# Best way to book a cruise?



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

Haven't been on a cruise in maybe 6-7 years. Thinking of booking a Caribbean cruise for February. Any suggestions for the best spot to book (online I guess?) and by "best" I mean - where do you get the best deals? done a coupla of RC cruises in past, thinking Princess this time. and, we like "new" boats! any comments?


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## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

Many ways. You can visit the cruise sites directly. You can find a local CDN travel agent, you can search for CDN deals like redflag, or you use a large online US travel agent like American discount cruises, cheap cruises or vacations to go (my preferred). VTG is a site that's very easy to search on with endless ways to set your parameters. 

There aren't as many great deals out there now due to most being US cruise co's and the currency exchange now.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

I use vacationstogo.com to book cruises...


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## avrex (Nov 14, 2010)

Apparently, even the served ads on this forum know the answer (i.e. VacationsToGo.com)

When, I opened up this thread, the answer was in the advertisement below. lol. :welcoming:


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

I'm guessing all the cruise booking websites all have the same pricing?


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## chantl01 (Mar 17, 2011)

The pricing is generally the same, but sometimes by going through a cruise specialist travel agent like cruise ship centers, you can get a few extra perks thrown in (ie. prepaid gratuities).


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

The first thing we do is review the pricing so that we understand what is an average price, a good price, and a great deal.

We use vacationstogo and cruisecompete. We also get emails from several cruise lines with their last minute specials. Celebrity and RCI have a Tuesday specials page that often has some attractive deals. We shop the price since we view booking a cruise as a commodity. The only service that the TA renders for us is booking the cruise. We do all of the legwork. 

We price a cruise-often in both CAD and USD. Invariably we buy the cruise from on on line US based TA. We typically get about 8-12 percent of the commissionable fare rebated in the form of on board credits. These can be used to pay for gratuities or buy services on board.

We almost always buy in the final payment window. Once we have a cruise, a price we ask the agent to hold the cabin/price for a few hours. Then we refine our search for air. We often search for air at the same time as cruise shopping. Cruise air can be attractive-especially one way. Two years ago we were on our way home from Europe after an extended land trip. We were able to score a great last minute Med cruise. Not only was the price very good, they cruise line offered one way air home at an extremely attractive price. 

If we do happen to book a cruise outside the final payment window we check the pricing periodically to see if it has been reduced. If it has, we either get re-priced at a lower cost or we upgrade our cabin. Once, we moved from an assigned balcony to a balcony gty because we were able to save $300 USD each. It is worth watching.

We often take land trips and then watch out for attractive last minute cruise offers. Unfortunately we do not expect many to come our way simply because the CAD is so weak vis a vis USD.


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## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

jargey3000 said:


> I'm guessing all the cruise booking websites all have the same pricing?


We take a similar approach to what fraser said, get a good idea of marketplace pricing for a given itinerary/ship level and focus on per night rate to compare what is a good or great deal, usually book after the final payment window, tie into our land trips planned, often use their air bookings for great deals. We do all research and simply book through TA. On our most recent cruise we booked 9 months out, watched prices and locked into about 30% lower price 4 mths out which ended up being about half of what the most common pricing was and was the lowest offered. Usually perks for us have been 5-8% of our booking cost but sometimes things can come up like one last May where we got a drink package for less than 20% of the normal rate where it was actually enough value to make it work for us. 

Cruising is going up in price and especially so with the exchange rates. We really enjoy cruising but we're now seeking travel/destinations where our CDN dollar can go even further. 

To answer your questions: the big ones will be close, although you may have to contact them if you're looking for specific cabin, location etc. and times we have secured a rate better than advertised. Frequently differences in price relate to the difference in perks. Often I've heard of people brag about the perks they've received but they paid much more for their cruise-less value. The perks can be driven by the line and not the travel agent, but at times there are both. We sometimes just go with a guarantee for a certain category such as oceanview, as long as we're okay with getting the lowest grade within that category. Often you'll receive better but pay the lowest price. 

Cruise pricing varies constantly. The final payment date for advance bookings is normally about 90 days out from departure meaning prices will often adjust more after that date. Sometimes they'll drop a lot as you get closer, and sometimes they will rise- depending obviously on the marketplace, the itinerary and inventories available. You have to do your homework. With your Feb interest you should be able to find some decent deals out there. Caribbean usually has lots available but I notice the pricing overall is a lot higher than last year-(even without considering our dollar. Must be more demand/less supply.


