💜🌺 Needing booking assistance! Tips? Kids free?

Our first and only cruise was in 2014 with RC ($99 deals!). Then life and babies happened, so our traveling has been on hold. Now that we're ready to book again, I need help!

We'd love to stay with Royal Carribean, possibly Carnival as these are the only ones in our budget. What is the best way to book the best deals? Would love kids free (8 and 1 year old, maybe 11 year old nephew), onboard credit, whatever deals! Are their secret tips to booking? Who do you suggest booking through (company or travel agent)?

We are within minutes to Port Canaveral Florida and three hours to Miami.

Any and all suggestions welcomed!

You can get some amazing deals on MSC Divina with kids sail free. But most ships have only four to a cabin, so the nephew would throw a spanner in the works. EM

Our first and only cruise was in 2014 with RC ($99 deals!). Then life and babies happened, so our traveling has been on hold. Now that we're ready to book again, I need help!

 

We'd love to stay with Royal Carribean, possibly Carnival as these are the only ones in our budget. What is the best way to book the best deals? Would love kids free (8 and 1 year old, maybe 11 year old nephew), onboard credit, whatever deals! Are their secret tips to booking? Who do you suggest booking through (company or travel agent)?

We are within minutes to Port Canaveral Florida and three hours to Miami.

Any and all suggestions welcomed!

Look at Norwegian too, they are having a deal that the 3rd and 4th are free on select sailings.

I would contact a good cruise travel agent....I'm sure there are some in your town! Let THEM do the comparisons...they can give you brochures so you can get a feel for the lines nowadays....things have changed in the last several years! You'll be saving a BUNDLE by not having to fly to port! And, some TA's will give you OBC for booking with them...that's always nice!

Check with a travel agent. They will know current promotions, etc.

Keep in mind that, if you want some adult time, you will want to select a line & ship with a nursery (or in room babysitting, but that is not guaranteed & pricier than nursery). Also, if you want the 1 year old to have "pool time" you'll want to look for lines/ships with an area for diapered children since they can't swim in pools.

Check with a travel agent. They will know current promotions, etc.

 

Keep in mind that, if you want some adult time, you will want to select a line & ship with a nursery (or in room babysitting, but that is not guaranteed & pricier than nursery). Also, if you want the 1 year old to have "pool time" you'll want to look for lines/ships with an area for diapered children since they can't swim in pools.

Only DCL and some RCCL ships have splash areas for diapered kids.

CroisiEurope river cruises are free for little kids and really the only river line available for really young kids. Can't remember the cut off age where the my charge, but your 1 year old should make it. We are going to pull it off with a 9 month old.

Price it out. Sometimes those kids free deals aren't deals at all.

During my price check today for a future cruise I have booked, it looks like RCCL is offering a kids sail free promotion. Since we are already under this promotion I didn't look into the fine details.

I know RC has a family oceanview stateroom with 2 bedrooms but only 1 bathroom and will hold 5 or 6. You do need to contact a travel agent for these. Since you are within driving distance of so many great ports, you can have your travel agent compare prices of different ships. CC doesn't allow recommendations for specific travel agents/agencies so I would compare a few local ones to a website based one and also a box store one. While most prices are probably similar, some agencies will add extra OBC.

I know RC has a family oceanview stateroom with 2 bedrooms but only 1 bathroom and will hold 5 or 6. You do need to contact a travel agent for these. Since you are within driving distance of so many great ports, you can have your travel agent compare prices of different ships. CC doesn't allow recommendations for specific travel agents/agencies so I would compare a few local ones to a website based one and also a box store one. While most prices are probably similar, some agencies will add extra OBC.

You do not need to book those cabin through a travel agency, you can call Royal Caribbean to book them too. You just can not get pricing directly on their website.

I did a bunch of comparisons online doing mock bookings to gather prices. Once I found the deal I wanted, I called a travel agent to see if they could offer any perks/extras for booking through them.

We ended up with $50 OBC, $100 spa gift card and a bottle of champagne. Same price as booking directly through RC and I was still able to access my reservation for things like show reservations. I've always booked it myself before, but will be going to TAs going forward. Might as well get the extras!

I'm really not sure how much to say. But I'm a travel agent and I would love to help you... I'm new to this board, and I'm not sure what is or isn't allowed

I'm really not sure how much to say. But I'm a travel agent and I would love to help you... I'm new to this board, and I'm not sure what is or isn't allowed

I community guidelines will detail what you are and aren't allowed to do as a travel agent on these boards. Here is the link for you if you haven't seen them.:)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/faq.php?faq=guidelines