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#1
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Booking directly with the Cruise line (Royal Caribbean)
Hello All,
Just wanted to get an opinion from those who have booked cruises directly with cruise lines instead of going through a travel agent. My wife and I are thinking about booking a cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer for the last week of February. I've made a few calls to local TA's and they have been as helpful as a rubber crutch for the most part. Some don't return calls and those that do can't seem to come up with a travel plan that I want. We live in Canada and I want to travel a day before the cruise and land in Florida a little early. One TA suggested I stay overnight in Toronto. Great plan that is. Who the hell wants to stay in Toronto in late February when you could be staying in warm Florida! Sheeesh. Having been frustrated with the lack of help from the TA's I decided to call Royal Caribbean directly. They seemed helpful and had no problem making arrangements that I wanted. I haven't yet committed to them but wanted to ask your opinion. - How safe is booking directly with the cruise line? - Anyone have any troubles booking directly with the cruise line? - Any gotchas that I should be aware of? I know the guy from Royal Caribbean said that if they make all arrangements for me then they are responsible for getting me to the ship. He even said the ship won't leave without me if my flight was delayed for a few hours. Now if the flight was delayed for a day or something like that then it wouldn't wait of course, but they would put me on another cruise of my choosing. - Truthfully, is this something I can bank on? - Has anyone booked with RC and gone through something like this? I'd be interested to know how you were treated. Thanks Michael |
#2
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Booking directly with the Cruise line (Royal Caribbean)
Michael,
Your experience with Travel Agents is typical. All they really want to do is book a cruise and take your money. They could care less about doing any meaningful work or serving your needs. We often book directly through the cruise lines. The best place to start is with the frequent cruiser club (Captain's Club, Mariner's Club, etc.). All have toll free numbers and are staffed by cruise professionals. They provide immediate information pricing, availability and responses to your questions. Unlike Travel Agents, they do not work on commission so they aren't going to pressure you into buying a cruise just so they can make a buck. They can also inform you of any unadvertised specials that Travel Agents don't know about. We always establish a personal relationship with one or two agents at the cruise lines we prefer. We tell them what we want and are flexible and work with them -- you'd be surprised at the deals! There are not many gotchas. Unlike Travel Agents, the cruise lines aren't going out of business so you won't get stuck. Also, they are on duty 7 days a week (ever try to call a Travel Agent at night or weekends -- yeah right) to serve you. Plus they stand behind their services so you won't encounter the Travel Agent horror stories frequently posted here. Before you call, start at the cruise line website. There you will find information on the lines, ships, itineraries, ports and schedules. Also sign up for their Email specials that are periodically sent. These specials provide discounts not available to the general public. This way when you call, you don't waste your time or that of the agent because you've already done some research yourself. Finally, if you have to use an agent, avoid the "virtual" Travel Agents that regularly post here. Most are mom-and-pop outfits working out of their bedrooms. They post here so often because they have no clients or business base. They continually troll this newsgroup hoping to catch a fish or two. I hope this helps, Paul "Jim Becker" wrote in message ... My wife and I are going on our first cruise in May to Alaska. Is it better to book your cruise on-line or go through one of the 1-800 numbers on the various websites? Do you recommend a particular book that offers the novice cruiser some tips to a successful cruise. TIA "Mike" wrote in message ble.rogers.com... Hello All, Just wanted to get an opinion from those who have booked cruises directly with cruise lines instead of going through a travel agent. My wife and I are thinking about booking a cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer for the last week of February. I've made a few calls to local TA's and they have been as helpful as a rubber crutch for the most part. Some don't return calls and those that do can't seem to come up with a travel plan that I want. We live in Canada and I want to travel a day before the cruise and land in Florida a little early. One TA suggested I stay overnight in Toronto. Great plan that is. Who the hell wants to stay in Toronto in late February when you could be staying in warm Florida! Sheeesh. Having been frustrated with the lack of help from the TA's I decided to call Royal Caribbean directly. They seemed helpful and had no problem making arrangements that I wanted. I haven't yet committed to them but wanted to ask your opinion. - How safe is booking directly with the cruise line? - Anyone have any troubles booking directly with the cruise line? - Any gotchas that I should be aware of? I know the guy from Royal Caribbean said that if they make all arrangements for me then they are responsible for getting me to the ship. He even said the ship won't leave without me if my flight was delayed for a few hours. Now if the flight was delayed for a day or something like that then it wouldn't wait of course, but they would put me on another cruise of my choosing. - Truthfully, is this something I can bank on? - Has anyone booked with RC and gone through something like this? I'd be interested to know how you were treated. Thanks Michael |
