Thread: Recommended travel agents

Sorry if I have stepped on toes of TAs here.

1. You do not get something for nothing
2. What is important to one person might be unimportant to a second
3. All evaluations are subjective
4. All of the travel agents who post here contribute to the forums
5. Negative comments about the travel agents who post here is against the philosophy of the board. We strive to keep a friendly atmosphere and such negativism will cause resentment and can start bad feelings.

As a TA i appreciate your honesty Pete, there are so many misconceptions about TA's....we charge more, we're scammers, we make a ton of money, etc. When it boils down to it, it's more a labor of love than anything else. I'm a full-time TA but if i said i could support my family off my earnings there would be a lot of peanut butter and jelly and ramen noodles in our future.

Like anything in life, there are good and bad, but it's dependent on so many things...it's hard to say because what works for you might not work for someone else. That being said, I believe there is a standard of service that's to be expected from a TA, and certainly not all of them provide that. Most agency's have websites and places you can look up their agents, read about them, see what their clients are saying about them, etc. You could also simply do a google search with the agency name and see what comes up.

People are always willing to voice their opinion when they don't get what they want, so i'm sure there are plenty of bad reviews, but look for the good one's. People are a lot less likely to take the time to sit down and write something when they're happy instead of mad (it's sad, I know). Read the good reviews and see WHY those people liked their agent...was it b/c they sent them free stuff? Was it because they responded to all of their questions in a timely manner? Did they listen well? Look for things that are important to YOU. If you feel uneasy in your first cruise experience you want someone who's going to be available to answer the million questions you're going to have and not make you feel silly or less important than anyone else. At the end of the day it's still YOUR vacation, if you find an agent that doesn't respect your vacation expectations, then that agent isn't for you.

I had a bad experience booking my honeymoon through a large agency, they offered a great on board credit but the minute i paid i never heard from my TA again. As a first time cruiser and overwhelmed bride i was appauled and very, very hurt and I felt very used. We ended up really enjoying our cruise and that experience is what made me pursue my dream of becoming an agent. So, all's well that ends well but at the end of the day the bottom line is this....If it's important to you, it should be important to your TA. It doesn't matter if it's what time your dinner is, or what kind of shampoo they are going to give you onboard...if it's important to you, it should be important to your agent.

A vacation is a personal thing, it takes your time and your hard earned money and it needs to be taken seriously. When you hire a TA you're putting your cherished vacation in their hands so choose someone you feel comfortable with, and someone you feel values your trip as much as you do. I can assure you, we're not all in it for the money and beware of the "$1 million on board credit!!!!" (ok not quite that much but you know what i mean) because "if it seems to good to be true...." Happy sailing!

Originally Posted by PixieMichele

As a TA i appreciate your honesty Pete, there are so many misconceptions about TA's....we charge more, we're scammers, we make a ton of money, etc. When it boils down to it, it's more a labor of love than anything else. I'm a full-time TA but if i said i could support my family off my earnings there would be a lot of peanut butter and jelly and ramen noodles in our future.

Like anything in life, there are good and bad, but it's dependent on so many things...it's hard to say because what works for you might not work for someone else. That being said, I believe there is a standard of service that's to be expected from a TA, and certainly not all of them provide that. Most agency's have websites and places you can look up their agents, read about them, see what their clients are saying about them, etc. You could also simply do a google search with the agency name and see what comes up.

People are always willing to voice their opinion when they don't get what they want, so i'm sure there are plenty of bad reviews, but look for the good one's. People are a lot less likely to take the time to sit down and write something when they're happy instead of mad (it's sad, I know). Read the good reviews and see WHY those people liked their agent...was it b/c they sent them free stuff? Was it because they responded to all of their questions in a timely manner? Did they listen well? Look for things that are important to YOU. If you feel uneasy in your first cruise experience you want someone who's going to be available to answer the million questions you're going to have and not make you feel silly or less important than anyone else. At the end of the day it's still YOUR vacation, if you find an agent that doesn't respect your vacation expectations, then that agent isn't for you.

I had a bad experience booking my honeymoon through a large agency, they offered a great on board credit but the minute i paid i never heard from my TA again. As a first time cruiser and overwhelmed bride i was appauled and very, very hurt and I felt very used. We ended up really enjoying our cruise and that experience is what made me pursue my dream of becoming an agent. So, all's well that ends well but at the end of the day the bottom line is this....If it's important to you, it should be important to your TA. It doesn't matter if it's what time your dinner is, or what kind of shampoo they are going to give you onboard...if it's important to you, it should be important to your agent.

A vacation is a personal thing, it takes your time and your hard earned money and it needs to be taken seriously. When you hire a TA you're putting your cherished vacation in their hands so choose someone you feel comfortable with, and someone you feel values your trip as much as you do. I can assure you, we're not all in it for the money and beware of the "$1 million on board credit!!!!" (ok not quite that much but you know what i mean) because "if it seems to good to be true...." Happy sailing!

You hit the nail on the head, Michele! A good agent will always be there for the client--- and that's sums it all up.

Some very interesting comments here about TAs. I do think its wise to stray away from the good/bad list, because as others have said, the experience that one person has from their TA is completely subjective.

I'd like to think that here at Cruise Nation, we aim to provide the most suitable deal based on the customers requirements. Of course, as a company, we need to make a profit, but if we can provide a better holiday for a customer at a lower margin, then that's what we'd do. At the end of the day, it makes complete sense to make sure the customer has the best possible experience on their holiday, and they might just come back and book with us again!

Cruise Planner Great answer, Only been in the bussiness 5 years as a home based agent and every thing you have said is true.

Quite simply, in general it costs a client no more to use a Travel Agent. If there is a small fee being charged by a Travel Agent, rest assured the fee is barely covering the time and effort expended by the Travel Agent. Find one you trust and stick with him or her. Working with a Travel Agent is like building any other relationship. The relationship must be nurtured and built over time. If you are not happy with the service (or lack of it) . . .move on. The Travel Agency business is not a high margin business. The fact that the margins are low is evidenced by the tremendous decline in existing Travel Agencies.

I always shopped around and never used TA's because of bad experiences with them. Recently I found out a friend of mine is a cruise specialist TA, so after shopping around I called her and she gave me the same savings I found I gave her the business. As long as she was close I would give her the business and will in the future, but I will know what the price should be before calling her.