shortcake05479

I'm considering whether I should go to a travel agent for my honeymoon. I've never used one for a trip before, always planning online myself and doing the research (I quite enjoy it). However, I'm a little nervous about transferring btwn Athens and the Greek islands and whatnot and I've heard the ferry schedules can be unpredictable.

Do you typically get a better price going through an agent? Can you suggest a specific hotel to the agent if you already know one you'd like to stay at (I know where I want to stay in Athens, but not the islands).

I've priced out the whole trip online, based on tentative hotels that would be in the price range we'd stay at, so I can at least compare btwn what an agent would tell me vs doing it myself. Thx!

Christina

This is hearsay, so take it for what it's worth as I haven't done it -- but I've read that using a local Greek travel agent for Greek trips is a good idea. The reason is that the business works there so that Greek travel agents often can get you lot better deals on things. They would know about those transfers and things, also. I can't recommend one, but I think in your case, it's a good idea. There used to be a guy with a wonderful Greek website with all kinds of great info, including travel agent recs (he wasn't a business, I think it was a hobby), but not sure if that's still around. Maybe someone knows about that.

Weadles

I think you may mean Mike Barrett at GreekTravel.com??

Getting back to the question, I don't think it's necessary to use a travel agent. We did it on our first trip to Greece, and found that we paid a bit more than if I had arranged it all on my own.

This summer, I did make all the arrangements, and it really isn't that difficult. Ferry schedules are mostly unpredicatable due to weather conditions, ( high winds in particular), or mechanical breakdown, which is rare. However, most people will tell you to make sure you're in Athens the night before a US departure, so that if there is any kind of delay, you don't have to worry about missing your flight home.

I think that unless you don't have time to make the arrangements, you'll do fine on your own. Just ask away- right here!

celticdreams

I've had this same question - especially after watching some shows on the Travel Channel. I would think that after being there even once, you'd have a good idea of how things work - but I think on the first go, I'd work with an agent. I don't know if you need a "local" one. I was going to head into the nearest city where I am to an area that has a pretty high Greek population and check things from there.

shortcake05479

I found on concierge.com they have a list of the top travel agents in the world, listed by country they specialize in, and one of the two listed for Greece is right in the Philly area! So, I think I'm going to check them out and see what kind of packages and price they offer at least. Then I'll compare vs. what I find on the web.

shortcake05479

oh, and thanks!

Heimdall

Shortcake, if you are used to planning your holidays online, there is no reason why you shouldn't do so for your honeymoon in Greece.

To say that ferry schedules are unpredictable is not correct. All the main islands in the Cyclades (Mykonos, Paros, Naxos, Santorini, for example) are served by several ferries each day from Piraeus and Rafina, the main Athens ports. The big ferry companies, Blue Star and Hellenic Seaways, have pretty much the same timetables from year to year.

When people sometimes come unstuck is travelling off-season and trying to go from one island to another on different ferry routes. For example, it is easy to get between Mykonos and Santorini between April and October, but come November, the FlyingCat 4 ceases operation for the winter, and there is no longer a direct link.

Weather sometimes causes ferry cancellations, but mainly the small passenger-only catamarans such as FlyingCat and SeaJet. The big car ferries (Blue Star, Hellenic Seaways Highspeed, and others) sail in all but the worst weather. Mechanical breakdowns are very rare, except with the old rustbuckets plying the minor routes.

shortcake05479

Thanks - I think we're just going to give it a go ourselves, because the travel agent i called (that does exclusively greek trips) requires a $300 non refundable deposit before they even begin to help you or give you a quote!! What if they were too expensive or we didnt like the options? No thanks! I'll do it myself then...or look for another agent, at least.

StLgrrl

We used a travel agent for our honeymoon to Greece this past May. I really liked the fact that she planned all of our transfers and hotels for us. She was highly recommended by someone we work with. I agree with Christina, if you are going to use a travel agent, use one that works out of Greece. Ours did, and that helped us get the "honeymoon" special in several cases.

Christina

That Mike Barrett website was exactly what I was talking about. He names some local ones on there, I believe. I don't know if they'd charge upfront or not, maybe not. I can't blame TAs for asking for a deposit to be charged against, as you are asking them to do work for you, whether you like their options or not. It still takes up their time. Although you should get an idea of whether they are used to booking hotels in a certain price range or something. Even if you do it yourself, that website can be very useful, I think.

fluff224

I used Matt Barrett's Greektravel.com extensively to research our trip to Greece 2 yrs. ago. I ended up working with an agency he reccomended, Fantasy Travel based in Athens. His point was why use an agent here in the states when you can use a local person. I had a basic idea of our trip and then contacted 2 agencies. After numerous e-mails I settled on Fantasy Travel. I gave a budget and we worked around it. Dina, the agent, and I again had numerous e-mails before we made our final decision. At that time a deposit was not required to begin planning, just when we set the trip. My advise is to read Matt Barrett's site and try to e-mail an agent or 2. I was very happy with how it all worked out. Our transfers were all prepaid so we didn't have to worry about getting from point A to B. It was so nice to be met at the airport after a long flight and taken to our hotel. Then we were taken to the ferry and at each island we were met and taken to our hotel. It was a no-brainer! Good luck and happy planning!

shortcake05479

Thanks!!! Im going to look at the web site it sounds great!