This is not a slight on TA's. They do valuable work but I ask a
legitimate question to the group - why should experienced cruisers,
people like me, bother?

Long story but here's the details:

We've been using the same TA since 2001. Service has always been
excellent. Last year we took 2 cruises and booked a 3rd. The 3rd is
where I've seen a noticeable difference. We initially booked on one of
the larger cruise ships with RCI and gave the TA the deposit and went on
our way. We did all the legwork; picked out the ship, date, room,
itinerary and notified the TA that we wanted air with a deviation to go
down 2 days early. Piece of cake from a TA point of view I should think.

Well a month or so later we changed our minds. We decided on a smaller
ship, same date, an extra day, better itinerary and $1000 cheaper - it
was a steal so we took it and decided to change. Again, we did all the
legwork. We called it in to the TA but she was on vac so we left it with
her fill-in and went on our business. Well a couple of days later we
noticed that the TA booked the wrong number of people and our credit
card was actually refunded. So we called back in, got it straightened
out and they re-charged our card. At that time we asked for a full
printout of the cruise showing deposit and what was remaining with the
date due. We wanted this for our records since the paperwork we had now
was outdated due to the change. The fill in TA never sent it (even after
3 or 4 phone calls) so I decided to heck with it, we'll wait for our
regular TA (about another 6 weeks) to come back and we'd get it done.

So after the TA came back we went in to book a last minute cruise and at
the same time relay the story and ask for the printout. Well we took our
cruise but the updated printout we wanted never came. My wife did make a
couple of phone calls after we came back from our cruise but never did
the TA call back. Once she said, "Oh I'm right in the middle of booking
a flight for someone. I'll call you right back". The call never came. It
was close to Christmas and since the cruise was still a long way off I
decided to back burner the thing until after Christmas.

I decided two weeks ago to get in touch with the TA and ask what was
left for a balance and when was it due. After 2 weeks of 1 eye-to-eye
meeting, 3 emails and one phone call I finally got it. End of story you
say? Read on . . . .

When I looked at the balance it was $1000 too much. So I called back in
to see what was going on and was told by our TA that she'd look into and
get back to us the next day or at the latest today. Well as I was
talking to her, I suddenly realized that the price she quoted was the
exact amount quoted on the larger ship that we originally booked but
later changed. All she did was yank out the original paperwork without a
thought as to what she was actually sending. So I told her what she had
done and clarified the error and have yet to hear back with a true balance.

So my question is "Why bother?". I could call the cruise line directly
and get the exact same price she gets me. We're experienced cruisers and
know what we're doing and if all I'm going to get is the run-around for
the same price I could get directly from the cruise line, I don't see
the point. In this internet age I do all the work to book a cruise, all
my TA does is take my money and tell me a bunch of stuff I already know.

What do you guys think? Should an experienced cruiser book directly with
the cruise line? If the price from the TA is the same price that I can
get, what benefit do I get from having a third party? In our case
sometimes the TA books with a tour company like Air Canada Vacations so
in effect I have a 3rd and 4th party in the mix, all for the same price
I could get.