Best and cheapest way to book???

[nolababe504]

I want to know who everyone books through for best price!! Is it best to book through carnival or who is a good PVP to book with? I have used a PVP in the past but she never returns my calls and this has been going on now for 1 1/2 years!! I was just seeing how to get the best price on cruises!! I am looking to booking 2 more soon:) I have been using carnival.com!!

[cuyahoga11]

It is against the rules of the board to name TA's or PVP's but if you are unhappy with your PVP just call Carnival ans ask for a new one until you find someone you click with

[beachbum6264]

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[wasiii]

.....that gives me perks. I used to book with a online warehouse TA but they no longer deal with Carnival because of them dictating how they could do their rebates to their customers.

 

:eek:

 

wasiii

[firefly333]

TAs cannot advertise lower prices, so the prices you are seeing in public will be the same as you can get direct from Carnival.

 

Only way to get discounts is if a TA offers them privately, like email or over the phone. Also, group cruises can be discounted, which is the way Iv been booking, but its very limiting as of course picking thru group cruises, might not suit you dates wise.

[firefly333]

.....that gives me perks. I used to book with a online warehouse TA but they no longer deal with Carnival because of them dictating how they could do their rebates to their customers.

 

:eek:

 

wasiii

 

Only way around it is the TA has to make you jump thru hoops, and I guess that TA just had enough, especially since the discounts of 10% were probably coming out of their commission.

 

Just wasnt worth it for them.

[Soonerbaby]

TAs cannot advertise lower prices, so the prices you are seeing in public will be the same as you can get direct from Carnival.

 

Only way to get discounts is if a TA offers them privately, like email or over the phone. Also, group cruises can be discounted, which is the way Iv been booking, but its very limiting as of course picking thru group cruises, might not suit you dates wise.

 

I book with our TA because my place of employment gets a really good discount thru them.

[Kryssa]

I use a large online TA that matches the lowest price I can find, then gives me a big OBC on top of that. Plus, we get small gift cards ($25-50) every time we sail after booking with them to use toward the next cruise :)

 

Call around and ask - they cannot advertise the low rate + OBC online due to cruise line rules.

[mizLORInj]

I see no reason to book directly with Carnival when there are TAs that give you an onboard credit. I check the price on Carnival.com and then call a couple TAs I've used for past cruises and see what OBC they're offering. This way at least our tips (and usually more) are covered by the OBC.

I suggest calling or emailing some TAs to see what they'll offer in the form of OBC. Some offer nothing.