Cruises are probably my favorite vacations. I just love traveling to different destinations and then coming back to one place for an amazing dinner some great shows and then having days relaxing at sea. It’s definitely something my family and I have loved doing for the past 15 years.
Now, let’s chat about the thing I don’t love, booking and planning for the cruise. I am sorry, but it’s A LOT of work and if it’s your first few cruises on Royal Caribbean, it can also be a bit overwhelming. (by a bit, I mean very overwhelming)
You would think, as I did, how hard can it be. All you have to do is choose a cruise and choose a room. Everything else is provided by the cruise…….Sure, but then you also have to….
- Know if you want upgraded dining
- Know which restaurants to book
- Figure out if you want my time dining or a set dining time.
- Figure out what the heck is “my time” dining
- Know which excursions to plan.
- Know which deck you should choose your room on, because let me tell you it matters (tip, front of the ship does rock more)
- Know to reserve show times in advance.
- Figure out the drink package options
- Don’t forget about the internet packages.
- Figuring out how to use the royal carbbian cruise app
- Plus a million other questions……. it’s honestly endless.
It’s pretty much a full time job, plus add on my real job and oh yeah the responsibilities of raising my kids and putting food on the table.
A few years back, I decided it was time to pass the torch and get some expert help. To my surprise, I learned that travel agents were absolutely FREE! If only I had known earlier, I would’ve saved myself a lot of time and stress. (Update, I got several emails from travel agents that do charge fees, so I guess some do, but the travel agency I use doesn’t, so there you go)
My First Royal Caribbean Cruise Travel Agent Experience
Like I said, I decided to use a travel agent, I did a little google search and I reached out to 4 or 5 travel agencies, only one replied and all they did was send me a quote and that was about it. I was pretty disappointed. I did not really see the benefit of using a travel agent.
My Co-worker insisted I use her agent
I was about to go back to just booking on my own and then one of my coworkers absolutely recommended her travel agent and said “it’s life changing” She is a bit on the dramatic side so I was a bit skeptical.
I reached out (I think it was through their website) and well within minutes, I had a feeling that she might have not been exaggerating. I received a response within probably 20 minutes and I think it was on a random weeknight.
A Surprisingly Wonderful Experience
From the get-go, it felt great. The agent reached out and instead of just sending over a generic quote, they asked about what I was looking for, asked about my family, how we liked to travel, where we have been in the past. Honestly, it felt like I was talking to an old friend who was genuinely excited about helping me plan my cruise.
So we continued on working on our vacation and my agent asked about our cruise interests, stateroom preferences, do we have allergies, which we did have my nephew going on this trip with a severe peanut allergy so it was nice they asked upfront.
After all that work we made a decision, we were sailing on the Symphony of the Seas. It had all the cool features of the Oasis class, but was not the newest ship at sea so it was the best bang for the buck.
By the way, the travel agency is called “Best Day Ever Vacations” and they are an absolute delight!
Planning without having to plan
They didn’t just stop at booking our stateroom. They went the extra mile by providing us with a comprehensive guide for our sailing with a full itinerary that showed us the days at sea, ports of calls. restaurants on board shows, pretty much everything.
The other thing I loved, is I always miss the important planning and booking dates like when to book excursions. They kept us in the loop on all the important dates, like when to make dining reservations and show reservations, what excursions we should do on Coco Cay and gave us insider tips on how to make the most of our day at Perfect Day at Coco Cay….. which by the way is awesome!
Tips on Dining
This is one thing I really loved. I was going to buy the ultimate dining package and my agent advised me that since it is a 7 day cruise, I would buy a smaller package and choose your favorite types of food to eat at and choose upgraded dining for those. We aren’t big steak eaters so we skipped the Chop House, but Jamie’s Italian, Izumi Sushi and Hooked Seafood were unbelievable. This saved me over $800. They even shared some tips on avoiding crowds and getting the most out of our time at sea.
And for shows…. I am usually the person waiting in the standby line waiting to see if i can squeeze into a show and have the absolute worst seats. This time with the help of my agent reminding me it’s time to book the showtimes, we got all the showtimes we wanted whether it was the show at the aquatheater (which is an absolute must) the ice show or seeing the broadway performance “Hair”
My husband looked at me after the 3rd show we got into and said to me “why didn’t we do it like this on the other cruises” Thanks for the insight hubby, but it was nice to see him and the fam having such an amazing time.
An Unexpected Savings Surprise
The best part about Best Day Ever, is they booked our rooms and then later on their own found us a better cabin at a cheaper price and I didn’t have to do a thing. I was already going to use their services again and this made me a client for life. That text message was like a little ray of sunshine! Since then, we’ve booked every Royal Caribbean cruise through them, and next year I am sailing on the ICON of the SEAS and can’t wait.
In Conclusion – Is it worth it to use a travel agent for a Royal Caribbean Cruise? Yes…. but make sure it’s the right one
Like I said, I reached out to a few agencies and some didn’t reply and other just sent over a quote. So, I don’t really know if they are worth it or not. Perhaps, maybe I just reached out to the wrong ones at first.
But, if you find someone like Best Day Ever, it’s such a great experience. You are in great hands the whole way. I have probably sent at least a dozen friends over to them and they absolutely have had nothing but good things to say.
Now, when I send people over, if you just mention rookie moms, they will get you to one of their best agents.
- How to Create the Minimalist Montessori Playroom of Your Dreams - February 27, 2024
- Using a Travel Agent for a Royal Caribbean Cruise… Is it Worth it? - December 7, 2023
- Still crushing the {Rookie Moms} Challenges – Part 2 - July 11, 2014
