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Actually, cruise lines don't allow 'discounting' by directly using the commission. But they will look the other way if an agent were to use their own credit card to pay for some of the cruise thereby allowing the client to pay less for their cruise. In affect, they are discounting the price, but doing it in a manner that is not allowed by some cruise lines and frowned upon by others, but they tend to look the other way.
Even RCCL, who does not allow discounting, allows the agent to provide onboard credit and other items as incentives. For example, an agent can advertise that gratuities will be paid for or travel insurance will be provided free of charge. So while it's not technically considered discounting, an agent is still offering something that will lower the overall costs to the client. Call it what you will, but to me, this is still discounting.
It's a fine line, but as Dolores said, most reputable agents work very hard to insure their clients get the best possible service, which can often save the client alot of money in the long run. For the most part, cruise lines require all of us to advertise the same cruise for the same price, so it boils down to service. Cruise lines, online sites, and discounters cannot afford to spend the extra time looking for specials that will lower your rate because it will lower their commission.
And most reputable agents will not charge a booking fee and/or a cancellation fee for individual reservations. If they do, find another agent. (Most, inlcuding me, will have such fees for groups, especially large groups due to the extra time, effort, and expense involved.) But there should be no 'extra' fees for booking. These extra fees can only be paid for with check/cash or by credit card. And if they agency is charging them by credit card, they are doing the charging, not the cruise lines. This can cause major problems and has resulted in many bad stories in the press because of agencies going bankrupt and not delivering the services. And one other item; if an agent does not sell RCCL, that tells you alot about their agency since RCCL has banned some of the MLM (multi-layer marketing or pyramid) companies from selling their product.
I'm not saying all discounters are bad, I have some good friends who are discounters. But they have to sell more in order to make the same commission, so they tend to be more sells oriented than service oriented.
Pete
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