Need your opinion about booking my cruise!

[GlenCoco!]

We've decided to go with RCCL (yay!). We will be doing Liberty of the seas next May to the Mediterranean.

 

Question:

 

Where should I book the cruise? On the RCCL website? and if I book directly through them, should I call them or use their website?

 

Is there any advantage by booking through a site like expedia?

 

If you have any tips on getting the cruise cheaper definitely let me know.

 

Also, We will be embarking/disembarking in Barcelona. We want to spend a few days before and a few days after in the lovely city.

 

So a hotel is definitely needed (and maybe transfers?). Should I book this myself or should I get Royal Caribbean to take care of all of that stuff for me? And same goes for our flights too...

 

Thanks guys! Booking my first vacation for my family so I want to do it the best I can!

[cibumcupio]

Your trip sounds like it will be wonderful. I would love to do a Mediterranean cruise some day.

 

I think most people here book their cruises with a travel agent. Cruise Critic highlights a number of the large ones, and there are other good local ones too. Make sure it's one that specializes in cruises, not just any travel agent (made that mistake the first time; she was lovely to work with but we didn't get anything extra). These TAs usually will either give you a better price, which is rare, or more likely will throw in other bonuses like a couple hundred OBC.

 

So for the hotel stay and transfers, it's almost always cheaper to do it yourself. If you're really uncomfortable and just want the peace of mind, you can go through the cruise line. But if you don't mind a little research here and on TripAdvisor, it will be much better.

[maureencruiser]

Read this thread for some great info about Barcelona

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1668619

[Nyrina4life]

We've decided to go with RCCL (yay!). We will be doing Liberty of the seas next May to the Mediterranean.

 

Question:

 

Where should I book the cruise? On the RCCL website? and if I book directly through them, should I call them or use their website?

 

Is there any advantage by booking through a site like expedia?

 

If you have any tips on getting the cruise cheaper definitely let me know.

 

Also, We will be embarking/disembarking in Barcelona. We want to spend a few days before and a few days after in the lovely city.

 

So a hotel is definitely needed (and maybe transfers?). Should I book this myself or should I get Royal Caribbean to take care of all of that stuff for me? And same goes for our flights too...

 

Thanks guys! Booking my first vacation for my family so I want to do it the best I can!

 

 

We're doing our first Med cruise in June, and ended up using a TA that we met at the wedding faire in Reno! She helped us book a 12 night cruise on the Serenade, and also threw in a special dinner for us at one of the pay restaurants (forgot which one).

 

So, you may be able to get a 'freebie' for using a TA. Also, while we have a TA, we decided to book our hotel early because the sites had really good deals! If you see a hotel you like on tripadvisor, or one of the other sites, checkout the hotels main site as they may have special deals that beat out hotels or one of the other sites. (We ended up booking Hotel Barcelona Universal which seemed to be in an awesome location).

 

As for flight, your TA can assist, or you can book on your own. Even with a TA, I'd suggest watching the flight prices.

[GlenCoco!]

Thanks for the info guys.

 

I couldn't find any local TA's that specialize in cruises.

 

Where can I find one online that is recommended?

[cb at sea]

We are not allowed to recommend or discuss travel agents on CC....sorry!

[GlenCoco!]

oh.... I see.

 

Okay, well can you point me in the direction of where I can find good cruise TA's?

 

Or Private message me (if that's allowed!)

[CruiseIreland]

If you pop over to Tripadvisor, there some recommendations on the cruises forum. I used one myself and found it very satisfactory. You will see it mentioned in a recent post. Ken

[lv2bcruzin]

We've decided to go with RCCL (yay!). We will be doing Liberty of the seas next May to the Mediterranean.

 

Question:

 

Where should I book the cruise? On the RCCL website? and if I book directly through them, should I call them or use their website?

 

Is there any advantage by booking through a site like expedia?

 

If you have any tips on getting the cruise cheaper definitely let me know.

 

Also, We will be embarking/disembarking in Barcelona. We want to spend a few days before and a few days after in the lovely city.

 

So a hotel is definitely needed (and maybe transfers?). Should I book this myself or should I get Royal Caribbean to take care of all of that stuff for me? And same goes for our flights too...

 

Thanks guys! Booking my first vacation for my family so I want to do it the best I can!

I did a 12/nt Med cruise on the Brilliance which also was out of Barcelona. That place is awesome with tons to see. Unfortunately, I only had one day in Barcelona, so I didn't get see everything I wanted to, but it was still awesome.

 

I stayed at the AC Hotel Barcelona and really enjoyed it. It is advertised as a business stay hotel, but not sure what else I would've asked for as it just seemed like a nice hotel.

[sadie8]

If you pop over to Tripadvisor, there some recommendations on the cruises forum. I used one myself and found it very satisfactory. You will see it mentioned in a recent post. Ken

 

When I go to Trip Advisor their cruises forum directs me to this cruise critic site.