Thread: Can ALL TA get rock bottom prices on cruises when they open up?

I ask this because I know of a TA that has a pretty steady group that travels with her and she gets cruises as they open and grabs at least 30 cabins and then throws the cruise out there for others to jump on. I'm on one now that leaves in 7 weeks. Her prices for those cabins stayed until the final deposits were collected. But I jumped on this cruise a year after she orignally booked it and got the same prices as everyone else. This I think is phenominal, but does anyone else do this????

If I had gone through the cruise site itself when I booked I would have paid $300 more per person for our room!!!

Hi, Sally:

If a travel agent/cruise specialist thinks they can sell a group of cabins, they'll contact the cruise line as soon as sailing opens up to get a good group pricing and then offer it to everyone at that price.

If the ship is selling well, then the cruise line will increase the prices except to those who are already locked in, i.e. the group. Obviously, this makes the group pricing look even better. And once a group has been established, then anyone can book into that group at that pricing no matter how long the group has been available as long as cabins are still secured and available.

If however, the ship is not selling well, then they may decrease their pricing to stimulate sales. In this case, the travel agent needs to try and renegotiate the pricing, since individual pricing may be around the same or even less than the group pricing.

On occasion, I've actually seen group pricing that was more than individual pricing telling me that the person responsible for the group hasn't done their work properly.

I've also seen where someone wants to get into the group and all of the original cabins alloted for the group were sold out. They are often able to add more cabins to the group, but sometimes it'll be at the going rate, which could be higher than the original offering.

It also can depend on the cruise line - some will discount more for groups than others. For example, Carnival offers good group rates, Princess only slightly good, and RCCL often is not that good.

Also, the travel agent/cruise specialist can use the amenity points they get for the group to help lower the rate. They can also use the Tour Credits (TC's) to lower the rate or use this to help pay for their own cruise.

There are just so many variables to determine the group pricing and not any one way is better than another. It's really up to the person organizing the group and how they want to price it out and then market it.

Hope this helps.

Pete

Pete.. THANK YOU!!!!!!!! That is exactly what I needed to know. I've only been seeing this one TA get the great prices.. and I wondered if she was doing something different, or if it was just that she had a following and that helped her out. Maybe both.

We are looking at 2 cruises for the future.. and Carnival seems to be the best for rates. One is for Alaska out of Seattle and one is for Bermuda out of Boston or NY (no airfare needed for that). So far we have 8 cabins interested in what we come up with. ALaska is thought for 2009. Bermuda for 2008. Keep that in mind, ok?

Right now Hawaii is putting us WAY over budget, so we have some Creditcard to pay off before we move on either one. BUT, if you come up with a deal we can't pass up, you KNOW we'll put a deposit down. ha ha

OH and on both... we prefer summer time. Dylan is getting into higher grades by then and we have to watch the school he misses.

If your main company has any group cruises going on for either of these where we could get in on the group rate.. let us know.

Thanks Pete!!!

My host currently has 15,000 cabins held in group space, throughout the different cruiselines, dates, itineraries ... etc. They tend to grab them when the open up.

Different cruiselines work groups differently. Carnival and NCL tend to give lower prices...RCI tends to have the same price as in ind. reservations, as they feel the amenities and "free berth" are enough...Princess...gives the group rates...anyone that tries to book ind. if the rate is less gets the lower rate and gets automatically added to the group on that sailing for amenities. If prices go down, I call and renegotiate the pricing...the only time when this is particulary a grey area is after final payment is made (they tend to give on board credits) and if the cruiselines offer a special and in the fine print it states "new bookings only"

The earlier the TA holds the group space once pricing is released...the better the pricing and amenities.

Dolores, ah duh, your host? What does that mean please?

It means she has a host agency. A large conglamorant that she works for. Her host agency would take a percentage of her commissions. This is how a home based agent works.

A Host Agency has the credentials that the home based agent requires.

A host agency is the Agnecy Affiliation...there are many out there. I think there is a thread on this somewhere. There are 4,000 + agents with the one I am with. All hosts are different, offering more or less than others. They provide E & O insurance, training programs for specializations, etc. Soon, I will be mentoring people getting into the business...Hosts offer different programs, which cost different fees, or a split of the commissions...not all agents split commissions, some pay a small yearly fee, which essentially covers their insurance and administrative fees...website etc.

Originally Posted by Cruisin Angel

If I had gone through the cruise site itself when I booked I would have paid $300 more per person for our room!!!

I've seen a TA grab group space early where the going rate turned out to be $1000 more (per person!) close to sail date for a South American itinerary. The smart ones know which itineraries will typically increase in value every year.

We also have a host agency in which there are over 570 agents. And we also pre-book group space to the tune of over 30,000 a year. That's the one good thing of belonging to a host agency. You get all the benefits of a big company with all the quality and service of a small home-based business. What we like to think is the best of both worlds.

As for groups, some TA's will grab space and then try to sell it. Others will wait until a group comes to them and then they'll grab the space. Keep in mind that sometimes discount group space is not available on some of the most popular ships and itineraries. The cruise line can fill up the ship at full price, so they don't need to offer discount space. Conversly, if you want to go during low season, then cruise lines will offer better discounts and amenities for groups to stimulate sales.

I'm familiar with the TA you mentioned and what she does is book group space as soon as it becomes available and then advertises it so she can sell it. She has a large group interested in her cruises, so it makes it relatively easy for her to get a small group together. And since she doesn't have to share the amenities or TC's with anyone, she can use them to help lower the price even more. This works great for her. But keep in mind that this particular TA does not have her own agency - she is actually an associate for someone else.

As for groups to Alaska, my personal opinion is that you may get good rates with Carnival, but you get better ships and food with Royal or Princess. Of course, if you don't have kids going and don't mind an older crowd, then you really can't beat Holland or Celebrity.

If you want, I can send you Alaska DVD's on these four - Carnival doesn't have one.

Pete

Absolutely, Please do Pete!!!