Barbara

We've been cruising for a number of years. It was simple. Can a travel agent and book the cruise.<BR><BR>Well, we booked a Princess Panama Canal cruise this March with a travel agent. I was casually looking through the internet and discovered that a large web based travel agency was offering the exact same thing for about 20% less.<BR><BR>I called the travel agent who tried to match it. She said that her competition was rebating their commission which was illegal or unethical or something. Well, I cancelled with her and booked with on the web.<BR><BR>Have others had this same experience?

Joyce

Barbara,<BR>Many of these so called Travel Agencies on the Web are Rebating. Word of caution if they are giving away their profit, how long will they be around.<BR>If you are not in their locale, do you know they even exist-or are they taking your credit card and not booking the cruise.<BR>Also, they could have been booking you into existing Group Space, which smaller local agencies cannot afford to do as blocking space is expensive.<BR>The Local Agency can offer you Personalized Service, Creditibility, they can better determine your lifestyle and the Right Cruise Choice for you.<BR>Another problem is Princess used to have a Policy that if you booked Early and the Price went down they would give you the Lower Price. This have unfortunately discontinued this practice as have most other cruiselines.<BR>I do not agree with their New Policy, but they did not ask the Customer or the Travel Agent.

Barbara

Quite frankly I don't care how these biggies get the price down. What's wrong with booking blocks of cabins and sharing the savings with their customers or rebating part of their commissions. They probably get bigger commissions than local agents because of their size?

Barbara

Joyce asks how long these web cruise agencies that discount will be in business. Certainly you can ask the same thing about local agencies. They're going broke left and right. How reliable are agents that have retreated to their houses?

Katie

Barbara,<BR><BR>I am one of those agents that has "retreated to my home" and I expect to be around for a long time. I do not make mega bucks but do offer terrific service and love my job. I just prefer to work from home where I can give my clients all the time they need and go the extra mile without worrying that I am not producing fast enough for a boss. If I want to spend an entire day working on one booking, I can and often I do. I really feel that I have they best situation for me and it also benefits my clients. I doublt that I will ever rush through a booking because of time restraints as many in offices and on the web must do. I don't fault them but just don't you assume that I am here because I have to be.

Barbara

You may be a great agent, but are you willing to match the discounters or can you match the discounters.<BR><BR>I'd rather save 20% then get advice. I know what I want, why not save money?

Mary

Katie, I would much rather work with someone like you than the dot.coms. When you're spending that much money, the extra that you save from the dot.coms may not be worth it in the long run should you have any type of problem. I always believe you get what you pay for and I don't mind paying extra for personalized service and peace of mind.

Mark

We've had the same experience as Barbara. We literally saved $800 on a 14 day European cruise that an agent quoted at $4,200 by using a web discounter. Everything went smoothly. We were well satisfied. <BR><BR>One thing that surprised us was how expensive the add on air was even from the web discounter. We purchased our tickets independently and save quite a bit.

Paul Therault

<BR>Here's my two-cents. Booking over the web is fine but booking with a dotcom is dangerous. Possibly, if you are extremely travel-savy and know you will not lose money, it is worth a try but if something goes wrong who are you going to turn to for help. Do you think a dotcom is going to write letters for you - hah.<BR><BR>Dotcoms can earn $20 on a booking and make thousands of bookings. This shows up as a positive to their shareholders but the bottom line is .... they are losing money. How long can this continue? It can not, that is why quite a few dotcoms are raising their prices and many are going out of business.<BR><BR>When you book with a dotcom do you get a cruiseline's recieipt? Does it have the cruiseline's booking number? Do you know what you are doing? <BR><BR>What assurance do you have that at the last minute they will not raise the price and you either cancel and lose your deposit or pay.<BR><BR>A travel agent can walk you through your entire trip from the time you leave home to the time you return. They have associates all over the world that can give you quality shore tours at a reasonable cost. This can save you more than a dotcom can save you. <BR><BR>Granted there are travel agents that only wish to sell you a vacation and say goodbye but it is up to you to weed out these agents. Spend more time checking-out agents than searching the web. Travel agents can discount their commissions. It is not unethical. <BR><BR>How about insurance? How many travelers know what they are buying?<BR>How many travelers make a claim and then find out is is denied? Do you know you can buy insurance and save up to $100 or more? This should take care of the dotcoms.<BR><BR>People are naive. Their pocketbook speaks louder than their brain. Look how many people pay top dollar buying jewelry in the Caribbean because they are told they are getting a great deal and the item looks "pretty." Just an example.<BR><BR>As a final note just take a look at what happened on 9/11. How many travel agents said "sorry can't help" to their clients when they called with their particular dilemma? Not too many.<BR><BR>It all boils down to this. If you can save a bundle, go with the dotcoms and if someone on the street wants to sell you a brand new washing machine go with it!<BR><BR>Paul<BR>

