Canadians where do you book for best rates /perks?

Looking to book our first Celebrity Cruise and have a few questions? Do they always offer choice of perks. 2 for Veranda, 4 for Suite? Do you ever see an on board credit combined with this offer from any Canadian Travel agencies?

I'm not from the land of Caesar and Corona lovers, but the travel agencies will not be allowed to be mentioned here on Cruise Critic.

The current offer is 2 perks for oceanview and above and 4 perks for suites. I have not found a Canadian TA who offers decent perks or substantial OBC. The rules of CC do not allow for naming of specific travel agents.

 

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To funny yes we love our Caesars...Thanks for the info!!

 

I'm not from the land of Caesar and Corona lovers, but the travel agencies will not be allowed to be mentioned here on Cruise Critic.

Thanks for the reply, do they always offer these perks? Just wondering if I need to book quickly or If I have time to explore my options further. Booking for our 10th Anniversary and we wan't something different than we have done on our previous Carnival Cruises.

The current offer is 2 perks for oceanview and above and 4 perks for suites. I have not found a Canadian TA who offers decent perks or substantial OBC. The rules of CC do not allow for naming of specific travel agents.

 

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I book with a US agent. The two perks is not the norm, it's a special promotion but you usually get one booking an OV or above.

I have an upcoming cruise that comes with 2 perks and my TA has thrown in a whopping $100/ cabin. I’ll use it to reduce the cost of getting wifi since it wasn’t one of the perks I originally picked.

Oops - forgot to mention. Depends on when/where you plan to cruise but for the past few years (including this upcoming season) Celebrity has had a special on for Canadians flying out of certain cities that includes airfare, etc. We’ve taken this option twice. But only goes to either east or west Caribbean in the Jan-Apr period. For Feb 2017 we had picked our 2 perks and then later they threw in free wifi for everyone who had booked this package so both my wife and I had it. So that’s an option - and if you book through a TA that gives OBC then you would get this as well. In the past they have flown out of Hamilton as one of the cities which would be good for you.

Edited October 17, 2017 by thon
Missing words.

Looking to book our first Celebrity Cruise and have a few questions? Do they always offer choice of perks. 2 for Veranda, 4 for Suite? Do you ever see an on board credit combined with this offer from any Canadian Travel agencies?

 

We use an American online agency and there are several that offer better perks than Celebrity or any Canadian agency.

 

I've never received a bottle of wine let alone all you can drink Clamato.

 

A rule of thumb.. you can get between 5 and 9% extra credit from some agencies but some also charge you for changing your mind.

Looking to book our first Celebrity Cruise and have a few questions? Do they always offer choice of perks. 2 for Veranda, 4 for Suite? Do you ever see an on board credit combined with this offer from any Canadian Travel agencies?

Can't name names but you have a new big box store coming to Stoney Creek that has a travel agency. You can book with them or with Celebrity and then transfer to them. They don't give OBC but they will give you a gift card with a value of about 8% of your cruise.

Can't name names but you have a new big box store coming to Stoney Creek that has a travel agency. You can book with them or with Celebrity and then transfer to them. They don't give OBC but they will give you a gift card with a value of about 8% of your cruise.

 

 

 

Plus if you have their executive membership you now get the 2% back on top of the gift card.

 

 

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Book through an American site just got 3 perks and onboard credit too... search and ye shall find. [emoji6]

 

 

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Thanks for the reply, do they always offer these perks? Just wondering if I need to book quickly or If I have time to explore my options further. Booking for our 10th Anniversary and we wan't something different than we have done on our previous Carnival Cruises.

The current "The World is Open Sale" offer, with two perks included for oceanview or higher cabins, is available through November 1st for departures from November 2017 through April 2019 - with some exclusions such as Transatlantics, Transpacifics and the Galapagos. It was extended from the end of September to the beginning of November; so might possibly be extended again.

I book with a US agent. The two perks is not the norm, it's a special promotion but you usually get one booking an OV or above.

 

As a Canadian, are there any issues or items of concern when booking with a US Travel Agency?

As a Canadian, are there any issues or items of concern when booking with a US Travel Agency?

I've certainly never encountered any. As long as the cruise line is processing the payment you should be good.

I've certainly never encountered any. As long as the cruise line is processing the payment you should be good.

 

Thank you.

 

Did you deal with a big box online agency based in the US or was it a local Travel agency (in the US) where you found an agent?

 

How do you ascertain that the payment is being processed by the cruise line, since I assume you are giving your credit card info to the TA? Do you just ask the agent "what are you doing with the credit card info I'm giving you"

 

[sorry of this sounds like a silly question - I've just been tempted by the OBC offers I hear about people getting with US Travel agencies or with agencies found on those online CRUISE sites that COMPETE for your patronage.... But I am nervous to try them....]

