Originally Posted by
MoreMilesPlease
Depending on the TA and when you book the cruise, the TA may have already returned their batch of cabins to to cruise line control. So it might not be any better booking with a TA unless you have an established relationship with them.
A TA only has a batch of cabins if they have a group on that ship on that date. That has nothing to do with the online discount TAs. A TA with a group
might give you a better deal, but being in a group can have significant disadvantages: #1 being that you don't necessarily get price drops because group pricing is separate from individual pricing.
Originally Posted by
MoreMilesPlease
I booked a cruise through an on-line TA thinking it was a good deal. It was inside the final payment so I made full payment at booking. They gave me a ship board credit. The next day the cruise lines own site had the cruise cheaper than I paid including the on board credit. The TA said they could not do anything about the price difference but that I would be given a cabin upgrade, which I considered a worse cabin that I had, it was just on a higher level. So no real advantage using a TA in my case. And the customer service sucked.
Yeah, that sucks but it's true of most consumer lines. After final payment they don't need to give you a price drop or credit. They don't
have to give you the upgrade either.
As far as that goes, you can always refuse the "upgrade". Of course, since the OTA was giving poor service they may have done it without asking.
Originally Posted by
MoreMilesPlease
MY PVP always gets me the best cabin for a great price. I have no hassle getting price drops or on-baord credits since I can do them myself and not wait for a TA to get around to it. If I have any problems I can deal directly with the cruise line.
The only way I know of that you get price drops after final payment is if you're booked as Early Saver on Carnival, which has it's own drawbacks. In that case, you can submit for your own price drop (OBC) on the website.
I do agree that it's easier to deal directly with the line, but on my upcoming cruise I'm getting a $163 discount from the OTA. That's a 5.5% discount off the full price, or roughly 7% off the comissionable fare (as I understand the breakdown.)
Difficult to pass that up just for the
possibility of a little inconvienence, but that's my 2 cents, of course.
Originally Posted by
MoreMilesPlease
I have learned to check the cruise lines own website and compare it to the Ta's quote. It may not be a good deal if you do not know the TA and the prices are close.
Any TA should be quoting the standard price. If not, run away...
But let's take a step back: what cruise line(s) are you talking about? You experience seems to be so far off the way Carnival operates (and RCCL and Princess, etc, AFAIK) that I'm wondering if you're cruising one of the smaller lines or one of the European lines?