1. Pay With a Credit Card - pay both the initial deposit, and your final payments with a credit card.

- paying with a credit card offers protection between the customer and the retailer (in every circumstance)

- be certain your credit card payment is billed directly to the account of the cruise line. You can check this with online access to your credit card account.

2. Assuming you’ve followed Step #1, within 24 hrs. the travel agent should send you your cruise line booking reservation code (either by mail or email).

- you can then verify your booking confirmation on the cruise line’s web site.

The two simple steps above are all that is required to allow you to feel safe, knowing your booking is officially on the cruise line’s books.

For example, if you use a credit card to purchase a home appliance, and while you’re waiting for delivery the retailer closes it’s doors, having paid by credit card, the credit card company protects your purchase price should the retailer be unable to deliver the appliance. The Credit Card Company becomes your advocate and your protection.

And advocacy on your behalf is what I believe is a major component of a good travel agent’s job. Anyone can sell us a cruise. It’s what actions follow that separate the good agents from those who just happen to be working at that job.

The majority of those working for the cruise lines booking centers know very little about their products, having sailed on few, if any, of the line’s products. There’s no minimum training required of them, as there is for those who earn the CLIA designations of Cruise Councillor, or better yet Master Cruise Councillor.

Booking directly with a representative of the cruise line may make you feel more secure in your booking, but the simple fact is they work for the cruise line! So, while booking with them, you’re not only going to be paying the “blue book price”, if something goes wrong during your cruise, you return, with no advocate (other than yourself), to carry your issues to the cruise line.

 

Booking with a less illusive than you think GREAT travel agent, will almost certainly save you money on the cost of the cruise, or at the very least earn you an Onboard Credit (for shipboard spending)… and if the situation arises that warrants advocacy on your part, your travel agent is there to work for you.

But, no matter who you chose to trust to handle your cruise bookings, it’s imperative to follow steps 1. And 2, which I described above, but which are so important I’ll repeat them

2. Assuming you’ve followed Step #1, within 24 hrs. the travel agent should send you your cruise line booking reservation code (either by mail or email), and NOT their own agency confirmation number!!

- you can then verify your booking confirmation on the cruise line’s web site. And you should do so as soon as possible.

For whatever reason there are those people who want to make partial payments against their cruise accounts along the way. Rather than put any of that money at any risk, I highly recommend you make those payments directly into a separate cruise savings account at a bank, where you’ll earn at least some interest. And when your final payments are due, make those payments on your credit card, and withdraw the funds from that cruise savings account and pay off the balance of your credit card.

You may feel better giving it to the cruise lines, knowing you are slowly owing them less, but there’s no benefits (and some dangers) allowing them to earn interest on your monies, rather than collecting it for yourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related posts:

1. Ships Need Protection from Pirates Fighting pirates was one of the first challenges the United...
2. What’s Behind Cruiser’s Cruise Line Loyalty? These days, in most cases when boarding a ship you’ll...
3. When is a Travel Agent A Travel Agent? There seems to be wide spread confusion over what/who is...
4. Cruise Buyers Get the Shaft  About 2 years ago there was a revolution in the...
5. Shore Excursions are a Profit Center Not an Amenity for Passengers Originally when cruise ships began offering shore excursions for their...