Booking a cruise...through cruise ship or other site?

[missymac]

We went on a cruise last year and booked through Carnival. We are thinking of booking a cruise for next January and now I am wondering what are the best sites for the best deal "perks", and also reputable?

 

Thanks in advance! :o

[wasiii]

We went on a cruise last year and booked through Carnival. We are thinking of booking a cruise for next January and now I am wondering what are the best sites for the best deal "perks", and also reputable?

 

Thanks in advance! :o

 

.....it's against the rules.

 

:eek:

 

wasiii

[golfadj]

Sorry but that is the price we pay for getting the great info here.

[huxlemo]

I have found that Carnival has the lowest price.

[wasiii]

I have found that Carnival has the lowest price.

 

.....they might have the lowest advertised price, but I will pay less going through my TA rather than booking through Carnival.

 

:D

 

wasiii

[missymac]

Thanks for your responses!

 

This time we'll go with an inside cabin (instead of balcony we had last year) to save money. We don't want to be at the bottom of the ship and I see that you can pick the category you want to be in - but once you do that, when there are rate reductions, does it have to specifically for your category to get it?

 

What is the chance of a reduction from a 4A or say a 4D or 4E?

 

Thanks again :o

[gtalum]

I have found that Carnival has the lowest price.

 

Carnival never has the lowest price. A good TA will always save versus booking directly. The hint is that they can only advertise the same rates that Carnival advertises, but if you actually contact them they'll discount the rates by offering you part of their commission.

 

For instance, on a cruise we're considering for September, TA's are beating Carnival's direct price on a ~$1000 cruise by ~$100. In the past, we've saved as much as $400 on a cruise by using a TA.

[Traveler353]

People can only speak of their own experience and to say that someone else is wrong is just not right. Personally I have always got the best deal thru my PVP. I get the cabin I want, best price, and personalized service from a very on the ball PVP.

[golfadj]

You can save something sometimes by going thru a TA but overall think we do the best in terms of service and the entire package by going thru our pvp.

[gtalum]

People can only speak of their own experience and to say that someone else is wrong is just not right. Personally I have always got the best deal thru my PVP. I get the cabin I want, best price, and personalized service from a very on the ball PVP.

 

I didn't say you can't get better service or overall value from a PVP. Some part of value is subjective. The lowest bottom line price is ALWAYS available elsewhere, though. PVP's simply don't have any price flexibility, and they can only sell fares at Carnival's official advertised pricing.

 

For me, I don't need any kind of special service. I want the absolute cheapest fare for the sailing and the cabin that I choose. I do verify that all payments are processed directly by Carnival, so I don't have to worry about a TA going out of business. I do price checks once a week or so and get adjustments if needed. Saving $100-$400 per sailing is worth it to me.

[frankhouse]

Carnival never has the lowest price. A good TA will always save versus booking directly. The hint is that they can only advertise the same rates that Carnival advertises, but if you actually contact them they'll discount the rates by offering you part of their commission.

 

For instance, on a cruise we're considering for September, TA's are beating Carnival's direct price on a ~$1000 cruise by ~$100. In the past, we've saved as much as $400 on a cruise by using a TA.

 

It isn't worth $100.00 to me to have to depend on a TA to handle any problems or changes that I can do faster and know for sure they're taken care of. JMO ;)

[gtalum]

It isn't worth $100.00 to me to have to depend on a TA to handle any problems or changes that I can do faster and know for sure they're taken care of. JMO ;)

 

As I noted above, a big part of value is subjective.

 

I've never had any problem getting the TA to handle any of the minor situations that I've run across in 7 cruises.

 

$100 is ~20 beers on the cruise. :D

[Traveler353]

I didn't say you can't get better service or overall value from a PVP. Some part of value is subjective. The lowest bottom line price is ALWAYS available elsewhere, though. PVP's simply don't have any price flexibility, and they can only sell fares at Carnival's official advertised pricing.

 

For me, I don't need any kind of special service. I want the absolute cheapest fare for the sailing and the cabin that I choose. I do verify that all payments are processed directly by Carnival, so I don't have to worry about a TA going out of business. I do price checks once a week or so and get adjustments if needed. Saving $100-$400 per sailing is worth it to me.

 

OK, and that is based on your experience and it works for you.

[frankhouse]

As I noted above, a big part of value is subjective.

 

I've never had any problem getting the TA to handle any of the minor situations that I've run across in 7 cruises.

 

$100 is ~20 beers on the cruise. :D

 

That's great. :) I just like having total control of my vacation. I've had friends that have had horrifying experiences with TA's. I personally haven't had any problems with TA's in the past when I have used them, although, I've read a lot of posts on CC of people that have and had their vacation ruined. Yea I know, it can happen dealing directly with Carnival also. I think the risk is less through Carnival though.

[Warm Breezes]

I didn't say you can't get better service or overall value from a PVP. Some part of value is subjective. The lowest bottom line price is ALWAYS available elsewhere, though. PVP's simply don't have any price flexibility, and they can only sell fares at Carnival's official advertised pricing.

 

For me, I don't need any kind of special service. I want the absolute cheapest fare for the sailing and the cabin that I choose. I do verify that all payments are processed directly by Carnival, so I don't have to worry about a TA going out of business. I do price checks once a week or so and get adjustments if needed. Saving $100-$400 per sailing is worth it to me.

 

I have had the same experience as you ... I get the lowest bid on-line and then call the TA directly (which happened to be the same TA for the last 3 cruises). They always save me $200-$400 over the cruise lines adveritised rate and they take care of everything for me including getting me upgrades and OBC. They have all my information from our previous cruises, since they are always our lowest bidder, so booking is easy...The savings is well-worth it...just like booking through a PVP with less dollars going out of my pocket. And that is my experience.:D

[gtalum]

In addition to the bottom-line savings, TA's have always placed a gift in our cabin at embarkation as well. Usually a bottle of wine and some petits fours or some drink coupons. A nice touch.