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A travel agent is always a good investment. But you have to shop around for those as well, there are good ones and bad ones just like anything else. A good agent will get you the best pricing they can for the category you are shopping for, and will then keep an eye on the pricing for you so that if there is a price drop you get a piece of it. Best way to get upgrades is to book a guarantee cabin, but caution in that you don't want to book anything less than you are willing to accept, in some cases even a guarantee booking doesn't dictate an upgrade.As far as the pricing the only add on should be taxes and port charges, a lot of times these are not included in the initial quote, it makes the price look better, so make sure that the price you are looking at includes these charges because they can add up to $200-300 per person depending on the cruise and the ports, and if not they WILL be added come final bill time. This is a simple issue, just ask the agent "does this price include port charges and taxes", they will tell you yes or no, if the answer is no, just ask what they are, not rocket science, they can give you an answer in less than 30 seconds, it is a fixed number depending on the cruise. Have fun planning.
A travel agent is always a good investment. But you have to shop around for those as well, there are good ones and bad ones just like anything else. A good agent will get you the best pricing they can for the category you are shopping for, and will then keep an eye on the pricing for you so that if there is a price drop you get a piece of it. Best way to get upgrades is to book a guarantee cabin, but caution in that you don't want to book anything less than you are willing to accept, in some cases even a guarantee booking doesn't dictate an upgrade.
As far as the pricing the only add on should be taxes and port charges, a lot of times these are not included in the initial quote, it makes the price look better, so make sure that the price you are looking at includes these charges because they can add up to $200-300 per person depending on the cruise and the ports, and if not they WILL be added come final bill time. This is a simple issue, just ask the agent "does this price include port charges and taxes", they will tell you yes or no, if the answer is no, just ask what they are, not rocket science, they can give you an answer in less than 30 seconds, it is a fixed number depending on the cruise. Have fun planning.
