Best way to book future crusies...

[Rookiecruisers06]

Question to the experienced cruisers here on the board:

 

For our first cruise together, The Mrs. and I booked directly through the Princess website, where they included airfare, transfers to the port in the package. My co worker said I could have put together the same exact package and paid 200.00 less going through a travel agent or on my own online.

 

When you guys book, do you do all the legwork yourself, and how early in advance do you plan your vacation?

[Guest TRACKER1]

Question to the experienced cruisers here on the board:

 

For our first cruise together, The Mrs. and I booked directly through the Princess website, where they included airfare, transfers to the port in the package. My co worker said I could have put together the same exact package and paid 200.00 less going through a travel agent or on my own online.

 

When you guys book, do you do all the legwork yourself, and how early in advance do you plan your vacation?

 

I booked our first cruise through a TA which I won't mention out of courtesy to them which I did not get!:( Our Hotel and Cruise Booking's were all messed up!

So we do all our booking's through the Cruise line's and we get Just as good a deal and sometime's better:) Also we book Directly for Hotel Reservations as well that way we have only the hotel and cruise line to go through with no problem's that may arise because we booked directly through them and have had five booking's with no problem's at all!

We can access our account and payment's made make payment's online check any port change's!

Also I beleive TA'S charge a percentage fee so we save that as well!

 

It's up to you but I reccomend just sticking to what work;s for you!;)

 

Happy Cruising

And the best to you and Your DW&Families!

May the Sea's be calm always!:cool:

 

Adio's Sincerely!

Robert

[Charliesmom]

Most of the time we book our airfare and hotel ourselves. We find that in the United States we do better that way. If you have an open jaw - flying in to one place and returning from another, it might be less expensive to use the cruiseline's air.

 

That said, you have to do your homework. Cruises are a perishable commodity and are priced that way.

 

I generally find that when the cruise is first announced is the best time to book. That way, if the price comes down (before final payment is due), you can cancel and rebook. Sometimes they have a promotion that is for new bookings only. We have found cruises at the last minute that were appealing and were a good price and have booked them.

 

The best thing to do is to figure out what you are willing to pay per day per person and look for your cruise that way. That will give you an idea of what you can get for your preferred outlay.

 

I generally book the cruise through Princess directly and then transfer the booking to a travel agent who can give me a better price. Travel agents also can give you goodies (some do, some don't) like bottles of wine and free photos and dinner at the upscale restaurant and sometimes they even give you onboard credits. You have to be careful about how you choose the agent. Those that advertise here on Cruise Critics are generally reliable, but they give varying amounts of service.

 

I have found a travel agent who generally charges about $50.00 per person more than the cheapest, but she goes after the American Express Platinum Card deals the cruiselines have and we get shipboard credits and wine, etc.

Not all discount agencies will do that. This particular agent also does not charge cancellation fees (although we have never cancelled).

 

Hope this helps.

 

Roberta

[nets33]

I was linked to a great site from an article on msnbc...

 

http://www.*****.com/

 

This site alows you to pick the cruise you are looking at and get competitive bids. The TA's have ratings and sometimes BBB links. I got a great deal through this site from a great TA!

 

Read the fine print... when you ask for a bid on an outside stateroom you may get bids for different categories. It may take some work on your part but it was worth it.

[chasetf]

Question to the experienced cruisers here on the board: For our first cruise together, The Mrs. and I booked directly through the Princess website, where they included airfare, transfers to the port in the package. My co worker said I could have put together the same exact package and paid 200.00 less going through a travel agent or on my own online. When you guys book, do you do all the legwork yourself, and how early in advance do you plan your vacation?

First off...because everyone's priority and every situation is different . You will get many different answers because what is important to one person is not important to another. To some price is paramount. Others price is not as important as convience or lack of hassle. To many time is essential because they may only have a week's vacation.

 

In our case we like to limit cost so we can travel more. Time is not a critical parameter because we are retired. We are also willing to do our own leg work and not have to fit a mold.

 

Another decision factor is what is the purpose of our trip. If it is to get on a ship and kick back, then itinerary is not as important (weather may be). This is a good time for us to jump on the special deals. If we are site seeing that adds a different set of parameters.

 

All that said, if we are planning a trip we always research prices and itinerary online then decide what we want and give it to our TA with knowledge of what the bottom line should be and she always been able to meet it.

 

Flights we research on our own and compare to the cruise line price. Sometimes it makes sense to go with the line's price. Very few times have we done that. Tahiti was one of those times. Hotels we do on our own. We get what we want, where we want, at a price in our budget.

 

Some folks feel safety in booking everything through the cruise line because they feel if something goes wrong (late flight) they are protected. When we go overseas or cross country we always go at least a day in advance to allow for the unseen. Overseas we also like to do a pre- and post-cruise on our own.

[daryleann]

The best value is to 'book' a future cruise while onboard! You just put $100 down/person on 'a future trip' and then you have 4 years to use it! You also get an onboard credit. Then you can book with Princess or your TA and get whatever deal you find, in addition! No need to even have anything in mind, just fill out the paper in your room notebook, drop in the box, and you are set! Of course, don't forget to use it - or your money is lost! (Pay with check or credit card separately- not with the final charges onboard.):D:D

[sure wish NCL or HAL would do this!!]

