Travel agency consortiums

[lysolq]

The other day I was talking to my TA about the often substantial price differences offered by different travel agents for the very same cabin on the very same cruise.
Among other things, she told me that many smaller agencies now belong to consortiums which enable them to offer particularly low prices for certain cruiselines. It's like several small mom and pop stores banding together to form a co-op which can then buy in bulk and save. For example, her agency belongs to a consortium for RCI and as a result, can offer prices and perks with which other agencies usually can't compete.
Is anyone familiar with how these consortiums work? More specifically, does anyone know of an agency that is part of a Celebrity consortium? I know we can't list specific agents/agencies on these boards, but if someone has that info, I'll forward my e-mail address.
Thanks.

 

[ROSS]

THE ONLY WAY THAT A CONSORTIUM CAN WORK IS FOR IT TO BLOCK BOOK A LARGE NUMBER OF CABINS IN A NEGOTIATED DEAL WITH THE CRUISE LINE. THEY WOULD THEN HAVE TO SELL THE SPACE. SOMETIMES THEY LET SOME SPACE GO BELOW THEIR AVERAGE COST JUST TO GET RID OF EVERYTHING. THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN VERY OFTEN; AT LEAST, THAT IS MY UNDERSTANDING.

 

[Barry]

This is correct-there are many out there but a few are the largest that most belong to.
You take advantage of their pricing and cabins-almost all the big ones have deals with all the lines...