#3
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Booking directly with the Cruise line (Royal Caribbean)
Mike wrote:
making arrangements that I wanted. I haven't yet committed to them but wanted to ask your opinion. - How safe is booking directly with the cruise line? - Anyone have any troubles booking directly with the cruise line? - Any gotchas that I should be aware of? I know the guy from Royal Caribbean said that if they make all arrangements for me then they are responsible for getting me to the ship. He even said the ship won't leave without me if my flight was delayed for a few hours. Now if the flight was delayed for a day or something like that then it wouldn't wait of course, but they would put me on another cruise of my choosing. - Truthfully, is this something I can bank on? - Has anyone booked with RC and gone through something like this? I'd be interested to know how you were treated. Thanks Michael Hey Mike, Booking directly with a cruise line (cruise, air, transfers, etc.), is about as safe as it gets but I don't recommend this. Booking the cruise with and TA, and booking your own air and hotel on line, can save you real money. Let me explain: Most TA's (live and on line) will rebate a portion of their commission from the cruise line to you. These rebates are anywhere from 5 to 10% of the cruise line price (excluding port taxes and fees). So if a cruise is priced at $1,000 pp by the cruise line, you can expect to pay between $925 - 950, using a TA. That's a saving of $100 to $150. Nine out of ten times, I have found that the cruise line air add-on costs considerably more than the price you would pay by booking directly with the airline. Here the savings can be $100 pp or more. If you a flying from Canada to Florida (especially in the winter), I would recommend that you plan to fly a day or two before your cruise. This plan would take care of bad weather problems in the winter. It would also leave you much more relaxed when you board the ship and begin your cruise. Unless you are a platinum member of RCCL's crown and anchor society, they will add an additional charge to your airfare for if you do this, under the heading of an "air deviation". You can do it on your own for no charge. With respect to a hotel and transportation to the port, I will assume you are flying into Miami, because that is where most RCCL ships sail from. All last year and much of this year, people have booked the Hyatt Regency in Miami (a bona fide 4* hotel) through priceline.com for prices of $27 to $47/night. If you try to book this hotel through the cruise line, it would be (depending on what you paid thru priceline) 4 to 8 times more expensive. It would also be much more expensive to book through a TA. Finally, I have found that the cheapest (if there is more than one person cruising) and best way to get from your hotel to the port is by private taxi. Hope this helps. Happy cruisin! Howie |
#4
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Booking directly with the Cruise line (Royal Caribbean)
Mike,
I am a fellow Canadian living in Northern Ontario and I have a cruise booked with RCI for May 2004. This was the first time I have booked directly with the cruise line. In the past I have gone with a local TA and frankly although I did get good service from her I felt confident enough to do it on my own this time. The price from a small local TA was the same as Royal Caribbean has on their website and I was diligent in monitoring RCI's prices on line. In fact in the past when I saw a reduction I phoned the TA and she took care of it. This booking is sort of an experiment for me to see how everything goes. ...so far so good. I always fly out the day before..you arrive more rested, less potential weather problems and you usually will do better with the price of air booking it on your own. The biggest way I have saved money is to fly out of a US airport and if you live anywhere near a border city or within a reasonable driving time you will do better price wise for flights. I am flying out of Buffalo NY and compared to the flights out of Toronto I saved about $300.00 CDN per person. So far I have been treated well by the RCI reps and I have the control to call and ask my questions and so far I have received the answers. This is my 7th cruise and I try and stay informed by reading cruise boards. This has been my experience... Emmy Mike wrote: Hello All, Just wanted to get an opinion from those who have booked cruises directly with cruise lines instead of going through a travel agent. My wife and I are thinking about booking a cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer for the last week of February. I've made a few calls to local TA's and they have been as helpful as a rubber crutch for the most part. Some don't return calls and those that do can't seem to come up with a travel plan that I want. We live in Canada and I want to travel a day before the cruise and land in Florida a little early. One TA suggested I stay overnight in Toronto. Great plan that is. Who the hell wants to stay in Toronto in late February when you could be staying in warm Florida! Sheeesh. Having been