How to Find a Reputable TA

[2wheelin]

Has anyone who sails once every couple of years for less than $2000 every gotten that 7-10% back? Those of you who are getting those breaks usually go on to indicate frequent cruises. Sure if you are going on several a year, even if some are low cost, you will get breaks.But I have talked to many TAs and not found one yet who will give a break on a single cruise. Did get $50 once though from a big box.

Just returned from a cruise for which the TA booked 44 people in a group and we received a cocktail party from her on the last day of the cruise. They offered pre mixed rum punch, sex on the beach, and screwdrivers. That was it!

I did not choose this TA but was forced to use her because of the nature of the group and she made many screw ups in spite of her claims of having booked lots of cruises. She will not be used again by any of us.

[Hlitner]

11 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

Has anyone who sails once every couple of years for less than $2000 every gotten that 7-10% back? Those of you who are getting those breaks usually go on to indicate frequent cruises. Sure if you are going on several a year, even if some are low cost, you will get breaks.But I have talked to many TAs and not found one yet who will give a break on a single cruise. Did get $50 once though from a big box.

Just returned from a cruise for which the TA booked 44 people in a group and we received a cocktail party from her on the last day of the cruise. They offered pre mixed rum punch, sex on the beach, and screwdrivers. That was it!

I did not choose this TA but was forced to use her because of the nature of the group and she made many screw ups in spite of her claims of having booked lots of cruises. She will not be used again by any of us.

What you say makes no sense and is simply not true.  The agencies we use give the same deal to anyone.  It makes no difference if we book 20 cruises or 1 cruise, we get the same deal.   The days when finding a "group rate" was the way to get the best cruise price is no longer true.  The industry has changed!  High volume agencies do such a big business that they get special deals from the cruise lines on nearly every cruise.  And many smaller agencies are part of large "consortiums" so that they can also take advantage of high volume considerations from the cruise line.  In fact, some of these consortiums are huge and generate an amazing volume of bookings.   And there is another myth that most folks book direct with the cruise lines.  The reality is completely the opposite with some mass market lines getting 75-80% of all their bookings from cruise/travel agencies.

 

What you refer to (with the 44 people) is simply a group booking which can be done by any cruise/travel agency.  Those on a group booking may or may not get a good deal.  There is one popular cruise agency that handles a lot of HAL bookings and will often have a representative on the cruise, have a few cocktail parties, social get togethers, etc.  We have friends that love to use that particular agency.  However, when we priced out their deals that agency was not even close to competitive with 3 other agencies that we have commonly used.  We mentioned this to one of our friends (while on a HAL cruise) and she said, "but I enjoy their parties."  The problem was that her cruise cost her about $1500 more then our cruise and we were on the same ship in the same cabin category.  So a couple of cocktail parties cost her a lot of money :.

 

Many years ago it was very common for cruise/travel agencies to give their customers a bottle of wine (or a few bottles of wine).  These were generally cheap wines that cost the agency about $20 per bottle.  I once joked with our favorite TA that she could keep her wine but just give us more money (OBCs).  These days, for many of us, it is simply about shopping around for the best deal.  Probably the biggest advantage we get as very frequent cruisers (on many lines is the ability to chat with many more cruisers (when on the ships) are share information on the best booking strategies and agencies.

 

Hank

[2wheelin]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

What you say makes no sense and is simply not true.  The agencies we use give the same deal to anyone.  It makes no difference if we book 20 cruises or 1 cruise, we get the same deal.   The days when finding a "group rate" was the way to get the best cruise price is no longer true.  The industry has changed!  High volume agencies do such a big business that they get special deals from the cruise lines on nearly every cruise.  And many smaller agencies are part of large "consortiums" so that they can also take advantage of high volume considerations from the cruise line.  In fact, some of these consortiums are huge and generate an amazing volume of bookings.   And there is another myth that most folks book direct with the cruise lines.  The reality is completely the opposite with some mass market lines getting 75-80% of all their bookings from cruise/travel agencies.

