Do you book direct with Holland?

[rostbp]

I am looking at the 14 day GreatAlaskan Explorer for 2020.  When I start comparing Holland’s on line price with third party prices, Holland is higher.  Also, more incentives with 3rd parties.

[epanchenko]

If may be mistaken, but they would rather you book with a travel agent, it is less work for them and more cost efficient I believe.

[Taters]

I booked my next couple of cruises on board my last cruise.  We receive the Early Booking Bonus (SBP + Pinnacle Grill Dinner), Welcome Back Bonus (doubled by booking on board) and we received a great price on each cruise!

 

If I am not booking a cruise while cruising, then I call or email my personal cruise consultant at HAL.  He does great things - Finds deals, helps with choosing a cabin, gives me price drops when I notice that the price has come down...  

 

I've read that folks who book through certain major booking sites have been disappointed to have not received the promised on board credits.  I personally gave up on travel agents years ago due to terrible service and them getting in the way of price drops.  I prefer to have full control over my reservations.

 

Best of luck in your cruise planning!  It's tons of fun leading up to the actual moment you board the ship. 😊

Edited August 6, 2019 by Taters

[Taters]

11 minutes ago, epanchenko said:

If may be mistaken, but they would rather you book with a travel agent, it is less work for them and more cost efficient I believe.

I've never heard of this before.  The agents I've dealt with at HAL have always been very pleasant and eager to help me out.  I am interested in reading more about it.  

[jimmy2x]

Have never booked direct with any cruise line. Strictly a matter of money. I tend to book very early and able to book exactly the cabin I want. Have never been disappointed. It’s strictly a matter of money. 

[rostbp]

There is a cruise consultant from HAL that phones me.  I figured she’d just give me the deal I see on line.  I am used to doing my own bookings but just for the 7 day Caribbean or Northeast cruises.  Doesn’t help that the HAL website is so user unfriendly.

[Moriah]

I usually book my next cruise while on board a cruise, because I get so excited, and sad to disembark... I find the Future Cruise Consultants on board HAL to vary in quality as far as the knowledge and help they provide, but I usually am able to choose what cruise I want to do next and put down a refundable deposit, along with whatever the best promotion they are currently offering is - usually some OBC, or whatever.  Then I transfer the bookng to my travel agent.  It used to be that I could do that anytime before final payment, but now the rule is you have to transfer your booking within 60 days of making it.  Still a pretty reasonable amount of time.  Then the TA usually adds whatever perks she can (more OBC!!) to HAL's offer, and I'm all set.  I still watch the new promotions as they come out, and if the price of what I've booked goes down, my TA has always been able to rebook me at the new HAL promotion price.  Yes, that means wiping out the OBC or whatever other perks were offered initially, so it always has to be weighed carefully.  The TA OBC will remain constant. I like that the TA is the one that calls HAL to negotiate this for me and I don't have to do it myself, but that's just me.  This system has worked well for me.  Some people just adore their HAL cruise consultants and some swear by just using their TA.  In the end we all want friendly service, the best possible price on our cruise, and to be kept abreast of possible improvements on that. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

We use a TA.

 

Lower prices and more perks.  Plus we can get hold of her quicker if a problem arises.

[dockman]

8 hours ago, epanchenko said:

If may be mistaken, but they would rather you book with a travel agent, it is less work for them and more cost efficient I believe.

 

Most agents get around 15% commission, especially big producers or consortium members.  That is a healthy payment on most cruises....$750 on a 5k cruise.  Many agents then rebate a good chunk of that commission in form of OBC etc.  Then passengers go on sites like cruise critic and brag about the rebates they got or do it in person onboard with other passengers.  Cruise lines of course are aware of this and I have no doubt that there are many exec level discussions as to how to reduce agent commission expenses.

