Did You Book With A TA or Carnival?

[Luanne Russo]

We have always used a TA (Travel agent) Was curious about you.

Luanne

[Bobby_G]

When you say 'TA - Travel Agent' are you including online cruise services such as bestpricecruises, cruisemates, ecruises, etc. ?

[Luanne Russo]

Yes, they are your TA. Other way would be to book through Carnival.

[Gail F]

I have always booked with a travel agent, until, my upcoming cruise in February, I booked with a Carnival pvp, I have been so very happy with her, and will never go anyplace again, I have already received one call from her to let me know my price of my cruise went down, and she adjusted the bill. I never would have known.
I have also called her for a few silly things, and I had returned calls within 10 min.
My travel agent would take a few days to get back to me, and sometimes never., so I am hooked on my new gal.

[linuxpm]

I did Carnival.

Brian

[Bobby_G]

Originally Posted by Luanne Russo

Yes, they are your TA. Other way would be to book through Carnival.

[Potter]

We booked two with Carnival PVP and loved her, and she was great with getting the price down and onboard credit. I would call her alot and she never was put out!! The next one I did go thru Vacations to Go, we got a price even Carnival couldn't beat on the Liberty 6 day. The only thing is it had to be payed for right away. Hope all works out. I will always try Carnival first. Hope this helps, Lynn

[maxibluz]

TA first time and a Carnival PVP this time. She is nice....and answers all my questions promptly. She helped me upgrade to balcony....Yipeee

[papa2cool]

We had talked with a Carnival PVP, but the local travel agency here in Madisonville beat Carnivals price by $150, so we went with her. Also, TA let us break the deposit up into two payments!

Dewayne

[FlowerMom]

I booked through Carnival, but Travelocity has a better map of where the staterooms are located. It's also easier to flip between the decks of the ship to see what is above and below each stateroom.

[maxibluz]

Did you use T T papa2cool? I am from Madisonville (live in NC). My son is wanting to go to Cancun and I sent him to TT there. He hasn't gotten back to me yet.

[papa2cool]

Yes, Maxibluz, we went to the local TA . The other couple we are going with had booked with them before. Hey, next time you are passing through Madisonville tune the radio in to 97.7 between 4 - 9pm and you will get to hear me! I use Christopher Lee Wayne on the air. Work in a factory during the day and part time at Oldies 97 in the evening. Love it!

Dewayne

[Luanne Russo]

Guys,''

Just a little word of warning. I didn't mean for everyone to say their Travel agents name. It is sort of rude for us to advertise when others pay Cruisemates to advertise. What you can say, is which you use,(TA or Carnival) and then say how you liked or didn't like it. if you don't mind, go back to your own post, and hit the edit button on the top right. This will give you a chance to delete any names of TA's

Thanks,

Luanne

[papa2cool]

OOOps So very sorry. I didn't think. Actually, it hurts when I do that.

[skymaster]

Hey Bobby G. You can get the military rate from your TA as well. Be sure to tell him or her that that's what you want, and be aware that sometimes it's not available. It's turned off and on as Carnival fills up the ship, but once again, a good TA will monitor that for you, and advise you when it's available.
Back to the topic at hand, I've always used a TA, except the last cruise I booked. My TA is a small agency, and she is always there, or has someone take her calls when she isn't. I couldn't get in touch with her, and saw an excellent price on the cruise I wanted, so I booked it with the Carnival PVP, then transferred it to her, upon her return. (she was stranded in Cozumel,,,bumped off her flight!) When I transferred it, she gave me a savings of over $50. (she always meets, and very often BEATS the Carnival price)

See y'all aboard,

Ken

[Deakon]

I did my research online for the best price I could find and the travel agent has a deal that they will beat any online price by 5%...

[Floridanamaw]

I've booked both of mine with a PVP. I researched the last one and found a really good rate then talked to my PVP and he was able to beat it by a little bit.

[Fern]

We have a wonderful TA! Her company usually gets us not only the best price, but also an OBC! She's a pleasure to work with and, as a Cruise Specialist, she knows all about the cruise lines. She knows enough about us to what we'd like and what we wouldn't care for.

I wouldn't trade her for anything !

[Pamulla]

We booked the Freedom 4.7.2007 through Travelocity. The price was almost $1000 cheaper than Expedia or Carneval.

My question is: if you book through Carnival and the tix go out to the online agents with cheaper prices, do you get the benefit of that price or do you have to monitor and make a claim?

[Thoth]

I utilize the expertise of my friendly neighborhood travel agent.

[adias.angel]

Used a PVP for last two. Attempted to switch current booking to a TA that everyone said was good but found communication lacking. Will attempt to use a TA perhaps for our Europe cruise next summer. Carla

[Greg72]

We use a local travel agent , partly because we like to keep all of our monetary activity local ....but it also doesn't hurt that she is darn good at her job.

[visusie]

I know what you mean by TA but what exactly is PVP? I hate to sound so stoopid- D'oH! anyway, I booked through Carnival direct the last two times. The first time I booked through a local TA and the 2nd time through an online place.

[jarhead]

T/A If I have any questions I can always stop by the office, or better yet ask on this site. Good way to save on gas.

[Dorothy]

I use a local TA for two reasons, one of which I haven't seen mentioned in this post:

1. I really like her and her office is 2 minutes from my house (no waiting on those docs to be mailed!); and

2. My TA works for me. PVP's work for Carnival. Although I know that lots and lots of people are happy with PVP's, but they still, ultimately, work for the cruiseline and therefore their loyalty is to Carnival.

Hopefully it would never come into play for most of us, but I know several people who have needed the help of a TA to go to bat for them with a cruiseline over a mistake. I understand that TA's make mistakes, too, so I guess I'm lucky that mine gives such good service and always has the best rate.

PVP is personal vacation planner.

dorothy

[dottiel]

We also use a local TA and always will when we travel.

She fought tooth and nail to get us back from HI to OK when my dad died. I honestly doubt a stranger from an online company would have done the same for us.