Booking a Cruise

[kroozerj]

When you book a cruise, what is the most important thing you look for. Price, itinerary, cruise line, ship, perks, or something else?

[paul929207]

I select the cruise based on itinerary and cruise line. I then check a number of online TA's to get the best price. I then call my local TA and she matches the lowest price.

[Keith1010]

As Paul said, I make my decision based on cruise line and on the itinerary.

 

I would recommend working with a TA on this.

 

Keith

[PrincessE]

For me it's all about the itinerary, then the dates, then the price.

[DFritz]

My advice:

Start with price since you know what you can afford. Set your budget for the cruise price without all of the extra's like beverages and excursions.

 

Next select the cruise line. Find one that will suit your needs. They all have similarities but they are all different. Decide what is important to you for your vacation.

 

Next select the ship. Occassionally a cruise line will bump you if they plan to change the route itinerary, with your approval....we went from one older ship to one of their newest once when they went from a 7 day to a 5 day change. Sometimes you will just be offered the change.

 

Next select the itinerary...this can change a lot for many different reasons. Weather, diseasters at sea, etc. Sometimes I will select an itinerary before the ship if I know the different ship classes to start with....which ships are sister ships, etc. Never base your whole vacation on one port of call. Invitation for disappointment.

 

Finally, think about the coffee....now this can make or break a cruise :)

[STARFISH*4]

for me i know which cruiseline i want to cruise with so its then looking for a price and itinerary and since i have a few months i really can cruise in i have to look at that timeframe too!

[uppitycats]

Itinerary first, then price, then cruise line.

[cb at sea]

Dates, cabin type....we don't really care about WHERE we go...we're not there but a couple hours anyway!

[janice4559]

As Paul said, I make my decision based on cruise line and on the itinerary.

 

I would recommend working with a TA on this.

 

Keith

 

Why?

[mitsugirly]

I also research and find the perfect itinerary to the ports I am interested in. Then I start searching for cruise ships that go there and then see which ship is within my price range. Then I research everything that the cruise line has to offer on board. :)

[jocap]

We know which places we'd like to visit, so we wait for a low price to be offered by any cruise line, then go for it. We managed to have a rare cruise round Northern Spain and France recently at a very low price....last minute offers....doing this.

Jo.

[geoherb]

Price comes first for us, but only in conjunction with our available dates for travel. I'd rather take more cruises in the lowest priced cabins than fewer cruises in a suite.

 

My three favorite cruise lines are Princess, Holland America, and Celebrity. Our past passenger benefits on Princess are better, so it takes a great price to get us back on HAL or X. But we have gone back and enjoyed them.

[goatgoat]

When you book a cruise, what is the most important thing you look for. Price, itinerary, cruise line, ship, perks, or something else?

 

We look for a cruise:

1) in the time frame and trip length we are targeting,

2) an itinerary that is appealing to us,

3) a departure port that makes sense considering time, air costs, etc. and 4) the price compared to others similar on the first 3 criteria.

 

If perks include an onboard credit, that is the same as a cash adjustment. Treat a free excursion the same. Dinner in one of the added cost restaurants is nice but not necessarily money we would have spent thus no savings. Same for free travel insurance. I don't give any weight to the coupon books which are discounts on things we normally never buy. Also, cabin upgrades are normally the same cabin on a higher deck (not an upgrade from inside to balcony) so I don't really consider those in making a decision.

 

Keep in mind the longer the cruise, the older the media age tends to be. 3-4 day cruises will normally be quite young group with a lot of kids during summers, holidays and school breaks. 10+ days will normally have fewer kids and a group that can afford a little more expensive trip and have more time to vacation. A 7-day works for most people. My personal preference is 3-4 ports on a 7-day cruise. I love the days at sea. Others love the ports. It is hard to know which group you fall into until you take a cruise (I thought I was port intensive until I found out how much I loved the time on the ship.).

 

Hope that helps!

[chipmaster]

The first and foremost question is why for this vacation you are cruising. Unlike many here we don't cruise often and only sprinkle the cruise in every few years or every other year so we are often after very different things each time depending on mood, timing, and of course the age / interest of the cruisers ;) This time around the Alaskan thought was triggered by my middle son who was wondered if of all places at the top of a mountain in a feezing snow storm at 7494feet during our ski vacation if the glaciers might all be gone before he gets a chance to really see them. That turned our summer vacation plans from a Asian World Expo whilrwind to an Alaska cruise.

 

Each one of our cruises the 1) prioirty was different.

 

In Europe it was itinerary, in Alaska it was date or itinerary for the two times we sailed.

 

Then once it was selected based on price and we ended up on Carnival for that one :eek:

 

Once it was for a package and that is how we ended up doing a 4 day park 3 day Disney.

 

There is enough competition that you almost always have choices and compromises and decisions to be made.

 

When you book a cruise, what is the most important thing you look for. Price, itinerary, cruise line, ship, perks, or something else?

[griffy116]

1. Cruiseline (RCCL)

2. Dates (we have restrictions on when we can cruise)

3. Comparison of cruises available and prices

4. Port of embarkation (car or fly) cost/convenience consideration.

 

lately with the time it takes to get to the airport, go through security, sitting at the airport a couple of hours, getting transportation from airport to hotel and hotel to port, luggage restrictions/costs, we've decided that unless it requires strapping our luggage to our shoulders and swimming to the port, we will drive whenever possible. On our next cruise, we sat down and did the timeline and decided we could make the drive as fast as we could fly after all the variables. We're staying at a hotel that has a special cruise 'n park rate, which makes either the hotel/parking a wash and we have a day to relax before heading to the port. We gave a lot of consideration to where we cold board the ship and decided this would be more relaxing than taking a flight.