Booking by travel agent or through Carnival.

[canadaman111]

I was planning on booking through a travel agent because it is my first cruise and thought they would be able to help me with any questions I had. If I book that way will I still be able to view my reservation and or make payments through the carnival website?

[okgirl]

I was planning on booking through a travel agent because it is my first cruise and thought they would be able to help me with any questions I had. If I book that way will I still be able to view my reservation and or make payments through the carnival website?

 

You will be able to view your booking but you will have to make payments through your TA and all changed to your booking have to be done via your TA.

[klfrodo]

I was planning on booking through a travel agent because it is my first cruise and thought they would be able to help me with any questions I had. If I book that way will I still be able to view my reservation and or make payments through the carnival website?

 

My very first cruise, I was concerned like you and booked with a TA.

 

However, booking with a TA is like having a union job or having a sports agent represent you. You have no control over your booking. All help, comments, questions, etc. MUST be handled by the TA. The TA is now your representative by contract. You can view your reservation, you can buy excursions, etc. but any changes or payments will go thru the TA

[canadaman111]

My very first cruise, I was concerned like you and booked with a TA.

 

However, booking with a TA is like having a union job or having a sports agent represent you. You have no control over your booking. All help, comments, questions, etc. MUST be handled by the TA. The TA is now your representative by contract. You can view your reservation, you can buy excursions, etc. but any changes or payments will go thru the TA

 

So would you recommend me booking directly through Carnival?

[stargate fan]

I was planning on booking through a travel agent because it is my first cruise and thought they would be able to help me with any questions I had. If I book that way will I still be able to view my reservation and or make payments through the carnival website?

 

My very first cruise, I was concerned like you and booked with a TA.

 

However, booking with a TA is like having a union job or having a sports agent represent you. You have no control over your booking. All help, comments, questions, etc. MUST be handled by the TA. The TA is now your representative by contract. You can view your reservation, you can buy excursions, etc. but any changes or payments will go thru the TA

 

This is exactly why we have used the same Carnival PVP for over eight years.

 

I like knowing I have total control over my booking. Every time I've seen a price drop I contacted him and he immediately emailed us info with the lower final price. Though I have not experienced this myself, I've read people state that their travel agents charged for transactions like price drops or refused to submit them altogether or were unavailable at the time and lost out of the price drop.

[stargate fan]

So would you recommend me booking directly through Carnival?

 

Yes.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

So would you recommend me booking directly through Carnival?

 

NO...unless you have hours to spare, are extremely patient, and are an online junkie.

[canadaman111]

NO...unless you have hours to spare, are extremely patient, and are an online junkie.

 

I do love the planning aspect of a trip. Just worried I could miss something

[riffatsea]

There are good and bad travel agents like in any profession. We use a niece of ours mostly because we are being nice and giving her the commission she gets from the transaction. We pick our cabin and cruise and then tell her what to book. IF we see price drops or want to upgrade or change anything we tell her and she takes care of it.

I don't think she knows any more about Carnival ships than we do. I think we probably know more because we have been on lots of Carnival cruises and she has not!

There are some airline sites that will give you FF points if you book cruises on their sites. It is up to you to decide how to book but unless you have some great reason for using the agent I'd just book it myself on line or use a PVP from the Carnival site.

[elliair]

I don't book through Carnival or Princess. I book through my Discover card to take advantage of the 5% cash back benefit. Sometimes you get 10% cash back. Never had any trouble with them, but booking through Carnival I had problems. You get different answers for the same question.

[klfrodo]

So would you recommend me booking directly through Carnival?

 

Depends on you.

Like I said, my first cruise, we used a TA.

Once we became familiar with the nuances of cruise travel, we book directly

[hftmrock]

it depends....

 

there are MANY MANY MANY more bad TA's than good TAs. if you find the gem TA then I am sure it will be a great experience and they will let you know when there are price drops and they will be available 24/7 for anything you need.

 

if you don't find that gem... it really could be a nightmare.

 

I would go down the middle and get a PVP. they are like a travel agent but they work for carnival. you are able to manage your trip if you want and you can call the PVP to manage the trip. you can choose any way you want.

