On line Booking or In person booking a cruise for a family o

[ssatterly]

I want to book a crusie for my family of 4 but I am not sure if I shoulf do it on line or go to my local travel agent I have been looking at prices and I have founf that online is MUCH cheaper, BUT is it reputable? Is it safe? Has anyone esle done it? How did it work for you?



Thanks Susie

[tsetse71]

Hey, family of four here too...what you can do...is print out those quotes you have online...make sure you compare apples to apples...port fees and taxes are included on both ends...and bring them to your local travel agent...a lot of times they will meet or beat competitors prices...and once in a while they will be honest and say...Wow that is a good price...I can't beat that. It is always nice to support a local company and have that personal customer service. Happy Cruising!

[Donna]

Hi Ssatterly,
I always start my cruise shopping by using the "bargain finder" here at Cruisemates, you may want to give that a try:

Bargain Finder

Its also a good way to get prices and be able to compare, just make sure that if some are with port taxes, etc. and others are not, to get the amount of all those extras, good luck.

[ssatterly]

I did that and thats how I got the price I got. But Is it safe? I don't want to put down a $1000 deposit then lose it.

[tsetse71]

Just make sure it is a reputable business...most reputable companies will have the BBB seal on their site...you can call the BBB and make sure they don't have any complaints filed with the company. I have yet to hear of someone getting ripped off with an online cruise company. If you decide to cancel your cruise...your deposit should be refundable...up to 60 days prior.

[LisaK]

print out that price quote, take it to your local TA, see if they can match or do better. Most will, they want your business. Personally i like to sit down face to face with my TA and plan my cruise, vacations are so personal i just like to be able to pick up the phone and ask Catherine anything.

[Angela_n_Bryan]

Reading the posts above, this is EXACTLY what I had done; Seems like I had quoted just about every site on the net that I could get to come up w/ a price for my family of eight (two cabins). A lot of sites would not show me the discounted price for the third / fourth person online. But the ones that did, I compared.

Once I was ready to make the arrangements, I took the best deal and called my two local travel arrangements. BOTH could NOT beat the price. As much as I hated not buying it from her (losing the "face-to-face" and the repeat business that I was used to), I went ahead and called the toll-free numbers on the top three online quotes (NOTE, I only used the sites that seems to have to substance to them, like ORBITZ, etc.).

When I called ORBITZ, the price that they have online is not "real tijme". The actual "per person" price was actually fifty bucks higher each....

In the end, I purchased my eight cruises from www.ecruises.com. And quite happily, they gave me an upgrade from the floor that I asked to book to two levels higher (same state room class though but the room per person is valued at $50 each more! So for me, that's a $400 value on the two state rooms for eight people!!!)...

I'm not sure why I received the upgrade, but I'm happy!!

Good luck with your cruise search. Perhaps you'll find someone there in the Louisville-area that will offer you the same or better price than the online companies.

Angela (and Bryan)

[ssatterly]

Thanks For the info. i will give it a try...

we contacted carnival direct after checking around for prices and then booked direct through carnival. the price was cheaper and they do the upgrades, instead of having to go back to your travel agent when the prices drop , which they will as it gets closer to sailing time. just call carnival back if the price has dropped they will either give you a shipboard credit or give you an upgrade its your choice. Our carnival rep told us that people that book direct always get the first upgrades. just something to toss around