealing!!!

[CarnivalGirl3]

i did through ta for an $100 obc.

Next time I'll do through Disney (assuming I enjoy this cruise)

 

The TA did call them to get early dining and have me wait listed.

 

In the past, we always booked directly with Carnival. But the idea of an obc lured me in....

[nyc12345]

For our last cruise we used a local TA and had no problems with her and she was really helpful. When we booked our Fantasy cruise last week for 2014 we emailed her and they were only offering $25 OBC and I had saw on the "other boards" about an online TA that ALOT of Disney cruisers use, offering $250 OBC for the same cruise. Needless to say....we booked with the online TA. If you want the name of the TA, message me. :D

 

I also use a TA, but seems to get more OBC than the one being referenced. The amount of OBC has to do with the cabin price...Booking directly with Disney will give you nothing...:eek:

[tweis]

I also use a TA, but seems to get more OBC than the one being referenced. The amount of OBC has to do with the cabin price...Booking directly with Disney will give you nothing...:eek:

 

I got a quote from my local TA and the online TA that I am using and for the same cabin on the Fantasy, the local TA could only offer me $25 plus the $25 that Disney offers for booking online yet the online TA offered me $250 plus the $25 that Disney offers. Huge difference. Most TAs do base it on the price of the cruise but apparently my local TA does not...:eek:

[winnie1274]

we booked our 1st one directly with DCL & they gave us a $25 online booking credit. Our 2nd one we booked while on the ship & transferred to an agent in order to get an additional $100 onboard credit. Call around & check the deals

[Shmoo here]

I got a quote from my local TA and the online TA that I am using and for the same cabin on the Fantasy, the local TA could only offer me $25 plus the $25 that Disney offers for booking online yet the online TA offered me $250 plus the $25 that Disney offers. Huge difference. Most TAs do base it on the price of the cruise but apparently my local TA does not...:eek:

 

Unless it's been reinstated, the $25 online booking OBC isn't offered anymore. They stopped that about a year ago.

 

:cutie:

[Mary Ellen]

Our first DCL was booked directly as we used our DVC points. This was the first time we've not used a TA to book a cruise. I was NOT a happy camper dealing directly with Disney. :eek:

[winnie1274]

Unless it's been reinstated, the $25 online booking OBC isn't offered anymore. They stopped that about a year ago.

 

:cutie:

I was checking prices Dec 6, 2012 & the $25 onboard credit was listed in the special offers tab. They offer that off & on so keep checking. But many times TAs can offer larger onboard credits or gift cards. Costco offers gift cards for Costco if you book through them. It is worth the time to call several TAs & check their special offers. I have been told by TAs that they can not discount Disney fares therefore they offer the onboard credits &/or gift cards. We booked our 2nd cruise while onboard the ship because Disney offers fare discounts & larger onboard credits if you can book before you disembark. They leave cruise guides in your stateroom so you can get an idea of pricing & onboard credits available. We choose to transfer to a TA after we got back so we could get an additional onboard credit. If you book your next cruise onboard you have the option of rescheduling or upgrading later if you like. We booked for departure on the Dream Nov 2012, rescheduled to May 2013 on the Dream, then rescheduled again to the Fantasy May 2014. Our discount applied to the new schedule & they increased our onboard credit from $100 to $200 from DCL. Really the best thing about having a TA for us is that since I am disabled & use a power chair they will be assisting me with booking shore excursions since the excursions through DCL are either not accessible at all or require use of a manual wheelchair.

[tweis]

Unless it's been reinstated, the $25 online booking OBC isn't offered anymore. They stopped that about a year ago.

 

:cutie:

 

 

I booked two weeks ago and the $25 OBC is currently being offered by Disney. I was given it as well as $250 OBC offered by my TA. :)

[CarnivalGirl3]

i did through ta for an $100 obc.

Next time I'll do through Disney (assuming I enjoy this cruise)

 

The TA did call them to get early dining and have me wait listed.

 

In the past, we always booked directly with Carnival. But the idea of an obc lured me in....

 

Once we were on ship, I found out there was only a $50 obc. I'm kinda upset about this, as I have an email stating $100. Of course, I'm home now...and trying to deal with them on the phone.

 

We did receive early dining with a table for just us and didn't have to do anything once we boarded (as I normally do with Carnival.)

 

Disney did offer us a $200 obc, plus whatever the TA may give us, for booking our next cruise before we got off the ship. I didn't/don't need to do anything, but marked the TA on the form.

