Best Cruise Deals?

[sanibelsandals]

Most of the time I book our HAL cruises directly thru HAL, my daughter says there are much better prices out there. We are looking for a Mar 07 cruise on the Westerdam in Eastern Caribbean. Since this trip will be with the kids and grandkids - they are looking for best prices they can find. Anyone have any suggestions for best place to shop? Is HAL direct the way to go? What if we expand this family thing and need more than 3 or 4 cabins - anyone know anything about group rates?

[jhannah]

Cruise Critic rules prohibit us from recommending any specific travel agent. However, some good ones advertise on this site. Do a Google search for cruises and you'll come up with many. You might try ************* dot com where you can have a number of agents provide bids.

Most often you can get a better deal by booking elsewhere than HAL. So do a little search and see what you might be able to snag.

Good luck.

[sunflowerstarr]

my best friend and i got a pretty great deal i think(especially for us booking our first cruise) for our trip in nov. we dont care what room as long as we are on a ship so we went for the cheapest room they offered at the time. got it 980.56 a person, 200 obc and up to 500 cash back with a mc for an 11 night so carib trip when we booked in feb via one of the much advertised online sites and have had no problems so far. we just looked at those big names you hear on tv a lot and kept watching till we found a good deal. gl and happy hunting!

[unclerich]

Agree with ************* as excellent online resource. Major difficulties with TA I'll call c-n-m (you'll recognize it when it comes up)on our most recent trip. Very unresponsive/unhelpful.

[sanibelsandals]

OOPS, didn't realize the boo-boo. I guess I wasn't really looking for a TA, just more the confirmation that booking thru cruise lines direct are not necessarily the way to go. Thanks for straightening me out!

[grannynurse]

I've looked at online booking but we stick with our (TA) travel "angel" who has a great rapport with HAL and can work magic with fares and perks.
I'm gun-shy after having a problem with a large agency. Our agent wasn't very cruise savvy and didn't do a good job at all. We found out after someone recommended our current TA, that there are knowledgeable people who will really work for you. There is a great difference in mediocre service and great service, and great attitude and wise counsel. Having a TA with clout with the cruise line helps too.
GN

[torpeedo]

I know you can usually get a better price by not booking directly through HAL. Probable savings are about 40% less, sometimes more and sometimes less. There are some online TA's listed on this website above under CRUISE AGENCIES. Compare prices and services that you might require and then decide what is most important to you and suits your needs the best. For some people, price is not the driving factor that helps them choose. Some people need lots of special handling issues and need a real hands on reliable CRUISE travel agent. Good references from other travelers can help you make that determination.