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

Things we look for prior to booking with a TA on on line TA:

1. We use our credit card only and the cruise fare will be processed by the cruise line, NOT by the travel agency. Never ever pay cash, debit, cheque.

2. We never pay the balance until the day it is due, usually 60-75 days prior to sailing. Not a big deal for us as we typically book inside this period and have to pay the full balance on booking.

3. The agency does not charge any fees for booking, cancelling, repricing, changing cabins, etc. other than those passed on by the cruise ship company

4. When we get our confirmation, we check with the cruise line reservation code to ensure that what we thought we booked is reflected on the cruise line reservation system

5. We never buy travel insurance from a travel agent/agency. Who is to say whether they actually passed on the premiums to the insurance carrier. Plus, when we deal direct with a carrier we tend to get a much better rate and/or much better coverage


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## avrex (Nov 14, 2010)

Based on what is being discussed above, I'm still a little confused about the cruise booking/payment process.
It sounds like you are able to take advantage of price declines.

Let's say you see a cruise 9 months from now. You go ahead and "book" it. 
At that time, I would have assumed that you would now have to pay for the whole thing. i.e. Just like if I was booking a hotel room somewhere.
But, from what you guys are saying above, you don't have to pay for it.
It sounds like you wait for a price drop before you pay for it.

Questions
1. When do you actually pay for the cruise? Is there an initial deposit and then a final payment?
2. Can you always go back to your travel agent and say, "Hey the price is now lower. I want that price now."?
3 Can I book the crusie 9 months away..... and then if the price doesn't drop, as I had hoped..... cancel it..... without any fees?


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

When you book a cruise you typically have to make a deposit, say $200. per person.

The full balance typically becomes payable 60-75 days before the cruise date. Varies with cruise line/length of cruise.

If you book nine months out, and three months later you can have your fare re-priced at the lower level. You are protected against price increases but can take advantage of price decreases up until when the final payment is make. Some TA's will monitor prices-others do not and you have to monitor the prices on the cruise line web site. There is also a website that monitors cruise price decreases.

You can gernerally cancel a cruise with no penalty levied by the cruise line up until the final payment. SOME TA's actually charge their clients a fee for this, or a fee to reprice, or to change cabins etc. We will not deal with these TA's. Not that we cancel but we take advantage of re-prices.


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## avrex (Nov 14, 2010)

fraser said:


> You can gernerally cancel a cruise with no penalty levied by the cruise line up until the final payment.


However, you would lose your $200 deposit per person..... correct?


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

No, your deposit is refunded. There is the odd exception. It think that Carnival has an optional program that automatically gives you the lowest price over time however the 'cost' is that your deposit is non refundable. We have only cancelled once outside of the final payment window. All of our monies were refunded by the cruise line. Our TA does not levy charges for cancellations.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

fraser: " There is also a website that monitors cruise price decreases."
What's that website please?


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

Here it is:

http://www.cruisefish.net/


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

_TY!_


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## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

Thanks for posting cruisefish fraser. 

I had not seen that. It confirmed my belief overall cruise prices have risen, particularly in the past year. This is most true with our preferred line-Celebrity. 

Ditto here on your post #9. 

We have 1 more upcoming booked cruise. Payment date is coming very soon- 81 days out. My experience is the TA usually calls a little after that so after that to process, so we'll probably pay about 75 days out. Prices have only risen since we booked so i guess that's a good thing.


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

We think cruise prices for Med cruises have doubled in price over a few years ago when the U.S. and European economies were in the toilet...and our dollar was strong.

We also look at out of country sites booking sites. My sister booked a Baltic cruise last summer. She saved about 15 percent by booking in the UK. This is unusual because we find the UK pricing higher. When we were in Australia last Feb. We booked a last minute RCI cruise. We booked it with RCI Australia. The price was about 30 percent less than price on the RCI North American web site-adjusted for currency. And there was no issue in recognizing our Celebrity benefits-including an extra $200 discount for booking a balcony.

The thing to remember is that when you do book in another currency you will pay another 2.5 percent to Visa/MC unless you have a USD credit card or a credit card like Chase that does not charge this.


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