frustrated with the lack of help from the TA's I decided to call Royal Caribbean directly. They seemed helpful and had no problem making arrangements that I wanted. I haven't yet committed to them but wanted to ask your opinion. - How safe is booking directly with the cruise line? - Anyone have any troubles booking directly with the cruise line? - Any gotchas that I should be aware of? I know the guy from Royal Caribbean said that if they make all arrangements for me then they are responsible for getting me to the ship. He even said the ship won't leave without me if my flight was delayed for a few hours. Now if the flight was delayed for a day or something like that then it wouldn't wait of course, but they would put me on another cruise of my choosing. - Truthfully, is this something I can bank on? - Has anyone booked with RC and gone through something like this? I'd be interested to know how you were treated. Thanks Michael |
#5
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Booking directly with the Cruise line (Royal Caribbean)
Hi,
I booked a Royal Caribbean cruise through Cruise Connection. There a large online/call center cruise company out of Vancouver. They have adds in the Globe and Mail every Saturday. They were awesome, answered all my question, and were extremely helpful. I received a great email from the BC Better Business Bureau about the company. The part that I appreciated the most was that they have staff dedicated to setting up the flights, and were very familiar with the issues involved in flying to the US. I live on the East coast, and they helped me get good flights the day before. Hope this helps, Jmm Mike wrote: Hello All, Just wanted to get an opinion from those who have booked cruises directly with cruise lines instead of going through a travel agent. My wife and I are thinking about booking a cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer for the last week of February. I've made a few calls to local TA's and they have been as helpful as a rubber crutch for the most part. Some don't return calls and those that do can't seem to come up with a travel plan that I want. We live in Canada and I want to travel a day before the cruise and land in Florida a little early. One TA suggested I stay overnight in Toronto. Great plan that is. Who the hell wants to stay in Toronto in late February when you could be staying in warm Florida! Sheeesh. Having been frustrated with the lack of help from the TA's I decided to call Royal Caribbean directly. They seemed helpful and had no problem making arrangements that I wanted. I haven't yet committed to them but wanted to ask your opinion. - How safe is booking directly with the cruise line? - Anyone have any troubles booking directly with the cruise line? - Any gotchas that I should be aware of? I know the guy from Royal Caribbean said that if they make all arrangements for me then they are responsible for getting me to the ship. He even said the ship won't leave without me if my flight was delayed for a few hours. Now if the flight was delayed for a day or something like that then it wouldn't wait of course, but they would put me on another cruise of my choosing. - Truthfully, is this something I can bank on? - Has anyone booked with RC and gone through something like this? I'd be interested to know how you were treated. Thanks Michael |
#6
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Booking directly with the Cruise line (Royal Caribbean)
Hi Mike:
Don't worry about booking directly with Royal Caribbean (or with any other cruise line for that matter). In most cases you will get better service and far more answers to any questions you may have than going through a local travel agent. I've booked directly through RCI, Celebrity, and HAL without a hitch. Each has provided excellent customer service via phone or email and I'd use them all again in an instant. The air connections used by the cruise lines from Canada on the Air/Cruise are not usually very great however, so either be prepared to pay more to upgrade your air to "custom"; or go "cruise only" with them and book your own air & hotel [arriving at port city a day before for extra measure of caution and to rest up from flight(s) ] What many of the readers here do not know is that Canadian travel agents will NOT reduce their commissions from the cruise lines to give you a better deal pricewise as seems to be a habit in the U.S., and you will pay the same going through them as you do going directly through the cruise lines. The cruise lines can quote you and charge you in $CDN if you so wish, or OTOH you can be invoiced in $US. (Their conversion rates are usually favourable and you do well to have them bill in $CDN). Have a great cruise........Dave in Vancouver "Mike" wrote in message ble.rogers.com... Hello All, Just wanted to get an opinion from those who have booked cruises directly with cruise lines instead of going through a travel agent. My wife and I are thinking about booking a cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer for the last week of February. I've made a few calls to local TA's and they have been as helpful as a rubber crutch for the most part. |
#8
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Booking directly with the Cruise line (Royal Caribbean)
DG,
