Keep an eye on your cruise details !

[goneclear]

I've been lucky with a TA. Rarely don't use one

 

I am with you on this. I have been using the same one for over 30 years. It's a small family business and we are now personal friends.

I read stories hear and else ware about people spending hours on the phone to deal with one issue or another with their cruise line and getting more frustrated.

I am self employed and don't have that kind of time to waste. A one minute call to my TA with the issue and that's it.

[John&LaLa]

I hope to convince my future wife (we are getting married soon!) of the fun and value of cruising. She's been on one and enjoyed it, so there's a good chance!

 

I failed to notice that you're from Cocoa Beach. Most of my family is from Jacksonville. I've sailed from Port Canaveral twice. Haven't in a long time. Miami and Fort Lauderdale have been the easiest so far. Vancouver was probably the longest.

 

Maybe you'll get a chance to come back when Oasis arrives this fall. The new T1 is an absolute gem. Best terminal in the fleet. The new one in Miami might be better. Will have to see when she's finished

[Clarea]

Maybe you'll get a chance to come back when Oasis arrives this fall. The new T1 is an absolute gem. Best terminal in the fleet. The new one in Miami might be better. Will have to see when she's finished

I love the fact that you are covered the entire time from when you park or drop bags.

[John&LaLa]

I love the fact that you are covered the entire time from when you park or drop bags.

 

And I love that it's 5 miles from our condo. ;)

The ramps going down in lieu of escalators is great for self assist, which is very popular here.

[Clarea]

And I love that it's 5 miles from our condo. ;)

The ramps going down in lieu of escalators is great for self assist, which is very popular here.

The ramps are a big deal. We've seen people fall on the escalators. It also frees up personnel who have to be stationed at the escalators so people don't get jammed up.

[John&LaLa]

The ramps are a big deal. We've seen people fall on the escalators. It also frees up personnel who have to be stationed at the escalators so people don't get jammed up.

 

If there's no line, the elevator is faster. Noticed that on the last Enchantment cruise.

[VikingCrown555]

Please use a travel agent. They can fix problems very quickly.

 

I'm still perplexed as to why people don't. RCI gives you OBC but if you use a TA, like the one I use, and they are online, they give an additional OBC AND always beat the price by about 30 bucks. My last 7 cruises I have used a specific online TA and I will never go back. You can't beat the perks in terms of the OBC you get. You get it from both RCI and them. WIN-WIN. I booked a balcony for next year and RCI gave me 100 OBC and the TA gave me $200. Can't beat it.

Edited February 5, 2016 by VikingCrown555

[John&LaLa]

I'm still perplexed as to why people don't. RCI gives you OBC but if you use a TA, like the one I use, and they are online, they give an additional OBC AND always beat the price by about 30 bucks. My last 7 cruises I have used a specific online TA and I will never go back. You can't beat the perks in terms of the OBC you get. You get it from both RCI and them. WIN-WIN. I booked a balcony for next year and RCI gave me 100 OBC and the TA gave me $200. Can't beat it.

 

Our TA usually does tips in lieu of OBC. Plus the additional discount seems to fluctuate with the cabin category. It can be substantially larger on a suite. And every now and then we get a surprise like a massage or dinner

Edited February 5, 2016 by John&LaLa

[NewSalt]

I'm still perplexed as to why people don't. RCI gives you OBC but if you use a TA, like the one I use, and they are online, they give an additional OBC AND always beat the price by about 30 bucks. My last 7 cruises I have used a specific online TA and I will never go back. You can't beat the perks in terms of the OBC you get. You get it from both RCI and them. WIN-WIN. I booked a balcony for next year and RCI gave me 100 OBC and the TA gave me $200. Can't beat it.

 

Perhaps it's because their experience was the same as ours. Booked through a TA and the price was exactly the same as I could have booked directly with the cruise line, I has to call her when I saw a price drop, and instead of an OBC, all she gave us was a bottle of wine.

 

I know that some TA's are much better than the one we used, but I wasn't able to find one although I wasted a lot of time looking for one.

 

I now use the TA from our warehouse store. Sometimes they book for me and sometimes I transfer my own bookings to them. I'm sure they are not as diligent at tracking price drops as a smaller agency would be, but their OBC's are very, very good, and I'm not spending large chunks of my own time ferreting out a TA who would give me the personalized service and good results you have enjoyed.

