It's Cruise Planning Time! Should You Hire A Travel Agent?
By Me. - October 03, 2019
{ photo taken by me in March 2019 }
I remember when I made the decision that I was going to go on a Cruise. I looked around on different websites which leaded to Travel Agents contacting me. At first being a little intimidated by the thought of booking my own Cruise for my family, I had doubts about my ability to do so. I started wondering should I consider a Travel Agent until I started doing some research, and joining groups too on Facebook really helped as well.
Now what I am about to say is in no way meant to be disrespectful towards all of the wonderful Travel Agents. I just want to help people save money.
I'm someone who have the time. So if you have time then you may want to consider booking your own Cruise. Many people who use Travel Agents usually don't have the time and/or traveling with a large group and looking for extra perks. If you're a group, I do recommend you either contact a Personal Vacation Planner or Travel Agent. But, if you're just a small family or couple, you can honestly just book yourself and still save money. You just need to know when to book and how close to book to your sailing.
When I booked my first Cruise, I made an account directly with Carnival.com and the fun began. As someone who's always looking for deals I already knew I was looking way too soon, so I checked back on Carnival.com a few times a month, and I never gave in to the "last 24 hour sale". It'll be back, don't worry. I must warn you though, when playing this cat and mouse game for a good deal, you may notice the date you're looking at will disappear, which may mean the Cruise is booked, or they're trying to fill up another date and it'll be back later. Always be prepared to have to book another date just in case. It happened to me and after I booked another date, the original date I was looking at came back almost a week later but it was higher as well.
I booked a month in advance and to me I got a good deal for a balcony for two people. We paid around $1,065.00 for a 3 day Cruise to the Bahama's on the Carnival Liberty. I made sure to read the site really good before booking too, and I think that's what a lot of people really make a mistake at and feel they need a Travel Agent to answer their questions, when all of your answers are literally on the website, and if there's something you don't understand you can always call the Cruise-line directly.
So when it comes down to if you should you hire a Travel Agent, it's up to you. Like I mentioned above, if you're a big group that's Cruising, then you may want to consider a Personal Vacation Planner or Travel Agent. If you don't have the time, then you may also want to consider a Personal Vacation Planner or Travel Agent. Some people may even look to bundle everything from Flight, Hotel and Shuttle and just don't feel like planning all of that, but for me it was easy since we drove and I personally booked our hotel with a friends and family rate, so if you have a friend or family who work at a major hotel like the Marriott or Hilton, then don't be afraid to ask them to hook you up with the F&F link. I also found us Parking and Shuttle to and from the Port for $46.00 and it was literally 15 minutes from Port Canaveral. So this is what I mean by if you have time and good at planning things, you can literally book your own Cruise.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER
- If you're a large group or don't have time, hire a professional.
- Read, read and read before you book. They have an information section that covers everything from passport information, required documents and so on. If you don't understand something you can always contact the Cruise-line directly.
- Book atleast a month in advance for the best deal. You will have to pay in full by then just so you know, but it's worth it.
- Fly in or drive in the day before, not the day of if you're traveling by air or driving from long distance.
- Don't forget to print out your luggage tags and anything else they say to print. If you don't have a printer, go to the Library or to a friend/family house.
- For good parking other than the parking garage, for Port Canaveral I used goportcanveral.com, you can also ask in Facebook groups for other Ports.
- Always book your excursions through the Cruise-line.
- Download the HUB app for Carnival Cruise-line or the appropriate APP for the Cruise-line you're sailing with.
If I missed anything or if there's an error, feel free to let me know. If you would like to add something helpful, feel free to do so in the comment section.
0 comments