Using TA for 1st time, so far....

[NCConch]

For our first cruise we used a small Disney specific agency that a family member raved about. I figured it was smart since I had not cruised in 20 years. I was underwhelmed. The agent did a lot of "research" traveling and the one or two other people in the office never seemed to be very helpful. It turns out that we could have traveled concierge for not much more (we need an accessible room) but it got snatched up before the agent got back to the office. We would have missed the paid in full date if we did not make a number of calls. I think we paid Disney directly.

I am far too much of a control freak to let someone else do this for us.

 

[WIFamily]

My experience with DU has been fine. I email my agent some of my silly questions - and usually the next day I get my answers. That includes weekends - where I feel bad have that person respond during the weekend! As an example, late one Friday night I sent a question about trip insurance and if I could switch providers. I got a response Saturday afternoon! I didn't expect anything until Monday or Tuesday, and would have been fine if it had been Wed,Thurs, or Friday as we were still 200 days out from our cruise at that point.

Once I get closer to the cruise, if I have more immediate needs, I might hope to have same day answers, but as a pretty experienced traveler and cruiser, and a smart techie, I usually know how to find immediate answers via searching the right resources.

I've been happy with our DU agent and will use them again.

 

[Ariel484]

From reading the DCL section here, I've gathered that not all Travel Agents are created equally. I've only ever used one, and she has been awesome from the start...guess I got lucky. PM me if you want her contact info.

 

[tltay2005]

My TA with DU is great. Have used her for both my cruises and she always gets back to me the same day and if she is going to be out, she always lets me know ahead of time. Hope you get things worked out.

 

[cruisehopeful]

There are true travel agents and there are booking agents. I don't know about your situation, but there are plenty of booking agents that will handle your booking and give you OBC and that is all that you get.

There are travel agents who will contact you as needed with any pertinent information. Since your cruise is still quite a ways out, it is possible that your agent doesn't have the answers and is searing for information before they get back to you. I have one I've been using for a few years who is very good and will at least get back to me to say she is traveling and will contact me in a couple days or whatever.

In any case, I have found the best, most reliable place to get information is from the forums and blogs.

 

[bumbershoot]

I guess I was hoping they would provide some of that kind of information....ports of call, tours, special things onboard that we might want to do, along with the costs for same.

Well, with such a long time until the cruise, and with each cruise having the potential of having slightly different offerings, it's hard to do that. I'm not sure a TA would do that. But the DCL website has at least general info. And the place I referred you to gives a nice overview (and sometimes very specific ideas) of your ports.

In any case, I have found the best, most reliable place to get information is from the forums and blogs.

Absolutely.

 

[Elenadc]

We booked through DU too, I guess I kind of expected a little more help with the extras. She's been fine with cruise stuff, having things noted on our reservation etc. My issue was when I asked for help finding a good rental car agency. We're sailing out of Miami which I am very unfamiliar with, and heading up to WDW afterwards. I asked if she could recommend a good rental car that would be the closest and most time saving so we can get on the road to WDW right away. She basically to me to do some research online. Not one recommendation, she didn't even suggest places that have a presence on property. I don't know if I was expecting too much, should I only be asking her about the cruise itself?

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We have used Dreams Unlimited too many times for me to remember which number we are on for our 2016 WDW/DCL vacation. So obviously we are very happy with them that we still use them today. We typically get a response within 24 hours from the time we send a request or ask a question.

If I believe my inquiry is important; I will put that in the subject line of my email.

The only time I can remember doing that is when we had a passenger name change when a friend of my son couldn't go and we had to find another friend that was able to. And when we had questions about forms we needed to fill out for taking a minor along, and out of the country. I guess the only time I expect a faster response from our TA is when we are getting closer to our PIF date, if it went past 48 hours I might be a little upset. As has already been posted, when our DU TA is going to be away we know in advance and that it may take a little longer for her to get back to us.

 

[plutolovr]

x

 

[Heidiatmn]

I need to note my TA is NOT with Dreams...sorry if that was implied in any way. I thought we were talking travel agents in general.

 

[Partyof4LA]

We booked through DU too, I guess I kind of expected a little more help with the extras... I asked if she could recommend a good rental car that would be the closest and most time saving so we can get on the road to WDW right away. She basically to me to do some research online. Not one recommendation, she didn't even suggest places that have a presence on property. I don't know if I was expecting too much, should I only be asking her about the cruise itself?

My DU agent is great with responding in a timely manner and has been more than helpful with all things disney related. I really didn't hear from her a whole lot until we got closer to PIF, but she did check in about once a month to make sure I didn't need anything. Outside of that, not much help. If it didn't involve the cruise itself, DCL transfers or excursions, or WDW, she basically told me to research myself. No info on rental cars, private transfers, private excursions,or hotels near port. But online forums and blogs were plenty to answer my questions and help me make a plan.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I asked if she could recommend a good rental car that would be the closest and most time saving so we can get on the road to WDW right away. She basically to me to do some research online. Not one recommendation, she didn't even suggest places that have a presence on property. I don't know if I was expecting too much, should I only be asking her about the cruise itself?

Travel agents get a very small commission and only for things that they book and even sometimes, they get nothing for that. If my travel agent will get nothing out of researching something for me, I don't even ask her for advice unless I know that she has already been there and done whatever it is I am attempting to do. I suspect that your agent has no way of getting for booking rental cars and doesn't want to recommend something she knows nothing about. If she recommended something and it turned out horrible, she'd risk a backlash and also not be paid for any of her time in dealing with it. So, while you aren't expecting too much, it's just not something that you can count on in today's travel market.

 

[smiths02]

Not snarky at all.

To be honest, since I've never used one, I wasn't sure what I should be expecting from them, but I did expect a more timely response. We've just been finalizing all the needed information, and I was the one initiating every conversation with questions as to who my agent was and what else did they need.

I feel better knowing there really isn't much else we need to do now. Our room and dining time preference is already set, so we'll just keep researching and asking questions here until closer to sail date.

You know, now that I typed that, I guess I was hoping they would provide some of that kind of information....ports of call, tours, special things onboard that we might want to do, along with the costs for same. I know I can find all of it on my own, but having it come from them would have been easier.

I don't think you should have to double e-mail, but I'm not sure the response time you are giving the TA or how many e-mails you are sending?

I think you are expecting a little too much information this far out. My TA (not Dreams Unlimited) for Disneyworld would answer specific questions relatively far out. She was always on point when responding to payment and booking, but she didn't send me loads of information until it was close to 180 days for dining and 60 days for FP+. She had a little guide she sent about dining and park touring. That being said, I didn't really expect her to send me a novel about every little thing offered when I was a year out from my trip. Some of the information would change and not be set in stone, and the other information, I just expected to read my Unofficial Guide or DISboards.
Even if the TA or the company prepares a more specific briefing for each sailing, but it is hard to be specific at this point.