Planning a cruise vacation is always exciting, especially when it involves Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL). Like many eager cruisers, we love to jump on itinerary releases and secure our spot early. There’s a thrill in being among the first to plan a future adventure, and for us, this often involves a unique step: booking initially and then transferring to our preferred Rccl Travel Agent.
You might wonder, “Why not just have your travel agent book from the start?” It’s a valid question. While we deeply value our RCCL travel agent for their expertise and support, the initial booking process is something we enjoy doing ourselves. It’s part of the pre-vacation fun, exploring cabin options and deck plans as soon as they are available. Plus, sometimes booking onboard with a “Book Later” certificate offers enticing perks, like we experienced on our Explorer cruise.
On that cruise, securing a Book Later certificate seemed like a smart move for future European itineraries. However, the process of noting that the booking should be transferred to our travel agent was surprisingly complicated. Explaining our intention to the Next Cruise representative became a bit of a comedy of errors. Despite our clear preference to transfer the booking to our trusted agent, the crew member struggled to understand why we wouldn’t just have our “rccl travel agent” handle everything from the beginning. The language barrier certainly played a role, but it also highlighted a less common booking approach.
Ultimately, we successfully used our certificate to book a Spain cruise for 2025 and transferred it to our travel agent without further issues. This reaffirmed our process: we enjoy the initial booking excitement, but rely on the expertise of our RCCL travel agent for the finer details, potential upgrades, and overall smooth sailing. For anyone considering a Royal Caribbean cruise, exploring the benefits of using an RCCL travel agent is definitely worthwhile, even if you, like us, enjoy being hands-on with the initial planning stages.
