El Cheapo Cruises Thread

[Cruisegroover]

4 hours ago, Fletch1 said:

 

That is one cruise that has been on our radar for a while. We have done Antarctica scenic cruising before on Celebrity, but the itinerary on HAL is much better, spending a few more days in the Antarctic region.....maybe 2022 for us????

I know same with us 2022 seems so far away.

[icat2000]

I wouldn't be booking anything at the moment that requires full payment or even a very large deposit. There will be a lot of TA's at the moment trying to do package deals and waiting it all paid up front. However, how can they confirm flights or cruises will even go ahead. Nice to know they will get paid. But the ultimate question you need to ask yourself - will you get paid back if it doesn't go ahead.

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, icat2000 said:

I wouldn't be booking anything at the moment

 

This needs to be said more often. I know people are champing at the bit, but at the moment those cruises that are are being advertised do not exist. Nothing on those cruise websites has any existence outside of a cruise catalog.

 

The ports are not available, the countries are not available, insurance is not available, the crews are scattered, the ships are laid up, and the virus is still spreading.

 

It's one thing to window shop, it's quite another to lay down good money.

[ninjacat8]

Fiiiiinally  some sanity being spoken 

I know every one is wanting to go cruising but it’s just not going to happen 🙅‍♀️ any time soon

Save your money and think about something else for a looong time

Unless you want to book a couple of years ahead and then who knows that itinerary may no longer exist and its probably  not available at this time anyway 

🤔😫😪🚢🥂🍾

[MicCanberra]

We have been booking new cruises late 2021 and 2022 but that is only because the ones we had this year that have been cancelled and the ones in the next 12 months need to be moved to later dates.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I'll be booking late 2021 / early 2022 cruises on Princess because I can use FCDs for the deposits. Essentially just rolling my options forward as/if currently booked cruises get cancelled.

[qbay46]

Had a cruise with Celebrity booked for September this year out of the UK and final payment was next week, there was no way i was going to pay that. So i found a cruise next November out of Sydney and rang my TA and asked her if she  could  find out if we can transfer the booking this year to the one next year.After a while she rang back and she said yes we can but our original deposit of $100 would have to go up to $800, i said to her tell them i am only going to pay the original deposit, she rang back  latter and said yes that they have said that will be fine.I checked today on there website and my booking has all been changed over. So now i will just sit back and see what happens in the future.

[MMDown Under]

17 minutes ago, qbay46 said:

Had a cruise with Celebrity booked for September this year out of the UK and final payment was next week, there was no way i was going to pay that. So i found a cruise next November out of Sydney and rang my TA and asked her if she  could  find out if we can transfer the booking this year to the one next year.After a while she rang back and she said yes we can but our original deposit of $100 would have to go up to $800, i said to her tell them i am only going to pay the original deposit, she rang back  latter and said yes that they have said that will be fine.I checked today on there website and my booking has all been changed over. So now i will just sit back and see what happens in the future.

Well Done.  Great advice.  No-one should be making extra large deposits to change an existing booking, at this time.  As SinbadthePorter said there are too many unknowns!

[drsel]

Always book last minute.
you usually get a good deal

[ninjacat8]

3 hours ago, drsel said:

Always book last minute.
you usually get a good deal

That’s Great for local cruises (I don’t know where you live)! , we live less than 1hr from Sydney (Australia) OPT. But if it’s further afield and or you need flights etc that usually doesn’t work, flights can be super expensive “if” you can get one

[drsel]

Yes, first check on the flight prices and then decide if the cruise is a good deal.

 

I add the cost of the cruise, service charges, return airfare and visas (if any) and then divide that by the number of nights, to arrive at my cost per day

 

 

 

 

[drsel]

A good deal is if you can get a cost of under US $100 per night, including airfare, visas, cruise fare and service charges.
Yes, it's possible and I have got it many times

[drsel]

US online agents usually have the best deals and discounts

[JJG99]

Hi,

People on here, keep mentioning US online agents.

I was led to believe that Aussies/Kiwis can't book with them and that you could be refused boarding, if they see that you are not from the US/Canada. Or was this just scare tactics from Aussie agents??

You would have to factor in the exchange rate to see if it was worth it.

I certainly see some great deals when I wander over their websites.

If anyone would like to share their knowledge on this and the companies that they use- I would be delighted to hear from you.

My cruise email is aussiecruiser88 at gmail dot com

Thanks in advance,

Jenny

[woodyren]

51 minutes ago, JJG99 said:

Hi,

People on here, keep mentioning US online agents.

I was led to believe that Aussies/Kiwis can't book with them and that you could be refused boarding, if they see that you are not from the US/Canada. Or was this just scare tactics from Aussie agents??

You would have to factor in the exchange rate to see if it was worth it.

I certainly see some great deals when I wander over their websites.

If anyone would like to share their knowledge on this and the companies that they use- I would be delighted to hear from you.

My cruise email is aussiecruiser88 at gmail dot com

Thanks in advance,

Jenny

 

Jenny.

 

Some cruise companies do not let a person without a USA address book with a USA agent. From what I understand they regulate this by not paying the agent commission for breach of their conditions.

 

Princess, HAL and some of the 5 star lines dont allow these bookings. 

 

RCL, Celebrity, Carnival, NCL and other 5 star lines do allow bookings through USA TA's. I have booked at least one cruise on each of the mass market lines mentioned with a USA TA and have two current RCL bookings through the USA. 

 

From my recent experience which is only with RCL I have found that since the AUD has dropped bellow the mid 70's cents US that almost every cruise once you factor in foreign exchange rates, port charges and tips (which are not included in the advertised USA prices) and even including the extra OBC that USA agent provide it is far more likely that the Aussie price is the better option. 

      

Edited June 6, 2020 by woodyren

[JJG99]

Thank you for explaining the situation.

As we mainly cruise with Princess and HAL, we will not go down that path.

We are only Emerald on RCL, so will do the comparisons and see what works best for us.

Thanks again

[OzKiwiJJ]

A good US TA will provide a US address if required.

 

A few years ago we did a Med cruise booked through a US TA without any issues.

[drsel]

A good US TA will provide a US address if required.
 
A few years ago we did a Med cruise booked through a US TA without any issues.

Was it princess Holland America or?

[drsel]

my excelent value US online travel agent told me that for Princess and Holland America he will have to charge me 10% more than his online price, because he won't get any commission + he will add on a $50 service fee per passenger.

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, drsel said:

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

A good US TA will provide a US address if required.
 
A few years ago we did a Med cruise booked through a US TA without any issues.

Was it princess Holland America or?

Princess. 

[drsel]

The US online agent also told me that they are allowed up to five exceptions per year.

They can book non North American passengers on princess and HAL, but the cruise fare has to be over $10,000 for a couple

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, drsel said:

They can book non North American passengers on princess and HAL, but the cruise fare has to be over $10,000 for a couple

Ours wasn't.

[MMDown Under]

It is a whole new ball game now, so will be interesting to see what pans out.  Aussies are great travellers, so cruise lines won't want to loose that market for overseas cruises.

[MicCanberra]

I have only had an issue with a US TA once as I was trying to book a Princess cruise. they wanted $100 extra as a service fee/commission. We have not used them since our dollar has dropped below $0.90 as the currency conversion has eroded any benefits.

[JJG99]

Ahhh, remember the good old days when the aussie dollar was around 90c, it is back up to 70c at the moment.

We were in Hawaii a few years ago when it was 48c- now that hurt😱

I can remember buying a stack of US dollars when it was $1.20, now that was along time ago!!!!