best agency for booking Thomson

by **ariellejesse** on Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:11 pm

I have not been able to locate a US based agency to book a Thomson cruise nor a UK agency who will take an online booking from the US. It appears that I must phone in the booking and would like to do so with a reputable travel agent. Would Thomas Cook be better than Thomson direct? Any other suggestions?

by **lc74** on Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:49 pm

Any reason why you can't book on thomson's online site

www.thomsonholidays.co.uk

Try code PERKZCRUISE for �150 discount!

by **ariellejesse** on Sat Aug 11, 2007 7:25 pm

I tried about 8 months ago on the Thomson web site, and the booking would not be accepted. It had to be phoned in. I also tried to go through Thomas Cook (also for Thomson) and no online booking could be done--only by phone. I really cannot believe this with world-wide web service.

Thanks for the discount code info.

by **HW tenpin** on Sun Aug 12, 2007 10:27 am

Hello Ariellejesse,

Long time no see, hope you are well.

We have the same trouble with trying to book in the USA, it has something to do with the cost of the cruises although its cheaper to book a US departing cruise, we are not allowed as we don't live there.

If you give me a little time I will attempt to find out for you this coming week. do NOT try to book on line at the Thomson site yet, as sometimes when they are busy you are passed on to another cruise booking site and they are not so good.

by **lc74** on Sun Aug 12, 2007 10:33 am

I would advise that you call them. I called them about ours as I had noticed on the website they had an offer for outside cabin for price of inside, but it wasn't automatically giving me that.

They were able to match the price I had with a different discount code 00000483, which gave �100 off. So basically they should be able to give you a good price, perhaps not the �150 off, but then you never knew of that until I posted the code I don't think - so you might be happy with the price they can quote in the call centre.

They're a bit of a nightmare to get through to though!

by **ariellejesse** on Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:45 pm

Thanks so much, tenpin. I will look forward to your research. I have read some hairy problems which have taken place with phoned orders. Some email confirmation would be best.

I did a google search for Thomson discount codes and found many. I suspected they might not work for phone orders, but good to know the agent might do some price juggling. I will use Skype to phone and save some money.

I am aiming for Piazzas and Pyramids for Fall of 2008, so there is time.

Thanks to all for the help.

by **lc74** on Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:33 pm

I think it would be best to book directly with Thomson. Failing that, Lunn Poly is the travel agent owned by the same company. Thomas Cook is a completely different firm.

I would check the price online, stick in any discount code that may work, and then call them and try to get them to do it for that price. I called many other travel agents about the cruises I was looking at (Colourful Coasts on Destiny, and Red Sea Magic on Celebration), and they were all more expensive than the Thomson site - in some cases by about �200 per person! I don't know where they were getting the prices from! When I told them the price I got on the Thomson website, they just advised me to book it with them then. Thomson must be doing better deals direct. Some of the discount codes are for bookings of �1000 or more only. That includes any extras etc, though so even with a cruise only you may manage to get up to that price with a cabin upgrade/all inclusive etc.

There are various branches of Lunn Poly in towns across the UK. Just get the best price from the Thomson website before you call them - they should price match I would think.

by **ariellejesse** on Sun Aug 12, 2007 9:59 pm

Hi lc74, Thanks for the info. I see that Lunn Poly connects to the Thomson web site, but with some fiddling around I can find direct addresses and phone numbers.
When I was trying to book previously, I found that Thomas Cook gave a better price via email than Thomson"s web page but would only book by phone. I should have made the deal then and not tried to get a itinerary from a horrible travel agent supposedly with UK connections. Now I am doing my own air/hotels as necessary, etc.

by **HW tenpin** on Tue Aug 14, 2007 12:00 pm

Hiya Ariellejesse,

There is no reason why you cannot book a cruise from the States or from the UK. By any UK travel agent or travel shop.
It has been suggest that you may like to book your own flight to the UK or even to the departure port of the cruise. However you may find that this is far more expensive than shown in the brochure or on the web site.

All my enquiries state that you will have to make a telephone call & pay by credit card, both the deposit and final payment will incur a charge of 2% and will be based on current exchange rates, at the time of billing.

All my research points to booking by telephone first, via an Agent of some kind, as being the best way forward. All further details can then be arranged via email.

The problem does appear to be the flight from the States and how far ahead you are trying to book, although Thomson seem loath to take this on, any good TA can arrange it.

Once you arrive in the UK then the brochure/web price would be the same as what we would pay, and should be fairly easy to arrange.

Is there not an American based Thomson web site? We have UK based sites for most cruise lines.

by **Nick_C** on Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:39 pm

The cheapest place to book Thomsons cruises is Cruisedeals.co.uk

They are owned by TUI (the German company that owns Thomsons) and are always considerably cheaper than the Thomson's web site.

All the deals are listed on the site, which has a good search engine, but you phone to book.

I've used them twice for Thomson cruises, and they also gave me a good price for P&O.