First time cruisers

[Stlcardsfan79]

My brother and his wife are wanting to book their 1st cruise. Are they better off going to a travel agent, calling NCL for help or booking on line themselves? I thought I had read that if they went through a travel agent they might not receive the email to bid on an upgrade? Thanks in advance.

[Rsavtechcruise]

it is all a personal preference

 

But in my opinion I would use a travel agent but find a good one or ask friends or family for a reference. My thoughts from my experiences with a travel agent you will get the same perks you will get if you went directly with NCL but you will usually get some additional bonus like extra on board credit or free wine or specialty dinning meal or if you find a good travel agent with larger agency connections maybe even a better room category for the same price as a a lower category room that NCL direct is offering

[Sgàile]

And get perks in writing. We were told we'd have OBC. Didn't happen. Phone call to the TA didn't help. Denied.

[BirdTravels]

Use a travel agent. If they are first time cruisers and don’t know what they are doing, a botched cruise is a very expensive way to learn about something new.

 

And don’t worry about crazy stuff like bidding. Pick the room you want, book your cruise, and be happy. Again, if you don’t know what you’re doing, then don’t complicate things. Once your brother has a couple of cruises under his belt, then start looking at the odd ball stuff.

[DarkJedi]

I'm generally opposed to travel agents, but in this case I agree with Bird Travels, use a TA and have them order exactly what they want. Don't complicate things. I would show them CC and cruise deck plans so that they can get a good idea of exactly which cabins they should be looking at and where though.

[roger001]

For the first one (and we still use one many cruises later) a TA.

[xitappers2bx]

My brother and his wife are wanting to book their 1st cruise. Are they better off going to a travel agent, calling NCL for help or booking on line themselves? I thought I had read that if they went through a travel agent they might not receive the email to bid on an upgrade? Thanks in advance.

 

 

Here's how I feel.. and I know there are many people who will agree and disagree.

 

When you work with a travel agent, they are working for YOU. If YOU aren't happy with them, you then find someone else to work with. So they work harder to keep you as a client. For example, through my TA I was able to book as part of a TA consortium rate, and got enough OBC to basically ensure I spend no money on the cruise. On top of that, she is having two things sent to me room as a thank you. We spent the summer last year in Europe, and did our first med cruise on NCL (our first NCL cruise) and she went out of her way to help me with any questions I had, bent over backwards to make sure I was comfortable and stayed on top of everything for me. If there is ever a problem when I board, I know I can call her, and she will sort it out for me. 100% stress free. There is also the fact that they can book across lines, so if I reach out to my travel agent and say, "I think I want to cruise out of Florida to whatever port" or "I want to go on a cruise in September what kind of deals are there and what would I like" and having been working with her for so long, she can point me in the best direction so I get the best bang for my buck.

 

Conversely, when you book through any cruise you are booking with someone who will get paid whether or not you are happy. There is little incentive for them to go above and beyond because they don't actually need your business. Now, that is not to say that there aren't any AMAZING cruise line employees. There totally are, and I am 100% certain there are a few who will go above and beyond for you. But, they have no obligation to add you to another group to get extra perks, they have no incentive to bend over backwards like a travel agent would.

 

Now, before I get skewered, there are absolutely awful travel agents and absolutely phenomenal cruiseline reservation agents. I know this to be true; but finding a quality travel agent will be life changing in a way that a cruiseline reservation agent just cannot.

[barb65]

Definitely a reputable travel agent. Mine always goes the extra mile to get me a good rate plus perks that I possibly wouldn't get if I booked online or through the cruise line.

[Stlcardsfan79]

Wow thank you all for your responses, I will pass them on. I also told my sister in law to check out this terrific message board, so much great advice!

[gambit57]

Use this board for information.

 

Book through a travel agent. Online one is fine. It can be incredibly hard to find a local agent who is truly an expert (rather than just saying they are because that's what they sell a lot but hardly ever go on their own and don't question their clients afterwards for new info). With online, their "offers" are in writing in an e-mail.

 

I've had issues, but it was a big online agency and they got things squared away for me. I don't like trusting cruise line call center staff. Expedia and companies like that aren't true "travel agents" in the traditional sense and IF they decide to help you, it's usually after the cruise and your options then aren't ideal.

[roger001]

Wow thank you all for your responses, I will pass them on. I also told my sister in law to check out this terrific message board, so much great advice!

 

After this first cruise, if they wish to do it again, they will have a much better understanding of all involved. I now just do all the work myself, find the cruise, select the cabin, look for the best prices, check what promo offers are available from NCL, do everything. Then I just email my TA that we've used from the beginning with what I want. She makes the call, confirms that it it all booked, and always give me a bit of OBC. She also says that she should be giving me her entire commission, it's so easy doing for me. But, I enjoy it. After a few cruises, you gain a good understanding of what you really want each time.

[Peachypooh]

Our very first cruise we used a travel agent because we didn't know what we were doing. It was fine but I think the small issues kind of fell through the cracks as he didn't ask enough questions about what we were looking for. He got the big things right like cabin location and recommending Bermuda. He just didn't pick the best ship based on what our personalities are.

Now that we have lots of experience we do everything ourselves and book directly through NCL. I feel like I will get exactly what we want and no surprises. It does take time to know about cruising so a travel agent is fine for the first time.

[mjkacmom]

Choose a TA who doesn’t charge cancellation fees.

[Hev1128]

We used an agent. still got the normal NCL perks including a bid offer (once we signed up for NCL online). Our agent checked us in, did all our docs and even gave us nice luggage tags as well as some nice destination literature.

[roger001]

MOST of the time you can get just as god a deal going directly with NCL and you do not end up with a TA stuck in the middle of your reservation. MUCH MUCH easier to deal with NCL if you need something than it is to call a TA, NCL gives them the options, TA calls you explains the options, you have questi8ons, TA has to call NCL again, blah blah blah blah blah...

 

True you might not get an invitation to bid for upgrade but then again you might not even if you go directly through NCL. Either way just getting an invitation to bid doe snot men you will actually be upgraded.

 

I think that's going to depend on your TA. Ours is super easy to contact and gets immediate response, occasionally with issues requiring a bit of negotiation. Much easier than me having to go through NCL. But again, probably going to depend on what TA you have.

[Barb Nahoumi]

We book our Norwegian cruises directly through their personal cruise consultants. The same person has worked with us for many years, and we can depend on her for great service.

[lisakoivu]

I always use TA. She seems to have access to better prices for everything from cruise to flight to night before hotel. She is simply excellent, I can never beat the deals she gets me booking on my own.