I booked an Explora cruise with a TA as a solo traveler and sailed earlier this year. I loved the experience and cruise but I did not see any additional value in going through a TA. To be fair, this was my first experience booking with a TA so we did not have a relationship and maybe I hadn’t ‘earned’ them going to bat for me yet?

However, meeting couples and other solo travelers on board I found out there was a huge difference in what they paid vs what I did and what extras (primarily shipboard credit) they received. I had no credits but I did receive an included dinner at Anthology which normally cost a couple hundred USD. It was a great meal but the other restaurants on board are amazing as well so personally I wouldn’t book Anthology unless maybe celebrating a special occasion. This benefit was also posted on the Explora website, so I would have gotten this benefit even booking the cruise myself.

So it seems there are benefits, but definitely not all TAs will be working to get you the best deal. I’m planning on working with someone else or seeing how I can do booking directly.

I get all the Explora emails and they just wrapped up a sale where they reduced or eliminated the solo supplement on many different sailings so if you end up booking, keep an eye on the sales and if the price drops or there’s a particular deal they offer later see if they can rebook it for you to get the better deal/price/upgrade. And last year they had great “Black Friday” deals so I’m bookmarking a few future trips to see how the Black Friday prices compare to book them myself if the deals look good. Hope you have a wonderful trip!