Up next in 10
What is the best way to book a cruise at this time? I look at 6 key reasons for booking a cruise with a dedicated cruise travel agent over the other options available to you, including booking a cruise direct with the cruise line. With the world of cruising and travel changing fast and rules and certainty in flux, I explore why a cruise agent will be less stressful, ensure you get the best price and ensure you stay on top of changes to your advantage.
Some examples of independent cruise travel agents:
UK :Sarah Bolton https://www.travelcounsellors.co.uk/sarah.bolton
USA - Becky Tessier http://www.lhtravel.net and http://www.lhtravel.net/Page/MeetourAgents
SUPPORT THE CHANNEL BY:
Buying my Cruise T-shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore
Other Videos in my Cruise Shutdown Series:
1: What should you do with bookings: https://youtu.be/Bp4xA21bsY4
2: Cancellations and refunds: https://youtu.be/BEadOjDRwAA
3: Cruise Lines Finances and refunds: https://youtu.be/E5Uco5H3CYU
4: When Cruising Will Really Start Up: https://youtu.be/3A4ZxXa-l8o
5: How cruising will change: : https://youtu.be/bamjq0pT8FU
6: Will people cruise again: https://youtu.be/mF_fKOmAmxg
7: Best Cruises For Return To Cruising: https://youtu.be/srqQ4upSv4k
8: Biggest Hurdles Facing Cruise Lines: https://youtu.be/45ndCQfyBUI
9: Future Cruise Credits or Cash Refunds: https://youtu.be/ZSMuslOVTYk
10: Best Way For Booking A Cruise Now https://youtu.be/UCiEhwAHxog
Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 77 cruises at time of making this video.
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#CruiseBooking #BookingACruise #CruiseTips
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
you're about to discover whether you
0:02
should be booking your cruisers via a
0:04
cruise agent or in some other way with
0:06
everything that's going on in cruising
0:07
at the moment hi I'm Gary beverage this
0:11
is another of my cruising tips for
0:13
travelers I want to explore what is the
0:15
best and the right way to be booking
0:17
your cruisers as you look to return to
0:19
cruising whenever that may be
0:21
there's the short turn the median term
0:22
or the long term and really explore
0:25
whether you should be booking with a
0:26
cruise agent or in some other way there
0:29
are probably about five different ways
0:31
you could be booking your cruises at the
0:33
moment one of which is with a travel
0:35
agent so certainly one of the high
0:37
street travel agents one the
0:39
bricks-and-mortar travel agents secondly
0:41
with one of the online portals the
0:43
bigger broader travel agents so
0:44
something like Expedia for example or
0:47
you could be looking perhaps at a very
0:48
focused cruise online agency so in the
0:51
US you've got something like for example
0:53
vacations to go calm you cave got rol
0:57
cruises these operate both by telephone
0:59
and online you could then perhaps you're
1:02
looking at independent cruise brokers in
1:04
a bit and cruise agents often working
1:05
for themselves but part of a bigger
1:07
group or of course you could be booking
1:09
with the cruise lines direct with
1:11
everything else going on cruising at the
1:12
moment and all the uncertainty
1:14
I really recommend more than ever even
1:16
if you have future cruise credits that
1:19
you've had from bookings you've done
1:20
direct with the cruise line itself then
1:24
you should really seriously be thinking
1:25
about working with a cruise agents
1:29
that's particularly an independent
1:30
cruise agent or one of those bigger
1:32
groups that do online and telephone
1:34
course so why do I think that is so
1:36
important well first of all what's very
1:39
important to bear in mind is they will
1:41
give you exactly the same price as you
1:44
will get from the cruise lines however
1:45
they will give you a whole bunch more
1:47
service it's really important to
1:48
understand that if you book with a
1:50
cruise agent you will pay the same as
1:53
going direct the cruise lines unlike
1:56
perhaps with hotels don't undercut
1:58
agents in any way the agents are really
2:01
really really important to the cruise
2:03
industry and it certainly as they try
2:06
and get people back to cruising the ages
2:08
of becoming even more important they are
2:10
going to rely on the agents to tell the
2:12
story of cruising to
2:13
communicate all the new protocols and to
2:16
really try and convince people that they
2:17
should try cruisin and you can see lots
2:20
of evidence of this so example the head
2:22
of Royal Caribbean started a whole video
2:23
series where he's talking to agents I've
2:25
seen lots of webinars being set up with
2:27
virgin cruises and waterways where
2:29
they're talking directly to agents
2:31
because they are so fundamentally
2:32
important and they will never ever
2:34
undercut the price that you can get with