This was the problem for my cousin last August, by mistake he set the alarm late by an hour. He went to PHL and tried to explain to PHL's security, nobody cared. Fortunately, the passengers let him move to the front. He was behind an Eagle football player and the security keep talking with the player, the line did not moved\ for a while. He almost late, he was the last one before they close the gate. Hai "Dick Goldhaber" wrote in message ... Mike, I live in the Philadelphia area and we generally cruise in the spring and the fall. I agree that traveling from Canada in February can be worrisome. If it accentuates the idea of going a day early, let me tell you about our last cruise, Hawaii in October. We were booked out of Philadelphia a day early. The morning was foggy. The plane was there, but the crew was not. This is the way it is. The crew got there and we were off to San Diego about two hours late, but PHL doesn't care whether you are late, you get in line like everyone else. We came home to San Diego at the time of the fires. We had an early flight and HAL got us off of the ship and to the airport in plenty of time, except our plane was down in Phoenix and unable to fly to San Diego. We got home, not at 8PM, but after midnight. We got home, but coming home is not your problem. Please make sure that you have built a buffer into your travel plans just in case of the worse case scenario. -- DG in Cherry Hill, NJ "Mike" wrote in message ble.rogers.com... Hello All, Just wanted to get an opinion from those who have booked cruises directly with cruise lines instead of going through a travel agent. My wife and I are thinking about booking a cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer for the last week of February. I've made a few calls to local TA's and they have been as helpful as a rubber crutch for the most part. Some don't return calls and those that do can't seem to come up with a travel plan that I want. We live in Canada and I want to travel a day before the cruise and land in Florida a little early. One TA suggested I stay overnight in Toronto. Great plan that is. Who the hell wants to stay in Toronto in late February when you could be staying in warm Florida! Sheeesh. Having been frustrated with the lack of help from the TA's I decided to call Royal Caribbean directly. They seemed helpful and had no problem making arrangements that I wanted. I haven't yet committed to them but wanted to ask your opinion. - How safe is booking directly with the cruise line? - Anyone have any troubles booking directly with the cruise line? - Any gotchas that I should be aware of? I know the guy from Royal Caribbean said that if they make all arrangements for me then they are responsible for getting me to the ship. He even said the ship won't leave without me if my flight was delayed for a few hours. Now if the flight was delayed for a day or something like that then it wouldn't wait of course, but they would put me on another cruise of my choosing. - Truthfully, is this something I can bank on? - Has anyone booked with RC and gone through something like this? I'd be interested to know how you were treated. Thanks Michael |
#9
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Booking directly with the Cruise line (Royal Caribbean)
Hai, you have brought up one of my pet peeves.
We choose to use a New Jersey company called Rapid Rover to take us to the airport. If we have an 8AM flight, they will pick us up at 5:30. That gets us to the airport around 6AM. When curbside check-in is available, we are at security at 6:15 and at the boarding gate desperately seeking coffee no later than 6:30. We travel with a Guide Dog, and we use frequent flyer miles to fly First Class, which means that we board first. But as we sit at the gate waiting for our call we are always aware of people arriving right up until the time that we board the plane, and we are always aware of people coming on to the plane long after we have been belted in. Maybe the airlines should make a rule that unless you are available for your flight 30 minutes before flight time your ticket will be canceled and not refundable. Maybe that will allow more flights to leave on time. -- DG in Cherry Hill, NJ "Hai Pham" wrote in message ... DG, This was the problem for my cousin last August, by mistake he set the alarm late by an hour. He went to PHL and tried to explain to PHL's security, nobody cared. Fortunately, the passengers let him move to the front. He was behind an Eagle football player and the security keep talking with the player, the line did not moved\ for a while. He almost late, he was the last one before they close the gate. Hai "Dick Goldhaber" wrote in message ... Mike, I live in the Philadelphia area and we generally cruise in the spring and the fall. I agree that traveling from Canada in February can be worrisome. If it accentuates the idea of going a day early, let me tell you about our last cruise, Hawaii in October. We were booked out of Philadelphia a day early. The morning was foggy. The plane was there, but the crew was not. This is the way it is. The crew got there and we were off to San Diego about two hours late, but PHL doesn't care whether you are late, you get in line like everyone else. We came home to San Diego at the time of the fires. We had an early flight and HAL got us off of the ship and to the airport in plenty of time, except our plane was down in Phoenix and unable to fly to San Diego. We got home, not at 8PM, but after midnight. We got home, but coming home is not your problem. Please make sure that you have built a buffer into your travel plans just in case of the worse case scenario. -- DG in Cherry Hill, NJ "Mike" wrote in message ble.rogers.com... Hello All, Just wanted to get an opinion from those who have booked cruises directly with cruise lines instead of going through a travel agent. My