[RosebudA]

We've booked a lot of trips ourselves through on line sites or directly with the resort. For our first cruise, we went with a friend from high school who was a travel agent who specialized in cruises and was a 'preferred Disney agent' and able to get us a 10% discount. There wasn't much about the experience I liked. We always had to wait to hear from her and there was a problem with payment (TA to Disney) that we only found out about when I couldn't book anything on-line. It just went on and on and was very frustrating. (To her credit, the payment problem wasn't totally her fault and she probably gets some credit for Disney upgrading our three cabins from outside to balcony as a result of the chaos). My hubby swore he'd never use a travel agent again (especially her), but the lure of the discount had me calling her again. She blew me off to one of her employees and I was done.

 

We've done two Disney since then, and an NCL, and will be going on the Fantasy in March. For all of them we booked it ourselves directly with the cruise line and have been really pleased. It was easy to do and we were able to make any changes we wanted, when we wanted-which you can't do if you book through a travel agent. We rebooked on board during our second Disney cruise and got the 10% discount without the hassle. For us, the control mattered.

[packyourpixiedust]

If you are 'in to buying local' then book with a local TA- they should offer you the same service, get you the same dining times, etc as booking direct, and money stays locally in your community- to the agent, the agency, and the local DCL rep that is responsible for that area... Buying local is important to me which is why I go to little mom and pop places to buy things, eat, etc. Especially if you do not have to compromise on service, quailty, etc.

[truck1]

The major advantage I can find with a ta over DCL booking is most tas, will have some type of special perk. Ive seen some that offer free room upgrades (not necessarily DCL) reduced price excursions or a percentage off an excursion.

The one I use has a obc plan in place that basically depending on the cabin and the number of people in it, you get a certain amount of obc.(ie a balcony cabin might be 50 pp while conciercge might be 75 and inside might be 25 as an example) That would be in addition to what DCL would offer. (this trip Im getting 250 obc) They also have a welcome center at the port and a free pacakage prior to your trip.

[rpow]

I've always booked directly with Disney in the years past except this last cruise on board the Dream. I used an online TA.

 

We had 2 connecting cabins and were given $100 OBC for each cabin. I've never had anything like that when I've booked Disney direct.

 

Upon entering our cabins for the first time, we were greeted with a wonderful gift basket for each cabin filled with all kinds of goodies and useful things to be used on a cruise or just a vacation in general. Those baskets blew me away because I was not expecting it at all.

 

While I am still not a fan of the whole 'online' TA thing (I much prefer being able to call my TA whenever I want and speak to a human and get my questions answered on the spot vs having to wait for an email response that could take anywhere from a few minutes to a day later to receive) I do have to say that my TA was pretty great.

[truck1]

I've always booked directly with Disney in the years past except this last cruise on board the Dream. I used an online TA.

 

We had 2 connecting cabins and were given $100 OBC for each cabin. I've never had anything like that when I've booked Disney direct.

 

Upon entering our cabins for the first time, we were greeted with a wonderful gift basket for each cabin filled with all kinds of goodies and useful things to be used on a cruise or just a vacation in general. Those baskets blew me away because I was not expecting it at all.

 

While I am still not a fan of the whole 'online' TA thing (I much prefer being able to call my TA whenever I want and speak to a human and get my questions answered on the spot vs having to wait for an email response that could take anywhere from a few minutes to a day later to receive) I do have to say that my TA was pretty great.

 

 

If its the one Im thinking of, (they sponsor a diffent board) its the same one I use. Ive had a time sensitive issue where I emailed my ta and asked them to call me to make life easier. They did within a short period of time and everything worked out great.

[rpow]

I know exactly what you mean truck1. Ireally wish that they would have allowed me to speak to my assigned TA via the phone.

 

It would have made some very stressful moments much less so if I could have just had some of my questions/concerns answered immediately instead of having to wait for an email response.

 

I did try but I guess for me it wasn't meant to be. Oh well, we still ended up with a fabulous cruise so all's well that ends well. ;)

[Musclengrace]

Is it. Rule that no one is revealing names of online travel sites? It all seems so darn cryptic, is there a reason?

 

Thanks

[Calker]

Yes there are rules about naming/listing TA information. I don't know the specific rules - those you'd have to read on the main page of this site.

