Delta SkyMiles Cruises program

[AmyinGA]

Leaving out Delta's financial issues...has anyone used this program to get extra miles? I just found out about it in my latest mailing. You can earn miles for booking a cruise on Princess, Carnival, Costa, HAL, Cunard, Seaborn and Windstar.

 

I did a search on a cruise that I am interested in. Some of the prices were right in line with my current TA and others were very high. The prices included port charges. It did not include the government fees, but that was listed.

[estebofarr]

Do you mean that you can redeem SKy Miles for cruises instead of airplane tickets? That would be so great! Do you have any other details?

[Ella2]

Do you mean that you can redeem SKy Miles for cruises instead of airplane tickets? That would be so great! Do you have any other details?

NO, it's just a program that Delta (and United, among others) uses now to get extra revenue, by booking cruises that you EARN miles for, if you book through them. Typically there are MUCH better deals through traditional TA channels (online and others), plus I recall somewhere that the service offered by the airlines should any problems arise with the booking was less than stellar. Don't take that as gospel, but I do remember reading something negative about the airline cruise programs.

 

If you want more information on Delta's program:

 

http://news.delta.com/print_doc.cfm?article_id=9321

[mapsmith]

Ella, I must disagree. I have booked twice with AAdvantagecruise.com (American Airlines on-line travel agent.) which is similar to Skymilescruises.com for Delta. After many hours on-line to MANY different cruise sites, I found that their prices were competitive with 99% of the other on-line agencies. However, if you have developed a very good relationship with a local, in-person, travel agent, you MIGHT get a better deal.

With AAdvantagecruise, we got free anniversary packages that our local agent required that we purchase ($30 for 6 inch cake!!!!)

 

But your mileage may vary.

[JanetMarie]

My question would be, can your TA get the price for you or do you have to actually go through their folks...

[MichTraveler]

My question would be, can your TA get the price for you or do you have to actually go through their folks...

 

From my research, you must book these directly with the program -- these are your online "TAs". So they fit into the same category discussed on many threads of "real" TA versus online.

[estebofarr]

I was looking to get rid of my Delta miles, not earn more.

[AmyinGA]

I wish I could redeem miles for a cruise. That would be great, but I don't have that many miles left anymore. I am a few thousand points away from one last ticket and the cruise would bump me over the edge to get the miles that I need. So if I was going to spend the money anyway, I may as well get somehting for it. But it sounds like the customer service side of things isn't that great (not much of a surprise), so I will get my miles the hard way--spend $$ and earn them.