 

What you refer to (with the 44 people) is simply a group booking which can be done by any cruise/travel agency.  Those on a group booking may or may not get a good deal.  There is one popular cruise agency that handles a lot of HAL bookings and will often have a representative on the cruise, have a few cocktail parties, social get togethers, etc.  We have friends that love to use that particular agency.  However, when we priced out their deals that agency was not even close to competitive with 3 other agencies that we have commonly used.  We mentioned this to one of our friends (while on a HAL cruise) and she said, "but I enjoy their parties."  The problem was that her cruise cost her about $1500 more then our cruise and we were on the same ship in the same cabin category.  So a couple of cocktail parties cost her a lot of money :.

 

Many years ago it was very common for cruise/travel agencies to give their customers a bottle of wine (or a few bottles of wine).  These were generally cheap wines that cost the agency about $20 per bottle.  I once joked with our favorite TA that she could keep her wine but just give us more money (OBCs).  These days, for many of us, it is simply about shopping around for the best deal.  Probably the biggest advantage we get as very frequent cruisers (on many lines is the ability to chat with many more cruisers (when on the ships) are share information on the best booking strategies and agencies.

 

Hank

Please don’t call me a liar. I was stating what has happened to me. We did not search for or get a group rate. We had a few who chose a cruise and invited others to join (the group). I did not choose the TA. 

I would love to be able to cruise enough to get recommendations from others but that is not a reality. Consider yourself fortunate both in being able to cruise and in getting good deals. Enjoy.

I’ll keep searching.

[Hlitner]

24 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

Please don’t call me a liar. I was stating what has happened to me. We did not search for or get a group rate. We had a few who chose a cruise and invited others to join (the group). I did not choose the TA. 

I would love to be able to cruise enough to get recommendations from others but that is not a reality. Consider yourself fortunate both in being able to cruise and in getting good deals. Enjoy.

I’ll keep searching.

Your post implied that those who book once every year of two cannot get 7-10% back (your words).  I made it clear that saving 7-10% has nothing to do with being a frequent cruiser.  In fact, if one does enough shopping around on the Internet they can find the deals.  There is nothing magical or secret about the process.  Are they "good deals?"  That would depend on your point of view but we are talking 7-10% less then it will cost you booking directly with a cruise line or with agents/agencies that offer similar deals.  With most cruise lines I would not even consider booking with an agency that did not give me at least 7% which could come in the form of On Board Credits (OBCs) or something similar such as pre-paid gratuities.  

 

Last spring we did a last minute booking on the Celebrity Summit (10 days to Bermuda and Canada).  We only booked that cruise because we spotted a terrific price (less than $100 per person/day for a nice balcony cabin).  On that cruise we had cocktails with a couple, on their first cruise, who actually found a better price then ours :).  How?  Just looking around the Internet and registering their e-mail with several different agencies.  I mention them because it was their first cruise and they told us they found out about the best ways to book cruises by simply reading posts here on CC.   The Internet offers many opportunities for those that spend some time and are also careful to conduct their due diligence.

 

Hank

[Toofarfromthesea]

15 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

Has anyone who sails once every couple of years for less than $2000 every gotten that 7-10% back? Those of you who are getting those breaks usually go on to indicate frequent cruises. Sure if you are going on several a year, even if some are low cost, you will get breaks.But I have talked to many TAs and not found one yet who will give a break on a single cruise. Did get $50 once though from a big box.

Just returned from a cruise for which the TA booked 44 people in a group and we received a cocktail party from her on the last day of the cruise. They offered pre mixed rum punch, sex on the beach, and screwdrivers. That was it!

I did not choose this TA but was forced to use her because of the nature of the group and she made many screw ups in spite of her claims of having booked lots of cruises. She will not be used again by any of us.

 

I use a site that lets TAs quote on my cruise and so far I have booked with a different TA every time, so from the TA's perspective it is a 'single cruise'.  No one is giving me anything because of repeat business.  Nevertheless I have gotten great deals with significant perks - even on MSC which some people say their TA won't deal with.