 

If a retail agent can rebate half or more of their commission and still make a profit the cruise lines certainly are better off with direct bookings, especially IF IF IF they get their act together on their websites to make it user friendly for clients to book themselves without a lot of phone back and forth. The cruise lines also have almost all of their previous pax emails which makes direct targeted marketing simple and cheap.  Add to that a beefed up sales force onboard cruises providing extra benefits for direct bookings ....and of course cruise lines can throw in low cost perks like transfers, premium dining, shore excursions, etc that have a good value to the passengers but actually cost the cruise line much less than the carrots offered.  Eventually  I suspect the cruise line websites will offer more detailed virtual reality ship tours that will be able to answer most any question anyone may have without ever speaking to a live person.

 

Once upon a time airlines paid agents 10-15% plus commission on air tickets.  Many agencies starting rebating half or more of this commission to corporate accounts.  The airlines improved their technology to encourage pax to book direct with the airlines, select their seats, etc etc all online.  The airlines also basically said if  you  are rebating half or more of the commission we pay you then we are obviously paying you too much.  The end result was cutting agent commissions on air tickets to ZERO, a major blow to travel agencies.

 

Now more and more we see the same rebating craze with cruises.  While cruising was once a big "mystery" it is now becoming more of a commodity requiring much less hand holding than in the past.  Sooner or later the bean counters will look at agent's commissions as an expense that needs to be reduced.    Rebating agents are slowly digging their own graves.   While cruise line execs are solicitous of agent bookings I remember all too well that agents were once "partners in travel" with United airlines.  Until the time when United figured out how to basically eliminate them from the equation via technology.

[Randyk47]

We never ever book with an in-house cruise line consultant.  We’re getting a 10-12% cash discount from our TA and get all the service from her that we want and need.   

[mr. godfredo]

I always book with a TA. I get the peace of mind knowing that I will get a great price, as many perks as possible, and great advice on what rooms to book. Also, I purchase my cruise insurance through him as well. He monitors my cruise price after deposit and many times gets me a better deal or more perks prior to final payment. Over the years, I have recommended him to so many new clients that he shows his appreciation by getting me great prices and always throwing in a surprise bottle of champagne or complimentary dinner at speciality restaurants courtesy of the agency. My agent works at his family owned business, so I also appreciate that I do not have to deal with a huge company and the minutia of their policies. 

[wyobean]

We usually book while on the ship...get all those perks. They will automatically transfer it to my BB TA. I just have to call when I get home to make sure it is there and they give me the details on what they can offer in the way of a OBC. On our next cruise..,we have prepaid gratuities, double OBC, OBC from the (refundable)TA and our stock OBC. We lucked out and had a great FCC on our last sailing. She got us the exact cabin we wanted even though it was part of a block off of some kind. It doesn’t always work out that way. The previous one was terrible. 

[DaveOKC]

I book with a HAL PCC (personal cruise consultant).  This works best for me as 1) I closely watch the fares and it is very easy to make a change if I find a lower deal, 2) the PCC knows me and knows what to watch for, and 3) I get quicker, direct access to upsell offers via direct emails to me (some TA agencies do not even pass on upsells others on this board have reported).

 

I do not doubt that some of the larger TAs offer a "better" fare/deal, but for me I am happy with my arrangement - to each his own! 

[taba]

I book with a PCC for the same reasons. The first 3 cruises I used a TA, but the last several I have booked directly through HAL mostly with a PCC. I have compared the saving with a few big travel agencies, but usually have found the savings fairly small. 

[Tapi]

We sail multiple cruise lines. I prefer to book directly with the cruise line if there’s no significant price difference (I prefer to call the cruise line directly rather than have to deal with a middle man), but with HAL, I’ve learned that the price difference by booking with a TA can be quite substantial. On our upcoming cruise aboard the Niew Statendam, the TA price was a good $1,000 cheaper for our family of 4 than by booking directly with HAL.

 

A few months after booking the cruise, I noticed a promotion for 3rd/4th guest free. I thought that it would be an exercise in patience and frustration to call the TA and reprice the booking, but it was very easy. I sent a quick email and later that afternoon an agent called me to discuss the new price and sent me a new invoice. 

 

So my suggestion is that, if you find a good TA that not only offers you a good price but good customer service, go with that. However, don’t sacrifice good customer service and professionalism in order to save money. If you need assistance or have a serious issue, you don’t want to deal with a TA from hell.

