Hi. Bob Levinstein from www.CruiseCompete.com here—where agents compete to offer you the best cruise deal. In our last video, we learned how cruise lines adjust prices based on demand for specific types of cabins on particular sailings. But thats only part of the story. What you actually pay for a cabin depends on who you buy from. Thats right—the deal you get on the exact same cabin on the exact same ship depends on where you book. Heres why About 90% of all cruises are sold by travel agents acting on behalf of the cruise lines. For these efforts, the cruise lines compensate the agents in various ways. Agents receive a commission on each booking they make. Agencies may also receive additional dollars from the lines in the form of annual overrides, points good for onboard credits and amenities and co-op advertising dollars based on the total revenue generated for the line by the agency. The commission percentage—often as high as 16% or more—is also based on the level of annual sales generated by the agency for the cruise line. Agencies with higher commission rates can use some of the dollars they get from the cruise lines to either lower price to the consumer, or give money back in the form on onboard credits—ie, dollars placed in your onboard account that you can spend on the ship. Agencies may also find themselves in a position where a few extra cabins sold on a particular cruise line will increase their overrides for all sales on that line, so it can actually be to the ...