Any reason not to book with a (well known) TA?

[NS8VN]

With Costco does the rewards come on a cash card that can be used anywhere or is it a costco card?

Whats the details with this? Is it as simple as being a Costco member, booking through Costso and them sending you a "cash card" worth 85-9% of your cruise?

It is a Costco card. I have heard some people have taken them to customer service and gotten them cashed out but since we spend that easily in store we have no reason to find out. You go to their travel website, create a login, and shop the cruise you want. It is very similar to doing it directly with DCL. I will say that the prices shown publicly are more than the prices listed on the DCL site, I don't know why, but if you are logged in you will see the prices are exactly the same as if you were booking through DCL.

For me, I am very hands on and have researched and dug in to the archives here so I feel confident that I can handle it myself. As such, I went through Costco. For people that want the help of someone knowledgeable then another TA such as DU is a great option. Just remember that travel agents are independent contractors who work on commission. Just like other such businesses such as insurance or investments, you will find some great people and some not-so-great. You will find people who worry more about their commission check than anything, but you will find those who give great service to both the 3-night inside cabin client and the 14-night verandah client. I have seen an agent lie and yell at a client who thought of going with another agent for higher OBC, but have to imagine those are few and far between. Just do some homework before committing to an agent, know what they offer and what others offer, and make the choice you feel comfortable with.

 

[Billinaz]

With Costco does the rewards come on a cash card that can be used anywhere or is it a costco card?

Whats the details with this? Is it as simple as being a Costco member, booking through Costso and them sending you a "cash card" worth 85-9% of your cruise?

It is a costco cash card that is good only at costco. Some people have reported success getting it cashed in at customer service.

It is as simple as being a costco member.

I dont think they get any better deal from DCL compared to any other TA, but they make a little bit of profit at first, then get the added profit from the sales using the card in the store.

 

[Billinaz]

I think that depends on the TA. If you want immediate answers, you need a TA who will answer your calls, talk over questions, and make any changes you want immediately. It can be just as seamless as working directly with DCL if you have the right TA. OBCs are nice, but nothing's free! You can lose personal communication and more importantly responsiveness when you need it.

A TA just acts as an intermediate. If you need one of the few things done like changing cabins, you call the TA, the TA calls DCL and gets it done. In my case the one time I had to change cruise dates, Costco kept me on the phone while they called DCL.

 

[RedSox68]

I think that depends on the TA. If you want immediate answers, you need a TA who will answer your calls, talk over questions, and make any changes you want immediately. It can be just as seamless as working directly with DCL if you have the right TA. OBCs are nice, but nothing's free! You can lose personal communication and more importantly responsiveness when you need it.

My TA is terrific and I've been with them at a least a decade now.

 

[Markonefive]

I would only book through a TA who is knowledgeable about DCL and provides OBC. We booked through CAA (same as AAA) travel, and the agent just called DCL while we were in her office. She was nice, but didn't know the difference between port and starboard. She was good about reminding us about payments and booking all went smoothly. When we wanted port transportation added at the end of the trip, she arranged it quickly. Was good about responding to phone calls and emails. Once we paid our trip, could log in on line for our registration and preboarding easily. Didn't get OBC but she did arrange for a fruit basket to be in our room waiting for us. So, my advice, use a good travel agent (based on references), try to get some OBC out of it.

 

[jesschris]

Can someone who is currently on a cruise book a cruise for someone else to get the discount?

 

[minorthr]

We used a TA for our first cruise because they provided some service related to the care of our son while on the cruise. This time I used them again for a cruise just for my wife and I as they offered an OBC and I was familiar with them.

To be honest Im not sure the hassle is worth the OBC. I paid most of the trip out of a Disney Vacation account to get the gift cards. Had $145 left to pay and couldn't pay disney directly, had to pay TA. I called them for two days and got no response so I finally just put another $145 in the DVA and called disney and paid it. We decided to take disney transportation from the airport to port and back, can't do it via disney have to have TA do it. So Im waiting for that call back now. Ive pretty much done all the work including providing them all then info down to the stateroom and for that i get a small OBC.

 

[RedSox68]

Can someone who is currently on a cruise book a cruise for someone else to get the discount?

I don't believe so -- I think the onboard benefits of booking are only for those currently sailing -- but someone else may know better.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Can someone who is currently on a cruise book a cruise for someone else to get the discount?

In order to get the onboard booking perks at least one person on the future reservation must be on the current cruise.

Each household address is allowed to book up to 2 rooms on the same future cruise that will both receive the OBB perks. That's to say - one person (say Fred) who lives at one address can book two rooms on a future cruise, Fred must be on the reservation for one of those rooms. And actually take that cruise.

If Fred (one address) and Marion (a different home address) are on a cruise together, they each can book up to two rooms, but each of them must remain on the future cruise for both of "their" rooms to get the perks. Doesn't matter who's in the other room.