Never EVER book your travel through the cruise line....

[Calinae]

Just a heads up for those beginners. DH and I taking our first cruise not soon enough. To save some planning time he though it would be nice to book just about everything through the cruise line, (RCCL). Please save your self the trouble and the MONEY.

 

I cancelled our air and ground transportation today. They charged me $150 to do so and I am SO happy!!!! I have now booked new air travel, a hotel for the night before, figured out my cab fare to and from airport including tip, and I still have over $400 to spend before I touch what they were charging me.

 

Now decisions... bar tab? casino? bar tab? casino?

[138east]

Good for you! It almost always works out better if you do it yourself. When I was a cruise newbie, I booked 6 of us with cruise air and we really lucked out. A once in a lifetime experience before 9/11. We went on a school vacation week and no airline could match the cruise price. To top it off, we all were in 1st class coming back. I haven't seen a deal like that since. All the flights we have booked have been cheaper, more direct, and at times we had control over. Hotels are easy if you're willing to gamble and prepay. As long as it is at least a 3* hotel, who cares if it is the Hilton or Sheraton or whatever.

[Essiesmom]

I have a really good Travel Agent, and she finds me the best rates. For my Carnival Dream transAtlantic, the airlines couldn't beat the Carnival price one way to Rome. but for my upcoming HAL cruise, it was best to do it myself. Each trip is different. Don't say 'never, ever'...just do your research. My TA does. EM

[notentirelynormal]

Just a heads up for those beginners. DH and I taking our first cruise not soon enough. To save some planning time he though it would be nice to book just about everything through the cruise line, (RCCL). Please save your self the trouble and the MONEY.

 

I cancelled our air and ground transportation today. They charged me $150 to do so and I am SO happy!!!! I have now booked new air travel, a hotel for the night before, figured out my cab fare to and from airport including tip, and I still have over $400 to spend before I touch what they were charging me.

 

Now decisions... bar tab? casino? bar tab? casino?

 

Or you could have just spent a little of your time before you booked and known going in what your options were and saved even the $150. Its not the cruise line's fault you were uninformed and they used it to their advantage. Sometimes cruise air and transfers are a good deal, sometimes they aren't. Its up to you, as the consumer, to know. You wouldn't blindly walk into a department store and buy $100 sweater without knowing if it was a good deal or not, why would you do it with a cruise. You state that your DH thought it would be nicer to book everything that way. Well, nicer isn't always cheaper.

 

Often ground travel IS cheaper through the cruise lines and a lot less hassle in a town you are unfamiliar with. Hotels rarely are as they charge per person instead of per night, but again, you are paying for them to do your leg work.

[Calinae]

Or you could have just spent a little of your time before you booked and known going in what your options were and saved even the $150. Its not the cruise line's fault you were uninformed and they used it to their advantage. Sometimes cruise air and transfers are a good deal, sometimes they aren't. Its up to you, as the consumer, to know. You wouldn't blindly walk into a department store and buy $100 sweater without knowing if it was a good deal or not, why would you do it with a cruise. You state that your DH thought it would be nicer to book everything that way. Well, nicer isn't always cheaper.

 

Often ground travel IS cheaper through the cruise lines and a lot less hassle in a town you are unfamiliar with. Hotels rarely are as they charge per person instead of per night, but again, you are paying for them to do your leg work.

 

 

Husband booked as a Christmas gift and thought he was saving me time. That is why I posted this so others will research before booking through the cruise line.

 

Essiesmom... Yes travel agents can do you justice and take care of you. I tried to emphasize booking through the cruise line itself with its air/transporation to-from airport option.

[EllyBaby]

We are newbies too and when I booked my cruise with Royal the woman on the phone actually advised us against booking air with the cruise line because we could get it cheaper ourselves. I appreciated her honesty and great customer service.

[paul929207]

I agree that youshould usually book your own air and hotels, but there are times when the cruise line has better deal. An example is a crise starting or ending in Acapulco. There are not alot of flights there. When our cruise ended there, we flew Princess Air because they had 4 or 5 charters going to the US. The few scheduled flights were booked. We flew Acapulco to Atlanta to our home in Greenville, SC

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

A word of caution from a rather cautious older guy. It is very important to do your research when selecting a cruise and part of the research is the air and ground arrangements. Some times the cruise line has good air arrangements and ground transportation and some times not as good as you can find ypourself. And some times if the air is complicated such as from the US Midwest to South America, you might go with the cruise line on price and convience.

 

IF you are an experienced traveler and have at least a basic understanding of travel then you can make own arragements but if you are not, and this is your first cruise then maybe the cruise is the way to go. And over many years of going on cruises it is sometimes best to use the cruise line's ground transportation (from Heathrow to Southampton is a good example).

[FireMonkey]

I book my cruises through my PVP - he can usually get me some sort of deal on my room. My ground and air travel I always book myself though.

[idraconis]

I always book air and hotel on my own. And book with the cruise line for the cruise and get the same deal or better.Cheers!:D

[uppitycats]

I don't think "blanket statements" like "never" or "always" are ever good advice. :p There are always exceptions, always times when one method is indeed better than another, and when you actually can save money booking with the cruise line.

 

The real message should be "do your homework". Ask around, look around, do some fake bookings, and then judge which option works best in any particular circumstance.

[campgirl]

We are taking a cruise in April and I booked through JetBlue cruises. The flights were so much cheaper than the cruise line. The reason I also ended up doing this is because their travel insurance covered both the flight and the cruise. On our last cruise, we missed our flight connection home and our insurance covered the hotel for the night. I hope everything works out, since we don't cruise for a couple of months. So far, so good.

[anxiousforvacation]

Our first cruise we did book airfare through our travel agent with the cruiseline. We were going to buy on our own but the price was very close to the same.

 

Keep in mind if your flight is delayed and it is booked through the cruiseline you are safe. In our case our flight was late and due to water levels they had moved the dock to get on the ship from near by to a 45 minute bus ride. Our transportation covered this change including the bus ride. We arrived late afternoon, way past boarding time. They ushered us right on the ship just in time to sale. We were already well at sea before we even got a chance to see our room.

 

Had we booked ourselves we would of either been late or incurred motel charges for the night before and transportation charges to the dock. Although I wouldn't want to pay a lot for the insurance I would probably pay up to $100 more for a couple for the convience of this insurance.

[uppitycats]

Our first cruise we did book airfare through our travel agent with the cruiseline. We were going to buy on our own but the price was very close to the same.

 

Keep in mind if your flight is delayed and it is booked through the cruiseline you are safe. In our case our flight was late and due to water levels they had moved the dock to get on the ship from near by to a 45 minute bus ride. Our transportation covered this change including the bus ride. We arrived late afternoon, way past boarding time. They ushered us right on the ship just in time to sale. We were already well at sea before we even got a chance to see our room.

 

Had we booked ourselves we would of either been late or incurred motel charges for the night before and transportation charges to the dock. Although I wouldn't want to pay a lot for the insurance I would probably pay up to $100 more for a couple for the convience of this insurance.

 

I'm sorry -- but if you book your flight through the cruise line you are NOT "safe". You need to read the small print of the contract that applies to the cruise line booking flights. They serve merely as "agent". They will TRY to help you if your flight is delayed or cancelled or changed, but there is NO guarantee, and people have been left stranded when things couldn't be worked out. That's why travel insurance -- separate from what the cruise line offers -- is really important.