 

I do know that there a TA's who sponsor this site but I'm not even sure if they can be named in a post. I make it a point not to mention any TA's by company name or even their first names.

[truck1]

I know exactly what you mean truck1. Ireally wish that they would have allowed me to speak to my assigned TA via the phone.

 

It would have made some very stressful moments much less so if I could have just had some of my questions/concerns answered immediately instead of having to wait for an email response.

 

I did try but I guess for me it wasn't meant to be. Oh well, we still ended up with a fabulous cruise so all's well that ends well. ;)

 

When we got to that point, I sent mine a email with my number and asked to call in reference to that issue. I forgot what the issue was. Like I said, she did, in a real short period of time and everything worked out.

[Host Mick]

Is it. Rule that no one is revealing names of online travel sites? It all seems so darn cryptic, is there a reason?

 

Thanks

 

We don't allow members to mention travel agents or put up contact information. The excat rules can be found in the Guidelines link in the banner of every page.

The short reason is that if TAs want to advertise, they can buy space.

The long reason is that a long time ago when Cruise Critic was just a little AOL site, TAs innundated the site with posts mentioning their services. We banned them then they came back as shills so we banned the shills and so on. We never had this problem with shuttles and tour operators so it's still OK to mention them... so far but there are a few rules about advertising.

If you need the name of a TA, feel free to click on the links all over Cruise Critic. They're the sponsors that bring you Cruise Critic for free.

[Kimmielee]

I have used the same TA for my last two Disney Cruises and since there were no issues prior... we decided to use her again. Three cabins... One couple in an inside stateroom and two couples in their own verandah rooms. All of us live in separate households in two different states. The first reservation was a transfer from March 2012 to the March 2013 Fantasy Cruise. Same stateroom type. No issue. The next one booked was the same stateroom type, same number of people. No issue. The third one was an inside stateroom, two adults... BIG ISSUE.

 

The day of final payment I noticed that I still couldn't book a dinner for all the adults in our "linked reservation". Typically when greyed out... it meant it isn't paid in full yet. I confirmed with the party that they had paid the TA on Friday. So I called the TA... to see if there was a delay in getting funds to DCL. She didn't call me... but she did forward me the paid in full receipt for the inside stateroom. It was correct that it was an inside stateroom, but ON THE WRONG SHIP!! She had booked the third stateroom on the Disney Magic 6 night cruise leaving the same day as our Disney Fantasy 7 night cruise!! I called her right away. Told her that she had booked them on the wrong ship. "Oh my gosh... Let me call you right back." She called in about 1/2 hour and said... "Good News... I have reserved them a room on the Fantasy, but there is an additional $1700 in the fare. How would you like to pay for that?"

 

Excuse me??? This cruise had been booked for over a year.... her receipt from the travel agency said Disney Fantasy, it did not say Disney Magic. It also said it was for a stateroom with a verandah, but we won't even go there....

 

I told her that WE wouldn't be paying anything. This was her mistake, not ours and today's pricing should not apply. I knew there should be an additional charge for 7 nights on the Fantasy vs. 6 nights on the Magic... but at least price it as it was priced when the original mistake was made??

 

She booked it on a "hold" with it having to be paid in 3 days, hoping that DCL would allow them to revert it back to the original pricing. That worked and the TA had to pay $600 for difference in the fare which I'm told most likely came out of her "Errors and Omissions" insurance fund.

 

In the meanwhile, they lost their assigned stateroom (now have a GTY reservation) and they are no longer in Main Dining with the rest of our family. I am hoping to get that rectified prior to sailing. A gentleman that I work with knows a higher up in DCL reservations and she's "looking into it". So... will this TA ever get my business again? Not likely. Had she NOT asked the question on the first phone call... "How would you like to pay for that?" and taken responsibility for her error... then I would have a different opinion.

 

How do you book three staterooms with one being on a different ship and link them together without some sort of indication that there is a problem?????

[scotlanddreamin]

We book with our TA for three very important reasons.

 

1. She does ALL the work. I want spa, I want excursion, I want linked cabins, I want blah blah blah, she makes it happen, she deals with Disney, she gets it done.

 

2. She is ALWAYS readily available. If something goes wrong, and lets face it, that sometimes happens, I just give her a call and she straightens it right out. I don't have to fix anything because she does it for me.

 

3. She is my friend from the adoption community, and I want her to get the commission. If I'm spending the same either booking through her or booking through Disney, I might as well get that money sent to her.