Online Travel Websites

[Smitheroo]

Does anyone here use one of the online travel websites to book cruises?  We dont have a lot of travel agents where I live  I looked at a few of their websites.  One only quoted the cost of accommodations in The Haven.   I used an online travel website years ago to book a transatlantic on Cunard. I dont think I would have gotten it cheaper with anyone else but the thing that bothered me was that he wasnt that familiar with some of the details outside of the cost. i.e. He told me that US health insurance never covers travelers in foreign country (I wasnt on medicare) I called my insurance company and he was wrong. I was covered. He was not at all familiar with travel from London to Southhampton other than hiring a limo.  I had to do all the research myself, which I did by reading as much as I could find and asking other travelers. i.e. He didnt tell me the ship line ran buses from the dock to London, another traveler did.  So I would say that my experience with that online travel website wasnt that great but it wasnt a cruise site. So lack of travel agents and less than satisfactory experience with a general online travel website have me leaning towards booking directly with NCL.  I guess I am asking if the cruise on line travel websites are reliable.

[cruiseny4life]

Unfortunately we are unable to name sites/agents we use. Sorry smitheroo!!!

[Smitheroo]

23 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Unfortunately we are unable to name sites/agents we use. Sorry smitheroo!!!

I realize that which is why I didnt name any.  Just a general yes or if no, what did you dislike

[DCGuy64]

We have an excellent travel agent. THE BEST! He travels often and loves cruising. I am sorry to read you had a negative experience with the TA you used in the past. To answer your question more fully, yes we have used online travel sites in the past, but not since we found our TA. Our first couple of cruises were booked using online resources. Not a bad experience, but nothing compared to a friend who's a pro and a frequent traveler/cruiser himself.

Edited March 13, 2023 by DCGuy64

[DCGuy64]

30 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Unfortunately we are unable to name sites/agents we use. Sorry smitheroo!!!

And they disabled the personal messages, too. 🤷‍♂️

[Smitheroo]

34 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

We have an excellent travel agent. THE BEST! He travels often and loves cruising. I am sorry to read you had a negative experience with the TA you used in the past. To answer your question more fully, yes we have used online travel sites in the past, but not since we found our TA. Our first couple of cruises were booked using online resources. Not a bad experience, but nothing compared to a friend who's a pro and a frequent traveler/cruiser himself.

It was on line travel website I had the negative experience with. Not bad , he just didnt know about things I think he should have known . especially that the cruise line ran buses from the docks after disembarkation to all the major airports, rail stations etc in London. That is critical information.  I arranged it all myself with buses, subways etc and then someone on the ship told me just to take the ship bus.

[Smitheroo]

31 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

And they disabled the personal messages, too. 🤷‍♂️

Huh?

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, Smitheroo said:

Huh?

Go up to the top right of the page, click on the email icon and try to compose a message. You can't: it's been disabled. My point being that I'd love to give you my TA's info that way, but it's not possible.

[Smitheroo]

1 minute ago, DCGuy64 said:

Go up to the top right of the page, click on the email icon and try to compose a message. You can't: it's been disabled. My point being that I'd love to give you my TA's info that way, but it's not possible.

I still dont understand.  Why cant you give it by "replying"? (I know you cant mention names)  Oh, does the email go to the poster directly?  I guess this is one of those sites which censors without explaining why. Anyway, dont see why you cant tell me about your TA without  giving identifying information. Unless there is another reason why it is disabled.  

[zzdoug]

A lot of the youtube content regarding cruises is created by travel agents that specialize in cruising.  That is how we found one.  They are very helpful and often have offers that are a little better than booking through other channels.

[DCGuy64]

3 minutes ago, Smitheroo said:

I still dont understand.  Why cant you give it by "replying"? (I know you cant mention names)  Oh, does the email go to the poster directly?  I guess this is one of those sites which censors without explaining why. Anyway, dont see why you cant tell me about your TA without  giving identifying information. Unless there is another reason why it is disabled.  

Oh dear, here we have come to another of the internet's MANY drawbacks, which is how easy miscommunication is. What I'm saying is that Cruise Critic makes referrals to travel agents difficult in two ways:

 

1. We aren't allowed to disclose the names of travel agents, agencies, or websites.

2. There used to be a feature within Cruise Critic that allowed users to send private messages to one another. That feature has been disabled so I can't email you/message you the information about our agent using Cruise Critic.

