Best cruising website

[smacky1]

If you get a quote directly from Carnival, has anyone had any luck with them matching the price of an online agency? Are there any benefits to booking directly with the cruiseline? Just wondering because I have submitted through cruisecompete and the prices I am getting back are only @$100 less than booking direct with Carnival.......$100 is a lot, but if there are benefits to booking direct it may be worth it. Thanks for all your help.

 

[Darcy03231]

I certainly respect your opinion. I call tell you are not self-employed. Guess I just believe in supporting local business. Today, for example, I dropped a price for two of my clients. Everyone need to do what is best for them.

I can see where you're coming from too. While I'm not self-employed, my dad was for a number of years. I do believe in supporting local businesses, if they are competitive in their pricing. I always double check with several local agents before booking a cruise (or any other vacation) to see if they can match the price I got on line and, so far, they never have/will/can. If it was a small price difference I would definitely book with a local agent. Its been my experience though the the local agents are $150 or more (in one case they were almost $1,000 more) than the on-line agencies and that's just too much for me to justify doing business locally.

 

[cbrfan]

If you get a quote directly from Carnival, has anyone had any luck with them matching the price of an online agency? Are there any benefits to booking directly with the cruiseline? Just wondering because I have submitted through cruisecompete and the prices I am getting back are only @$100 less than booking direct with Carnival.......$100 is a lot, but if there are benefits to booking direct it may be worth it. Thanks for all your help.

Carnival absolutely does price match. What they won't do is match the little perks given by a travel agency, either on-line or bricks and mortar. An agency or travel agent, on the other hand, isn't always available to get your price lowered when the fare goes down. When I see my cabin class is cheaper than what I paid, I call Carnival and they immediate credit me with the difference. I've read many accounts of travel agents telling their customers that they can't do that or Carnival won't do it. If there's a problem you can't call Carnival and get it straightened out because they can't talk to you - it's the agent's booking and they can only talk to them. By the time your agent gets back with you it's sometimes too late to get the price reduction. I'm sure there are wonderful travel agents out there. I used 2 different travel agencys for my first two cruises and did all my own arrangements the next two times. I did just as well, if not better, than the agency. I would have to have more than a $50 onboard credit to add a middleman to my travel arrangement. Too many cooks in the kitchen....

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

When we cruised with Carnival last March they did not price match with VacationsToGo price. When the rate went down on their own website, they refunded us the difference. When asking I was informed that they do not price match with other agencies. Good Luck!

 

[cbrfan]

When we cruised with Carnival last March they did not price match with VacationsToGo price. When the rate went down on their own website, they refunded us the difference. When asking I was informed that they do not price match with other agencies. Good Luck!

Perhaps the TA who posted earlier could help on this one. I was under the impression that TA's aren't allowed to sell a cruise cheaper than Carnival. If the price is cheaper it's because the agent has taken the difference out of their own commision. Anyone know for sure on this?

 

[Cloudless Nights]

cruisecritic.com definitely!

 

[smacky1]

Perhaps the TA who posted earlier could help on this one. I was under the impression that TA's aren't allowed to sell a cruise cheaper than Carnival. If the price is cheaper it's because the agent has taken the difference out of their own commision. Anyone know for sure on this?

I am curious about this as well. I have submitted to cruisecompete.com and have gotten a lower price than the one I was given with carnival. I was getting ready to call carnival to see if they would match that price...........anyone know the answer to this?

 

[m&m's mom]

Another fun site not widely mentioned is cruiselinefans.com
They have great pictues and links.

 

[cbrfan]

I am curious about this as well. I have submitted to cruisecompete.com and have gotten a lower price than the one I was given with carnival. I was getting ready to call carnival to see if they would match that price...........anyone know the answer to this?

One thing to check when comparing prices is whether the total you're being quoted includes extras like fuel surcharges, port taxes,etc. I've noticed that alot times online sites show a price that is quite a bit lower than what the cruiseline is offering. And it usually turns out that they're not quoting the price with taxes and surcharges, where the cruiseline is.

 

[4Seasons]

Perhaps the TA who posted earlier could help on this one. I was under the impression that TA's aren't allowed to sell a cruise cheaper than Carnival. If the price is cheaper it's because the agent has taken the difference out of their own commision. Anyone know for sure on this?

That is true, to some extent. Cruise lines claim a "level playing field" in regards to pricing, however Carnival lets us do a commission debit at the final payment.
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have "strict" (loose term there) rules about no "rebating" (which is the industry term for giving up a portion of your commission in return for the business), but all you have to do is log onto CruiseCompete and see it in full force. I really don't see any enforcement from the cruise lines for rebating.
If we have a group set up we get amenities to offer the clients (onboard credit and other "perks") from the cruise lines that don't come out of our pocket (most of the time).
Selling cruises is pretty much a numbers game for agents. Unless I have group space held at a great rate with good amenities, I don't try to sell cruises too much because the cut-throat competition is fierce. I can make much better commission elsewhere.

 

[smacky1]

Any other places to look into for trip insurance?

 

[gasperdam]

This is a good thread! We too are a family of 6, and we just booked our 1st
cruise from Aug.14-17th this year! We are cruising on Carnival, because they were the best rates I could find. We booked on cheapcarribean.com.

 

[badblackpug]

www.cruisedirect.com

We booked an Alaska cruise for August. They had the cheapest prices and you can make payments.

 

[Poohlovr]

Any other places to look into for trip insurance?

www.Insuremytrip.com

 

[4Seasons]

Make sure whereever you get quotes from that it is your TOTAL price and includes everything, tax, port charges and fuel surcharges.

And remember that a travel agency with blocked group space will often times come up with better pricing and amenities.
I priced thru a few "online" agencies to see what pricing I got for a group I have on the Carnival Triumph July 13-20. They are coming up at $342 MORE for a double occupancy inside 4a stateroom, and my group includes $100/room onboard credit. This is because I blocked space months ago at a better rate.

It always pays to check around. Many agents also have access to blocked space thru their consortia.

As long as you aren't at the date for final payment you should be able to make payments on your cruise, regardless of where you book from.
As a general rule you'll have to have it paid in full by about 70 days from sailing (sometimes more for a holiday sailing).