Is A Travel Agent Necessary To Book?

[Wish Upon A Star]

Hi everyone!

We've never taken a cruise and I am interested in possibly cruising in 2005. Most likely just a 4 Day Cruise just to see if we will enjoy it.

Will a travel agent be my best bet to book a cruise as far as if any discounts are available, or can I book myself and still obtain the same rates?

I book our regular WDW vacations on my own, but since I don't know alot about cruising would a travel agent be my best bet?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[jadejazzkayla]

i just went thru this last week. i did get a bunch of quotes from a bunch of travel agents. most gave me a price that was the same as the quote from the disney cruise line. a few gave me a 100-150 dollars less. southwest airlines was the cheapest at 200 dollars less than the disney cruise site. it was a great site to use too. you get to look at the different staterooms that available in all the different catagories. i forgot to mention i booked a seven night cruise, so saving would be a bit different for a four night. happpy searching!

 

[Zandy595]

I always book our WDW vacations on my own too, but when it comes to the cruise I go with a TA. I recommend All Seasons Travel . A TA can get a much better price than I can.

 

[Zandy595]

jadejazzkayla ~ Southwest Airlines sells Disney cruises? Never knew that.



Wish Upon A Star ~ I forgot to mention that if/when a sale comes up, after you book, All Seasons Travel will automatically apply the discount to your balance.

 

[wltdsnyfan]

I booked my first one through a TA. We are going on or second in August and I booked it on my slef. I saw how it was done and I called DCL directly and did it. They were very good. I have called several times with questions and never have had a problem.

 

[wltdsnyfan]

I should also say I did the air fare on my own two. I checked several airlines and kept track of what the rates were. I love to do this so that is also why I did it on my own. I do all our vacations to WDW.

 

[Christine]

I always book my WDW vacations on my own and do much better than if I used an agent.

I just finished booking a rather short-notice Disney cruise and tried to use Disney. They were the most expensive. I then went through some travel agents and ended up getting the cruise price down $1,000 from the DCL quote. I will be booking my own airfare though.

 

[sardan]

Same experience for me. I just booked a 7-Night Eastern in May 2005 with a TA and it was over $750 less than going directly with DCL. I'll do air myself.

 

[Amberle3]

As a travel agent, I have to add my own (biased) 2cents here.

Booking through a travel agent shouldn't cost you any more than booking on your own, and may in fact be cheaper. But completely aside from cost, there's a very important benefit to booking with a travel agent - you have someone working for you if there's any problem.

I can't tell you the number of times I've heard agents lamenting about clients who have booked one component of a vacation with them, but the air (or hotel) themselves and then have had problems. They then come to their travel agent to get it straightened out, but unfortunately if we don't book it, we can't touch it. It's just the way things are. One of the agents in my old office was just about in tears because good clients of hers were likely to miss their cruise because of an airline schedule change and there was nothing she could do about it.

I myself have spent many hours trying to straighten out complications arising from schedule changes, overbookings, at one point the cancellation of a cruise due to Norwalk...

If you book you components yourself then you have to spend the time dealing with problems. If you book with a good travel agent, then they have to fix your problems for you. And what's more likely to get an airline's attention, "my family is in tears and we need this settled now" or "my client is very unhappy, and my agency who sends thousands of people on your airline is very unhappy and we need this settled now".

As for cost, any good travel agent should be able to find and apply the appropriate discount codes for you for hotels. Especially if you find one that specializes in Disney.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I USED to be a travel agent, (a different tone here,) and for that reason I suggest booking w/DCL directly.

Even though it's a rarity, if there's a problem of any sort, the client has to go through the agent, and cannot resolve the issue w/Disney. (Tickets and/or documents not arriving in the mail, trying to book REAS, etc.)

Don't get me wrong, travel agents work hard, and go beyond and above the call of duty, but now, speaking as a passenger, it's too much of a hassle for my family and I to wait for callbacks, and the savings have not been that tremendous either, IMHO.