Do you recommend Travel Agents when booking a cruise?

[hb121283]

Hi,

I am completely new to cruises and wanted to check with the experts whether it is worth using a TA?

And if so do you have any recommendations?

Thanks,

Harry

[Ray B]

Hi Harry, using a good travel agent with good knowledge of cruising will save you a lot of hassle. You just instruct them on what you want and they will do the rest.
Welcome to the forum.

[Stephen]

Welcome to the forum hb121283

As it’s your very first cruise I would suggest you go through a travel agent.

First, decide what type of cabin you want (inside, outside, balcony) and where on the ship. I would also suggest a mid-ship cabin.

There are loads of cruise travel agents out there.

Bolsover are a popular one www.bolsovercruiseclub.com

We use CruiseKings www.cruisekings.co.uk

Hope this helps.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Yes, I'd just emphasise if you do use a TA use a specialist, such as Bolsover. Some high street TA's know less about cruising than you do!

[CaroleF]

I certainly recommend Bolsover Cruise Club, they know more than any high street travel agent. I've booked over 30 cruises with them. They give you a discount for booking with them but more important when I've wanted to book a certain cabin on a ship when new cruises are being released they have always booked me the cabin I've wanted. Some people who book direct with the cruise line are told they can only book a grade of cabin not a specific cabin. With P&O, assuming you book Select then you can certainly book a specific cabin if you're booking when a cruise first becomes available. At other times they will give me a list of available cabins for me to choose from. The other valuable thing about them is that if you have any query you have a dedicated cruise agent who will answer any questions. If they are unavailable when you call they will call you back, not an idle promise, they really do call back. I know some people prefer to book on line but I find booking via telephone with a specific agent really pays off.

[oldbluefox]

I also use Bolsover and have done for many years. Apart from all the other reasons I always feel it is easier to get through to the likes of Bolsover/Cruise Kings should anything go wrong. Touch wood it never has but there is always somebody on the line who is experienced in dealing with cruising matters. I'm not so sure if I booked online whether I could get the same personal service. (I have used Cruise Kings in the past and they were fine).

[Ranchi]

I would advise a good TA. They will be able to give you advice on cabin location & pros & cons of certain cabins etc. We use an independent (usually) and never have any problems. She is always at the end of the phone & she takes the hassle out of contacting the cruise company’s customer service.
Cruise company’s customer service is patchy to say the least and can be an overseas with some lines. Having said that we have found FO’s customer service services to be knowledgeable and efficient.
We did try the TA named after the Derbyshire town & they were good.
Once we tried one of the big online name TAs (think Inuit) Quick to book; cheap but no chance of getting through with any follow up queries.
My acid test of customer service is to ring up a prospective company and select ‘I want to discuss a previously booked cruise’. If your happy with the wait time then give them a try.

[david63]

We did try the TA named after the Derbyshire town & they were good.

This is not Cruise Critic - you are quite free to name Bolsover, assuming that is who you are referring to.

[Meg 50]

we use http://gocruisewithjane.co.uk/
The advantage of an agent is they can see all availability - not all show on the cruise line website. They troubleshoot for you. Jane wangled extra OBC for us once!

Make sure they know if you are happy to get an upgrade or if tour chosen cabin in set in stone ( these are the things your average high street agent hasn't a clue about).
They then have all your details on file so booking subsequent cruises is a breeze

[towny44]

And having all your data means they can deal with your bookings for all cruise lines, if you wanted to try another line.

[hb121283]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the replies!

I actually decided to use https://www.sixstarcruises.co.uk/ as we wanted an expedition cruise. Looking forward to it in 2026! But https://www.bolsovercruiseclub.com/ was a great shout too. I know they have a new sister company called https://www.odysiacruise.com/, might be worth a look.

Thanks again guys!