Carnival and travel agents

[pjewell910]

Its been a few years since I have cruised with Carnival.     I wanna give the line another try and while looking up cruises I have noticed that certain agents are now offering better perk to book Carnival..   I remember in the past they really have not offered much but now I am seeing prepaid tips which is a very nice perk....  So I guess my question is is this something new that Carnival is allowing?

[lucy2mb]

I always book with a great Carnival PVP.-Personal Vacation Planner.   I have found even with the "special deals", the price is no better than booking through her.   Wish I could share her name but I don't think it is allowed.

[pjewell910]

9 minutes ago, lucy2mb said:

I always book with a great Carnival PVP.-Personal Vacation Planner.   I have found even with the "special deals", the price is no better than booking through her.   Wish I could share her name but I don't think it is allowed.

Yes the price is the same.  But wouldn't a perk like prepaid tips be a 200$ perk

[coevan]

10 minutes ago, lucy2mb said:

I always book with a great Carnival PVP.-Personal Vacation Planner.   I have found even with the "special deals", the price is no better than booking through her.   Wish I could share her name but I don't think it is allowed.

 

 

the price might be the same but we get more perks from a T.A. On our last B2B we got 2 steakhouse dinners, never with Carnival. we also got $100 each leg for OBC, $50 with CCL.

[Joe817]

From what I've learned and found, the prices for a stateroom is somewhat fixed, no matter booking through Carnival, a Personal Vacation Planner(PVP....well that might be one in the same, Carnival and/or PVP), or a TA(Travel Agent).

 

The price differential, that you all are calling perks is in the form of OnBoardCredit(OBC), or freebies thrown in(Spa Specials, Chefs Table, Steakhouse, the Italian Restaurant, etc, etc, etc.).  I am to low on the cruising foodchain to snag anything but OBC. And I'm ok with that. The more the better. And I'm getting that OBC from my big online TA. Believe it or not, that's about the only way I can justify taking a cruise. YMMV.

Edited August 27, 2019 by Joe817

[coevan]

15 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

I am to low on the cruising foodchain to snag anything but OBC. And I'm ok with that.

 

 

it is not class based, it's available to anyone who books when they have the offer

[Joe817]

Just now, coevan said:

 

 

it is not class based, it's available to anyone who books when they have the offer

Ok, I accept that. I guess I'm to new to this type of vacationing, that I haven't received those offers to which you are referring. Thank you for replying. 

[coevan]

you don't receive them you look them up. google cruise travel agents, there are plenty, but 3 big ones.

[Joe817]

Just now, coevan said:

you don't receive them you look them up. google cruise travel agents, there are plenty, but 3 big ones.

I just learned something. Many thanks! 

[Organized Chaos]

37 minutes ago, pjewell910 said:

Yes the price is the same.  But wouldn't a perk like prepaid tips be a 200$ perk

 

The price will always be the same no matter who books it. It's set by Carnival. So to attract business, TA's use the perks. Carnival's gratuity rate is $13.99 per person, per day. If the deal you're seeing does pay $200 worth of prepaid gratuities, that's enough to cover two people for a 7-day cruise. It's up to you to decide if the TA's offers are worth it.