(Janet*Wilder) wrote:

I guess I've used "bad" travel agents, because
they all seemed to want to push the cruise l
line's air packages, which, IMO are the riskiest
of all.

Our travel agent only suggested booking cruise line once, and only to
insure a flight. We booked a Baltic cruise well before prices for
flights were available. He said to book the air to insure we had
flights, and when the airfares became available, start looking for a
better price.

Then a funny thing happened after I found a great internet deal. (It
worked out after all taxes and fees to just over $700 round trip between
Newark and Copenhagen.) I tried to book it, and I got a technical
difficulties pop-up, It said to try again or call a given 800 number.
After a second try, I called the 800 number.

I figured the technical difficulty was because I was on webtv, not a
computer. But, that was not the case. Their reservation's computer would
not book us because we were already on the flight, booked by Princess.
The person I spoke to asked if we had already paid for the flight. I
explained we had paid only a deposit to Princess for our August cruise
and could cancel the whole thing or the Princess air with no penalty
until May. (It was then I believe November of the prior year.)

She wanted us to cancel first, and then come back on line to book the
special rate (which did not last long.) I convinced her that we at no
time wanted to have no flights. After a hesitation, she acceded to my
request to cancel and rebook us at the new rate. I then called our TA to
let him know what we had done and to have him let Princess know we were
no longer using their air.

At the new rate compared to the Princess rate, we could have flown a
third person and still had a small amount of money left over.