For anyone new to a cruise vacation, there are plenty of options to consider, and not all of them are super obvious. When it comes to travel advisors, a lot of readers are surprised to hear how important they can be for just about anyone.
The travel advisor industry has changed a lot over the years, and while other sectors of travel have seen a fundamental shift in booking things on your own, the cruise industry leans heavily on travel advisors because cruise vacations are not "a dime a dozen".
A good travel advisor provides so much value and service, and they are an invaluable component to many seasoned cruisers.
You might be surprised to learn a few very important things about using a travel advisor, and how they can greatly benefit your vacation.
They cost you nothing extra but their professional fees!
Before I talk about any other benefit a travel advisor provides, you should know any good travel advisor charges you a professional fee for their services.
Travel advisors are paid a commission by the cruise line, which comes out of the cruise line's bottom line, and is not charged to you.
When you book a cruise, make changes, re-price, and cancel a cruise, these are all activities that the agency provides for no charge.
If you run across an agency that does change fees, I would recommend challenging them on it or simply taking your business elsewhere.
Travel agents can get access to lower cruise prices
In addition to the prices of a cruise you see online, travel agents have access to a variety of other ways to save their client's money.
Many people mistakenly believe travel advisors are just middlemen and women, who take your information and book the same cruise for the same price you can see online.
It is not unusual for travel advisors to discover special group rates that have lower pricing, lower pricing based on residency or occupation, or even special rates offered to a consortium of travel agencies.
Individual agencies may have groups set up for specific sailings, and there is no reason they cannot add you to that group and take advantage of lower prices.
In short, there are a lot of ways travel advisors can get you a lower price than you can find online. While they cannot always get you a lower price, they have access to far more opportunities to save you money than booking on your own.
Travel advisors can reprice when there is a price drop
One of my favorite things a good travel advisor can do is take advantage of a price drop and save you money.
For residents of certain countries (United States, Canada, select Caribbean countries, et al), if you are before the final payment date, you can re-price your cruise if the price goes down. This entails contacting Royal Caribbean to re-price the booking, and a travel advisor can do it all for you.
Not only can they save you time by doing this, but some advisors will also periodically check on their client's bookings if there is a new sale and see if they can get their clients a better rate.
Travel advisors can book casino rates
If you gamble enough in Royal Caribbean's Casino Royale, you might be eligible for significant cruise fare discounts through the Casino Royale program. Travel advisors can book most of these rates for you.
By booking with a travel advisor, you can take advantage of the great service they provide, as well as the lower rates. It is a win-win.
Create a group for your friends and family
If a cruise vacation for your family, friends, high school reunion, or any other group sounds like a great idea, your first step should be to work with a travel advisor.
A travel advisor can set up a group with Royal Caribbean that can possibly save money or get you special perks back. Moreover, the travel agent can handle the logistical issues of payments, price adjustments, and answering common questions.
You love your family and enjoy spending time with your friends, but reminding Aunt Kathy to make the final payment or figuring out if your bestie's 7-year-old son needs a passport is not something you need or should be worried about. A travel advisor can handle all of that for you, for no extra cost.
Provide help when there are issues
If I did not think it would be extremely gaudy, I would highlight and add red siren gifs to this point, because I think it is the most important thing a travel advisor does that many cruisers are completely unaware of when deciding on using an advisor or not.
In these days of policy changes, future cruise credits, and fear of what may come tomorrow, travel advisor is invaluable because they are the ones that will spend hours and hours with the cruise line to sort out these issues.
Even if there is not a global health crisis, things happen on a cruise. Errors in a reservation, mechanical issues in a stateroom, hurricanes, and a great deal of other unforeseen situations can occur. If they do, having a travel advisor means you have someone in your corner fighting for you and taking care of the details.
They are the person that goes back and forth with Royal Caribbean on your behalf, offers options to you, and more.
With global cruise suspensions, travel advisors can help make sense of the refunds you get back, make requests for refunds or future cruise credits, and more. It is not uncommon for the hold times with the cruise line to take a very long time, but a travel advisor can be the one dealing with that.
During hurricane season, a travel agent can assist if your vacation is impacted by changing flight plans or excursions.
Set up payment plans
One of the most requested options from anyone booking a cruise is a way to pay off the cruise over time, and travel advisor can take payments along the way leading up to your final payment date.
Not only does this save you from not having to call in to make a payment, but they can do it automatically for you.
By:
Matt Hochberg