wife and I are thinking about booking a cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer for the last week of February. I've made a few calls to local TA's and they have been as helpful as a rubber crutch for the most part. Some don't return calls and those that do can't seem to come up with a travel plan that I want. We live in Canada and I want to travel a day before the cruise and land in Florida a little early. One TA suggested I stay overnight in Toronto. Great plan that is. Who the hell wants to stay in Toronto in late February when you could be staying in warm Florida! Sheeesh. Having been frustrated with the lack of help from the TA's I decided to call Royal Caribbean directly. They seemed helpful and had no problem making arrangements that I wanted. I haven't yet committed to them but wanted to ask your opinion. - How safe is booking directly with the cruise line? - Anyone have any troubles booking directly with the cruise line? - Any gotchas that I should be aware of? I know the guy from Royal Caribbean said that if they make all arrangements for me then they are responsible for getting me to the ship. He even said the ship won't leave without me if my flight was delayed for a few hours. Now if the flight was delayed for a day or something like that then it wouldn't wait of course, but they would put me on another cruise of my choosing. - Truthfully, is this something I can bank on? - Has anyone booked with RC and gone through something like this? I'd be interested to know how you were treated. Thanks Michael |
#10
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Booking directly with the Cruise line (Royal Caribbean)
Hi Mike,
I have a number of friends in the travel industry, and as much as I hate to say it, you are usually better off booking the cruise yourself through the cruise line. As long as you know what you want in a cruise and you know all the details of your trip. The key is research, research, research. Royal Caribbean in particular, often offers some excellent deals over the internet but they sometimes only last a day or two. That is why you have to know exactly what you want and when you want it, then you just have to keep watching the website for the best deal. We have booked a number of RCI cruises and got some great deals, even on the airfare, which I would normally book on my own. They recently had a airfare special flying from the East coast to San Diego, cruise to Hawaii and returning from Honolulu for $99 pp round trip. You cant book it that cheap yourself. But the special was only available for a couple days, so we had to jump on it quickly. The sad part in all of this is for the TAs involved. I have done my research on a number of cruises and had a price quote over the internet but when I went to the TA that I usually deal with they would not quote him the same price for EXACTLY the same itinerary. My attitude was always that if it was only a few bucks more I would much rather give the business to a local TA but when it comes down to hundreds of dollars more.........well, I, like many others, just can't afford to do that. The cruise lines don't want to say it but I believe they are trying to phase out the TAs. Just compare customer service in the cruise industry today compared to a few years ago. When I went on my first cruise you could not get one bit of information from the cruise line directly, you were always told "contact your travel agent" but today customer service is actually there to help make and change reservations along with giving out all kinds of information. I apologize for going off on a tangent here by giving my opinion but I am kind of torn about my feelings. I LOVE cruising but I don't think that it is right the way the cruise lines are secretly screwing the TAs out there. "Mike" wrote in message ble.rogers.com... Hello All, Just wanted to get an opinion from those who have booked cruises directly with cruise lines instead of going through a travel agent. My wife and I are thinking about booking a cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer for the last week of February. I've made a few calls to local TA's and they have been as helpful as a rubber crutch for the most part. Some don't return calls and those that do can't seem to come up with a travel plan that I want. We live in Canada and I want to travel a day before the cruise and land in Florida a little early. One TA suggested I stay overnight in Toronto. Great plan that is. Who the hell wants to stay in Toronto in late February when you could be staying in warm Florida! Sheeesh. Having been frustrated with the lack of help from the TA's I decided to call Royal Caribbean directly. They seemed helpful and had no problem making arrangements that I wanted. I haven't yet committed to them but wanted to ask your opinion. - How safe is booking directly with the cruise line? - Anyone have any troubles booking directly with the cruise line? - Any gotchas that I should be aware of? I know the guy from Royal Caribbean said that if they make all arrangements for me then they are responsible for getting me to the ship. He even said the ship won't leave without me if my flight was delayed for a few hours. Now if the flight was delayed for a day or something like that then it wouldn't wait of course, but they would put me on another cruise of my choosing. - Truthfully, is this something I can bank on? - Has anyone booked with RC and gone through something like this? I'd be interested to know how you were treated. Thanks Michael |
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