Cruise - best place to book?

[HayGan]

I'm looking to book a Royal Caribbean cruise for December. Anyone have any suggestions for cruise agents to book through? There are so many out there and they are all within the same price range. Is it best to go thru someone like AAA or ???? I'm so used to controlling all my own arrangements I'm not sure how to proceed with a cruise!

 

[ready123go]

I have always booked our cruises through the cruise website (both Royal Caribbean & Carnival). Never had any problems with booking that way. If there were any other problems, I just called customer service and was able to ask a question or straighten it out.

GL!

 

[Green Tea]

The "price" will be the same but with various agents you will get amounts of on board credit to offset the cost. I always price it with www.cruisequick.com and costcotravel as well. Cruisequick is awesome. It is all by email and they will respond almost immediately. I have nearly $600 in onboard credit via Costco for my next cruise.

Just look at all the big companies and see which offers the best combination of service and added values that make it the best deal for you.

 

[christineann]

I've taken 3 cruises with Royal Caribbean, and I booked each one directly with the cruise line. The price was the same, and the biggest plus is that if the price of the cruise drops (and the prices do waiver), they will refund the amount to your account. I received refunds of over $1000 on our first cruise,over $700 on the second, and about $200 on the third (it was a five day). You just call them once a week and ask if there are any price drops or a state special.

 

[jgreco]

Travelocity always has all sorts of OBC for booking and usually does deals if you use your AMEX.

A word of caution if you do use Travelocity, take screenshots of the pages that show your specific cancellation date without penalty. I had to cancel a cruise and Travelocity argued I was outside of my cancellation date. I had screenshots to back me up and was able to get a refund.

 

[ekatiel]

Try www.cruisecompete.com. They will give you quotes from about 5 different travel agencies. You can choose the one with the best on board credit (the prices will likely be the same since most major cruise lines do not allow price discounting by TAs). Edited to add one more thought. Although they don't allow price discounting, some major travel agencies book groups of rooms at a special group rate and then pass those saving on to you. For Royal, you are most likely to find special group rates on Oasis or Allure, their two largest and newest ships. So, some quotes may actually be priced less than others. --Katie

 

[jgreco]

Also check vacations2go.com

 

[JenLanDisney]

I suggest posting all your cruise related questions on the message boards at cruisecritic.com
They are a very knowledgeable bunch!

 

[Psychodisney]

I've used cruisecompete before too. I booked with the online travel agent but relied on myself to keep track of dates etc. Nice to get a big onlilne credit for excursions.

 

[Green Tea]

I suggest posting all your cruise related questions on the message boards at cruisecritic.com
They are a very knowledgeable bunch!

Unfortunately cruise critic doesn't allow any mention of travel agents or agencies anymore. That's where I originally heard about cruisequick but now any mention gets the post deleted immediately.

 

[Darcy03231]

I just came back from a cruise. I used Debbie Frost at Cruises-n-More and she was fantastic. I got the same price as I would have through the cruise line, but I got a $75 on-board credit by booking through her.

 

[mikehn]

Cruise fares are not necessarily always the same across the board. There may be some very large players who can actually give you a better cruise fare. Not only can they give you a better fare, but they can also throw in a variety of perks. Bottom line is, get a good understanding of the value of what you are buying. Then shop around for the best deal.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

We book on the cruise line website. We usually book the cheapest cabin in the particular category--inside, oceanview, or balcony. As the date gets nearer they will often have price drops and if before final payment you can call and get an adjustment. If after final payment you can usually get upgraded. Our last cruise we went from a low level ocean view to a mid level balcony cabin for $60 extra per person.
If you book with the sites that offer onboard credit, you will have a hard time getting price adjustments or upgrades or upsells. You might save $50 but miss out on a few hundred dollars of savings or upgrades.
If you use cruisecompete, google any companies you are considering using. A few mentioned in posts here have had bad reviews. Cruise critic is an excellent source of information. It is to what cruising what disboards is to Disney.

 

[Darcy03231]

We book on the cruise line website. We usually book the cheapest cabin in the particular category--inside, oceanview, or balcony. As the date gets nearer they will often have price drops and if before final payment you can call and get an adjustment. If after final payment you can usually get upgraded. Our last cruise we went from a low level ocean view to a mid level balcony cabin for $60 extra per person.
If you book with the sites that offer onboard credit, you will have a hard time getting price adjustments or upgrades or upsells. You might save $50 but miss out on a few hundred dollars of savings or upgrades.
If you use cruisecompete, google any companies you are considering using. A few mentioned in posts here have had bad reviews. Cruise critic is an excellent source of information. It is to what cruising what disboards is to Disney.

Not if you have the right travel agent. I just got back from a cruise. Booked it through the TA and booked the cheapest inside I could get. Ended up on the highest level balcony for $75 (total, not per person) from what I had paid for the inside. We started with the inside, then moved to an ocean view for the same price, then to a french door for the same price and then to the balcony for $75. We also got the on-board credit.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

We book Royal Caribbean cruises through Costco Travel. We saved money, got OB credit and received a ton of benefits on our cruise. I think some of the on board gifts are just for certain cruises (like the Oasis class ships) though. We received free dining certificates to the restaurants that require extra payment. Free cookbook and cupcakes delivered to our rooms. Free wine in our room when we boarded and free cookies that the kids could color. Pretty cool surprises!

 

[HayGan]

Thanks for all the advice! I'm going to sign up for a Costco membership tomorrow (I was thinking of it anyway.) I've submitted a few requests thru cruisecompete.com and received a couple good quotes. I'll see what Costco has to offer before I make a decision.