Fred Olsen drop 5% discount

Why go direct? What's the point? Why would anyone ever book direct with the cruise line?
"Well you're bias", you might say. "Of course you'd say that, you're a travel agent! All these things are true but even given that I still don't understand why anyone would book with the cruise line direct.

First of all how do you know they're being honest with their recommendations? Of course they're going to recommend one of their ships. What else do they have to recommend? what if a different cruise line would suit you better? They wont tell you that; why would they? But an independent travel agent would.
Will the customer service you receive be any better? No. It might not be any worse but it certainly wont be better. And, whilst I can't speak for other travel agents, I personally think the system at www.cruise.co.uk of just dealing with one person right from the start of your quote through to welcoming you back from your cruise is a great system, (yes I admit I may be being bias again).

However to underscore my point I received an email today from Fred Olsen stating that as of Feb 2012 they will no longer offer any of their customers the customary extra 5% discount for booking their product online direct. The price with Fred Olsen will always be the same if you go to them direct, it's only through travel agents will you still get your discounts.

So what do you do?
Do you always book through a travel agent or have you ever gone direct? What did you think and how did it compare?

Happy cruising