online cruise booking sites

[cruiselady75]

we typically reserve our cruises with a travel agent with doing most of the research ourselves . now royal has a great sale on and have found several online competitors offering deals with free gratuities. does anyone use the other cruise sites that offer deals for all lines? thanks for any help you may offer. First time looking to look with one of these sites.

[Clarea]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

The rules of this website prohibit us from discussing specific travel agents or agency websites.

[helen haywood]

For every cruise we take I look at multiple travel agencies. I've never found one agency that consistently had the best price and/or perks. Sometimes an agency has a group booking and can offer a better price than others. So I check all agencies I know of (always keeping a lookout for others!) and whichever agency gives me the best combination of price and perks is the one I book with. If you have the time to research this yourself I'd recommend doing so.

[Keith1010]

Just be careful who you select.

 

Make sure if you need their help on other items they will be there for your and also ask if there is a charge should you cancel the cruise.

 

Keith

[King of Cruising]

IMHO, Stick with your T.A. our book through the cruise line... :cool:

[taglovestocruise]

We always use one of the big online agency's. Many times we book with the cruise line to pick up special offers and then within 60 days we transfer the booking to our online TA to pick up their perks. We always get added or matching OBC, always get specialty dinning, usually get pre paid gratuities, and on our last booking we also received free travel insurance. We have been doing this for 15 years and never had a problem, just make sure your aware of their cancellation or change policy. The one we use has a $100.00 pp cancellation charge but the perks outweigh the risk. happy cruising

[Kartgv]

As others have said, we can't name names, but quite a few of the large online agencies are very good. We typically use one of two different ones - one is much better for researching ships and available cruises, sometimes has good deals, charges no cancellation fee, but you can't view specific cabin availability online, have to call. The other one does have online cabin availability, offers excellent perks (very often 10% of base cruise price as OBC), charges a small cancellation fee (usually waived if you book a different cruise). Both will email you very detailed paperwork for electronic signature before your booking is final. If you use one, ask lots of questions and, above all else, READ all the paperwork so you know exactly what you're getting/not getting.

[ronandannette]

For every cruise we take I look at multiple travel agencies. I've never found one agency that consistently had the best price and/or perks. Sometimes an agency has a group booking and can offer a better price than others. So I check all agencies I know of (always keeping a lookout for others!) and whichever agency gives me the best combination of price and perks is the one I book with. If you have the time to research this yourself I'd recommend doing so.

This can be a real advantage. We booked our last cruise through an on-line TA and saved $500 on the cabin. I can't say the agency's service was any great shakes but I really didn't need much and the price reduction was very worthwhile. I'd do it again. This is though, unless one regularly tracks with different booking sources, you'd never even know of such deals.

[easyboy]

Before committing, check their terms or you might be surprised later.

[tbmrt]

Before committing, check their terms or you might be surprised later.

 

This happened to us. We got a good deal on a cruise from New Orleans and then decided we didn't want the hassle of driving to the port from Tampa area.

 

Cancelled the cruise many months in advance and had to pay a $100 cancellation fee per cabin. They also kept $100 which we could use for a year on a future cruise. Problem was they never could offer a better rate for a future cruise within that time period that was better than another TA's (even considering the $100 credit)....So we ended up losing $200.

 

Always ask about cancellation fees and get in writing.