Trying to figure it out!

I have been looking for days at different sites and forums. Seems I am more confused now than ever before. What is better booking online or thru a TA? When is the best time to travel? I was looking at Jan. 2019 Since it is our anniversary month. Any help is appreciated.

I have been looking for days at different sites and forums. Seems I am more confused now than ever before. What is better booking online or thru a TA? When is the best time to travel? I was looking at Jan. 2019 Since it is our anniversary month. Any help is appreciated.

There's no one "best" way for everyone. I suggest you find a good travel agent who is very experienced in cruises. They can guide you based on your specific needs. However, one of the rules of this website is that we cannot discuss specific travel agents, so I would consult with people you know and find out who they use.

Kind of depends on your comfort level in making plans and decisions. If you only have broad strokes of what you would like, I would seek out a TA.

If you want to get into serious detail, choose the exact cabin on the exact ship on the exact line at the perfect time for you to your dream destination and then flesh out the excursions, then DIY is always available.

When is the best time to travel? I was looking at Jan. 2019 Since it is our anniversary month.

January is a great time from a cost perspective

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Hi, and welcome to Cruise Critic,

A good cruise-specialist T/A is a godsend for newbies. They can lead you by the hand, answer questions that you might not even think to ask, help you with the pros & cons of different cabin categories & locations, dining choices, etc.

Use the phone, not the internet.

Other than the first few days, when prices (especially flights) might incorporate the tail end of Christmas / New Year, January is a good month price-wise.

And any winter month is good weather-wise. You don't quote your home location, but it might be somewhere it's best not to be in January.

JB :)

A good Cruise Specialist TA will ask you the right questions to eliminate your confusion and narrow your choices to what may be what you are looking for .

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Skyhawk, where do you live? Airfare and/or gas, parking, hotel can be a significant extra cost to cruising, so that could be a starting point. Cruises sail not only from Florida, but from NY, Baltimore, and west coast, among others. Do you require warm weather?

Just some thoughts to help narrow it down.

Skyhawk, where do you live? Airfare and/or gas, parking, hotel can be a significant extra cost to cruising, so that could be a starting point. Cruises sail not only from Florida, but from NY, Baltimore, and west coast, among others. Do you require warm weather?

Just some thoughts to help narrow it down.

I live in North Ga and will drive down. Looking to go out of port canaveral. So I don't believe there will be any hotel cost or anything of the such. I would like warm weather and was told it is a hit and miss that time of year but haven't seen anything on what the weather is actually like in the Bahamas. I am more worried about how the seas are thus time of year seeing my wife gets motion sickness. We are going to take a 3 or 4 day cruise to test the waters on how she handles it all.

I live in North Ga and will drive down. Looking to go out of port canaveral. So I don't believe there will be any hotel cost or anything of the such.

H Skyhawk. We are in the NE Atlanta area. Port Canaveral is 7.5 hours from us. I would recommend driving down the day before. Not worth risking a flat tire or traffic tie up due to construction or an accident. You may have to be on board by 2 or 3 pm with a 4 pm sailing. We are sailing out of Tampa in March and driving most of the way to Tampa the day prior.

I get motion sick also. Recommend starting to take Meclizine day or two before the cruise (generic for Bonine). I also take ginger and wear Sea Bands. They say green apples help also--they may have them at the buffet. Have fun planning--part of the fun for me.

This question comes up often.

My advice is to ask friends for a recommendation for a TA they like who specializes in cruises and use them. Why?

Because a good TA can help you to avoid costly mistakes and can give you good advice.

A TA can provide you with amenities that you don't get when booking directly with the cruise line.

Most importantly should something go wrong a good TA can be your advocate with the cruise line.

Keith

I just booked my first cruise and ended up using a TA, it was just too much trying to coordinate everything on my own.

I could see for subsequent cruises booking myself. But the first time, I wanted someone who can answer all of my questions and take most of the planing off of my shoulders.

I book all my cruises myself, but I am an avid planner and do a ton of research before booking. A TA is good choice if you feel like you are lost/confused and want guidance. They are probably most helpful if you dont know how to decide between the different cruise lines/ports/itineraries. If you are easy going and okay with learning as you go, do a search filtering by date, and departure port, then pick the itinerary you like the most keeping cost as a consideration.

I start by using crusieweb.com, put in the month i want to sail and departure port, then sort the results by cost. Once I pick one, I go to the cruiseline's website to do the booking. If I can't decide, I search for the facebook groups for the ships I'm considering, join them and either ask questions or just read what has already been discussed, to see what I think I'll like best.

No one can decide which is best for you. Like no one can pick the best clothes for you to wear.

It is not difficult to book online yourself. But you have to have some idea of when and which cruise line.

If you have no clue, a good TA can help you narrow your choices. A TA will also have other benefits, such as providing extra On Board Credit to spend. And can help if you have issues with the cruise line.

With the internet now I am always surprised that people pay a TA. I do all my own research and get great info here on this board.

I get motion sickness really bad. I found the advice on what meds to take and when here, but I consulted with my doctor. I also found out to book the room towards the middle and lower in the ship and not to travel in hurricane season and to choose a larger ship.

Personally, I found the Bahamas disappointing. We did a 7-day Southern Carribean in January and it was HOT - hot enough to swim in the ocean and we were sweating! So much there to see and do compared to the Bahamas.

We have traveled on our anniversary twice and found it a wonderful way to celebrate. Good luck to you!

With the internet now I am always surprised that people pay a TA. I do all my own research and get great info here on this board.

I get motion sickness really bad. I found the advice on what meds to take and when here, but I consulted with my doctor. I also found out to book the room towards the middle and lower in the ship and not to travel in hurricane season and to choose a larger ship.

Personally, I found the Bahamas disappointing. We did a 7-day Southern Carribean in January and it was HOT - hot enough to swim in the ocean and we were sweating! So much there to see and do compared to the Bahamas.

We have traveled on our anniversary twice and found it a wonderful way to celebrate. Good luck to you!

We never "Pay" a TA for booking our vacations. The cruise line pays the TA for bookings. Also, some people just aren't comfortable booking on their own, especially newbies who might not know what questions to ask or where to begin research. Not only all that, but we get perks from our TA like paid gratuities, free shore excursions and a bottle of wine----things you probably will not get from booking yourself.

When booking through our TA we get a bottle of wine and fruit tray on our departure day, I thought that was a nice touch, didn't cost any extra over what the cruise price was. We actually ended up with a better price on the flight + transfers + cruise than I could have booked on my own. As I said earlier, it's our first cruise, so booking everything on my own was very daunting. Next time, I'll probably do the same thing unless there's some major snafu.

I have been looking for days at different sites and forums. Seems I am more confused now than ever before. What is better booking online or thru a TA? When is the best time to travel? I was looking at Jan. 2019 Since it is our anniversary month. Any help is appreciated.

January 2019 will be our 30th wedding anniversary so we have booked NCL Jade's Christmas/New Years cruise, a partial canal transit.

We usually choose by itinerary but this time we chose by dates. We knew we wanted NCL, but one of the smaller ships.

We book directly so that we don't have to work through a TA for changes, upgrades etc. Many folks prefer TA's in order to get extra perks. Depends on what you prefer.

The best time to travel probably depends on your itinerary. We've traveled in every month and have been lucky with the weather.

I love booking my own vacations, the research is time consuming but like doing it

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