If you get an agent at a full service agency that really knows cruising you might find that you will be well taken care of. I think they are hard to find, however. A while back a local travel agency ran TV ads all weekend long. If I am going to deal on the phone - it doesn't matter much to me whether they are 20 miles away or 800 miles. And I am more likely to deal with an agency which doesn't try to fool me like this.
Every agency is 'local' to somebody.
If you live in Orlando 'Cruises Only' is a local agency. Most who want to business with them use their '800' number, but you can walk in the front door. Some people would have you think if the agency is not 'local' all kinds of terrible thing can happen to the agency. Well, this can happen to any agency - there is no assurance that an agency which happens to be 'local' to you will stay in business. Now that we have this under our belt, let's look at the different kinds of travel agents.