Like me?

With information available at the touch of a few buttons, the World Wide Web offers an enticing and exciting (or indeed, stressful) opportunity for everyone to be a travel agent and book their own holidays, and I know how tempting it must be to do this.

We are all guilty of it, it’s a rainy horrible day and you really don’t want to hassle of going out, parking the car, sitting with someone for the next hour or so, then back out in the rain to your car again.

But, I am putting my case across as to why you shouldn’t cut out the middle man/woman, and why you should still indeed, use a reputable high street (or in my case, garden centre) travel agent.

A website will most likely have a fantastic offer on their home page, to draw you in. (Except for mine, which is actually very basic at the moment as I am still in the process of building it up, but I digress)

Flights. Look at flights on any website. I am using Easyjet for my example, because, well, it’s easy (OK that was bad!)

Pricing up London to Rome 5th July returning 12th July.

There are some great prices. You start getting excited that you can book such a great deal.

Outward £55.00 departing at 5.40pm.

Return £68.00 departing at 9.50pm.

Total £123.00!

Oh wait, that’s not great. For a cruise, I need to arrive in the morning or it means a hotel stay for the night = more money.

On the return that arrival is too late as I need to get a train back from Gatwick.

So you continue on to look for better flight times. Great, there are more reasonable hour flights available, but the prices have gone up.

Outward £129.00 departing at 9.10am

Return £236.00 departing at 1.15pm

Total £365.00!

OK book this.

There’s no luggage included. Erm, I’m going on a week’s cruise, I need luggage!

£27.74 per person each way for 15kgs. I am going on a cruise, I need clothes!

£30.74 per person each way for 23 kgs. OK I should be able to squeeze in a few pairs of shoes here..

Seats. I have to book my seats.

They are priced from £5.99 to £22.99 per person each way depending on seat location.

Do I want more legroom?

That’s great, my £123.00 return flight just went up to £472.46.

Maybe it’s cheaper to book a hotel for that 1st night after all?

Phew…See how this works?

The actual moral of that story was; that amazing 7 nights Mediterranean cruise you just found, may just not be so amazing after all.

The likelihood is, that fantastic price advertised on the front page, will give you the lowest available stateroom in the category chosen, located in a less desirable location, which means possibly upgrading to a nicer location. That ‘amazing price’ has just increased, and that’s just the start.

I’m sure as a first time cruiser you will have many questions, and this is where a good and knowledgeable travel agent comes into their own.

A lower price isn’t the only measure of value, for example:

I have 29, almost 30 years travel agency experience. This includes 11, almost 12 years cruise booking experience. In this day and age, where people come and go, this means something. I love my job. I love everything about it. I am passionate about finding you the right cruise, the best cruise for your money.

Everything you need to enjoy your perfect holiday can be booked in one place. A one-stop shop for your cruise, flights, pre and post extensions to enhance your holiday, airport parking, shore excursion advice, car hire, and more.

Travel Agents service is still 100% free. It does not cost you a penny to book with us. Considering the world of advice we can offer, this is really beneficial, to you.

With my knowledge of the ocean & river cruise ships, I could save you hours of research time online. As you browse through the cruise lines websites, the information and guidance is understandably swayed towards their own product. This means you are not getting an overview of what each cruise line offers.

Every ocean cruise ship is different. Each offers different facilities, different itineraries, and a whole different cruise experience.

Click here to see which ships I’ve been on.

Do you want a large ship with 5,000 people onboard and all the bells and whistles you could ever imagine in your wildest dreams?

Or do you want a small, intimate ship on a unique itinerary to lesser known ports?

From experience, right off the bat, I know exactly which cruise lines offer you either of these experiences.

River cruises. Now, all ships look the same, right? They must all offer the same experience, right? Wrong.

Some are all-inclusive. Most include shore excursions. Some offer unlimited drinks. Some offer a butler service. Some offer flights. Some offer airport transfers. Some offer private UK airport transfers. Some allow children onboard on certain dates & itineraries.

Again, I know who does and who doesn’t offer all of these services and amenities.

Groups – ahhhh – Where do I even start? Which cruise line & ship can accommodate my group needs? Who can offer me the best group rates? I can take all the stress out of this, and do it for you.

I can offer impartial advice. I do not work for one particular cruise line, so I can serve them all. I work for you. I listen to your requirements, and I make recommendations on cruise lines based on those requirements and needs.

Travel agents can offer exactly what you see online, and often with additional benefits; such as onboard credits, or free airport parking, or free UK airport transfers, or a nice bottle of bubbly to enjoy in your stateroom. I may be able to find the offers that you can’t, simply from experience.

My little shop at Ashridge Garden Centre in Wokingham

I am a face in a world of big corporate companies, call centres, and faceless websites. I am your first, local point of contact if you have any questions, or need to make changes to a booking, or need some advice. You retain total control of your booking, while I do the work.

So, next time it is raining and you don’t want to make that trip out, well firstly, you can pick up the phone, but secondly, consider this:

An independent business owner, in any business, in any shop, or someone working from home, will actually do a happy dance every time they make a sale (true story).

They are not corporate companies who earn millions of pounds in revenue and take home massive bonuses each year. They opened their own little business for the love of what they do, and with many larger companies seemingly losing their values with awful customer service, this is still at the very heart of small businesses.

I am a travel agent, I am a small, independent business.

If you would like to book your cruise the ‘old fashioned way’ (haha) then you can contact me here.

Why would you use a travel agent?

From serenity...to craziness (possibly)

How it all started...