Booking a Cruisetour

[ihopfar]

Starting to think about a cruisetour for Alaska 2012.

 

Not trying to start another thread on the pros and cons of cruisetours, but looking to find out how folks usually book their cruisetours.

 

(Looking for general information, not specific sites or travel agents -- I know that is against the rules.)

 

For cruises, of course, you can book direct with the cruise line, with a brick and mortar TA or an on-line TA.

 

However, it does not seem that the on-line TAs deal with cruisetours. Is this true? Are cruisetours limited to direct and brick and mortar TAs?

 

When I google cruisetours, I come up with a few websites that discuss cruisetours, but they appear just to be gateways to more traditional TAs.

 

Do the brick and mortar TAs discount the cruisetours?

 

Most cruises/fares are refundable or changeable prior to final payment. How about cruisetours? Do you have the same flexibility? If the prices go down before final payment, can you get a price adjustment? (Do prices fluctuate like cruise prices?)

 

Sorry for so many questions, but I know I can rely on the group here to help me out..

 

Thanks,

Brad

[cruisinalong001]

We booked our cruisetour for this summer through Princess. I do know that if the price of the cruise goes down, you don't get the price drop for the cruisetour unless the cruisetour price itself goes down (tried that). The cruisetour price drop did follow within a few days and it was honored (before final payment). With the price of fuel now, I don't expect any more price drops unless demand goes down.

[vbmom87]

I did check with the online cruise agency I booked through and did not see any cruisetours listed. However, if you belong to any warehouse type clubs, I suggest you try there. I see that the one I booked my Hawaii cruise through does have cruisetours. We booked with them for our Hawaii cruise and saved over going direct with the cruiseline. Check it out anyway. If the price difference is significant enough, joining the club might be worthwhile. Worth checking!!

[Budget Queen]

There are some discount online booking agents that do book cruisetours. And most do have phones that you could also call. With pricing, it seems much more difficult to get price adjustments if you see cruises drop, since you are purchasing a package.

[goinmobile68]

We booked through a brick & mortar TA because our online research revealed so many options that we just weren't making a decision. It's not our usual way of doing things, but it worked for us in this case! Price drops really weren't a factor-our tour appeared to be sold out shortly after we booked!

[dondiane]

You can always book through the cruise line, and then transfer to a brick and mortar t/a or an online one. When we booked on board we were told that if the "cruise" part of the cruise tour had a price drop it would be honored. However I think some cruise lines have revamped their price drop rules as well as how long you have to transfer to a t/a after booking. We normally try to book through cruise line and then transfer to an online t/a as we find we either get additional obcredits or better price....some t/a's also have rules about making changes. Best to ask a lot of questions before booking whether with cruise line or t/a's

[infoprof56]

We booked our 2011 Alaska cruisetour through an online supposedly discount TA. There really wasn't a discount but we got prepaid gratuities, which saved us something over direct booking. I found a few different online TA's that show cruise tours. Try searching Google for discount cruisetours.