use travel agent or disney?

[presleyg]

We are in the process of booking our first cruise for 12/05 and we are not sure of the advantages/disadvantages or using a travel agency or just booking through disney. The DCL folks tell me that we should use them because an agency cannot make changes and be avalable like they are. What has been your experiences? We are thinking of small world or mouseears.

 

[Christine]

Our cruise through a TA was exactly $1,000 less than if we had gone through DCL. I was also a bit concerned about not being able to interface with Disney personally because of some of my son's medical issues. I couldn't have been more wrong. Even though we booked through a TA, my dad has been on the phone with Disney almost weekly asking them questions and discussing my son's medical issues. He has never once been told to go through is TA. Now, if there was a change in the reservation or something like that, of course, we would go through the TA.

So far, the experience has worked out. And $1,000 is a HUGE savings.

 

[ldb1030]

Hmmm wonder why DCL would say a TA can not makes changes?!
The TA that books it has control over it!

 

[momof3luvs2run]

We are also looking at booking a cruise for this November. I have discovered that it is almost $1,000 cheaper to go through a TA. This is my first posting to this board. I have been told that Allseastravel.com is a reputable place to book the cruise through. Anyone have any experience with them?

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

DCL will tell you that because that means they don't have to pay a commission to a travel agent...

(Sorry, my cynical side shows up unannounced every so often.)

Joking aside, I would say that there is some truth to that. Case in point: A few times, I've booked a cruise pretty close to the sailing date, and there was no room left in the main dining seating, or once no rooms in the category I wanted. We were waitlisted, but since my experience is that you need to be proactive about this and call to check for openings, I ended up booking directly with DCL rather than using an agent, even though it ended up costing a bit more ($100 or so). I wasn't sure the agent would be as persistent as I was willing to be in trying to change my reservation. I knew how often I was willing to call, and wanted to be able to make changes myself. When you book through an agent, they need to make changes for you.

Now, this isn't a shot at travel agents. I've booked cruises with them, too, and since they will almost always "share" their commission with you, you can often get better deals through them. I know that they have many clients and can't spend that kind of time (i.e. calling every day) on my reservation.

For me, if I don't anticipate the reservation needing a lot of service between the time I book and the time I travel, I go with a travel agent and try to get the best deal. In cases where I think I'll need to make changes, I've booked directly with the cruise line.

 

[dbond]

Well, you will get a cheaper rate with a TA, but if you have an emergency situation like we had recently 5 days before our cruise and it was a weekend, DCL could do nothing for us, their hands were tied. We had to wait until Monday morning to reach our booking agency. It was the longest 48 hours of my life. That's why they warn you about that. I'm sure they have that situation come up occasionally and it's frustrating for them and the guest that they are unable to help. They will discuss things with you, answer questions for you, but they are unable to make changes to your reservation, only the TA can make that request.

Also, they make more money off of the booking if they book it directly, they don't have to pay a TA commission. So why would they encourage you to use a TA?

 

[DrCavin]

Originally posted by momof3luvs2run
We are also looking at booking a cruise for this November. I have discovered that it is almost $1,000 cheaper to go through a TA. This is my first posting to this board. I have been told that Allseastravel.com is a reputable place to book the cruise through. Anyone have any experience with them?

I have used Allseasons & will definitly use them again! They have very competitive prices & great customer service. Owner is very involved in the business & will step in to handle any issues you may encounter.

 

[paulmc80]

Generally, as long as its a TA specializing in Disney stuff then I think you'll get a better deal than through DCL directly.

For most travels items other than the cruise I'll make all the arrangements myself. Just too much confusion with a TA for hotel rooms, especially when there cost to me is the same.

 

[Blythep]

We have also booked our first cruise for December 05. I used Dreams Unlimited (thanks Sandy) and it has been great so far. I know that she will look for discounts to apply if there are any available and we have a room discount that we can used for items on the ship (except tips). We are excited. Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I'm in the minority here, but I never use TA's.

Each time I've booked DCL, Dreams Unlimited and other agencies were only able to save our family 100.00, if we were lucky. Since we've always rebooked onboard, we've received the 10% discount and 200.00 onboard credit. (I know DU ocassionally runs specials, but we've still yet to find much advantage to using them.)

We'd rather pay whatever difference (we'd reconsider if we were really able to save 1000.00) and have more peace of mind not having to use a middle-man if a problem arose. We'd rather deal directly w/Disney, and will continue to do so.

 

[Hennalady]

I just booked our first cruise directly with Disney Cruise Line a little over a week ago. It is for the 4 day departing 10/23/2005.
I checked several online agencies as well as AAA.
AAA was exactly the same price as Disney's, and I found that I
knew more about the cruise than their TA did.
Allseas and another agencey were less than $100 difference
Expedia was actually a little more than Disney's rate.
From what I've seen in my research if you are booking pretty
far "out" there doesn't seem to be much of a rate difference.
I can see where the closer to the travel date the more of a difference.
I enjoyed booking directly with Disney. The agent was very
helpful and even suggested adding a little birthday celebration
for my best friends husband.
I like being directly involved in my vacation plans. I have always booked my own reservations for all our Disney trips. If I need to change something I can talk directly to Disney Cruise instead of going thru someone else. If a problem arises, it is mine - not someone elses.
Hope this helps.

 

[webray]

We have done both.

TA had no problem making any changes or requests that we needed. Disney was fine also.

I go where we can get the best rate. I use micdan.com

 

[fesslerl]

We received the cheapest price from All Seasons and they were wonderful.

I contacted them on a weekend because a last name was incorrect on our documents. They reassured me that they woiuld contact Disney 1st thing Monday. It was Disney's error. Everything was handled with no problems and no more worries.

 

[ceejay13]

I realize this is a somewhat unique situation but I was one of those folks that booked their repo cruise in the first 20" they were on sale. Previous to this I had put in a request with DU. I booked with DCL direct that day but when I got my quote that same evening, it was $750 more. This is nothing against DU as I have used them for a couple of DL trips and been extremely happy. I just thought that since I had put in my request prior to the sale that the rates would be very similar. I also like to do my own arrangements. It is amazing how much you can save if you put a little more investigation in on the internet, and so over the last 4 years we have done our own for the most part.

 

[Wild4WDW]

We just recently booked a 3 day Land/ 4 day Sea vacation through cruisingco.com and saved $700 over the DCL & DU rates. I generally make all our own travel arrangements but after reading several threads on some of the travel agents I decided to give it a try. So far, so good.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

I'm in the process right now of getting quotes for a 1/05 4 day cruise and so far Costco has the best price. Beating DCL by $300 and DU and Allseas by a little more than $100.