Why?

[Trip]

Rose, insurance is so important,and a good deal is something we all covet. Glad you got one...We always advise to not by any cruiseline insurance.

Last summer we bought some insurance from an online flash sale,for $8.00, and had to use it in March, when were disembarked off the Epic in St Thomas. Just the nurse they flew in, for our return flight ws $9,000!!!!

Now that was a deal I will never forget!

[Gene C]

Originally Posted by Trip

With so many new Carnival devotees, as part of CruiseMates now, I would like to ask a question, which we have bandied about for years now, booking with Carnival, or booking with a travel agent.

It seems to me, there is no other cruise line, that has more people booking directly,and I wonder why the draw?

What does the cruise line give you, that a good travel agent wouldn't do for you, and more? Being an advocate for any issue that might arise, vs, in many cases, just an order taker, that sometimes has never cruised. I asked that question of one years ago,and was surprised to hear she had never cruised.

So, always with Carnival...always a TA, or either or....

My first cruise I booked online thru SMARTCRUISER and to tell the truth it was a bumpy ride yes I got an awesome discount,but yes theres a but,I never seemed to get the same rep even calling their extension,and got different answers to the same questions and they coud have been a little more polite.I finally stumbled on Joe he was great took care of everthig then about 3 months b4 cruise coincidentally after I made final payment call in to ask a question and no time and no returned calls. When I started planning my next cruise I started with them but by this time no discounts so rather than put up with them I called Carnival direct and they were great,so on and so on.Now I just go thru the search engine shopping around till I see something I like at a price I like and then call and book telling them which cabin I want(I do thisway because I don't like to put my CC info on computer.)I also think that the people at Crnival will be nicer and easier to work with because it is a direct line t corp vs TA don't seem to care as much.

[OKGIRL]

I just call the 800 # and book with who ever answers the phone. I'm a very experienced cruiser and know exactly what I want, but at times the booking engine doesn't show me the cabin that I want, so it's just easier to pick up the phone and have access to everything.

Then I can submit my own ES forms, and if I do have a question I can call 24/7 to have it answered. I tried the PVP thing a few times but got frustrated with them not being available when I was needing them.

[BigMac]

This is a timely thread for me. I just booked a cruise with a PVP.

I shopped for a local TA first but, that was the trick, I would like local person to deal with. Internet based is fine for some people.. but then why not the PVP.
I hear the same complaint about a TA as I do a PVP, availability. If I had a local person and I wanted them to be available I could go to their office and wait them out. Thats very hard to do on the phone.

[jlauntz]

I book with a T/A. I like to support a local business when possible.

[averrette]

We have been on 8 cruises and have booked all but the first one with the same PVP at Carnival. I can NEVER get in touch with him. I leave him messages and email him but I never hear back. Its just luck of the draw if I ever actually get to talk to him. And if I really really need something, the other PVP can only answer questions for me, they can't make changes or anything. So........ I don't know if booking thru Carnival is any better than booking thru a TA.

[Barryn514]

Used a TA twice and I could not see that I got a better deal. I looked at the cruise line website prior to call a TA and the price was the same.

Never had a problem with booking through CCL but always do it with talking to someone and not booking through their site.