selecting cruise line and purchasing ticket

[luckyrancherlady]

Hi guys

we are first time cruisers and are at the very early stages - we think we have narrowed down the cruise line to Royal Caribbean because it seems to have better ratings than Carnival or Norwegian (the only other two available at our location) but not definitively better so would definitely love to hear some pro's and con's. Also once the decision is made, is it better(i.e. less expensive) to purchase tickets through the internet, through a travel agent or directly with the cruise line??

 

thanks for any info!!

[dst]

It depends on the type of cruise you are looking for. RCCL happens to be my favorite. Its a very nice enviroment, great service, food and classy ships. Carnival is a fun ship, if you enjoy drinking, partying its the cruise line for you. We have done one Carnival cruise and had a great time but we were there specifically to celebrate a birthday.

 

As far as booking a cruise I have always used cruisesinc I have taken 10 cruises and they have never let me down. I guess we are not allowed to give out our TA's names but if you want I can email the info to you.

 

You'll have fun no matter what ship you go on and then you'll be hooked like the rest of us!

 

Days are always longer when at sea...

[cowtec]

We are getting ready to book our third cruise - woo hoo! The first two were done through a travel agent because we felt we needed a little guidance about everything and didn't feel really comfortable doing it on our own. Do lots of price checking and, if you decide on a TA, take the quotes with you to see if he/she can meet or beat them. I am a really strong believer in these boards - they helped me with booking shore excursions independently, which saved us tons of money as opposed to the ship's tours. However you decide to book, keep watching the pricing on your cruise for drops - remember, you are going to have to be doing the checking. Also, get to your embarkation port at least a day ahead of time. That way you aren't feeling rushed when you get on board. Keep posting and asking questions - CC people are the best at helping out! Have a great time!!

 

Sue

 

Dawn Princess - Panama Canal - April 2004

 

Dawn Princess - Alaska - August 2005

[serene56]

I have sailed on both Carnival and Royal and loved both lines. I didnt find either one a partier asmosphere but did find that people like to enjoy their vacations. I prefered Carnival over the Royal for their nighttime entertainment. Carnival gave you more choices of what to do on a daily basis. I dont drink and I dont do much dancing and on Royal that was my choices. On Carnival I was able to do Kareoke, trivia contests, comedians, etc.etc.

 

Our first cruise I used a travel agent but all others I used online agencies. I like to know that I am able to get a reduction in pricing if the price of my cruise comes down at any time up til sailing.

 

Going NOWHERE

 

 

 

Miracle, February 13, 2005

Legend, October 22,2004

Voyager August 31,2003

Victory September 22,2002

Regal Empress,June 2001

Sensation,August 2000

[kitty9]

If you're not an experienced traveler or cruiser, a travel agent is your best bet, just to get you through things you aren't familiar with. Once you have one cruise under your belt, then you can go via direct booking or the internet. If something goes wrong or if you have lots of questions, nothing beats an in-person, live travel agent to run interferrence for you. Sometimes things can go wrong, and if you're new at cruising, a TA can be invaluable.

 

Darcie

[98Charlie]

How have you planned previous land vacations? If you are a roll-with-the-punches, go-with-the-flow person you may save a bunch of money by booking on line. If not, you may prefer to have a face-to-face TA. I would certainly check prices on the internet before going in.

 

We have booked our cruises through a couple of the online agencies that have telephone support and have been very satisfied with the service and price. Some you can only contact via email.

 

We have only crused Celebrity, Princess and NCL so I can't really compare your choices. As far as ratings, those are opinions. Yes, they are a good starting point but, each line has it's cheerleaders and detractors. We like the dining choices on NCL and Princess and lean towards them for this reason. However, the next cruise is RCCL for the Mexican Riviera in September We want to try HAL and Carnival also.

 

I would consider the total package as it applies to your preferences: itinerary, price, availability, dining, ship amenities, etc. You may have other considerations for your vacation. Find the cruise or cruises that satisfy the most important (to you) categories on the list. If you go to a TA you have a good idea of which cruise(s) you want and what the price should be.

 

Good luck and happy cruising.

[cruisinqt]

Hey fellow Texan! I live 30 minutes south of Fort Worth and we tend to do the same cruises you are looking at. We went on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody Of The Seas out of Galveston and had a blast! It is a much bigger ship than some of the others. I have found the bigger ships tend to have more things to do on them. Like such things as skating rinks,jogging tracks, movie theatres, and other extras that you don't see in some of the smaller ships. We aren't much into drinking and gambling so these extras mean a lot to us. It gives us more activities to choose from while at sea between ports.

 

The larger ships out of Texas that you have to choose from would be Carnival's Elation at 70,000 tons. Then there is Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody Of The Seas at 70,000 tons. And this fall Princesses Grand Princess will be sailing out of Galveston and it is 109,00 tons. The Norwegian Sea is only 42,00 tons, it sails out of Houston. We have heard good reviews on Norwegian but would prefer a larger ship with more activities to choose from.

 

Another port you may have not looked at but is only an 8 hour drive is New Orleans. We will be sailing on Carnival's Conquest for only $499.00 per person. This is a "mega ship" at over 110,000 tons and the cruise critic himself gave it high marks.I have found that it is not the cruise line you should look at but the size of the ship and it's itinerary. This particular ship has lots of extras on it and it goes to exotic ports like Montego Bay Jamaica, the Cayman islands, and Cozumel, Mexico. We have cruised a lot and have never had a bad cruise. Some were better than others, but none were bad. We have found that the better ones tended to be on larger ships with more extras to choose from. One word of caution. One cruise and you're hooked!

 

One more thing that might help you is how to book your cruise. We have always booked via the internet and have never had a problem. I think the internet is much cheaper and you can get better deals. We usually went thru cruise.com because they consistently had cheaper prices. But many board members have raved about *****.com, especially in the money saving tips section of the boards. At *****.com they compare all of the discount cruise websites like seaescapes.com, cruise.com, cruise411.com, and many more. We used them to book our cruise and got a great deal.

 

You might keep watching the price of your cruise even after you have booked. If the price of the cruise you booked drops you can get upgraded to a better cabin. Just call the internet agency you booked thru and tell them your cruise price has dropped dramatically and you want an upgrade. They will call your cruise line and likely get an upgrade for you. It's that easy. Don't worry about what cruise line to use. We loved Royal Caribbean and Carnival equally. Norwegian was nice, but their ships out of the Texas area are on the small side. We liked the Elation and Rhapsody of the seas better. I still want to try Princess because I've heard lots of good about them. Their ship out of Galveston is very large and the price isn't too bad either. I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, just ask. I check the boards often and would be glad to help you.

[CaribbeanCruisesRock]

Go on royal caribbean.....it's great. Carnival is great for younger kids.