Cruise pricing T/A vs Cruise Line

[daka]

In general, should there be a saving in TOTAL COST of a cruise by booking through an Travel Agent rather than using the cruise prices posted on the Cruise Lines internet or brochure prices?

What have you found to be the percentage of difference

[jsn55]

Interesting question ... but when I book travel, I do a ton of research, then never 'look back'.  My TA always comes up with a fare lower than the published one, but she arranges such a nice package of goodies that we always feel lucky to have her.  

[CruiserBruce]

It is going to vary, potentially by significant sums, depending on the cruise line and the relationship the various cruise lines has with a given travel agency, plus what portions of their commission travel agency is willing to share with the customer. 

 

There is no way around just flat out doing the research.

[Flatbush Flyer]

If you use the CC “search” feature, you can find several of my very detailed posts about how to identify and best use a really good TA. 
There are plenty of the good ones but even far more really terrible ones.

As for your question, a lot depends on which cruise lines. In general, you’ll find that some of the premium/luxury lines pay TA commissions on a sliding scale related to the business generated by the TA. Likewise, you’ll find that the commissions from many mass market lines, particularly for their one week “boat rides” is so poor that those “better” TAs won’t even do those bookings.

That said, know that a TA should be able to provide any deal currently offered by the cruise line to the general public AND add additional perks (assembled from commission sharing, pass-through incentive funding from the cruise line, TA consortium funds, etc.) 

Sadly, some unscrupulous TAs will make it sound like they are giving you the cruise line’s perks (passing them off as their own).

However, if you do your homework and focus on TAs that handle a lot of your “preferred” line bookings (N.B.: really do consider moving up from mass market lines like Celebrity), you should be able to eventually identify TAs that will add commission sharing at 5-10% of the commissionable fare paid as refundable SBC or a cash rebate. On the right cruise, you’re talking about a “chunk of change.”

 

[LHT28]

Usually TA's are not allowed to advertise a lower price than the cruise line

They can discount  when you call & ask for specific sailings

So just looking at  a TA site you may not see any difference in pricing

 A TA will often offer deals or perks

Shop around

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Likewise, you’ll find that the commissions from many mass market lines, particularly for their one week “boat rides” is so poor that those “better” TAs won’t even do those bookings.

As both a former travel agency owner and a current client of a travel agent who is a high producer for your favorite premium line, I can tell you that your statement that I've quoted above is not always true.

 

As a high producer for a mass market line, my agency earned high percentage commissions from that line.

 

My current agent, who is a high producer for both your (and my) favorite premium line and my favorite mass market line also earns substantial commissions on the mass market line bookings and offers similar commission sharing percentages to me for both my mass market and premium line bookings. Obviously in terms of dollars of commission earned he earns more from the premium line because of the premium line's higher fares, but the percentages are not that far apart.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

As both a former travel agency owner and a current client of a travel agent who is a high producer for your favorite premium line, I can tell you that your statement that I've quoted above is not always true.

 

As a high producer for a mass market line, my agency earned high percentage commissions from that line.

 

My current agent, who is a high producer for both your (and my) favorite premium line and my favorite mass market line also earns substantial commissions on the mass market line bookings and offers similar commission sharing percentages to me for both my mass market and premium line bookings. Obviously in terms of dollars of commission earned he earns more from the premium line because of the premium line's higher fares, but the percentages are not that far apart.

I stand corrected.

 

That said: When I was zeroing in on my now-long-serving short list of preferred TAs, all I know is that they were/are very choosy about the type of bookings they’ll do when it involves certain mass market lines, especially what might be described as the “discount” one(s).  

Of course, “poor” commission does not necessarily refer only to the percentage. It also has to do with the amount of work that might be involved for the commission associated with a 3 figure cruise fare. 
 

In any case, and I trust that you’ll agree: When it comes to some of the premium/luxury cruise lines with various idiosyncrasies (e.g., O Life), the last thing I’d want in a TA is someone who knows less than I do about their policies and practices.

[Hlitner]

I think many misunderstand how the system works.  In most cases, the major cruise lines enforce price controls on all of their travel providers (travel agencies, cruise agencies, etc).  But the big difference comes with various extras such as On Board Credits, rebates (sometimes done after the cruise), various amenities, etc.  How much you save will depend on the agency, the particular cruise line, etc.  With some of the mass market lines (i.e. HAL, Princess, etc) we normally save 7-10% in terms of the overall deal.  While we might pay the exact same price you would get from the cruise line, our favored agencies might give us hundreds or even thousands of dollars in refundable onboard credits   

 

With some lines it can be more difficult to score really big savings.  We have seen this more with the luxury lines than with the mass markets.  With some luxury cruises we have only been able to save 3-5%, but consider that these lines are expensive so even 5% can mean more than $1000 in your pocket.

 

One of our favorite cruise agencies actually has an online site that will show multiple pricing for a given cruise.  So, at a glance, I can see what it would cost without any amenities, with various packages (i.e. drink packages, dining packages, etc).  There are times when it pays to take the lowest price (with no extras) and other times when it makes sense to pay more upfront for various amenities.

 

 

We suggest that folks try to compare options by looking at your true cost per person/day.  Take your total cruise cost (including taxes, fees) and back out the real value (to you) of the various packages.  Just because a cruise line tells you that a drink package is worth $80 a day, it might only have a real worth (to you) of $50 per day (depending on your drink habits).  Getting it all to a cruise price per person/day allows you to compare multiple cruises and cruise lines.

 

Hank

[jsn55]

There is a wealth of information and excellent advice in this thread.  Experienced and novice cruisers will benefit greatly from reading all the posts.

[Toofarfromthesea]

13 hours ago, daka said:

In general, should there be a saving in TOTAL COST of a cruise by booking through an Travel Agent rather than using the cruise prices posted on the Cruise Lines internet or brochure prices?

What have you found to be the percentage of difference

 

I've never paid more for booking with a TA than I would have with the cruise line, and I've always managed to pay less, in price or added perks, by booking with a TA.

 

Since all I'm looking for is a good price, and I require no planning advice or handholding, I like to use services where TAs bid for my business competitively.  

[ontheweb]

19 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Usually TA's are not allowed to advertise a lower price than the cruise line

They can discount  when you call & ask for specific sailings

So just looking at  a TA site you may not see any difference in pricing

 A TA will often offer deals or perks

Shop around

Very true. As an example, when we did an Alaskan cruise, we looked at our TA's website and saw 3 that met our time frame and the itinerary we wanted. When we called, the one that had the highest price on the website ended up being the one with the lowest price. Princess allowed him to discount, but not advertise the price. Also, he might have booked a block of cabins aboard the ship.

[Hlitner]

"Shop around is very good advice."  We always suggest that folks shop between several reputable high volume cruise agencies and then compare the overall offerings to what you can get directly from the cruise line.  In over 50 years of extensive cruising, we have always done far better with agencies.  On two occasions we challenged cruise lines (Princess and HAL) to match the deals we could get from cruise agencies and the cruise lines declined.  Princess simply told me that they do not want to undercut the cruise agencies and HAL suggested I book directly with them and then transfer the booking to one of my favored cruise agencies.

 

Hank