Best way to book cruise? RC website, travel agent...?

WDW4TheGirls

WDW4TheGirls
Joined
Mar 4, 2007
Is there a better way to book a cruise, booking online vs using a travel agent? Or calling RC agents? I didn't know if using a travel agent of some sort got better deals, or made it more "user friendly" :)
 
I'm not sure any one way is better than another. I usually call RC agents and book the best deal they have at the time and leave a deposit. I find RC agents very knowledgeable about ships, itineraries, dry docking, and other things. Then, within 60 days, I look through other travel sites to see what other agents are offering and then transfer the reservation to that agent. You will find RC cruises to be line priced. All agents have to offer the same price unless they have negotiated a group booking rate. You will find, to get your business, agents will offer additional OBC, specialty dining experience, prepaid gratuities...etc. I have had great luck with Costco on my last 3 cruises...the amenities I received from them were numerous and generous. Good luck booking. I have found you get the best OBC when you book aboard ship and book in advance of 6 months.
 
I have used an online agent before for different cruise lines including RCCL, but its not always best. RCCL has a policy that they do not allow anybody to sell their cruises at a cheaper FARE than what they sell directly. In other words, if the fare on Royalcaribbean.com for a specific room is $449 per person, no travel agent can sell that same category for less. However, incentives can be different. So if on that same room RCCL is offering $75 on-board credit, you will likely still get that through a travel agent, but they are allowed to offer something else in addition if they choose. It might be 1 free specialty dining or an extra $50 onboard credit from the travel agent etc. In my experience, it doesn't usually make that big of a difference. I have had one site give my $50 onboard credit, but I had to pay a $25 booking fee for that cabin. Obviously I still made 25, but was it really worth the hassle?

Using a travel agent can give you one more person to yell at if something goes wrong. Also, if you're inexperienced with the complexities of finding a flight, booking transportation to the boat, and managing the details of a reservation an agent can be helpful, but it won't usually be a money saver (on RCCL anyway).

When I book RCCL, I find exactly what I want online, but then I call to make the reservation. Usually we're celebrating something or close to it, and if you mention it they may treat you to something. Typically a free birthday cake and a bottle of wine etc.

Hope this helps a little

::::edited to add something I forgot!

When you're searching online agent's sites they may advertise that same room in the example as "$425 per person" which is of course cheaper than RCCL's site. But they're playing with the math and subtracting their 'extra onboard credit incentive' (450fareone+450faretwo=900totalfare-50onboardcredit=850"adjustedfare"/2=425per person)
 


I have used an online agent before for different cruise lines including RCCL, but its not always best. RCCL has a policy that they do not allow anybody to sell their cruises at a cheaper FARE than what they sell directly. In other words, if the fare on Royalcaribbean.com for a specific room is $449 per person, no travel agent can sell that same category for less. However, incentives can be different. So if on that same room RCCL is offering $75 on-board credit, you will likely still get that through a travel agent, but they are allowed to offer something else in addition if they choose. It might be 1 free specialty dining or an extra $50 onboard credit from the travel agent etc. In my experience, it doesn't usually make that big of a difference. I have had one site give my $50 onboard credit, but I had to pay a $25 booking fee for that cabin. Obviously I still made 25, but was it really worth the hassle?

Using a travel agent can give you one more person to yell at if something goes wrong. Also, if you're inexperienced with the complexities of finding a flight, booking transportation to the boat, and managing the details of a reservation an agent can be helpful, but it won't usually be a money saver (on RCCL anyway).

When I book RCCL, I find exactly what I want online, but then I call to make the reservation. Usually we're celebrating something or close to it, and if you mention it they may treat you to something. Typically a free birthday cake and a bottle of wine etc.

Hope this helps a little

::::edited to add something I forgot!

When you're searching online agent's sites they may advertise that same room in the example as "$425 per person" which is of course cheaper than RCCL's site. But they're playing with the math and subtracting their 'extra onboard credit incentive' (450fareone+450faretwo=900totalfare-50onboardcredit=850"adjustedfare"/2=425per person)

I think the biggest advantage of using A TA that you like is that they know your likes and dislikes. We do not like to use specialty dinning, nor do we buy any drink packages. The travel agent we use knows this and gets us on board credit instead. She also knows we prefer early seating traditional dinning. Even though many web sites say waitlist for early seating, she is able to reserve it for us. She also knows are room preferences. When booking a ship or cruise line we have never used before, she steers us to a cabin we like. Some times this is a less expensive cabin than we originally picked. In short, my TA gets us the best VALUE. This may not be true for all people. Many book directly thru the cruise line and our very happy. it is a personal preference
 
I like booking myself by calling RC directly as I prefer to manage my own cruise. After booking, I watch prices often and if anything goes down, then it's easy to just call them yourself and get your price adjusted. You can also book excursions, drink packages, shows, dinner (if bookable) yourself on cruise planner.

I suppose if a travel agent has a great deal ...either price or more OBC...then it may be worth it, but my perference it to book myself.
 


I use costcotravel.com. so far they've had good OBC and once I even got more OBC than I was slated to at booking because late in the game our reservation was added to a block of rooms that got an extra incentive.

I am a low maintenance traveler. I use the dis and cruisecritic to research cruising, along with googling specific staterooms and finding tourist boards for ports of call (and the CC ports of call forum is good). There's nothing I need from a TA. And I won't use a TA that I can't simply BOOK through, so, alas, I won't use DU because you have to waste time getting a quote.
 

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