[Thetrail]

Please use a travel agent. They can fix problems very quickly.

Used a travel agent once, never again! Biggest mess ever.........:mad:

[ISABELLA]

The point of the thread is to "Keep an eye on your cruise details !"

 

So no matter how you book your cruise you should keep an eye on the details and check on the frequently.

 

Just don't make changes in your planner on line - it might wipe out your previous reservations. It happened to me - the most disturbing thing was explained - glitch in RC system. Lucky you still have booking....

[Thetrail]

Use a cruise planner specialist TA , much diffrent than just a TA.

No thank You.

[Thetrail]

How do you see that? When I log on to my cruises it does not show an outstanding balance.

 

I have an invoice from my TA that shows my balance after deposit and they remind me to pay it when due. I have never seen that original dollar amount change.

I pay online each month for our cruise and the outstanding balance is always there. Although my Harmony B2B for 2017 does not show any balance. My nine other cruises have all showed a balance all the way to zero!....:)

[John&LaLa]

I pay online each month for our cruise and the outstanding balance is always there. Although my Harmony B2B for 2017 does not show any balance. My nine other cruises have all showed a balance all the way to zero!....:)

 

But I take it you don't use a TA, book direct. The post i referred to was someone using a TA, I thought.:confused:

[impatientlywaiting]

Agree...No one is a better or more determined advocate for myself than me.

 

Totally agree! I book my cruises while I'm onboard and never turn them over to a TA. I want full control over my reservation and want the ability to call RCI whenever I want without having to go through a TA. We have a hard enough time spending the OBC we get with RCI as it is so we don't need more. And we're not wine drinkers so we don't need a bottle of wine.

[cruisinfanatic]

LOL not true at all. There's nothing a travel agent can do that I can't.

 

Give you obc?

[Ladysilver]

Please use a travel agent. They can fix problems very quickly.

 

Bad advice!! :cool:

[cruisinfanatic]

Just don't make changes in your planner on line - it might wipe out your previous reservations. It happened to me - the most disturbing thing was explained - glitch in RC system. Lucky you still have booking....

People messing with and or looking at their reservation online causes most of the problems. I know Royals website is not perfect, but I've never had any problems.

[cruisinfanatic]

As far as using a ta or not is up to the person booking. You leave $$$$ on the table if you don't though. You only hear about the lazy inattentive ones hear, not the many who are great.

[cruisinfanatic]

Bad advice!! :cool:

 

You think thet can't or don't? You're wrong.

[runawaysoul]

I had forgotten about that. (It's been 15 years since I sailed out of Port Canaveral). If I remember correctly, I parked at the port, walked through security, up to the desk, then to my cabin without sitting down. That particular boarding was the quickest boarding ever.

 

If there's no line, the elevator is faster. Noticed that on the last Enchantment cruise.

 

From some of the comments on here, I may be willing to try a TA this one time for my next cruise. I personally love the planning and the booking part myself, but if it means a bigger OBC or some other perk, I'd be remiss not to take advantage of it.

[Clarea]

... From some of the comments on here, I may be willing to try a TA this one time for my next cruise. I personally love the planning and the booking part myself, but if it means a bigger OBC or some other perk, I'd be remiss not to take advantage of it.

You can still plan and book yourself. You would then have 60 days after booking to transfer it to a TA.

[runawaysoul]

You can still plan and book yourself. You would then have 60 days after booking to transfer it to a TA.

 

I did not know that. Thanks for sharing!

[KiwiGal117]

We are using a travel agent for our next cruise - a small agency. We decided to do this as there are two families involved (maybe it doesn't complicate matters, I'm not sure) and we are doing quite a big land trip before and after the cruise - not just flying in and out again.

 

As far as I know, she is not giving us any OBC or other perks. I ended up finding cheaper airfare than what she found, and I find I'm doing a ton of the leg work on the land portion of our trip. Now, I like doing that to some degree, but I feel like she's really not focusing as much as she could. I probably won't use one again, unless it's one of the big online agencies that gives some good perks. In my current situation, I don't feel like I'm getting value out of it. I can find out the same information on TripAdvisor and CruiseCritic!!

 

But, to acknowledge a good point others have made, I think if you get a good one, they can be really valuable, especially if you are traveling to new destinations. Just a matter of locating that person.

[2ManyCruises]

Please use a travel agent. They can fix problems very quickly.

 

Didn't they go the way of the Dodo? It is after all 2016.