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luvmytbear
Casual Cruiser
| Joined: | Tue Aug 28th, 2007 |
| Location: | Iowa USA |
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Posted: Thu Sep 6th, 2007 07:57 pm | 1st Post |
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I booked our first and second cruise through a local TA. She's really great, but I see a lot of posts about people finding all these great deals that include OBC, upgrades and such and I want to make sure I'm not left out in the dark! :)
Where do all these fabulous deals tend to pop up? Are you using online booking sites, local TAs or booking through the cruiseline directly? I'm sorry for all the questions but I'm new to crusing and I would love to be able to learn how to do the booking on my own and save a few bucks in the process!
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Lora
First cruise, Wedding and Honeymoon
Carnival Destiny 12/30/07
Next up, Cruisin' with the Kids!
Carnival Inspiration 1/12/09
I might be a little bit loco, but it keeps me from losing my mind.
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planersedge
Charter Member
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Posted: Thu Sep 6th, 2007 08:28 pm | 2nd Post |
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OBC's are usually included with special booking promotions. Your TA should have access to all of the promotions information.
Upgrades, or upsells, happen later in the process usually 2-3 weeks before sailing. Upsell calls are totally random in who gets them.
True booking on your own cannot be done. Unless of course you mean booking directly with your cruise line and not dealing with a TA. You probably won't save money that way because the cruise lines have commisions built into their pricing. I have gotten the same exact price from NCL as I have gotten from a TA.
PE
Last edited on Thu Sep 6th, 2007 08:30 pm by planersedge
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18 NCL cruises
25 cruises overall
next up NCL Pearl 4/4/08
after tht NCL Dawn 11/2/08 Repo Redux
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Catnip
Charter Member
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Posted: Thu Sep 6th, 2007 08:35 pm | 3rd Post |
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I know a lot of folks use on-line agencies, or even the on-line "mega" agencies, in order to get a lower price on their cruise. I myself have use an on-line pretty big cruise discounter twice before (years ago) without a lot of problems.
However, I prefer to use either a local TA, or an agent I know of personally, or someone has recommended to me. Saving a few buks on a cruise isn't really worth it to me, to have to check behind them, wonder if they did things right, etc. I like having the same agent to speak with whenever I call them. I like the fact that the agent would most likely go to bat for me, if any problesm arose.
I think that if you can find a really good TA that you trust and you feel comfortbale with, that's worth the small amount you may save with one of those mega-cruise brokers.
Last edited on Thu Sep 6th, 2007 08:36 pm by Catnip
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hstrybuf
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| Joined: | Sat Jun 17th, 2006 |
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Posted: Fri Sep 7th, 2007 07:10 pm | 4th Post |
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| I much prefer to go with a TA that is recommended by others. The TA I used for several years passed away last year and the TA I'm with for my October cruise is handling a CC group. I'm not having the best experience with this TA so will be looking at someone else to take my business for my future bookings.
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GREGandamy
Super Cruiser
| Joined: | Wed Mar 7th, 2007 |
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Posted: Sat Sep 8th, 2007 02:01 am | 5th Post |
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The TA I use is also a client of mine, so it's mutually beneficial.
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luvmytbear
Casual Cruiser
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Posted: Sun Sep 9th, 2007 05:50 am | 6th Post |
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Wow and I thought I was missing something big! It sounds like I'm doing it all right. My TA is really good so if I am missing some big promotion I'd be shocked. I'll make sure to keep my eyes on price drops and such just in case though.
Thank you for your replies!
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Lora
First cruise, Wedding and Honeymoon
Carnival Destiny 12/30/07
Next up, Cruisin' with the Kids!
Carnival Inspiration 1/12/09
I might be a little bit loco, but it keeps me from losing my mind.
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