Who’s the best USA Travel Agent

[Bats]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

Yes.with the assistance of DIBBERS, you will be able to plan and get exactly what you want, whilst in probability saving a good deal of money. The information that any travel agent relies on is just as available to you as it is to them.

Why pay commission to a ‘middle man’ , when you can do it yourself?

If nothing else, a parallel researched dummy booking with good you a very good idea of what you should expect to pay for the vacation that you want through a TA. Knowledge is power and it is not as if you would enter a car showroom without a very good idea of what is the right amount to pay for a car. You may even prefer your DIY effort!

See more...

You don't pay any commission to a US TA, the price is the same if you book direct or use a TA (or should be). Whilst I understand and somewhat agree with your comments regarding exchange rates, having someone else sit on the phone for hours on opening day is worth its weight in gold for us.

I always recommend that people use a TA who has sailed with their preferred cruiseline multiple times - that way, they do have more knowledge than you can get online. The amount of incorrect info that is posted online regarding DCL is shocking - how is a newbie to know what is correct and what is not correct? Only with experience do you find out the truth.

Every day I see people write that the ship will wait for them if they're on a DCL excursion - incorrect.
That your child has to be 3 to go in the pools - incorrect.
That you can't leave the ship while your children are in the youth activity areas - incorrect.

If you google any of those 3 questions, you'll find a mix of answers which is why using an experience TA is very helpful.

Joa

[Bats]

Originally Posted by onlyholly

I want to book a Disney Cruise for next March. Can anyone recommend a travel agent please. We’ve been on two Disney cruises and used Travel on a Dream but the agent we were allocated at the time didn’t meet our requests. We had to constantly chase, we never heard back for weeks and found the whole experience frustrating. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Catriona

See more...

Catriona, did you ask for support from their manager Tracy or did you not say anything?
Please tell me you didn't just leave it? Tracy would definitely want to help you and establish if the agent needs more training etc. She can only do that if she knows there is a problem though.
Regardless of if you move to another agency or not, please do contact Tracy (Whipple) and let her know of your concerns.

Joa

Joa

[onlyholly]

Originally Posted by Bats

Catriona, did you ask for support from their manager Tracy or did you not say anything?
Please tell me you didn't just leave it? Tracy would definitely want to help you and establish if the agent needs more training etc. She can only do that if she knows there is a problem though.
Regardless of if you move to another agency or not, please do contact Tracy (Whipple) and let her know of your concerns.

Joa

Joa

See more...

Yes I contacted Tracy at the time and she passed us onto another Agent (Faith). It's been a couple of years since we cruised with DCL and was just wondering if anything had changed or got better when using US Travel Agents.


Catriona

[Bats]

Originally Posted by onlyholly

Yes I contacted Tracy at the time and she passed us onto another Agent (Faith). It's been a couple of years since we cruised with DCL and was just wondering if anything had changed or got better when using US Travel Agents.


Catriona

See more...

Having issues with US TAs are not common as they are, in the main, very good. Your issue was unfortunate, but very rare seemingly.

It's up to you how you book your cruise, I would just recommend steering clear of a UK TA if you want any flexibility at all.

Joa

[Bad Pink Tink]

Originally Posted by Loulou127

Have you considered booking yourself direct with Disney? that way you wouldn’t have the worry about prices changing because of the exchange rate x

See more...

I looked into all 3 options

1. Booking with Irish Travel Agent
2. Booking myself direct with Disney
3. Booking with an American Travel Agent - Dreams Unlimited

Booking with American Travel Agent - Dreams Unlimited came out the best option , even with having to deal with exchange rates.
The benefits to me were getting onboard credit and being able to book stateroom gifts and extras online as I booked through US Dollars.

Also I researched staterooms and gave the TA a request of the exact room number I wanted. When the booking was made the specific room I wanted wasn't available, and I accepted the next best available. However a week later the TA contacted me to say that one of my requested rooms had opened up and she changed me to my original preferred room. If I had booked myself or through an Irish TA I doubt I would have known and would have missed out on my first choice of room.