online booking sites

[CruzinNoony]

There is a site online that travels agents actually bid for the cruise booking in which you are interested in going on. I'm wondering if anyone has booked with any of them. One price I was quoted was over $300 pp less than my travel agent's. It's very tempting, but I'm a little apprehensive. Any thoughts?:confused:

[psbtrvlr]

I book my cruises that way. Just check them out first. Some of them have cancellation fees. Make sure that the quote includes all taxes and port charges.

[Pam in CA]

Quite a few people have used them successfully but I had the opposite experience. An agency quoted me a great price through this service so I went with them. AFTER final payment, they told me that they'd made an error and I owed another $953 in port and government fees. As it turned out, they had made a mistake, they'd quoted me and sent me a final invoice based on the quote months before final payment and didn't catch the error until a week after I made my final payment; but IMHO, I think they should have honored their quote and final invoice.

[fun and breezes 2]

Quite a few people have used them successfully but I had the opposite experience. An agency quoted me a great price through this service so I went with them. AFTER final payment, they told me that they'd made an error and I owed another $953 in port and government fees. As it turned out, they had made a mistake, they'd quoted me and sent me a final invoice based on the quote months before final payment and didn't catch the error until a week after I made my final payment; but IMHO, I think they should have honored their quote and final invoice.

 

So, did they eventually honor the price or did you have to pay another $953? That is a little frightening.

[cmarshall9]

I've used a site like that three times and used two different agents as a result. Both were good and one I've used three times - the last time without the site. I went to them direct.

 

With that said, I would have been extremely miffed if I'd had Pam In CA's experience. I'm curious, too, if they honored their quote, which I think they should have, or did you wind up paying the extra $$?

[tango9]

I used them and got a great price on a Hawaiian cruise, but I don't think they offered very good custormer service. Impersonal, even though the agency was a well known one

[resstation]

Keep in mind that these agents are not affiliated with these sites at all, so its hit and miss. The agent signs up with the site in order to get "leads" and can bid on the client's business. Some are good, some are bad. You should do your research on the actual agency that you choose.

[Lynda90]

I always get quotes from that site for comparison. I actually used them twice with great success. I've had no bad experiences with them.

[BalconyBumz]

I use that site for every cruise and actually found my best travel agent through it and I book with him every cruise because I go through that "site" and get the lowest price from whoever and show it to him and he honors it. He gives me great customer service and is a great friend now and he IS one of the agents on that "site".

[CruzinNoony]

Paminca- waiting to read your response if you had to pay the extra money bfore I book with them! As far as the cancellation fee, there is one-$39.00. Everytime there is a change to the booking there is the same charge. In fact, if I book online there is no fee to book; however, if I want an agent to book it, there is that fee again. I have a fcc to apply, so I think I will need the agent. Ideas? I'm not a novice-been on 37 cruises.:)

[LENORA516]

Paminca- waiting to read your response if you had to pay the extra money bfore I book with them! As far as the cancellation fee, there is one-$39.00. Everytime there is a change to the booking there is the same charge. In fact, if I book online there is no fee to book; however, if I want an agent to book it, there is that fee again. I have a fcc to apply, so I think I will need the agent. Ideas? I'm not a novice-been on 37 cruises.:)

 

 

 

Find another on-line agency, the two that I have found that give the best prices for the exact cabin That I want do not charge cancellation or change fees !

:D Lenore

[Sandytoes]

Check to see if the site you wish to use has the Better Business Bureau (BBB) or the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) logos on its site. The approval of these organizations means that the site is an honest business and has members trained in selling cruises by CLIA.

 

Before booking with online agency

shop around before offering your credit card

Compare - same ship - exact sail date - cabin category.

Then call the company they can give extra discounts the cruise lines can't give or what is offered online.

[sunsetbeachgal]

I decided to give the competing quote thing a try for my upcoming Emerald cruise, and will never use that site again. I submitted the information in the evening, promptly received four or so quotes and when I called the next morning to speak with an agent all except one quoted a higher price-a couple said that "someone else handles this for us" and seemed to know nothing about the price quoted.

 

One agency, and on-line one who I had used before successfully, provided a quote and the price I paid was exactly that. Needless to say, they got the business, again!

[sammiedawg]

We have used that site with mixed results. The last time we got a bid I really feel we were baited and switched to a much higher price. The agency that gave me their best quote told us they had made a " mistake". But I had a written quote in writing and I called to book it the same day the quote came in.

They tried to switch me to the higher price by throwing in a bottle of champagne and a small cruise credit which did not come close to the price they refused to honor.

We did not book the cruise through this outfit or anyone else who quoted.

I wrote to the Florida BBB on the agency that didnt honor their quote.

I wrote to the CEO of the bidding outfit. The CEO answered my email but he did not go to bat for me the customer. I was very disappointed.

 

I think it is buyer beware and watch your prices carefully.

[cmalibu1]

I used probably the same site as you, don't remember what it was called, but I put in the dates of the cruise, and was emailed everytime a travel agent quoted me a price. I had about 11 diffeerent quotes before we booked. A lot of them also offered incentives like OBC, and such!

 

Go for it, how else will you know what the best pricing is?!

[Bookish Angel]

Have never had a problem and they beat the cruise lines buy at least $100 per person on most cruises.

[JayinAZ]

I too have used the compete website 3 times. Each time I ended up going with a different TA. Each time it was about 15% less than the price advertised on the cruiseline website. For those of us who don't want to register with lots of different TA's to get a quote or leave the house to book a vacation, this seems to be the way to go.

I have not had any bad experiences either.

I recently booked a 3 night Carnival and they also discounted a lot. It was a cheap cruise so I doubt they made a lot of money off me. When I wanted to make a name change for the room they did it for free, despite their website making it very clear that any changes were $50. I thought that was nice.

Jay

[smoosh21]

There is a site online that travels agents actually bid for the cruise booking in which you are interested in going on. I'm wondering if anyone has booked with any of them. One price I was quoted was over $300 pp less than my travel agent's. It's very tempting, but I'm a little apprehensive. Any thoughts?:confused:

 

 

I am fairly certain I know which site you are talking about and I have used them twice, including my upcoming Princess cruise. I had no issues when I used them with HAL, so I think that they are fine within the whole Carnival family of ships.

 

But, do you get extras from your travel agent? I do not have a regular agent that I use, so I can not compare my online experience to brick and morter.

 

You might also want to talk to your agent and see what they can do. Maybe they could drop the price some, if this other agent is discounting. Or they might be able to give you better perks.

[davejohn]

I've also used the bidding service and was very happy with it. In addition to the bids you can also check feedback from other users on the various travel agencies that submit bids. On one cruise I didn't go with the lowest bidder because that had a lukewarm rating, the second lowest had lots of excellent ratings.