2:37
a cruise agent in fact you might find
2:40
that if you go with a cruise agent you
2:42
might get a better deal because what a
2:44
lot of the agents do to also encourage
2:47
people to go with them is they will
2:49
often bundle in other things the way the
2:51
cruise agent earns their income is they
2:53
get a commission on that sale and
2:55
they'll sometimes use some of that
2:56
commission to add some sweeteners with
2:58
its extra onboard credit them I'll give
2:59
you certain gifts or different types of
3:02
incentives to book with them so you
3:05
might actually get a sharper and better
3:06
overall deal because they'll throw much
3:09
more in the reason also that's really
3:11
important to understand is I believe
3:13
very strongly that we're going to see
3:14
huge volatility in prices over the
3:17
coming year or so prices haven't really
3:20
become that volatile yet but once it all
3:22
beds in once the cruise lines know
3:24
exactly what cruises they can operate
3:25
when they're going to operate the
3:27
challenge is then going to be filling
3:29
ships the ships that they have out there
3:30
and there's gonna be a lot of reluctance
3:32
to get back onto ships and there's going
3:34
to be lots of deals prices are gonna
3:35
chop and change deals and offers whether
3:38
it's upgrades extra Humble credit
3:40
bundling in things like gratuities Wi-Fi
3:42
specially dining it's going to become a
3:45
very volatile and constantly changing
3:47
world and it's going to be quite hard as
3:49
an individual to keep up to date if you
3:52
work with an agent they will be
3:53
constantly fed the updates on pricing
3:55
they'll know the latest deals what's
3:57
being added what's being taken away and
3:59
you're going to be much more certain
4:01
that you're going to get the best deals
4:03
that are going the other thing that I
4:05
believe is really important which is
4:06
ongoing but even in these uncertain
4:08
times it's important is the agents also
4:11
gonna be able to guide you in a number
4:13
of ways they can also tell you the best
4:14
time to book so different promotions may
4:17
come up with it's for solo travelers
4:18
families whatever it is they're going to
4:21
know when those promotional periods are
4:23
or when they're coming up so they might
4:24
be able to tell you look hold on
4:26
for a couple of weeks because I know
4:28
there's a big solar deal which is coming
4:29
in next month or whatever the other
4:32
thing that you can ask the agent to do
4:33
is track pricing again as I said I think
4:36
price is going to be very very volatile
4:37
and if the cruise lines reduce their
4:39
price you're not going to know that you
4:41
if you ask the agent to track that price
4:43
if they see the price going down the
4:45
cruise lines won't refund you that but
4:47
if the agent picks up on that they can
4:49
go back and negotiate a better deal so
4:51
that's happened to me in the past for
4:53
example where prices are come down and
4:55
I've been offered then perhaps more on
4:56
the credit or often an upgrade the agent
4:59
can make sure that they keep on top of
5:00
pricing as it moves over the place to
5:03
make sure that you do get extra benefits
5:05
if the price goes down the other very
5:08
important thing with agents is close to
5:11
sailing what the cruise lines do is they
5:14
aim to try and get the ship as full as
5:15
they possibly can and what they will do
5:18
is they'll often do some very big deal
5:20
so they might start upgrading people
5:22
from lower grades and they'll put some
5:24
incredible deals out there now they
5:26
don't want to publicize those they don't
5:27
want to go out and advertise those or
5:29
put them on their website so they'll
5:31
often go to trusted cruise agents and
5:33
try to get them to clear those cabins so
5:36
they will also know if there's some
5:37
really sharp deal so if you're
5:38
particularly looking at cruising at
5:40
short notice which you might want to do
5:42
with all the volatility and cruising is
5:44
how you decide close to the time they
5:46
are likely to have deals which you will
5:48
not find anywhere else even on the
5:50
cruise line sites the second absolutely
5:54
key reason for choosing to go with a
5:57
cruise agent is around the time-saving
6:00
and the convenience and the fact that
6:02
it's one call we've seen huge volatility
6:06
and we may keep seeing volatility in
6:08
cruising the advantage with an agent is
6:11
if you want to cancel so if your cruises
6:13
cancelled or you want to shift it or
6:14
change it at the moment if you've booked
6:16
say direct with the cruise line you have
6:18
basically have to phone them up and you
6:19
could be waiting for huge amounts of
6:22
time they bonds you have if you've got
6:24
an agent is if the cruise gets canceled
6:26
they will deal with all their hanging on
6:27
