DCL newbie - How to book to get the best deal?

[aussie_princess]

o I'm a DCL newbie (cruising newbie actually) and I'm planning a cruise as part of a trip to the USA in February (I'm Australian and booking from Australia). My friend and I have looked at our itinerary and have decided that the 4 night Bahamian cruise leaving from Port Canaveral on February 26th is the one for us. We're on something of a budget and are more than happy to go with an inside stateroom (we're not planning to spend a whole lot of time in our room anyway), but besides that, I don't know how to get the best deal on our cruise. I see a lot of stuff online about going through a travel agent, but a lot of this is USA based so I'm not sure if it's the right choice for us. Is booking directly through the DCL website a bad idea? Will we save money if we go some other way?

Please help! I've tried researching this but I'm so lost at the moment and I don't want to end up paying way more than necessary.

 

[BigredNole]

From what I have learned and watching prices when we can cruise, booking the day the itineraries are released is the cheapest they will be.

 

[bobbiwoz]

If you book through Dreams Unlimited, you will get an onboard credit. That helps your cost a bit.

Happy sailing!

 

[Twilight Terror]

o I'm a DCL newbie (cruising newbie actually) and I'm planning a cruise as part of a trip to the USA in February (I'm Australian and booking from Australia). My friend and I have looked at our itinerary and have decided that the 4 night Bahamian cruise leaving from Port Canaveral on February 26th is the one for us. We're on something of a budget and are more than happy to go with an inside stateroom (we're not planning to spend a whole lot of time in our room anyway), but besides that, I don't know how to get the best deal on our cruise. I see a lot of stuff online about going through a travel agent, but a lot of this is USA based so I'm not sure if it's the right choice for us. Is booking directly through the DCL website a bad idea? Will we save money if we go some other way?

Please help! I've tried researching this but I'm so lost at the moment and I don't want to end up paying way more than necessary.

We are in Australia too. Our first cruise we booked using DVC points, so that doesn't count, but this time we just booked direct with DCL online. Perhaps not the cheapest way, but the quickest and easiest for us. We've never found travel agents to be cheaper over here; booking direct is always cheaper. However, we will be booking on board for our next cruise to get the on board booking benefits. I know that probably doesn't help much!