 

All I can give are vague details about our agent, which I know isn't particularly helpful. Our TA is a friend and former co-worker of mine. He lives in the Washington, DC Metro area, same as we do. He's been helping us for years, and he & his wife also like to travel. He's independent so he doesn't work for any particular cruise line. Since he and his wife also cruise, they can give us good feedback.

 

 

[SimplyAlbert]

I have a wonderful one that I've been using for years.  While I book my airfare and land portions of the trips myself, I always book the cruise through him.

[ontheweb]

One thing to know is that an online TA may not be able to give you his or her best price online.

 

We use an online TA, though I call him. One year we decided to cruise to Alaska from Seatle. We found 3 cruises on his agency's website that fit what we wanted. I called to get pricing, and the one that was the most expensive on the website was actually the one he could sell for the lowest price. Cruise lines forbid lower prices from being posted, but they can be quoted over the phone.

 

For instance, a cruise line may allow discounting but not allow posting the discount. A TA may have reserved several cabins and be able to charge a lower fare, but no to post it online.

[RocketMan275]

3 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

Does anyone here use one of the online travel websites to book cruises?  We dont have a lot of travel agents where I live  I looked at a few of their websites.  

It isn't necessary to use a local TA.  I've used a lady several hundred miles away. I've never met her in person.  She was recommended by a very knowledgeable fellow cruiser.  She discounts the cruise line fare by approximately 8% and I still get the perks offered by the cruise lines.  Another thing I like is that she isn't tied to a specific cruise line so I can book any like I want through her.

[fredflint]

I have used an online agency I used one that did not have  people available 7 days a week.  The issue was there was an upgrade available that I missed out on and after that I swore only agencies  that were available 7 days a week would get my business. You can try a club agency people have had good luck  with them.

 

I had an agent that was Florida based and he was the best he took cruises but even more he was able to visit most cruise ships  when they docked.  He has since retired and the other agents at his agency were not as good so I moved on.  I have also booked directly and never had an issue but did pay a little more.

[Smitheroo]

Thanks everyone!  Some good advice here.  

[2aprilbabies]

23 hours ago, fredflint said:

I have used an online agency I used one that did not have  people available 7 days a week.  The issue was there was an upgrade available that I missed out on and after that I swore only agencies  that were available 7 days a week would get my business. You can try a club agency people have had good luck  with them.

 

I had an agent that was Florida based and he was the best he took cruises but even more he was able to visit most cruise ships  when they docked.  He has since retired and the other agents at his agency were not as good so I moved on.  I have also booked directly and never had an issue but did pay a little more.

How do you know if the online ones are reputable?  I used a site to compare offers from TAs, but now I am a little hesitant to book with one in case they turn out to be scammers.

[RocketMan275]

23 hours ago, fredflint said:

I have used an online agency I used one that did not have  people available 7 days a week.  The issue was there was an upgrade available that I missed out on and after that I swore only agencies  that were available 7 days a week would get my business. You can try a club agency people have had good luck  with them.

My TA gives an 8% discount on all bookings.  Missing out on an upgrade is unfortunate but that one time event must be balanced against the cummulative savings of 8% on each and every cruise.  BTW, my TA monitors emails outside of office hours which allows her to react to such events.

[fredflint]

As long as you can reach them I would stay with the company you have.  The place I used before had nothing on the weekend

 

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

My TA gives an 8% discount on all bookings.  Missing out on an upgrade is unfortunate but that one time event must be balanced against the cummulative savings of 8% on each and every cruise.  BTW, my TA monitors emails outside of office hours which allows her to react to such events.

 

13 minutes ago, fredflint said:

As long as you can reach them I would stay with the company you have.  The place I used before had nothing on the weekend

 

I fully intend to stick with her.  She gives me all the perks that the Cruise Line will give.  Plus I get the 8% price break.  BTW, she is a certified travel planner.  Her agency is just her and two other women but she still provides excellent service like responding to my emails on Saturday night. I've taken to telling her, that I don't expect a response until regular business hours.

[Panhandle Couple]

If you have an frequent flyer account with an airline, or frequent customer account with a hotel chain, you can use them for booking cruises.  It does sound weird.  But they will give you extra account points/miles in their system by going through them.  If you have and use their credit cards, you will get even more points/miles. And your status with them improves.  They may not provide any better offers than the cruise website, but their bennies help when making flight or room reservations supporting a cruise.

 

We found our TA that way.  Really like her and have talked a lot.  She sails NCL every year (and others) so she knows the customer side as well.

 

We have talked with others on our last 2 cruises who do the same with their favorite airline/hotel.  Same deals.  Cruise prices the same, but lots of bennies from the other company.