I have never used a TA for a cruise. But I’ve never dealt with MSC. If you think they are more difficult then, say, Carnival then use a TA. But I’ve also only used a TA once several, several years ago for a group trip with several people. The TA was suggested by the group leader. She booked dining, tours, hotels, buses. We just showed up with our group resi #.
We offer free quotes as well but you get a description and a price. If you want information (like quantities and such) this can be given for a non-refundable fee that can be applied towards contract or after a contract is signed. Some people don’t understand that. What’s worse is that many insurance companies don’t send out adjusters anymore. They want the customer to get 3 quotes to submit. Often enough, the customer has no intention of using a contractor and has to waste the time of 3 contractors. We charge $99 for insurance quotes.
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It’s funny, I love travel planning, so I am not keen to hire someone to do it for me. For cruises, I have used a TA because of the onboard credit that is offered. She seems friendly, knowledgable, and responsive. But it feels like it takes several days and a lot of back and forth with the TA to book the cruise, when I could have just done it myself on the DCL website for the same price in a fraction of the time. I feel like I have to earn the onboard credit by giving her so much of my time in the booking process. I have recently been thinking I should forego the TA and onboard credit so I can get that time back.
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I just saw a “tire kicker” post a WDW pic on their FB (we are FB friends due to connections other than my TA work)
HOURS spent trying to work and rework packages for them. Ultimately a “no thank you we will wait til next year”.
These situations in particular make me reconsider the idea of charging a consult fee.
Legit cancels because of change of plans (or worse), or a decision to legit postpone for a while. Totally fine.
This?
Just gross.
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Oh, that’s so frustrating. I’m sorry.
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I’m sorry. That sucks.
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I was thinking out loud.
My TA friend doesn’t book less than 7 night cruises now.
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And that’s how you get to the last straw.
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I’ve never gotten an OBC from my friend. I just liked the layer of help with cruises.
When we travel we have to have two staterooms. And then I’d my mom and sister come we have two more. On NCL we couldn’t reserve tables for more than 6 without a phone call. I really appreciated her help with that as it was on top of a week at WDW and there were a lot of moving parts.
I did book this last four night cruise for DH and I on our own and it was fine. But it was also a fraction of the cost and we had zero goals.
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I was on the cruisecritic forum for many years and learned a lot about cruising. I liked to do my own very detailed research, down to reviews of specific cabin numbers, special dietary needs, local tour guides in ports of call, etc. More than I would ask or expect a TA to do.
What I used to do (and lots of cruisecritic folks did, too) was do my own research, and then book with a TA that would be offering additional OBC (onboard credit), prepaid gratuities, or other benefits beyond what the cruise line itself would offer when booking direct. Easy work for the TA since I’d done all the research already, and free benefits for me. Most TA’s would impose a cancellation penalty to cover their time and effort should you end up not going, and that was considered fair.
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That’s not right. Aside from it not being the “right thing to do”, I don’t understand why someone would do that. Your service would cost the same as booking the trip themselves.
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They don’t have to do any research if I do it for them?
I wasn’t clear in my post. I get the huge benefit of using you for the research. I meant … once the research is done, it doesn’t cost them anything to book through you so why not proceed with booking though you. What is the benefit of them to booking themselves and not through you?
Edit to add: I do the opposite as this person. I do all the research myself and after I finalize my trip, I then call my travel agent and ask her to book the trip I planned.
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I have no idea. But it happens!
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I am a travel agent. It is getting so easy to copy all of our work now and book on your own - we spend years cultivating relationships with suppliers, vendors, etc and hours researching vacation destinations.
Many many many travel agents have started charging a fee to combat people who call, request, then don’t book or book directly.
Cruise lines pay very small commission- probably why 7 days or longer bookings required.
If you are happy with your agent - reflect on all the service she provides for you. Just the time on the phone handling any issues that come up are worth the fees. ( sometimes hours , depending on supplier)
Chat with her before you choose not to continue your relationship.
Happy travels!
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Thank you for your thoughts.
I haven’t decided what to do. It’s just such a shift after 25 years of being told that there was no reason not to use one as it didn’t cost anything additional. The fact is, most of my travel has already been deeply researched and planned before I reach out.
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