 

 

[cruiseguy56]

We are 2 star mariners, going for 3 stars. Only booked once directly with HAL. They sent me an email with what seemed to be a great offer. The offer included on-board credit and prepaid gratuities with a decent price. Booked our veranda room, booked our hydropool package  and several excursions (as we ALWAYS do) and anxiously awaited sailing day. Upon checking our daily account statement, noticed there was NO OBC and the daily gratuities were showing up as NOT paid. Talked with the front desk folks, they made an inquiry back to the mainland and HAL came back and said that offer was ONLY for NEW customers. Asked how I was supposed to know that when THEY emailed ME the offer knowing that I'm a 2-star. They said the two letter codes in the fine print would have told me that. I reminded them that as a customer, not a HAL employee, I have NO WAY of knowing what any of their 2-letter codes would mean. After they screwed us over on that, we switched cruise lines. They may have gotten an extra $300 plus out of me for that fiasco, but they lost thousands in the long run. I am taking one more HAL cruise, only because they are going somewhere DW has ALWAYS wanted to go and the timing of that cruise works for us. Then goodbye HAL.

Edited August 6, 2019 by cruiseguy56
additional thoughts.

[wyobean]

21 minutes ago, cruiseguy56 said:

We are 2 star mariners, going for 3 stars. Only booked once directly with HAL. They sent me an email with what seemed to be a great offer. The offer included on-board credit and prepaid gratuities with a decent price. Booked our veranda room, booked our hydropool package  and several excursions (as we ALWAYS do) and anxiously awaited sailing day. Upon checking our daily account statement, noticed there was NO OBC and the daily gratuities were showing up as NOT paid. Talked with the front desk folks, they made an inquiry back to the mainland and HAL came back and said that offer was ONLY for NEW customers. Asked how I was supposed to know that when THEY emailed ME the offer knowing that I'm a 2-star. They said the two letter codes in the fine print would have told me that. I reminded them that as a customer, not a HAL employee, I have NO WAY of knowing what any of their 2-letter codes would mean. After they screwed us over on that, we switched cruise lines. They may have gotten an extra $300 plus out of me for that fiasco, but they lost thousands in the long run. I am taking one more HAL cruise, only because they are going somewhere DW has ALWAYS wanted to go and the timing of that cruise works for us. Then goodbye HAL.

Your benefits...OBC, Prepaid gratuities, etc. would have been listed on your invoice/email sent to you right after booking. I always check that very carefully to make sure all the benefits we talked about are included.

[summer slope]

I've worked with the same TA for the past 9 years.  She is always on the lookout for deals for me and I've always been happy.  We've sailed with Hal for all but one of our cruises and have been pleased with her knowledge.

[iancal]

We book through our TA.  Why pay more?  Our TA gives us OBC's-anywhere from 8-12 percent of the commissionable fare.  Plus the occasional free excursion.

 

The other bonus in dealing with our TA?  When we are about to book she informs us of other, competitive offerings on other cruise lines/ships/approximate dates  that we may not be aware of. 

 

She gives us some feedback on ships/cruise lines from her customers. Once she gave us (fortunately)  a heads up on a dog of ship that we were considering booking.  

 

Cruise line reps do not do any of these three things.  The only time that we have ever booked with a cruise line was when we phoned the cruise line office in another country to obtain a significantly  better price on our cruise.

Edited August 6, 2019 by iancal

[mcrcruiser]

We book with a FCC while on board a HAL cruise ship . Then we look for deals with TAs . We found a on line TA that has given us substantial OBCs & used the $200 FCC as our deposit  .We also got ppd gratuities  & $600 in OBC .Then as a share holder in CCL stock we get another $250 in OBCs . This is all for the Nov 3 , 2020 Koningsdam Hawaii cruise from SanDiego  R/T /Our cost for a VF balcony was $4700 for this 18 night cruise

Edited August 6, 2019 by mcrcruiser

[tommui987]

3 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

I book with a HAL PCC (personal cruise consultant). 

 

Have always booked with Jim over at HAL. Nice guy and very patient.