i am truely overwelmed

[lorri]

With all the options out there, I am on overload. is the best option for a fisrt timer to go through a travel ajgent rather than doing the booking ourselves? Do you pick your ship first and then decide from their port calls what you want to do on the land excursions. Help? An Alasken cruise is in our furture but I don't know which way to turn. We like to do things ourselves but...... There is so much to do and see but so little time.

[bUU]

If you're overwhelmed, then you are getting the right idea. :)

 

Going with a very good, customer-service-oriented travel agent is a great idea for a first-timer, but how can you tell the difference between a great agent and an agent who causes you more trouble? We cannot discuss travel agents on this web site, so you won't get good advice in that regard here.

 

By the same token, many folks do spend some time and book themselves online, and do quite well, without a travel agent. Perhaps the best advice I can give is give yourself a few months to research it -- reading these message boards, especially the ones about the various cruise lines, so you can find one that matches your personality and sensibilities best. Then surely decide where you want to cruise. Finally, that should lead you to the obvious choice for which cruise to start shopping for.

[Starlite]

:o Hi

 

I cant wait for our alaska cruise . I went with going on the regal princess to alaska due to it porting out of San Francisco which is close to me so no flying yeah !!

[tinna2000]

hi lorri, i was overwhelemed too before i decided on what to do.i first decided on where i wanted to go, then i went to the cruise lines website to see what they had to offer for where i wanted to go, then the last thing i did was book with the cruise line. :)

[SNOWEY]

With all the options out there, I am on overload. is the best option for a fisrt timer to go through a travel ajgent rather than doing the booking ourselves? Do you pick your ship first and then decide from their port calls what you want to do on the land excursions. Help? An Alasken cruise is in our furture but I don't know which way to turn. We like to do things ourselves but...... There is so much to do and see but so little time.

:o

 

Lori: You are on the right track! I took my first cruise in August, & as Bicker says, research these boards. When I made my reservations, I knew I knew more than my TA. Bad!!! I am in sales so I wanted to give her a chance. She was part time and everytime I called she was not there! Not a good sign. Needless to say, I have a new TA (I met on Cruise Critic) & have booked 2 more cruises.

 

Back to your dilemna, read, read & read again. I was amazed at all of the possible combinations that are out there. Generally speaking, when you put a deposit out there, you have 90 days before you sail to cancel or move your reservation (generally speaking) with no penalty. I have always done all inclusives and found myself lost. When I switched TA's I did save $ from just booking directly w/the cruise line. Hope this helps.

 

BTW--our first cruise was to Alaska & it was awesome. We plan to go back.

 

Claudia

[Nitemare]

Start with a Travel Agent who specializes in Cruises. Ask them for a couple of references -- people you can talk to who they recently booked cruises for.

 

Yes, you can save maybe 10% doing it yourself, but for a first cruise, you need the advice of a professional to sort things out for you. We're going on our 6th cruise later this year, and still use the same TA, we like what service and advice he gives us, even though we know we could easily save $50-100/each on our next trip.

[CruiseFever]

With all the options out there, I am on overload. is the best option for a fisrt timer to go through a travel ajgent rather than doing the booking ourselves? Do you pick your ship first and then decide from their port calls what you want to do on the land excursions. Help? An Alasken cruise is in our furture but I don't know which way to turn. We like to do things ourselves but...... There is so much to do and see but so little time.

 

I think a good, local Travel Agent (TA), (not a big online booking company) is a great way to go. They'll take the time to hold your hand through the process and insure you have a great cruise.

 

Coming here is a great way to go for good info BEFORE you see that TA. You'll learn the questions to ask and have an idea of where and when you'd like to go.

 

There's more first-timer information on the Cruise Critic First Time Cruisers board that you might find interesting. Since you like to do things yourself I'd make a real effort to learn all you can before you see that TA. Here's more information too

[bUU]

Again, I feel the quality of the travel agent is critical. I learned far more from any one of some of the thousands of people here on Cruise Critic than I learned from travel agents. The point being, if you feel you're not getting superlative service, a high degree of attention to your needs, etc., from a travel agent, move on to another.

[Happy ks]

May I suggest you go to the library or bookstore and read a book about Alaska cruises. Just getting an idea what you would like to see and for how long may start to narrow it down for you. Only you know what your personal preferences are, even a good TA cannot know exactly what will work for you.

 

My only real suggestion to you would be to have firm plans at each port and get out of the port/downtown area and see more than the shopping district. Then, have a "plan B" in case your firm plan doesn't work out for you.

[Shifra]

Hi Lorri.....IMO reading these boards are your best source of info. It will give you a feel for the different cruiselines (and they are different!). I can't say much about TA's, ever since my first experience with one I decided to do things on my own. Everything I have learned about cruising is by doing it and reading these boards. You will feel more confident after your first cruise. Usually (not always) you will pay more booking directly with the cruiseline. I have found my best prices with online agencies but you really need to know what you are doing. I take time to price shop and it has worked for me.

 

Try not to worry, you have already picked out where you want to go and that's a good start. Learn what lines go to Alaska and then research the ships on these boards. You will do fine, especially with all the help you will get from CC'ers.

 

Have a great cruise and the 2nd one will be much easier to plan. :)

[geoherb]

We used to book everything through a local TA who specialized in cruises. She was a "master cruise counselor" as certified by the Cruise Lines International Association. Ask around locally for recommendations. Then check with the Better Business Bureau to see if there have been any complaints.

 

Now that I know more about the differences between the cruise lines and what is right for us, I don't need as much info from a TA. Just get me the tickets on time and a great price. I booked our last cruise with a TA on the Internet. But I knew exactly what ship I wanted. Within minutes of confirming the cruise, I was able to check our info on the cruise line's website. The Internet is great.

[BobbieSu]

I remember the feeling. It wasn't too long ago. We leave next week for our first cruise and I finally feel like all my questions are answered (well at least the ones I know about) but it took:

 

1- going to the library and picking up every single book on cruises and ports I could find (more than once)

 

2- searching each cruise lines web site and getting brochures of their cruises and ships and prices

 

3- changing my mind at least 10 times about what cruise and what cruise line I wanted

 

4- finally finding this site which has made all the difference. I think I read every day for a month solid before I joined and made my first post.

 

5- decided first which cruise line to go with-- or at least had it narrowed down to two or three (well, we already knew what part of the world we wanted to cruise, so that was first)

 

6- called a local travel agent and asked her opinion about cruise lines

 

7- decided what we wanted from our cruise

 

8- matched what we wanted, where we wanted to go and which cruise line would take us where we wanted to go

 

9 narrowed it down to two cruise lines and two itinerarys

 

10- called the TA back and asked her opinion again

 

11- checked pricing and dates for the two options, checked again

 

12- went back to the library, kept reading these boards, finally chose one

 

13- called TA and made a deposit (aaahhh relief)

 

14- little did I know that at this point the decisions had just begun. :eek:

 

 

The jury is still out about whether it was all worth it ;) I'll keep you posted.

 

Su

[StephenJohnson]

With all the options out there, I am on overload. is the best option for a fisrt timer to go through a travel ajgent rather than doing the booking ourselves? Do you pick your ship first and then decide from their port calls what you want to do on the land excursions. Help? An Alasken cruise is in our furture but I don't know which way to turn. We like to do things ourselves but...... There is so much to do and see but so little time.

 

It's not that hard. First, decide how much you can spend. Then get brochures for what interests you, sift the options, and pick the one you like. It's not like there are any really bad choices, just ones that may be more or less suited to your tastes.