Travel Agent

[JM_97]

Trying to plan a cruise by ourselves has been extremely stressful. So many options in front of us and honestly we have put it to the side for about a month because of our busy work schedules. What has been your experience with travel agents? We were planning on chipping away at our trip balance rather than all up front. Can we still do this with a TA? Any other tips with TA's would be so helpful too!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Trying to plan a cruise by ourselves has been extremely stressful. So many options in front of us and honestly we have put it to the side for about a month because of our busy work schedules. What has been your experience with travel agents? We were planning on chipping away at our trip balance rather than all up front. Can we still do this with a TA? Any other tips with TA's would be so helpful too!

It's a good idea to ask friends if they've used a TA, and what their experience was with that specific TA.

Many people will only use TAs for trip planning, others just won't.

The payment schedule will be the same whether you use a TA or not. FYI, you don't pay the TA, you are using the TA as an agent to transfer your payment from you to the cruiseline.

Personally, I've only used a TA rarely. Only if using them will get me really good perks. I usually do my own travel reservations.

 

[emerald3582]

I used a TA for my Disney cruise in Jan 2019. Honestly, she didn't do much. I did all the research myself, as I am a type A planner. I booked my own specialty dining, spa day passes, excursions, etc. I did get extra onboard credits, but in hindsight, since I did everything myself, Costco's cash card benefit would've been a better value than the onboard credits. You can read my tips on:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-fantasy-jan-5-12-2019-western-caribbean.3803471/I have found, particularly for a cruise, that all questions can be answered somewhere in this forum. I am by no means a travel agent and don't represent myself as one, but many of us are type A planners who are always willing to help.
I have also considered a TA for my 2021 trip to WDW, only because when I go back to work I don't have the time to book ADR's and FP's at 3am PST. Other than that, I really don't have use for a TA.

 

[DCLDVC1]

I only use a TA for the onboard credit. That's the only value they offer me.

 

[Capitalangel]

I have used a TA from Dreams Unlimited ( who sponsors these boards) and she has been great! I am able to add payments on my schedule and she is always very quick to answer my questions. It is nice having someone to bounce my ideas off of ( like which side of the ship I want to be on) and get suggestions of what might help enhance my trip ( suggestions for hotels in the area and restaurants). I use her less for those things as I have gotten more experience but I have never had a downside to using her so I will continue. I don’t feel like I am giving up any control and I’m sure she would help more if I wanted it.

 

[CamColt]

I will second Dreams Unlimited! Their agents truly are the experts, they have tons of cruising experience, and their help is absolutely free! Plus they give you an on board credit, which is free money to spend on your cruise.

 

[T & R]

Plus they give you an on board credit, which is free money to spend on your cruise.

I've been considering this route for a while because of the onboard credit offer. If you book through them, after deposit, do you have to pay off the cruise through them or can you still log in with DCL and pay direct to DCL? The reason I ask is that we do the BJ's discounted Disney gift cards thing and if we weren't able to pay off the cruise with discounted gift cards, then it would cancel out whatever savings we got for on board credit. The best of both worlds would be to book through them, get onboard credit and then pay off remainder of cruise directly through DCL like I normally would. Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[Happy99]

We have used SmallworldVacations.com for a lot of years and are happy with them. When Disney announced cancellation of cruises our TA was on top of everything. Co-workers who booked with Costco were not happy at all. Saying that wait times to get through to them to either request a refund or change their date was very long and if they were on hold for more than two hours they were disconnected. With Costco you can't simply email them you have to call. These co-workers said they won't work with Costco again even if the cash card or whatever they give is more than what a TA offers.

 

[Happy99]

I've been considering this route for a while because of the onboard credit offer. If you book through them, after deposit, do you have to pay off the cruise through them or can you still log in with DCL and pay direct to DCL? The reason I ask is that we do the BJ's discounted Disney gift cards thing and if we weren't able to pay off the cruise with discounted gift cards, then it would cancel out whatever savings we got for on board credit. The best of both worlds would be to book through them, get onboard credit and then pay off remainder of cruise directly through DCL like I normally would. Thanks in advance for any info.

Yes, TA's can use your gift cards towards your payment but all payments have to go through them, you cannot do it online.

 

[Lizgistix]

First time using a TA and Dreams Unlimited Travel. What sold me is there's no additional cost to use a travel agent and they get paid by Disney for booking. I figured since it helps someone else out in the process, why not? Plus they give you some free stuff. Oh, and I can still do the planning myself. Plus I don't have to call and sit on hold with Disney about cancellations or anything like that, the TA will do that for me.
I figured why not give it a shot.

 

[Happy99]

I figured since it helps someone else out in the process, why not?
[/QUOTE]

That is a good point. Especially now a days. Giving TA's business helps them, I can't imagine how much money they are NOT making with all the cancellations.

 

[DCLDVC1]

I figured since it helps someone else out in the process, why not?

That is a good point. Especially now a days. Giving TA's business helps them, I can't imagine how much money they are NOT making with all the cancellations.

Isn't DCL is still paying commission on the cancelled cruises?

 

[Happy99]

Isn't DCL is still paying commission on the cancelled cruises?

From my understanding, and I am not a TA so could be wrong, is that yes they are paying on cancelled cruises which were paid in full when Disney cruise cancelled the dates, but not on those who cancelled prior to being paid in full.

I am sure many people cancelled with concerns about traveling and weren't paid in full. Not sure how they are handling Disney World reservations if they are being paid for those. I haven't asked my TA and haven't really paid attention. She did tell me that commissions for ABD were not protected at all.

 

[CamColt]

I've been considering this route for a while because of the onboard credit offer. If you book through them, after deposit, do you have to pay off the cruise through them or can you still log in with DCL and pay direct to DCL? The reason I ask is that we do the BJ's discounted Disney gift cards thing and if we weren't able to pay off the cruise with discounted gift cards, then it would cancel out whatever savings we got for on board credit. The best of both worlds would be to book through them, get onboard credit and then pay off remainder of cruise directly through DCL like I normally would. Thanks in advance for any info.

Yes, TA's can use your gift cards towards your payment but all payments have to go through them, you cannot do it online.

Yes, as Happy99 noted you can pay with gift cards, through Dreams Unlimited. I always use them. I just want to clarify at no time do you pay Dreams Unlimited. When you submit your payment to them, you are authorizing them to pay DCL with the form of payment you provide, whether it be gift cards, credit card, etc... If you were to use a credit card you would see the charge to DCL on your statement, not DU. This adds to the security if by some crazy chance DU were to go out of business, you would still have your reservation with DCL in tact.

 

[ahen]

We’ve used Dreams Unlimited twice now, our first cruise with them we had to cancel due to a family emergency the morning of the cruise. It was grand to make one call and get help. And she helped me use the cruise insurance to be reimbursed. Now she’s rescheduled our May cruise to January and helped with the cruise credit and I didn’t have to do a thing. I think I’m sold on using a TA now

 

[Husker Mike]

I'm usually a DIY planner, but I used an agent for our Disney Cruise. The prices are exactly the same, but ours gives us an onboard credit, so it nets out cheaper than DIY. Our agent knows DCL really well and gives us good advice, and more importantly, she navigates Disney's phone bank. While other people were on the phone for hours this spring trying to reschedule their cruises, I sent here a couple of emails. Bing, bang boom, easy peasy. She has our business for cruises.