first time booking a cruise

[gssb18]

I am first time cruiser and don’t want to get suckered but I am unsure if I should use one of the internet travel agents I have gotten quotes from on some of the sites online or go directly to the Celebrity’s website. The price for the cruise is exactly the same. The only difference is some travel agents are offering a on board credit or excursion credit as an incentive but I have already had one back out of it because they said it didn’t apply to my cruise. Any advice would be appreciated!!

[Rich&Natalia]

Woohoo!!! A newbie!:) Always nice to see new people getting into cruising.

 

There are usually senior discounts and state resident discounts. Some online travel agents will advertise these rates and you'll just have to find out if you qualify for them or not. Celebrity does not allow travel agents to offer lower prices than the Celebrity advertised price (I think group rates are the only exception.) Just make sure when you discuss booking with the online agency that they confirm your qualifications for discounts by your age and state of residence. Most online agencies are fine to book with. If a little onboard credit is not a big deal for you, then by all means go directly with Celebrity. It's probably the most efficient way of booking and managing your precruise arrangements.

[FLACRUISER99]

For your first cruise I would book with a local TA that you can sit down and talk to. After you cruise then you can think about booking direct with the Cruise line or online TA.

[kruisecat]

if you are internet savvy and you don't already have a TA and the "offers" from the online TAs don't appeal I highly recommend booking directly. I don't have a local TA that I trust, I attempted to sit down with one but realized very quickly that I had more knowledge (much of which came from these boards :) ) than the TA did and so I went ahead and booked directly.

 

Truthfully for this upcoming Alaska cruise I'm glad I did it myself. X decided to change the home port from Seattle to Vancouver and unlike my SIL I recieved a call directly from X letting me know of the change. Her TA called her several days later. Naturally because I read these boards a lot I was aware of what was going on but I like the fact that the info did not have to go through a third party who might have not gotten it to me as quickly.

 

Just my 2 cents

 

And welcome to the world of cruising...it is truly addictive :D

[rebeccalouise]

I use southwest.com (go to travel center. Then reserve a cruise.) I have gotten great deals this way and they have so many available cabins- very user friendly.:)

[psychboss]

More and more cruise companies are encouraging clients to book with travel agents. They do not have very large reservation departments and they work with the travel agents to ensure that the agencies provide good service to their customers. I was lucky that for my first cruise I knew an Internet agent personally. She knew her product 110%. She works for a small internet company and they offer personal service, service, service! My DH and I were never disappointed! We asked her a million questions before our first cruise and she always had time for us. She also gave us a lot of information that saved us time and money. For our money it is the only way to go. I would not deal with a huge internet company where you talk with a different person every time you call. We wanted personal service. Saving a few dollars by buying some of the group space they pre-purchased is not worth it to us. If we are travelling with a group we will pre-purchase our own space and we will get the free berth!

[HspncElvis]

We are first time cruisers as well. We booked directly through Celebrity. We've booked 2 excursions. 1 through an independent tour company, and 1 through Celebrity. We are going to book our 3 remaining excursions through Celebrity.

 

Hope this helps

 

Glen

[lumpy]

I WISH I had booked through Celebrity, then I would have no middle man to make changes and manage my reservation. I firmly believe my TA is not trying hard enough on my behalf.

[Jarronwood]

It all depends on who you TA is.

 

I have booked three cruises albeit one I cancelled - the first cruise I booked with an online agency who were OK but at that time I knew no better since I didn't know these boards even existed.

 

Then last year I booked with a different agent who again was ok - but without writing a book I wanted a particular cabin which was not available and I asked the agent to be put on a wait list. Anyway through these boards I kept ringing once a week to the agent requesting he look to see if those particular cabins had freed up to be told no. Then when I rang I got a different person who was so good and he checked every cabin with success and I got what I wanted (I had to since cancel that cruise).

 

Then this year I went back to the same agent asking him to look for me and see what he could come up with regarding February/March next year. I am still waiting for him to contact me....

 

I actually telephoned a few different agents giving them my requirements, and the one that responded the quickest got my custom. He has proved excellent although I had to keep checking cabin availability to get what I wanted since the cabin I was given was not one of those coveted afts.

[Longboysfan]

I book all my cruises through my TA.

Either directly or while on board then turn the booking over to her.

She has a high account level with RCCL and Celebrity and works with their booking department directly to get me the best deal.

Watches for price drops and get's me upgrades when she can.

Over the past 5 cruises she has had the line give me 3 upgrades and save me enough to send the wife and kids on a free cruise to Bermuda.

[caviargal]

I use southwest.com (go to travel center. Then reserve a cruise.) I have gotten great deals this way and they have so many available cabins- very user friendly.:)

 

Southwest is simply a front end into Travelocity, not their own agency so you are not getting any special deals.

 

The pricing is no different on X as this is not allowed, though they may occasionally offer small perks, like pre paids.

[chasetf]

I am first time cruiser and don’t want to get suckered but I am unsure if I should use one of the internet travel agents I have gotten quotes from on some of the sites online or go directly to the Celebrity’s website. The price for the cruise is exactly the same. The only difference is some travel agents are offering a on board credit or excursion credit as an incentive but I have already had one back out of it because they said it didn’t apply to my cruise. Any advice would be appreciated!!

We like using a TA. We do our research on the web, then decide what we want to do, give her the ship / itinerary and the prices we have seen. She has always been able to match or get very close. We have done some last minute deals without her through the cruise line or another advertising agent, but those are basically fly in and fly out with no complications expected.