Does anyone buy cruises from Cruise Critic company?

I was just wondering does anyone buy any cruises from cruise critic companies??? I am working with two agents right now, one says one price the other says another, so I wanted to make sure I was getting the best rate.. Everyone has their own rates.

Why does the cruise industry say that their cruises are filling up fast, Is that to scare the public so that they must buy right away?

I hate for someone to Force us into buying fast... then to find out that the rate goes down below cost.. instead of going higher.. thanks Midnight

If you are working with 2 ta's and ones price is lower when everything else is the same, then they are most likely putting you in a group booking.

Most Ta prices are exactly the same as rci has posted

To answer your question, yes cc posters use the ta's on the home page

Please forgive my utter ignorance. What is Cruise Critic company?

Please forgive my utter ignorance. What is Cruise Critic company?

I believe that s/he means companies that advertise on Cruise Critic.

Even if it is their company (as per the title). ;):D

Badges....we don't need no stinking badges................

I was just wondering does anyone buy any cruises from cruise critic companies??? I am working with two agents right now, one says one price the other says another, so I wanted to make sure I was getting the best rate.. Everyone has their own rates.

 

Why does the cruise industry say that their cruises are filling up fast, Is that to scare the public so that they must buy right away?

 

I hate for someone to Force us into buying fast... then to find out that the rate goes down below cost.. instead of going higher.. thanks Midnight

For clarification...Cruise Critic doesn't sell travel. We aren't a travel agency. If you see an agency listed on this site, they've paid to be here. They're advertisers but Cruise Critic doesn't endorse them.

Thank you so much for clarifying this. I was under the impression that these companies were somehow affiliated with cruise critic.

In response to the other part of your query, it is true that both prices and availability can change at the drop of a hat. A special rate can appear then disappear within hours, sometimes less, depending on sales volume. Prices may go up or they may go down, no way to really predict (if I could predict these things, I'd have lost a lot less when the stock market crashed some years ago).

For clarification...Cruise Critic doesn't sell travel. We aren't a travel agency. If you see an agency listed on this site, they've paid to be here. They're advertisers but Cruise Critic doesn't endorse them.

I am confused,

can we talk about these travel agents who advertise on cc :confused:

I am confused,

can we talk about these travel agents who advertise on cc :confused:

Good question.

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

sorry is that an answer:confused:

Only if you are skilled enough to click on it:rolleyes:

I am confused,

can we talk about these travel agents who advertise on cc :confused:

And how can you tell if a travel agency is genuine and is not only here for our money?

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

No. No discussion of travel agencies on the message board. Sorry. :( There are tons of great agencies but if we let the discussion on the board, it would be hard to know who was genuine and who was just here to make money.

I think what is meant here is, it would be hard to know a genuine TA review from a shill.

So then, let me test for understanding:

CC sells advertising to TA's without knowing of their bona fides?

CC won't let us discuss said TA's when we buy a cruise from them?

Sounds like a lose-lose situation for us. I'll stick with buying direct from the cruise line.

So then, let me test for understanding:

 

CC sells advertising to TA's without knowing of their bona fides?

 

CC won't let us discuss said TA's when we buy a cruise from them?

 

Sounds like a lose-lose situation for us. I'll stick with buying direct from the cruise line.

Pretty much every medium sells advertising without knowing bona fides. Why would someone expect CruiseCritic to be different?

So then, let me test for understanding:

 

CC sells advertising to TA's without knowing of their bona fides?

 

CC won't let us discuss said TA's when we buy a cruise from them?

 

Sounds like a lose-lose situation for us. I'll stick with buying direct from the cruise line.

I always buy direct from Royal Caribbean. In the past year they've really seemed to up their call center quality. Any time I have a problem I just give them a call, they take care of it and then try to take care of the next 5 questions I'm likely to call back about. A whole lot easier than trying to get a travel agent to call Royal Caribbean for me and do what I want.

No. No discussion of travel agencies on the message board. Sorry. :( There are tons of great agencies but if we let the discussion on the board, it would be hard to know who was genuine and who was just here to make money.

I understand CC needs money to operate and advertising takes care of that. However, the FAQ states that CC will assist member cruises with planning thru the Cruise Critic Member Cruise Program. When I look at all those cruises, they are all using the same travel agency. This to me, is an implied endorsement of said travel agency. Therefore, shouldn't discussion of the endorsed travel agency be allowed?

No. No discussion of travel agencies on the message board. Sorry. :( There are tons of great agencies but if we let the discussion on the board, it would be hard to know who was genuine and who was just here to make money.

Genuine or not, they are all out to make money. :)

The biggest problem on Cruise Critic, as I see it, is that some regular posters try to direct people to their favorite TA, and they clearly get perks (i.e. special treatment, upgrades, etc.) for doing so. I think the hosts try very hard to curtail this, some with good success, some not. it's really unfair to TA's who play by the rules and don't resort to such antics.

Genuine or not, they are all out to make money. :)

 

The biggest problem on Cruise Critic, as I see it, is that some regular posters try to direct people to their favorite TA, and they clearly get perks (i.e. special treatment, upgrades, etc.) for doing so. I think the hosts try very hard to curtail this, some with good success, some not. it's really unfair to TA's who play by the rules and don't resort to such antics.

I've never seen anything about travel agents other than folks telling others that they can't mention them. I've never seen anyone try to point someone toward a particular agent ever...

So then, let me test for understanding:

 

CC sells advertising to TA's without knowing of their bona fides?

 

CC won't let us discuss said TA's when we buy a cruise from them?

 

Sounds like a lose-lose situation for us. I'll stick with buying direct from the cruise line.

I understand CC needs money to operate and advertising takes care of that. However, the FAQ states that CC will assist member cruises with planning thru the Cruise Critic Member Cruise Program. When I look at all those cruises, they are all using the same travel agency. This to me, is an implied endorsement of said travel agency. Therefore, shouldn't discussion of the endorsed travel agency be allowed?