Cruise booked..... now some questions....

[Hsmama]

thanks to lots of good info here I narrowed down/booked our first cruise!:D very excited, the deal was pretty good. That said, I have a question about pricing,as some other threads here have gotten me thinking....

I booked at one online TA, but now I see another TA is offering the same cruise,same room cat.,but it's $100 less overall than my booking. How/what do I do now? (still months away from final payment)

Do I call my Original TA, and ask about the price? Or I have read (vaguely) about the switching booking option...do folks do that for a better price?

 

Also, I noticed on some sites, when booking they include 'auto gratuities' in the price, but I didn;t see that in my booking, what does that mean? Do we pay them onboard? How? I am learning it's approx 13 per day per person(?)

[paul929207]

I would call the TA you booked with. Ask if they will match the lower fare. If you decide to cancel and rebook with the second TA, be sure you will not lose your deposit and that all the perks are the same or better. Sometimes, you will see one TA advertising a price of $700 with $100 in OBC. Another will say $600 with no OBC.

 

Included gratuities is a perk that is sometimes offered. If it is included, the auto gratuities will not be charged to your account each day.

[Essiesmom]

Make sure that the TA you booked with does not charge a fee for cancellation. It is very difficult to transfer a booking from one TA to another. They are in competition...EM

[Sixtytwo]

Welcome aboard, hsmama! Gratuities are either paid in your cruise fare (pre-paid) or they are added to your shipboard account when you board the ship. If they are added to your shipboard account, you will pay them as part of your other charges during the cruise. We normally pre-pay ours so we don't worry about them once on board. You should have gotten your booking number from your TA. Log into the cruise line you booked on, find some link to "your cruise" where you will probably have to enter the booking number and you can see whether or not gratuities were included in your total fare.

 

Hope you have a great cruise!!

[Hsmama]

Thanks!