Reserve with Cunard or an agency?

[stevet2607]

Planning QM2 transatlantic crossing leaving NY on July 30th. A reservation direct with Cunard is around $120 more than most of the online agencies. I will get a quote from the agency in my local shopping mall tomorrow, but cant leave it much longer before booking. Can anyone recommend an online agency with a good reputation. Thanks

[sfbearcat]

I always book direct with Cunard for the Air and no between person. I booked with an on-line agency once and it was a hassel.everything had to go thru them after booking as Cunard Res was at that point unable to help me. The slightly lower price was more than eaten up by a much higher airfare than if I would have booked direct. Cunard has a special lower oneway rate for TA if booked thru them verus a travel agent.And of course the online agents are very busy with hunders of other bookings for many different lines and have limited info and need to call Cunard all the time and get back to you. After all was said and done I was paying more than booking direct with Cunard and at that point it was final.

[tmcauban]

Never use an online agency. You will always end up paying more, with no service whatsoever and you will always end up in the worse staterooms in the category.

(next to elevators with some noise for example).

Book with a Cunard trained and certified travel agent that you find on the Cunard website. They are trained by the company, know the ships well, and will always manage to assign you to a nice stateroom.

In addition, I always got an upgrade when using a Cunard trained and certified travel agent. Maybe I was lucky, but they always helped me so much.

Always use a travel agent, but never an online travel agency, as if you have the slightest problem, nobody is there to help you....

[leoandhugh]

Whether it be Cunard or another cruise line, we always book directly with the line so we don't end up with some faceless middeman between our reservation and the cruise line. And you need to look very carefully at the fine print (if indeed there is anything in writing) when using an online TA. Items like penalties for later cancellation, modification of your existing reservation etc often negate what looks like an initail savings over direct booking.:)

[Aubreysshipmate]

It appears you have no regular Travel Agent you go through. I concur with the pervious posts, so yes go through Cunard or one of thier licenced TAs and save yourself any hassels. I have received wonderful service from them. Even when an error was made by them on my second booking they promptly and politely admitted it, then corrected it. :) Knowledgeable and friendly service outweighs saving a few $ :cool:

[frankathy]

I would look for an Agent that has been certified as a Cunard Commadore. They have extensive training to complete.

 

They are listed on the Cunard website

[Calliope]

I am quite pleased with the agent that I found while using this board, right Ocngypz? ;) A good agent will keep track of the current fares and rebook if the prices go down. I also think that Cunard is more likely to upgrade one of their high producing agent's clients than if I booked on my own. And if I were Cunard management and a problem arises with a booking, I'd rather have one customer ticked off than one customer plus their agent. I know an agent that got so disgusted with the now defunct Majestic America Line, they just stop selling MAL and Windstar.

[stevet2607]

Thanks everyone, after calling three online agencies and two local agencies in town, I chose to book with Cunard direct. The agencies in town were an identical price to Cunard, and the online ones seemed more interested in warning me to look out for added extras than to answer my questions. I may not have bought the cheapest - but I wont be worrying if I made the right decision.