did you book your cruise with travel agency on line?

[wilson9112]

compared to booking with the cruise line itself or in person TA, How many booked with website TA?

[LHP]

We used an online site one time and did not have a good experience.

(This certainly does not condemn all online sites)

 

But we figured why use a middle man, now that we have cruised enough to know what we want.

[98Charlie]

Have booked with a local TA in person only once. Have booked our other 22 cruises with on-line agents. Have had the same TA at all but 2 of those online bookings. Never had a problem with any of our on-line bookings with this agent.

 

Dianne

[melika091900]

we have booked 4 cruises online and 2 directly with the cruiseline.

 

I did a lot of research and at the time online was cheaper,

and then now it was cheaper booking directly with the cruiseline since we got some discounts and upgrades that the online agencies couldnt offer..

[nlb1050]

Voted Online and direct. Only one direct and that was thru the lines website because of a corporate alliance discount.

 

Others with different online agencies. For our last cruise which was with NCL even after printing edocs we did recieve a welcome package from NCL that included preprinted tags.

 

If you don't get that print the tags on Card Stock paper then use paking tape to hold together.

[paul929207]

I always find the lowest price I can online. Then I call my local TA and she matches or beats it.

[SheilaNC]

Folks,

Please remember that the community guidelines do not permit naming your TA (even when using initials :)) Thanks

[Jim_Iain]

I have always booked with an agent that I know. On our December cruise I booked directly with Celebrity. I have been very impressed and have enjoyed having the ability to control my reservation - e.g. joining other CC members I met on this board for dining via the web.

[Sundagger]

I just booked my 6th cruise and all of them have been online. However ... I know exactly what I want and don't need any of the services that traditional TAs provide. If a first time cruiser were to ask me, I'd recommend a brick & mortar TA or the cruiseline. The cruise line I have been traveling on doesn't meet the lowest price, so I haven't used that option.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have used the same live TA for over 20 years.

[beth4652]

I voted website TA, although we've used all three. Our "in person" TA was the pits. I booked direct with the cruiseline because of a special deal not available to TA's. I've used different online TA's which I found through a site which puts your request out for bid. I've been very satisfied.

[love2vacation]

Upcoming cruise was booked on line with RC and then we turned it over to online TA. (We received OBC) So far, so good on this.

 

Previous 3 cruises with local TA.

[TravlGrl]

3 cruises with online TAs, and 3 cruises direct with cruise line.

[CC Help Michell]

I couldn't answer the poll -- which cruise do you mean? I've used a local TA in a brick and mortar shop, booked directly with the cruiseline, booked with an online travel agent... all more than once, and some of them several times. Every time I still shop them all for the best deal. Early on I got a little bit of "comfort factor" from having had face-to-face dealings with the local TA; as I became a more experienced cruiser, all too often I found I knew more than the local TA and so I began to gravitate toward a cruise specialist agency online, or straight to the cruiseline. But the bottom line is still the price for the cruise we've picked, so I always compare all options.

[DanJ]

My TA has a website, but they also have a storefront, so not sure which way to answer LOL.

 

So far, the cruises I've been on haven't restricted the TA to the prices the cruiseline themselves advertise, so I've been able to benefit from that agency's buying power when compared to the cruiselines webfares. If I ever book on RCI, I will still use my TA even if they can't beat RCI's online prices, so at least RCI has to fork over a commission. I'm pretty self sufficient as far as being able to research and book what I want, but if my TA can save me money (and she has everytime so far, even compared to the quotes I got from cruise compete) I will throw her whatever commissions I can.

 

Interesting to see the "why use a middle man" posted above. Usually, there is some sort of benefit to consumers to "avoid the middle man". That usually isn't the case with cruises. It's not like they cut the price to a person if they avoid paying commissions, it's just extra profit in the cruise lines pockets.

[EggDropErin]

We stick with our local TA. We will sometimes book onboard a ship and have our bookings transferred to our TA.

