cruising + Travel agents - anyone ever use them for booking

BAMFMrsB

I posted on Travel too

Anyone here ever use a T.A. for booking travel? I'm about to book mrBAMF's 30th birthday cruise (YAAAAAAAAAAY) and wondered if anyone here has ever used a T.A. for booking travel and liked the results?

The last cruise we took was a group of 6 so we booked through my parent's T.A. and I felt like everything they did, I could have done just as well and not had a middle man.

Thoughts?

WifeDeAngel

We used a TA for our HM to HI. While it was nice to have to not deal with the planning, we could have done exactly what they did. They didn't have any special deals we couldn't have found on our own. I still might use a TA with the first couple cruises I went on (theoretically) until I know exactly everything I had to arrange.

Aerorea

If you are looking to book a cruise, a TA can get you some nice perks that you wouldn't otherwise have. Once you know which cruise you want, check out www.cruisecompete.com and you'll get quotes from a number of TA's. These will almost always have some nice on-board credits. We were happy with the agent we used last time for our HM, so when I saw the same agent give us a quote for our Jan 2012 cruise, we opted to book with her again. A few others had higher OBC's, but we were willing to go with someone we knew we could trust. If you are sailing RCL, you can still use any current promotions. We were able to use a C&A certificate, the OBC special they were running at the time, and still get the TA's OBC too.

ETA - Feel free to email me if you'd like to know the TA we used. 

musgral8

We're using a T.A. to book our honeymoon to Paris/Rome in December and he's been great. The agency we went to set us up with their European specialist who lived over there for awhile so he knows the good places to stay and a lot of the nicer hotels for less money. The thought of planning that vacay on my own freaked me out, so I'm happy to pay him to do it. That being said, I probably wouldn't use one to do something like a cruise, because once you get on board, what the heck else do they have to plan?! My aunt tried to arrange a group rate through a T.A. for a cruise for our family and they got us the exact same rate as everyone else and tried to pass it off as a 'group rate'. We bailed on that asap. 

ChanMask

I personally use a TA when I booking more complicated vacations.  They are able to read all of the fine print and details that I am too ADD to check myself.  I find that they have found us better deals or more interesting hotel options than ones I would have personally chosen for myself. 

EX:  My husband and I are going to the Dominical Republic in November for his 30th birthday.  I talked to the TA about the all inclusive hotel that we were looking at and the price range that we were hoping to stay within.  She was able to find us a different hotel, at the same price, with way better accommodations and we will get to stay in our own villa.  This is something I would have never found if I was looking myself.

 

JulesDiane

All the cruises I have booked, I booked on my own. I didn't think a TA was necessary. I even booked our Mediterranean honeymoon cruise. When I saw the price had gone down quite a bit since we booked it, I called the cruise company, and they lowered our rate to the current lower rate!

 

Speaking of cruises, I really want to go on this cruise: www.sailingsouthernground.com , but I just don't think I will be ready leave my little girl yet! I love Zac Brown. I guess I will just have to wait until my Rock Boat cruise (www.therockboat.com) in January to get my music cruise fix!