Cruises who did you book with?

[shushh]

I totally agree - it is so very unfair to us

Oh travelmum, I could go on about this forever! If we have the initiative to find good fares online, we should be entitled to book it at that fare. Travel with 5 is difficult and expensive enough as it is. Why shouldn't people be allowed to shop around to make their holidays more afforadable?!?!?

I booked direct with Disney in the end I was going to to go with Dreams unlimited but i found with my constant checking of the Disney site i was able to get what i wanted and they offered me a category higher than i wanted so i am happy with that i can change the cruise over to them but not with as much OBC as i would of got if they booked it for me i have been reading on the cruise board that people are not changing it over to an agent until just before the cruise.

So which cruise did you go with in the end? Alaska or Bahamas? Sorry if you have told us already...

 

[WAMUMOF4]

Oh travelmum, I could go on about this forever! If we have the initiative to find good fares online, we should be entitled to book it at that fare. Travel with 5 is difficult and expensive enough as it is. Why shouldn't people be allowed to shop around to make their holidays more afforadable?!?!?



So which cruise did you go with in the end? Alaska or Bahamas? Sorry if you have told us already...

I have booked the Bahamas one for me and 3 of the kids but DH has started FIFO and if it ends up he has to take an extra rotation off we will change to the Alaska one so at this stage I am doing the Bahamas one. I think now i have paid the deposit he is going to have a hard time talking me into changing cruises

I agree with everyone else we should be able to shop around maybe if everyone keeps booking with the cruise lines that let us find a deal they will eventually have to change their ways.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

WAMUMOF4 - we booked direct with Disney too. I'm just going to stay like that, not move to an agent. It's been nearly 10 years since we used an agent for any travel and they'd have to be able to get me a seriously good deal compared to what I could do myself.

I'm totally annoyed that non-US/CAN citizens can't book cruises with US agents or direct but have to go thru agents in their own country charging much higher prices. We really would love to do a RCCL trip but the pricing in NZ is outrageous. Given the US economy at the moment you'd think that the US cruiselines would welcome whatever business from around the world direct. The overseas agents make a fortune on cruises that go for way less to the local market. Grrr!

 

[battymum]

I just did a comparison exercise -

I made a dummy booking on Royal Carribean.com.au for 7 day cruise, balcony cabin, in Sept 2012 - price was $999 AUD + 85 in taxes -

The same cruise and cabin on the US website was $999 USD + $85 taxes!!!

I expect neither of these fares included gratuities.

We booked our cruise through Dreams Unlimited, I had no idea that you couldnt use a US agent at the time, was a little stressed about it when I found out, but we boarded with no problems, but in future would book directly through the AUS website to avoid any potential problems.

Some US TA's may offer some OBC to get your business which would be nice.

 

[shadowblue]

We booked ours through DCL's website. In fact WDW accommodation, tranfers, ME (all except the flights) through them.

One of the triggers for that was Flight Centre, who did the flights, had suggested / held an off-site resort which I found had consistently terrible reviews on Trip Advisor. At the same time I was trying to convince DW about a "short cruise" and showed her... "what about this ship?" The rest was all there.

It all worked like a... Dream On-line check-in. Documents and baggage labels Fed-Exed. One phone-call to arrange pre-paid gratuities.


Sorry about the delay getting a TR done. It'll come, just busy

 

[meandmygirl]

I have booked our Disney cruise through Dreams Unlimited (Merrie) mainly just to get the onboard credit. Merrie has been great.

 

[australiankaren]

Hey

I just booked freedom of the seas, 23 sept 2012. Junior suite, so excited. We love cruising.....and doing more places we haven't been before, but I just love hanging by the pool for 7 days.....


Roll on sept 2012

 

[Travel Mum]

Hey

I just booked freedom of the seas, 23 sept 2012. Junior suite, so excited. We love cruising.....and doing more places we haven't been before, but I just love hanging by the pool for 7 days.....


Roll on sept 2012

Oh Karen, Freedom of the Seas Great choice!!

 

[australiankaren]

Yep

Chatting with dh last night, and we both agreed that we need to cruise rather than drive around California for 8 days.....we drive enough every day....so I bite the bullet, checked the rccl and shock horror it fits perfectly re dates and itin....so it must be the right thing to do And we loved freedom 2 years ago..so doing it again.

Waiting for confirmation as my TA is away for thanksgiving weekend......

So now need to book boardwalk villas for F &W festival....

And track down the airfares....

Less than 10 months to go

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We booked with Tracy from Travel on a Dream. She is awesome. So efficient and always following up to see if there is anything she can help us with. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her.

 

[ame]

I always book direct with whoever I am travelling with (cruise/plane). I'm too much of a control freak I even tracked down the booking reference code for the Alaska Air leg of our trip over so I could double check our booking. Good thing I did as VA hadn't added a baggage allowance for us for that leg!!

 

[alicia1506]

we've finally decided on the 7 night western caribbean on the fantasy, but are unsure whether to book with dreams unlimited and get their $200 obc in addition to the $25 obc offered by disney, or whether to book via dcl direct.

we want the cat 5 cabin, plus lax-mco return airfares plus transport included, and dreams are offering to do that...

what do you all think? go with the TA and bonus obc, or go with dcl direct?

 

[Kangarucci]

Go with the TA and get the OBC. Check with them if you are also eligible for the Disney $25 credit. To get this you may have to book with Disney then transfer to the TA.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

I'd go with the travel agent. $200 is a substantial obc. We booked our previous cruise with DU and got both their obc and the $25 Disney one. I think we are getting it this time also. We've had no difficulty managing our booking with wither agent.