[ttownhawk]

The 1st time I booked with cruise line on line, 2nd time I did the same using my Mother-in-Laws Seamiles credit card, the next day she had mine tied to hers without my permission and now I have to deal with Seamiles even though I booked with cruise line. How could she do this without my permission? They had no answer for this, and now I'm stuck. They are no help. When I viewed my e-docs on line somehow in the switch my pre-paid gratuities had disappeared. After some searching, they still didn't know what had happened although they did see where I had paid it and then made a big deal about how they would pay them for me....gee thanks!! And they think they did me a favor. I definately prefer dealing with the cruise line myself. This has been very frustrating, but will it ruin my cruise? Of course not!! Will I ever use seamiles again? Of course not!!

[barante]

2002 -- Galaxy -- Local travel agent,

2003 -- Galaxy -- Internet (good experience),

2004 -- Zenith -- Internet (good experience),

2005-- Zenith -- Internet (good experience),

2006 -- Norwegian Dawn -- Internet (not a good experience; the agency failed to flag us to the final payment and we realized our non-payment two weeks late. Norwegian honored our reservation and we paid promptly.

2007 -- Noordam (internet; terrific experience),

2007 -- Norwegian Crown (internet, good experience)

 

We have also booked the following:

2008 -- Noordam (internet),

2008 -- Emerald Princess (internet)

 

We are about to book:

2009 -- Insignia (internet).

 

 

I do a lot of comparison shopping and ask for quotes from various agencies. I have two agents twice but usually end up going with the best offer.

Honestly, I see no difference between the best Internet agents (whom you can communicate by email but also reach by phone) and traditional travel agents. But, then, we always know what we want.

[LoveCruisin4Fun]

We generally use a big box brand store to book our cruise arragements. So far we have been extreemly successful.

[Jade13]

The 1st time I booked with cruise line on line, 2nd time I did the same using my Mother-in-Laws Seamiles credit card, the next day she had mine tied to hers without my permission and now I have to deal with Seamiles even though I booked with cruise line. How could she do this without my permission? They had no answer for this, and now I'm stuck. They are no help. When I viewed my e-docs on line somehow in the switch my pre-paid gratuities had disappeared. After some searching, they still didn't know what had happened although they did see where I had paid it and then made a big deal about how they would pay them for me....gee thanks!! And they think they did me a favor. I definately prefer dealing with the cruise line myself. This has been very frustrating, but will it ruin my cruise? Of course not!! Will I ever use seamiles again? Of course not!!

 

I am unclear what happened?

[ttownhawk]

I am unclear what happened?

My mother in law called seamiles and had them take my booking from Carnival.com. Carnival turned it over to seamiles booking agent because my mother in law guessed what my husbands password was. Since she got it right seamiles took over the booking as if it was booked through them. When I booked I didn't have or want a TA, now I have one that is screwing everything up. In the switching my prepaid gratuities were lost. $100 that I paid just gone. When I went to view my edocs on the 5th page the gratuity section showed $0 pd. They also had not applied the military discount. I had to have them correct that too. We had given my mother in law the cash and used her seamiles card to book, so she could get the miles. Since I had the original printout from booking with carnival.com I had the proof of prepaying gratuity, otherwise I would be screwed. I've asked for compensation for this mess, to no avail. They think that they are doing me a favor by paying the gratuities, even though I have the proof of prepaying them myself. I'm not sure how things were screwed up in the exchange, but it was. Did this help, or are you more confused than ever, because I am...

But on the bright side, only 47 more days!!!

[DanJ]

So, your mother in law went behind your back and changed your cruise information, and you are mad at seamiles?

[ttownhawk]

So, your mother in law went behind your back and changed your cruise information, and you are mad at seamiles?

Yes, I guess you could say that. I'm not happy with the mother in law either, but she thought she was helping. Seamiles should have gotten my permission, or at least my husbands. My mother in law has a habit of "trying to help" that rarely turns out to be helping, but she is my DH's mother. What can ya do? And when the info was transferred it was screwed up. That was Seamiles, or Carnivals mistake. She just provided the password that gave them access. I'm still adjusting to the new mother in law. My DH and I married last Dec. and she didn't move here until around March or April. Before she lived in another state. Love her to death, but loved the buffer zone too.