First Time Cruiser -- Travel Agent Yes or No?
 

First cruise for an 11 day Baltic aboard Princess July 2015:

Will I get a better "deal" working with a travel agent or should I book directly with Princess? The travel agent, who charges $25/person says they can get deeper discounts but once you buy your cruise through the cruise line, you are done.

Other pros or cons with a travel agent?

Thanks for any advice for my first cruise.....

I don't know about Princess, but we have done 2 Alaska cruises with Holland America. The first time we used a travel agent, the second time we booked directly with Holland. As far as we can tell, the travel agent didn't get us anything special. Dealing directly with HAL was easy, we got a good promotion, and then a nice upgrade.

The only thing was that I had to keep an eye out for specials, and take care of little details like insurance, flights, hotels, etc. Something I do on non-cruise vacations anyway.

A TA may be able to reduce your price by getting a group rate if it becomes available. That's a big savings. Don't be shy about asking the TA for perks like OBC or discounted gratuities. If they are unwilling to do anything look for someone who will.

A good TA can help with hotels, air fare, give tips for port excursions, etc. ours in the past provided good hotel rates and private excursions while in port at reasonable prices and she helps with everything I need so it's cool to a TA who you have a relationship with. Also her agency got us the best rate for biz class air for our upcoming trip to Japan, even better than any of the companies that advertise steeply discounted biz and 1st class air fares.

They can also help with travel insurance which I suggest everyone gets.

As for the ports they are easily doable on your own. Don't spend a lot for ship tours except formSPB Russia as a ships tour will suffice for a Russian visa which you need to get off the ship. We did this cruise too BTW and it's one of the best ones to do. In July it won't get dark, just dim at like 0200 or something like that. White night time, really cool. :)

I always feel that a local TA is insurance from trouble. Someone that is there to solve unexpected problems - such as illness, missing the boat., etc.
It interests me that people who are spending 8 0r ten thousand or more dollars will consider it a great deal to give up several services and safeties to save $100 from unfamiliar, untested distant websites.

If you don't have insurance there is little a TA can do for illness. Get insurance with evacuation plans. It's not that expensive and well worth it.

If you miss the boat figure out a plan other than calling the TA, especially if you are embarking on a WE or if you are on a different continent many time zones away. Better to get a toll free number for the cruise line.

Celebrity did a free beverage package/OBC/Free gratuity promo and Princess is now offering something similar. You will be hard press not to get some freebies.

My TA never used to charge me for cruise booking and now she is starting to charge a "fee" which is something new. It was almost the same as airline bookings. They used to be "free" when you book through a TA (as they got commission from the airlines). Then the airline started using their on-line reservation systems more and more and they stopped paying TAs a commission. The TA start charging a booking fee making people go on-line and not book through TAs.

I think the same is happening with the cruise industry. When the TAs start charging a fee and you don't see any differences in end user pricing, you avoid the fee and book direct. This is not good news in my mind.

By booking direct, you lost the knowledge base. The cruise line reservation system and staff certainly doesn't offer you the same knowledge as your local TA. I was really frustrated with the cruise line reservation staff as they are not flexible and clueless at times.

Travel agencies are getting scarcer as well. Around where I live, they're about as rare as hens teeth. The one I do know of nearby doesn't have a really great track record. So generally it would be online anyway, for me.

On our last cruise, I got an initial cabin discount, a $50 pp credit, a drink package worth 15 drinks a day (per person), then an upgrade to a suite just before sailing. I did that directly with HAL, and the ones I talked to were great. Experiences will vary, though. And I lost the buffer of a TA should I have needed it. But I was comfortable with the personal knowledge I had of the area. Maybe not with a place I don't know at all.

I used to use travel agents as I enjoyed having only 1 contact when planning a complex vacation for my family. After my third cruise, I started doing the planning. I never received note worthy perks from my agent and the pricing was around the same as I could get on my own. But for me, it was pure convenience.

You should not have to pay a TA to book your cruise! Find someone else. We cruise all the time and I do my research first then use a couple of websites for prices, if the price is right I book w/ that agency. It's not difficult. Celebrity had a special going on but not sure it's still being offered. I have some websites I use that I can email you.

Not necessarily so that once you book w/ cruise line it's written in stone. You should read the cancellation terms for Princess and see at what point you can cancel if you needed to or changed your mind. Some of the larger agencies also may offer a "group rate" and some "perks". You just need to do your homework. Also, at certain times Princess may offer a reduced deposit so you don't have to give them as much money. It may be $100 pp depending upon what the offer is.

There are many ways to book a cruise. If you are a newbie then perhaps you should use a TA.

I would definitely recommend using a travel agent, for many of the same reasons others mentioned, but I would make sure it's someone who specializes in cruises. The benefits:
* They know the cruise lines, the ships and ports, and can offer advice that ranges from how to choose a stateroom to what itineraries and time of year to travel are best.
* They usually provide (but you have to ask) shipboard credits, or will pay for trip insurance or other benefits.(We even received chocolate-covered strawberries and two drink packages from one travel agent.)
* If something goes wrong, you'll have someone who understands the cruise lines to help out.
* Once you've used them a few times, you form a relationship and they get to know your needs.

We've been on 15 cruises and use a travel agent each time. It's just so much easier. If you're interested, I have a posting on my blog called "When the Middleman Makes a Difference" on this subject. - http://musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com

You should always book with an agent... but not just ANY agent.
You need to make sure you're with someone who is important to the cruise line.

Think about it this way - you're just reservation 12345 to the cruise line if you book direct.
If you book with any agent - you're just reservation 12345 as well.
BUT if you book with someone who is a top agent for the cruise line, the cruise line is definitely taking care of you because if they screw you up, they've got a top agent upset with the cruise line!

Any top agent should be able to offer you additional benefits on top of what you're getting on your own.