Carnival Dream Christmas-Book Directly?

[robster18]

HI

We are looking to book the Carnival Dream on Dec 24th. We have always cruised with RCCL but we are trying Carnival. We have a 7 year old and traveling with another family with 3 kids as well.

 

Question..Does anyone recommend going thru a travel agent or site such as expedia or orbitz? Or should be book directly thru Carnival? Seems like the pricing is mostly the same. I did see a sale last week at Carnival but looks like it is gone now.

 

Any help would be appreciated. Any tips of Balcony room and if there are bad spots?

 

Thanks

Robyn

[smc0320]

there is no need to ever use a TA for cruise travel....you get same great deals through cruisline directly. only problem with Oribitz and the others is when they charge a booking fee.....if you like booking online, just book directly on carnival.com...any time you need to speak to someone, any one of their PVP's will answer your questions...

[robster18]

ALso can you not search anymore in the boards?

[firefly333]

To both above, you cannot name a TA on this site, so you might want to read CC guidelines.

 

Some TAs do give perks privately. They cannot advertise a lower price, but that does not mean they arent doing it in private.

 

You do lose control of the booking and it makes getting price drops harder to me to book with a TA. If you book ES you can submit price drops yourself if you book direct with Carnival.

[Brendarudd28]

I guess it depends mostly on the type of person you are.

The first two cruises, I booked online myself. The first was the ocity site and there's no booking fee there. Chose that route because they offered a discount on excursions, but didn't utilize that. The second, I booked directly through Carnival.

Our upcoming cruise on the Dream is booked through a TA that someone at work had recommended. There was a very minimal OBC we received for booking with them.

The main thing I don't like about going through the TA is the lack of control I have over my own booking. On the first two, I could get on Carnival and move my cabin if I wanted to or change my dining time. With the upcoming cruise, I have to funnel all that through the TA.

So... bottom line - if you're a control freak, like me, book directly. If you're one that would just like to turn over the money and someone else does all the leg work for you, choose a TA. I say try one way one time and the other way another time to see what works best for you.

Can't answer your question about rooms because October will be my first sailing on the Dream. Just pay attention to what's above and below you. The Empress Deck is always good because you're sandwiched between two decks with just cabins.

Happy cruising!

[Brendarudd28]

To both above, you cannot name a TA on this site, so you might want to read CC guidelines.

 

Some TAs do give perks privately. They cannot advertise a lower price, but that does not mean they arent doing it in private.

 

You do lose control of the booking and it makes getting price drops harder to me to book with a TA. If you book ES you can submit price drops yourself if you book direct with Carnival.

 

 

Firefly - sometimes when I see our posts on the same thread, I think we were separated at birth! LOL

[kroozers]

I never use a TA or even a PVP anymore - I just book online, but I always do all my research and know exactly what I want. If you have questions though, many here are very happy with the Carnival PVPs. I'd suggest that route.

[kroozers]

ALso can you not search anymore in the boards?

 

That function is temporarily down.