Vic

The pattern is clear. Until recently travel agents were saying the same thing about buying airline tickets on the web. How are you going to change tickets, what happens if something goes wrong? Well, by and large travel agents have given up. They admit that quite often the web provides the lowest fares that are not available to agents. The web by and large is the cheapest place to find air plane tickets and the public is getting more and more comfortable with buying on the web. Other than for businesses, agents are resigned to giving up published airline tickets to the web.<BR><BR>It's a lot like computers. A family's first computer is often purchased in a store where they can ask questions and touch the thing before they buy. They often go to Dell or Gateway on the web to buy their next computer because it's cheaper, offers greater variety and they're comfortable selecting a computer on their own.<BR><BR>The same thing is happening with cruises. The big cruise agencies on the web offer lower prices. As veteran cruises become more knowledgeable, they'll migrate to buying on the web because of the savings which are real.<BR><BR>There is all this scare talk about what happens if the web agency is crooked. Well, if they don't deliver, your credit card company will make good. The basic law is, if the merchant doesn't deliver the promised goods, the credit card company will refund your money. The chances of such a thing happening are no greater using a big well established web agency than in using a local agent.<BR><BR>As far as helping the customer in case of difficulty, what's the big deal. Major cruise companies are ethical business. Whatever grievance you may have can be straighten out between the cruise line and the customer. I've taken more then twenty cruises and I have never had a dispute, not even once.

Barbara

Paul says, "Dotcoms can earn $20 on a booking and make thousands of bookings." If that's true than great. No wonder buyers who use the web save so much.<BR><BR>The weakness of Paul's argument is that the discounter and Paul sell the same exact thing. Paul says he provides service, we know big discount web sellers provide low price. The buyer should decide.<BR><BR>It's unlike Tiffany. You pay more at Tiffany's than you would at a discount jeweler. But Tiffany provides ambiance, service and a differientiated product. The fact that your diamond soltiaire was crafted by Tiffany is worth a premium.<BR><BR>All travel agents sell the same product. It's not brain surgery to buy a cruise. If it was, no travel agent could do it.

Paul Therault

<BR>I agree, if one has been on 20 cruises that person is "travel savy." If one buys a computer one certainly can buy from Del, etc. since one is dealing with the company (same as buying from say Princess, but don't expect any deals from a cruise line).<BR><BR>We are arguing a moot point. It all boils down to service. Do not expect a cruise line to answer all your trivial questions.<BR><BR>Paul

xxx

And or Paul not to butt in to a conversation. It's always going to happen.

faith

Hi All,<BR>Here's my 2 cents...<BR>I've cruised three times. I booked my last two cruises thru two different cruiseline agencies. Their service was good enough for me since I researched my options on the web.<BR>I booked my first cruise with a full service agency. Mistakes were made with the booking--too long a story to go in to here.<BR>The moral of this story for me is this--I'm responsible for my cruise experience. I do the research and then book with an online agency that I feel comfortable with. <BR>I don't think one has any more 'guarantees' with a local travel agency. In fact I've seen many go out of business in my neighborhood in the last few years.<BR>Happy travels.<BR>Faith

Albert

Sadly, we all want to have service available when we feel we need it, but look for ultra-discounts the rest of the time. So, first-timers go to the local for "counseling" and advice, and as they become more savvy they check out web booking. Makes sense, but the service-oriented TA won't survive in this environment. Then where do we go when the service we want/need is not available? How many folks "shop" at a full service store for, say, electronics, to check out what's available, ask questions, etc., but then go online to buy? Think the store you "shopped" at can stay in business like that? Good local agents can do block bookings and pass along savings, and if a spend a tad more to make sure the guy's in business next time I need true service, I'm happy I did it.

Kathy

I live in a large city where TAs are going out of business. So there is no assurance that they will be around in the case of a problem. The large, well established online agencies hav always given me great service and have 800 numbers just in case...

Sally

It's a little hard to remember since it's been a while ago, but veteran cruisers forget the many questions that we had as novice cruisers.<BR><BR>A patient local travel agent may be able to answer these questions, but an alternative is to ask them on this forum.<BR><BR>I agree with many of the posters, the difference in price between local agents and the big web agencies is unbelieveable. I've use them for a number of years, first through their 800 number and now through their websites. Service has always been satisfactory.

Michael

A response to the person who said Paul "butted in":<BR><BR>A. How immature, Mr X!<BR>b. How brave, Mr X w/ no name!<BR><BR>The purpose of this board is : THAT WE CAN ALL JUMP IN WITH COMMENTS! <BR><BR>And here's mine: Unless you're sailing on a $499 two-night cruise to nowhere, never book a cruise without a TA! They are invaluable!<BR><BR>Michael<BR>NYC

Barbara

Thanks for all the comments. Fodor folks are a lively bunch, as usual with many different opinions.