with the cruise lines if you've booked
6:29
your whole package to them so you
6:30
perhaps booked some hotels some flights
6:32
with one call with one message with one
6:35
email then the cruise agent has to deal
6:38
with all of the refunds or the Contin
6:40
and it saves you having to hang on to
6:42
the cruise line hang on with the airline
6:45
get hold of the hotel cancel excursions
6:48
whatever it is it's one simple point of
6:51
contact and certainly talking to agents
6:53
I know they have taken a huge amount of
6:55
stress and strain away because they've
6:57
been able to do all of that for a client
7:00
and that's really really big plus the
7:03
second thing which is sort of linked to
7:05
that is if anything goes wrong on your
7:07
cruise again you just have one point of
7:09
contact and that's been great for me in
7:11
the past so for example I was on a
7:12
cruise not that long ago where the
7:15
airport's went on strike and flights
7:17
weren't going and I could see everyone
7:18
else on the ship who took their packages
7:21
separately so they're perhaps booked the
7:23
cruise directly with the cruise line
7:25
they booked flights separately they're
7:28
booked hotel separately and they were
7:29
then scrabbling around using you know
7:31
some great Wi-Fi or days at sea to try
7:34
and contact all these people to move
7:36
everything around what I was able to do
7:38
was actually with the company called
7:39
Mundy cruising I was on wind star cruise
7:42
I just sent an email to the agency said
7:45
because this happened can you sort out
7:46
and then I could just relax and joy the
7:48
next day and wait for them to sort it
7:50
out and then she came back with me and
7:52
they sorted that new hotel new flight
7:53
time and all that stuff and I hadn't
7:55
worry about all that stress
7:56
a third really good reason for using a
8:00
cruise agent is if you have had lots of
8:03
cruises cancelled and you've actually
8:05
got future cruise credit because either
8:06
you've cancelled or moved cruises the
8:08
really good news is even if you have
8:10
future cruise credit which you've earned
8:12
from booking direct with the Cruise Line
8:14
a cruise agent will be very very happy
8:17
to pick those future cruise credits up
8:19
as you plan forward and the reason for
8:21
that is the cruise lines again because
8:23
the ages are so important to them are
8:25
going to be giving commission to the
8:28
cruise agents when they rebook new
8:29
cruises with future cruise credit so
8:31
future cruise credit is allocated to you
8:33
as an individual either with your club
8:36
number you know your captain's number or
8:38
your frequent cruising number or with
8:41
your booking reference and they are then
8:43
able to use enough check with agents
8:45
that I know both in the UK and in the US
8:47
and it certainly seems the case that
8:49
they will then be very very keen and
8:52
happy to help you use us future cruise
8:54
credits because they will again earn the
8:56
commission from those new bookings even
8:58
though the region you booked directly
9:00
with the cruise line and of course the
9:01
good news is then I'm also helping
9:03
support those agents through what have
9:06
been quite challenging and difficult
9:07
times and a huge amount of work for them
9:09
so that's their in another really good
9:10
reason for choosing to use an agent it's
9:13
going to simplify the whole process of
9:15
using future cruise credits it's a
9:16
little bit complicated future cruise
9:18
credits different Cruise Lines are doing
9:19
in different ways in different formats
9:21
and get rid of all of that worry or
9:23
that's resin trained by basically
9:24
handing your references over to the ages
9:26
on it and get on with it another really
9:28
good reason for using agent is an
9:30
alluded to a little bit earlier is there
9:32
are one-stop shop as you head back into
9:34
cruising one of the things you might
9:36
want to do is use an agent simply
9:37
because the rate at which airlines go
9:40
back the frequency of itineraries which
9:42
hotels open which ports are open which
9:44
excursions are open which transfer
9:46
companies are open which cruise lines
9:47
are running when it's quite a
9:48
complicated mishmash of different rules
9:51
and regulations travel advisories and it
9:55
is going to be quite complicated the
9:56
advantage of working with an agent is
9:57
they can navigate their way through all
9:59
of that they can then put together and
10:02
make sure they can put together one
10:03
whole program from the time you leave
10:05
your house to the time you get back and
10:07
they can fill in all the gaps and work
10:09
around all of those different rules
10:11
regulations and changes and make sure
10:13
that you know what they are so it's a
10:15
complete one-stop shop I think traveling
10:17
over the next year or so is going to be