 

Appreciate your guidance...

Thank you.

 

Did you deal with a big box online agency based in the US or was it a local Travel agency (in the US) where you found an agent?

 

How do you ascertain that the payment is being processed by the cruise line, since I assume you are giving your credit card info to the TA? Do you just ask the agent "what are you doing with the credit card info I'm giving you"

 

[sorry of this sounds like a silly question - I've just been tempted by the OBC offers I hear about people getting with US Travel agencies or with agencies found on those online CRUISE sites that COMPETE for your patronage.... But I am nervous to try them....]

 

Appreciate your guidance...

 

I found my agent through a referral from a fellow cruiser. I have also used an online only US agency. I've also used the us agency that charges a $100 cancellation fee. All three were fine. I used the compete site for quotes to see what is out there but their lack of attention to detail put me off. I'd specifically say I could see a resident rate, etc and they'd all ignore it. Never felt comfortable with them. I'd at least like a word of mouth referral.

 

You can check what goes through your credit card statement to make sure it's the cruiseline.

As a Canadian, are there any issues or items of concern when booking with a US Travel Agency?

My method of choice is to book while on board, which gives me the option to book in Canadian funds, and then transfer to the big online agency. This gives me extra perks from Celebrity and the bonus perks from the TA. No specific issues for Canadian residents as I am the type that tries to stay on top of things anyway. I bring to their attention any price drops or extra perks that I can take advantage of and they deal with it. Obviously, this would not work for booking your first cruise but works well from then on.

 

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As a Canadian, are there any issues or items of concern when booking with a US Travel Agency?

 

Just remember that the exchange rate could change a lot if you book far in advance. I have ended up paying a lot more (and a lot less :D) for cruises than I initially expected.

 

Robert

Just remember that the exchange rate could change a lot if you book far in advance. I have ended up paying a lot more (and a lot less :D) for cruises than I initially expected.

Robert

I usually book onboard (as Grandmaanne7 also eludes to above) - but I've usually kept the booking in US funds since the exchange rate they were offering wasn't as good (and I was hoping for rises in CAD dollar) - but yes, I've paid more and I've paid less..... I suppose I would book in CAD if the US/CAD dollar is closer to par (albeit 'close' might not be the right choice of words right anymore).

 

My method of choice is to book while on board, which gives me the option to book in Canadian funds, and then transfer to the big online agency. This gives me extra perks from Celebrity and the bonus perks from the TA. No specific issues for Canadian residents as I am the type that tries to stay on top of things anyway. I bring to their attention any price drops or extra perks that I can take advantage of and they deal with it.

That is something I may look into in the future. I didn't realize the online TAs would give you extra perks if the original booking was made onboard. This is good to know, thank you.

 

When you refer to the big online agency, do you mean the 'big box' one that has stores in Canada and the US requiring a membership, that also has an online store and online TA ?

 

Do you know if the big online CAD agency can accept a booking if it is made onboard in US funds or is it better to book onboard in CAD?

 

Thank you :)

While on the topic of benefits for Canadians, I sure wish Celebrity had a points credit card for Canadians that could earn Celebrity points to be used for OBC, etc.!

We booked early thru a CA big box TA and got all the perks. After final payment day the price started to drop.

Would have saved $ if we had waited and booked later. Will not book so early next time.

 

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Have previously used a US on-line agency for many years (12 cruises). Our booking always showed up on our credit card as "Celebrity" or "Princess" cruiselines- so no problem that way. Positive -- got good perks and extra OBC which is why we stayed with this TA. Negative - agent was not responsive, sometimes took 3-4 days for him to get back to me; would not pursue price drops; change in USD-CAD exchange rate one time meant that we had to pay $2000 more than we had anticipated at final payment:o

 

Decided to switch to Canadian TA -- and glad we have. Now have 2 cruises booked which have both had price drops. In one case our original price is still lower than the price drops and in the other the TA went to bat over a big drop after final payment and we are very happy with the result!

I always book directly through Celebrity. I like to monitor the price drops myself and will normally book in CAD $$. Especially now as I don't think our dollar is going to rise much between now and my booking in April. Actually I just called yesterday because I see it was $200 less that what I had and is was no problem to re price. I also asked about the free one category upgrade because of captains club so she ended up dropping me know one level in price as well as the price adjustment so ended up saving $400! (My booking is for 3 in a room).

 

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I am trying to check pricing on the Celebrity website in US $$$ It will only show CDN dollars. As CDN I book in US dollars. Can someone tell me how I can change the currency to show pricing in US dollars. Thank you