 

Just my 2 cents

[canadaman111]

So if you book online or through a carnival PVP you then make payments through Carnivals website?

[cherbear4000]

I prefer to book directly with Carnival. If you book through a TA, then everything has to be done through the TA. This includes payments, upgrades, even asking questions. I like managing everything myself and dealing with Carnival directly. It is really easy to log into your account on Carnival's website and make payments.

[beerman2]

So if you book online or through a carnival PVP you then make payments through Carnivals website?

 

Yes

 

Through web or call them directly to make payment.

[1midsun]

So if you book online or through a carnival PVP you then make payments through Carnivals website?

 

Yes, or you can call and make them over the phone if you would rather not do it online.

[st3ph888]

So would you recommend me booking directly through Carnival?

 

Personally, I prefer booking through TA. We had a bad experience on-board a RC ship 1.5 years ago with a leaky/moldy smelling room we made no headway @ guest service desk after 2 days and 5+ visits. However, within 2 hours of contacting my TA, our problem was resolved- to my satisfaction.

 

I know it's not common, but personally I like that extra security that it provides.

 

That being said, I go to her knowing what I want to book and she does the leg work. Doesn't cost me anything more.

[coevan]

another perk no one has mentioned is on board credit and free Steakhouse dinner we received. Our T.A was wonderful, returned calls and emails immediately. We decided to make the trip a B2B a month after booking and she was great.

[canadaman111]

another perk no one has mentioned is on board credit and free Steakhouse dinner we received. Our T.A was wonderful, returned calls and emails immediately. We decided to make the trip a B2B a month after booking and she was great.

 

So that is true? I have read that a TA can get you certain deals or perks that you wouldn't get otherwise...

[klfrodo]

So that is true? I have read that a TA can get you certain deals or perks that you wouldn't get otherwise...

 

The TA gives you (sometimes) these perks on their own. It comes out of their commission.

 

Not worth it in my opinion for me to give up control of my booking

[coevan]

I never felt out of control with the booking. The TA was very responsive, even made 3 way calls to CCL. I forgot to mention the bottle of Champagne in my room, no 2, one from my TA, one for being Platinum.

[luvincruising]

I never felt out of control with the booking. The TA was very responsive, even made 3 way calls to CCL. I forgot to mention the bottle of Champagne in my room, no 2, one from my TA, one for being Platinum.

 

This and OBC from your TA. Talk to other cruisers and get recommendations for TA's. There are good ones.

:)

[cruising maniac]

I have been using a TA for years. I do the research (because I like to), book through the cruise line website, make my payments online, then transfer my booking to my TA within 90 days. I always get an OBC of about 10% of my fare. If the price goes down, I send her an e-mail and she contacts Carnival for a rate adjustment. If she is off, someone else in the office does it for me. They are open from 8 to 8. Not like Carnival's 24 hours but it has worked extremely well for me. Last cruise I used gift cards to pay off the cruise and made 2 room changes. She handled all of that with a phone call or an email.

Just ask questions and make sure that they do not charge a fee to make changes to your reservation and that some perk is offered. Maybe get a referral from a friend. If she did not give us the OBC, I would not see an advantage in using a TA but I LOVE my OBC. :D

[darth frosty]

I like booking thru carnival's website. But I do use a PVP that I really like. Basically I call and give him the info I found online of what cabin and sailing date I want.

 

We really like aft balconies and since there are so few we dont have to worry about price drops (bummer)

[beachbum53]

For our very first cruise (many moons ago), we used a TA. As a perk, he said there would be a bottle of wine waiting for us in our cabin. When we got to our cabin, no bottle of wine.:( We asked the TA about it when we got back, and he apologized, saying he forgot. We "forgot" to use him as a TA after that. Beginning with our second cruise, and ever since then, we have booked directly with the cruise line, using a PVP for Carnival. It's nice that some TA's can offer and do give extras to their customers, such as OBC or other goodies. However, it's not the "norm". Many travel agencies discourage the practice. We like doing our own research for cruises (and air travel), so that we can be well informed. Then, when we're ready, we call our PVP and tell her what we want and she helps us with the booking.