I am paralyzed stiff from making a decision

[amateurcruisers]

First cruise, we want to go somewher warm in December for a reasonable price. I'm taking the whole family, me, wife, daughters 23, 13 and son 12. Want to family stateroom or maybe a room with balcony for me and wife and inside room for kiddos. Any ideas?

 

Will I save money be calling a travel agent? Should I book online or call the cruiseline direct?

 

I want to go on an 8-10 day cruise and relax on the ship on the sea. Kids and wife want ports of call. I hear RCCL is good with kids and so is Disney, but from what I've read Disney is expensive and they don't have an 8-10 day cruise.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[coolmello]

Ive booked my first cruise. As far as I can tell, its cheaper to search the net and find the cheapest price. Most of them however will end up the same price once all the taxes are taken into account. Atleast this is what i found. The different travel agency websites prices will usually be cheaper than the actually cruise line websites. Im not sure if were aloud to post travel agency websites on this board or not. Anyway i went through one website and booked. Just yesterday i found a website that actually had the same class room for $30 a person cheaper. Called up my travel agent and they matched the price once they went to the website and verified it.

[Wennfred]

I would book directly with the Cruiseline, I recommend the Carnival Spirit out of San Diego, San Diego has great warm weather in Dec. and a beautiful City to explore. The spirit goes to the Mexican Riviera and its an 8 day cruise. I been on the Spirit twice now and would go again on it to Alaska.

 

Dec 10th price is 599.00 on the website. Call then now and see what they can do for you with your size group.

[coolmello]

Im curious Wennfred, do you have to call the cruiseline for the better prices? Because I found the cruise line websites (atleast NCL but I though canival as well) were more expensive than the travel agent websites.

[coolmello]

By the way, my cruise is on NCL Sun out of New Orleans on Oct 16th. Chose this over carnivals because it stops at four ports and Carnival stops at three ports (7 nighter). Going to Belize, Cozumel, Rotoan, and Playa Del Carman. :)

[TrentS]

Royal Caribbean have the best kids program, PARTICULARLY THE VOYAGER CLASS SHIPS (Voyager of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas). I have yet to meet anyone who's kids liked Disney or any other line's kids program better than the ones on the Voyager class ships.

 

If you're not an experienced traveler/cruiser you should find a travel agent in your area who specializes in cruises and has a special relationship with the line you're interested in sailing on. You'll almost always get a better price from a TA than from the cruise line direct.

 

And one last thing... When cruising ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS fly into the city the cruise leaves from at least a day early!!! NEVER fly in on the day of the cruise! AND always book your own air, the cruise lines frequently come up with some very bizarre routings.

[Wennfred]

CoolMello when you call the website other then the Cruise Website like Yahoo travel etc., ask them what the final rate, as they could tack on extra charges, port fees etc. when talking to a Cruise Rep on the phone from Carnival or RCCL, tell them what you need and that youre looking to really save due to it being an expensive family vacation, They will tell ya about other offers thats not posted on the website, like promos they have hidden or just came out. Works for me all the time. The Cruise Reps are so cool, they are there to help ya.

 

My experience on Booking with a Travel Agent, they could never beat the price I find when I call directly.

 

As for the kids program, your kids are Teens already, The Carnival Spirit has a Teen club called Club O2. Its set up with tons of activites and keeps them busy.

 

Read this Thread on why I dont use Travel Agents. you never know.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=154087

 

You can ask for a family room that holds 5 easy, those are usually in the back of the ship, also most family send their kids to the Gym Shower to save time.

[Happy ks]

Actually, the price is almost always higher when you book through the cruiseline. There are so many TA's out there that discount the price lower than the cruiseline and they cannot tack on any more taxes than the cruiseline can. The only charge extra may be for shipping the of documents.

 

As this is your first cruise, I would advise you go through a cruise only travel agent, we cannot recomment any on this board.

 

A few of the most important things to remember are: don't let them book you cruiseline air, you can get your own air usually for far less $$ and choose your own flight times, airline, etc... Don't believe your agent that the ship will wait for pax who booked air through them. Cruiselines are notorius for having the absolute worst air accomodations. Don't let them sell you insurance, buy from a third party, go to http://www.insuremytrip.com for comparison and quotes. Do your best to fly to your debarkation port the day before you cruise, you will start more relaxed and make it to the ship on time.

 

There is much more, but this is a good start.

 

Have fun planning!