Book Cruise With?

[cruisindream]

My family & I have been on several cruises...I have always booked with whichever cruise line we were cruising with directly. In my research this time I have seen 3rd party booking...with these bookings it seems the cruise prices are similar but the perks that come with them are very tempting such as on board credit & free drink packages, etc...are these perks legit & are these bookings legit?

 

Thanks in advance!

[paul929207]

We always use a TA. As we sail Princess and they allow discounts, we save about 10 to 15% off the Princess price. In addition, we get some OBC from her

[MCC retired]

If you always booked your cruise direct with the cruise line , you always paid the current retail price at best rate you may qualify for.

Cruise Specialist TA's should always be able to offer you something better than that (like OBC, Gift , Discount , Group rate) in addition to product knowledge and internal cruise line contacts if the need arises .

Just how many other big purchases don't people shop around for ?:confused:

Edited June 4, 2016 by MCC retired

[bosswench]

We use a large online cruise TA. They have always given us the same or better price as the cruise line and lots of extra perks. Last week we booked something with them, free upgrade to a package with free premium drinks, grats, and internet as well as a bunch of TA paid OBC for exactly the same price we would have paid for free drinks only, booking direct with the cruise line.

 

My only caution with using the big online TA's is that they are not good at hand holding new cruisers who need help picking their cruise or don't know what they want. For experienced cruisers who call the TA saying "book me on this...." they are great. But, in any event they are completely legit, no problems ever with any of the cruises we have booked with them.

 

JoJo

[Keith1010]

We always use a TA for several reasons.

 

They can provide additional amenities beyond what a cruise line can provide.

 

If something goes wrong they can be your advocate with the cruise line and a good one will know how to cut through red tape to get issues resolved for you.

 

Keith

[GUT2407]

My family & I have been on several cruises...I have always booked with whichever cruise line we were cruising with directly. In my research this time I have seen 3rd party booking...with these bookings it seems the cruise prices are similar but the perks that come with them are very tempting such as on board credit & free drink packages, etc...are these perks legit & are these bookings legit?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Yep totally legit.

[Marisawrite]

Yes the travel agent offers are legit.

 

The travel agent gets a generous commission from the cruise line for booking you on the cruise. The travel agents are in competition with each other to sell cruises, so what they do is sacrifice a bit of that commission to give you a perk.

 

We cruised on Regal Princess last month. I found the cruise on the Princess website first, but then I checked around and found a travel agent who was offering free airfares from England and free transfers as well, for the same price.

 

We had such a good time on our cruise that we were considering doing a Med cruise next month. Again, checking prices, I found I could get free airfares and transfers from a TA for the same price as the straight cruise on Princess. One was even offering a couple of nights' pre-cruise hotel.

[karenpstok]

My family & I have been on several cruises...I have always booked with whichever cruise line we were cruising with directly. In my research this time I have seen 3rd party booking...with these bookings it seems the cruise prices are similar but the perks that come with them are very tempting such as on board credit & free drink packages, etc...are these perks legit & are these bookings legit?

 

Thanks in advance!

i am canadian so pricing may be different but as an example i booked my dec cruise through a TA and then was looking around and the NCL website price and my TA's price was $450 more than the price i found on an online booking site. Some online sites buy rooms in bulk so they can give lower prices so it is always good to look around at prices when you book. I cancelled with my TA today and rebooked with the online site and saved a bunch of $$.

[Hlitner]

So there are some facts of life about the travel industry. If the cruise line's thought it would work, they would do all their own bookings and never have to pay a commission to any agent. Renaissance actually operated that way...and they quickly went bankrupt (although there were more issues then the company not using agencies).

 

But cruise lines really need the cruise/travel agent community to help promote and book their cruises. So, they pay commissions, overrides, and certain bonus deals. They also work with agencies on certain promotions, and often rely on certain high volume agencies to "move" cruises that may not be selling well. We have booked over 100 cruises, and only once have we booked direct with a cruise line. The Cruise Agencies we use (they are all very reputable online agencies) always can offer us better overall deals then we get by booking direct. Sometimes, for long cruises that are expensive bookings, our savings can run to multiple thousands of dollars. On short cruises (7 days) which we seldom do anymore, the savings are a lot less...but still will range into the hundreds of dollars.

 

So our advice (for many years) here on CC is very simple. We advocate "shopping around" before you book. Sure, look at the cruise line's web site...but then compare the deal to what is offered by several major (and very reputable) online agencies. Folks shop around for just about anything...and will drive out of their way to save $5 on a pair of shoes...but some will not spend a few minutes on the internet to shop around to save hundreds...and perhaps thousands of dollars? Go figure.

 

Hank

[blizzardboy]

My family & I have been on several cruises...I have always booked with whichever cruise line we were cruising with directly. In my research this time I have seen 3rd party booking...with these bookings it seems the cruise prices are similar but the perks that come with them are very tempting such as on board credit & free drink packages, etc...are these perks legit & are these bookings legit?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

You can still book direct, then transfer your booking to a TA. Some lines allow transfers until final payment due date, i.e., Holland America, while Celebrity requires transfer within 60 days of booking and before final payment is due. I book direct early, then watch promotions as they come along before transferring to my TA to pick up their perks.

TAs have about 15% of your fare in commission that they can use for price reductions, OBC, or other perks, with 9-10% back in perks being a very fair deal. Some TAs contract to move a given number of cabins at a reduced price which can end up being a good deal for the cruiser, but in any case you need to do your due diligence on the TAs reputation and reviews.

[blizzardboy]

My family & I have been on several cruises...I have always booked with whichever cruise line we were cruising with directly. In my research this time I have seen 3rd party booking...with these bookings it seems the cruise prices are similar but the perks that come with them are very tempting such as on board credit & free drink packages, etc...are these perks legit & are these bookings legit?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

You can still book direct, then transfer your booking to a TA. Some lines allow transfers until final payment due date, i.e., Holland America, while Celebrity requires transfer within 60 days of booking and before final payment is due. I book direct early, then watch promotions as they come along before transferring to my TA to pick up their perks.

TAs have about 15% of your fare in commission that they can use for price reductions, OBC, or other perks, with 9-10% back in perks being a very fair deal. In any case you need to do your due diligence in checking the TAs reviews and reputation.

[MCC retired]

The more expensive your booking , the better $$$ you should do by using a Cruise Specialist TA.

It is sad to see people booking very expensive cruises direct with the cruise line , at the current retail price , that any TA can match and should always do better.

Edited June 8, 2016 by MCC retired