10:19
quite complicated because rules will
10:21
change shutdowns will come and go and
10:23
ports will be more willing or less
10:25
willing and by having basically handing
10:28
that over to someone else to sort out
10:30
for you as a one-stop shop I think it's
10:32
going to be a real big plus they also
10:34
then pull that together a nice document
10:35
that's the great thing about working
10:37
with an agent they put together a nice
10:38
document with everything laid out step
10:40
by step day by day so that whole
10:42
one-stop shop and getting around all
10:43
this what's going to be a complicated
10:45
way of easing back to travel I think is
10:47
a big big reason for using an agent of
10:50
course one of the most obvious reasons
10:51
for using agent is their expertise and
10:54
their advice particularly if you're new
10:55
to cruise and heading out into this new
10:57
world of cruising the agents have lots
10:59
of experience they know the ships they
11:01
know the cruise lines
11:03
and they have worked with lots of people
11:04
before finding out what really works for
11:06
different types of travelers so you
11:08
actually then are buying a lot of
11:09
expertise of course there's lots of
11:11
research you can do yourself but
11:12
certainly if you're new to cruise I
11:13
think that's a real big plus but also if
11:16
you thinking of changing cruise lines so
11:17
perhaps you've been really loyal to a
11:18
cruise line with everything that's going
11:20
on you're either looking at a different
11:21
cruise line again using an agent could
11:23
be a really good way of helping again
11:25
sort you out and get you in the right
11:28
direction another thing which I really
11:31
like which is linked to that is what
11:32
most agents will do is they will alert
11:35
you and make sure that you understand
11:37
all the nuances of that travel what do I
11:40
mean by that you'll often find that ages
11:41
will give you some sort of checklist
11:42
they will point out to you whether you
11:44
need visas whether you need vaccinations
11:46
whether certain things you need two
11:48
packs and things you shouldn't be
11:49
packing because you go into a certain
11:50
region and they will give you a really
11:52
good checklist and advise if you book
11:54
direct for example with the cruise line
11:55
they will give you more standard
11:57
documentation but agent is normally
11:58
pretty good at giving you documentation
12:01
and pointing out the kind of things you
12:03
really need to think about because
12:04
they're giving you much more of a
12:05
service and that certainly is if you're
12:07
heading to a new region or new part of
12:09
the world and with everything changing
12:11
again with potentially new regulations
12:13
and rules having that advice and that
12:16
guidance of those checklists will be a
12:18
real big plus and reason for using an
12:20
agent I believe another good reason for
12:23
using agent is bear in mind agents want
12:25
to keep you happy they want to make sure
12:26
that you have a great experience because
12:27
they want you to keep coming back so
12:30
actually by handing over a lot of this
12:32
complicated organization and potentially
12:35
destructive organization over to them
12:37
they want to keep you happy they're
12:38
going to do is work as hard as they can
12:41
to make sure they put together something
12:42
that really works for you because they
12:44
want to make sure that you're going to
12:45
keep coming back and back to them now
12:47
personally I think one of the great
12:49
things to do is to actually work with a
12:50
more independent
12:52
cruise agent and the reason I like to
12:54
work with an independent cruise agent is
12:55
then you have one point of contact so we
12:59
always work with that same person they
13:01
often are more available because they're
13:03
working from home often they have even
13:05
more flexibility than normal I'll often
13:07
be checking in on the weekends or the
13:09
evenings or whatever so I really like
13:11
working with independent agents with
13:13
everything going on in travel and
13:15
cruising as the
13:16
world readjust to the new realities and
13:18
the way that we work and regulations
13:20
change and new rules change in the way
13:22
we travel changes I think working with
13:24
an agent at this time is probably more
13:27
important than any time in the past so
13:28
if you haven't worked with an agent
13:29
before when your book of cruising this
13:31
is the time I think to really rethink
13:33
whether working with an agent is the
13:35
right thing to do hopefully that's given
13:37
you some insights and thoughts I've
13:39
loads more videos full of tips advice
13:42
and recommendations about cruising so
13:44
why don't you watch another one of those
13:45
right now
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