[cruiserjanet]

We have our cruises planned out for the next 8 years and will book them as soon as the schedules become available. We will let our TA book them for us because we found that the price is less when booking through a TA. We found out after the fact on our last cruise that we could have saved several hundred dollars by going through a TA. We will have her book our hotel room also because it will be cheaper. However, since the TA has to charge $35, we will book our flight ourselves. I like going through the TA on the cruise because if something goes wrong then the letter sent to Princess from the TA (especially a nationally known one) carries much more weight than if we were to send it ourselves.

[2Badgers]

Whatever way you choose to go-through cruiseline-through TA- or on your own, don't forget to get travel insurance. A cruise is too expensive to ignore the possibilities.

[Rookiecruisers06]

The best value is to 'book' a future cruise while onboard! You just put $100 down/person on 'a future trip' and then you have 4 years to use it! You also get an onboard credit. Then you can book with Princess or your TA and get whatever deal you find, in addition! No need to even have anything in mind, just fill out the paper in your room notebook, drop in the box, and you are set! Of course, don't forget to use it - or your money is lost! (Pay with check or credit card separately- not with the final charges onboard.):D:D

[sure wish NCL or HAL would do this!!]

 

very good info to know!

[Rookiecruisers06]

Whatever way you choose to go-through cruiseline-through TA- or on your own, don't forget to get travel insurance. A cruise is too expensive to ignore the possibilities.

 

thats not the same as the travel protection that princess offers is it?

[Toto2Kansas]

If the cruise is sailing/returning from the U.S. then we book our own airfare and hotels and use a taxi for transfers.

If the cruise calls for an 'open jaw' flight, many times Princess can beat the prices we can get ourselves. But we still check to see what price we can get as then we can choose our flight times without paying an extra (deviation) fee for that from Princess.

So, the answer to your question all depends on where you are cruising to and returning to.

 

And don't forget. For $100 pp you can book a future cruise onboard and you have 4 years to choose which cruise you would like to take. Depending on the length of cruise and cabin type you book, you will also get shipboard credit for using a booking made on another sailing. Fully refundable if you change your mind!

 

For travel insurance, try http://www.insuremytrip.com for different companies and rates available. Just make sure if you purchase it you check the time allowed to cover pre-exisiting conditions, if you or your loved ones should have any.

 

Enjoy your first cruise.

[cactusrose]

I booked my first cruise directly through the cruise line but found out quickly that that wasn't the right thing for me. I love doing all the research and planning so I know exactly what I want before I book. Therefor I do use a discount cruise only TA. These TA's do high volume with the cruise line so can give you much better prices. I usually always get some on-board credit as well (this is in addition to the OBC that I receive for booking a future cruise while on board a ship). I usually book with the cruise line air knowing that I can cancel it if I find a better deal. I almost always do hotels on my own. The cruise lines charge per person, not per room, so I can do much better on my own and usually in the same hotels they use. If you don't like doing your own research and saving money, then you should book through the cruise line. However, I don't think they add any value as most of the time the customer service reps don't know as much as the TAs and certainly not as much as the experienced cruisers on these boards.

 

BTW. . .Princess doesn't mind your using a TA. They even have a link on their site where you can find a TA in your area.

[Rookiecruisers06]

Thanks for the link to the travel insurance website.

[Rookiecruisers06]

We talked to a travel agent yesterday and the price they quoted us for the same exact package we booked was 60.00 cheaper going with them, and they would include a free bottle of champagne and 50.00 ship credit.

[daryleann]

Just remembered another option, altho it could be called a TA - United and maybe some of the other airlines- have their own cruise dept. I used cruise4miles.com and got extra miles for joining and a great price - plus the miles (per $ spent on base price- but only for one person in party). This really helped my mileage account. And they have specials, too - bonus miles, etc.

[daryleann]

thats not the same as the travel protection that princess offers is it?

rookiecruisers - no, their insurance is only for what you buy from them. If you do your own air/ hotels beforehand, and they are prepaid, then add the total to the cruise cost and get a policy that covers it all - and you can skip the cruiseline's offer. We did the cruiseline's policy, then added the pre cruise stuff we did and just got that amount covered, so it ended when we got onboard. Either way, read the fine print and KNOW what is covered.

 

and how early in advance do you plan your vacation?

Don't now if anyone has talked to this... We have booked a year in advance for something like a repositioning that goes fast, and this winter we booked a 'last minute' that was dirt cheap! (10 days-inside- for $699!) Still plenty time to get great airfare. So, we'll try that again!

[fourel]

I always go through AAA because they get me the best deals. I like having a TA to get quick answers. Have a great time.

[Guest TRACKER1]

I always go through AAA because they get me the best deals. I like having a TA to get quick answers. Have a great time.

 

Hello all!

I guess what it comes down to is just personal preference but I really think we should try all and see for ourselves and try each others way of booking!;) What do you all think:confused: Why not try this for 2007:confused: I havent used a TA so I would do that:) , AAA User Book on your own! Ta User Use AAA or some other type! So on and so on! We could get a Other way of Booking group going? Anyone else interested? Boy that sucks when you cant use more than 5 Smiles!:confused: