Discover Cruise Vacations - Informed Buyers

Cruise Travel Agent
vs
Internet Cruise Broker

What's the difference?

The difference is substantial and can make or break a vacation.

First, let's start with the Internet Cruise Broker. That would be one of the many online companies that offers unbelievably low prices on a cruise. In most all cases those are unbelievable prices because they are not accurate or do not fully represent what is being offered.

The first misleading expense is hidden fees. I call these Burried Fees because you have to dig to find them. They are there for all to see but you will find them most commonly toward the end of their "Terms of Service" , far after the boring text turned off the reader. Most all of these fees are not necessary and simply sometihng that Internet Cruise Broker has levied upon each buyer, should they fall into the trap.

One that can add up quickly are "change fees" where you may be charged $50 or $100 for name spelling corrections. In the past, the cruise lines DID charge this fee but it as been dropped for quite some time. If you see this fee it should be a red flag to pay special attention to the details before buying. Processing Fees are another one that runs up the price of the cruise and is often charged by Internet Cruise Brokers.

But if you can get past all the potential or actual junk fees charged the low price may still be a good one. Reason enough to buy from your Internet Cruise Broker?

No way! One of the biggest areas where Internet Cruise Brokers fail is what happens after the sale.

The job of almost all Internet Cruise Brokers stops once you pay.

They simply don't have time for you. To get those low prices they give up a good deal of their commission. They still have bills to pay so they rely on a huge volume of buisness to survive, often bending the rules or taking your money but not turning it over to the cruise line. Recently, I happened to visit www.CruiseValueCenter.com , one of the big Internet Cruise Broker's websites, to find they had shut down and were offering site visitors advice on how to recoup money they had paid. If that is not enough reason stay clear of an Internet Cruise Broker, I don't know what is.

I feel bad for those who may have had their vacation plans disrupted by the shut down of sites like that. This is a really good reason, one that savy travelers know, to concentrate on "Value" rather than simply "Price". Yes, that advertised price of $199 for a cruise sounds great initially. But in almost all cases the end price nears double that once port charges, taxes and fees that everyone pays are added in, not to mention optiona buried fees one might fall into.

The smart way to go is to find a Travel Agent who offers the best value, not the best price. Almost always, when all expenses are considered, the Travel Agent has the better value in the long run. And isn't that what really counts? A professional, certified cruise Travel Agent can be your friend in the business that provides a really necessary service, much like you might use an accountant to help with your finances. The business relationship between you and a Travel Agent is one of trust that is built over time. "Your" agent will come to know and take a personal interest in what is best for you. He or she will be constantly on guard of your vacation plans, taking advantage of special offers, using their behind the scenes contacts and daily up to date knowledge of the industry on your behalf.

The best part? This costs you nothing. Travel Agents are paid a commission by the cruise line. You truly have nothing to lose and everything to gain There are Travel Agents who are simply sales people and Travel Agents who offer a service that will offer you great value in the long run. And the long run is what you need to think of because you'll probably be cruising quite a bit in your lifetime

Here then are some simple ideas to consider when choosing between an Internet Cruise Broker and a Cruise Travel Agent:

Concentrate on Value, not Price- look at the whole picture
Always insist that your payments go directly to the cruise line- if they won't do that, go elsewhere
Carefully read the fine print- look for junk fees like change fees, cancellation fees, booking fees, etc. If you see them, run!
Always pay with a debit or credit card- the provide some protection if that Internet Cruise Broker goes broke and shuts down
Be sure they will honor any lower prices you qualify for. Most do not but ask the cruise line to lower the price anyway. They lower the price, regaining some or all of the commission they gave up to get you that initial low price.
Try emailing or calling them to ask a question and note the response time. This can be a real good indicator of how it will go after the sale

A closer look...

I received this common question from one of our group leaders.

"Chris: What answer do I give someone who says, " I found a better price for the cruise ($535.00) on a couple of sites." I have someone getting ready to register, but called me with this question. I recall you mentioning this before, but I forgot what you said. Please advise - Angela"

The short answer is, "You're wrong" but that is usually not enough and this will come up from time to time'

Most commonly they have found sites of Internet Cruise Brokers (bad word in the travel business. think "used car salesman")who misrepresent what they are offering or they are just looking at it wrong.

The next best answer is "Go ahead and go through the booking process where ever it is you found that price but just don't pay" They will have to do that to get to what the real price is on those sites.

But the best answer, one you could copy and paste into a reply to an email would be:

"You might want to check again, many of those sites commonly do not include the port charges, taxes and fees or their processing charges, document charges, shipping charges or booking fees (none of which you are paying). They also won't include the group benefits of a $100 onboard credit and one-hour open bar cocktail party. Our price is the lowest available unless you want to pay the full $250 per person deposit right now and use the Early Saver rate which Carnival guarantees to be the lowest. In turn, that deposit is non-refundable, no changes can be made to the booking after it is paid and it will not be eligible for the complementary cabin category upgrades we will get as a group."

When they go back and look beyond the attractive teaser rate they find that it is actually much higher about half the time and the other half of the time they find that rate is no longer available.

There is no way someone has a rate of $535 on this cruise. The Carnival Early Saver rate, again, guaranteed to be the lowest is $686 for an inside cabin. Your group rate is $726. Considering the onboard credit alone (take $50 off that $726) your group price is a better value. Add in just the cocktail party and convenience of NOT having to pay a Non-Refundable deposit of $250 up front for a cruise they won't sail on for more than a year plus the upgrades they will get being part of the group and the group is the best value. It always will be.

If the price actually did go down, you would get the lower price with the group. The price won't go down. This is a summer sailing and the price will go up. The only reason we got this price is because you planned this so far in advance. The cruise line rewards our forward thinking with a lower price. In fact, they are already bugging me about filling up those cabins we have on hold or giving them back. If we were to start this group today, the price would be $756 per person, an increase of $30 per person already.

The pricing objections you write about happen all the time and you can just have them call or email me if you want to. The explanation will mean more coming from you because they know you. For all they know I am just the crooked travel agent trying to pull one over on them. You, they know and trust.

Now the next thing that will be coming up is people who think they will wait to book and get a "last minute bargain". THIS is the one I just hate. This is almost always tragic and one of the few calls I dread getting. I get one or two on most groups from someone who waited until the last minute thinking they will be smarter than everyone else in the group and get a better deal. Most often we are long out of cabins by then and the prevailing rate is much higher than the group rate paid by those who booked in advance. On the phone I can just feel them going from an euphoric high when the call begins to a very low bad place by the end after they get the bad news.

I know that is a lot of information but this is going to come up again and I wanted you to have the full story. The best bet is to get back to those who ask this question as soon as possible. Otherwise they will tell others thinking they will be the big hero, saving everyone a lot of money that they can't really save them. The group cruise is always the best value and you are already the group hero for setting this up as you have.

Did that answer your question? Did any of that answer prompt other questions? Please let me know if so and what other questions come up along the way

Thanks!

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