Online discount cruise operators

[johnsak123]

I apologize for repeating myself in other posts but I was specifically told by my PCC that NCL does not offer the best prices.

I realized that a major retailer who specializes in selling in bulk had a better price then NCL and I mentioned it to my PCC His reply was that NCL does not offer the best prices and to try at that retailer because sometimes they buy rooms in bulk and pass the discount on to the consumer.

Can say which one but there are several out there and when I checked their price was better than NCL.

I found this to be a shame. NCL should offer the best prices

[jkgourmet]

I apologize for repeating myself in other posts but I was specifically told by my PCC that NCL does not offer the best prices.

I realized that a major retailer who specializes in selling in bulk had a better price then NCL and I mentioned it to my PCC His reply was that NCL does not offer the best prices and to try at that retailer because sometimes they buy rooms in bulk and pass the discount on to the consumer.

Can say which one but there are several out there and when I checked their price was better than NCL.

I found this to be a shame. NCL should offer the best prices

 

This situation applies to virtually all of the mass market cruise lines, not just NCL.

[DCP]

I just switched our NCL booking to a big box online agency. It was waaayy too good of a deal to pass up. Over $300 less per cabin, (we have 2 B6) paid gratuities for each person, trio of specialty dining for all of us, and $50 OBC. All told, about $900 per cabin in savings and perks. Never used them before, but thinking I may just like these kinds of deals.

[Buford T Justiice]

We booked our first cruise with a local TA and paid full retain. Since then, with the knowledge learned here at cc we have booked through on-line / no service TA's and usually save 10% - 15% off NCL retail price. Our on-line TA provides no customer support, but after a few cruises, who needs the handholding?

Edited January 30, 2014 by Buford T Justiice

[RJ2002]

I just switched our NCL booking to a big box online agency. It was waaayy too good of a deal to pass up. Over $300 less per cabin, (we have 2 B6) paid gratuities for each person, trio of specialty dining for all of us, and $50 OBC. All told, about $900 per cabin in savings and perks. Never used them before, but thinking I may just like these kinds of deals.

 

It is hard to pass up deals like that. Before booking, we try to do some homework to determine if there are any "red flags" about the online agency. Knock on wood, we've been pleased and never had any issues.

[thephillykid]

"Good Afternoon,

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

Thank you for recently booking your upcoming sailing on the Norwegian Getaway with [AGENCY NAME REMOVED TO PROTECT THEM]. We are very happy you were able to take advantage of this very rare opportunity.* With this particular promotion, you were set to receive Pre-paid gratuities for the first two guests in your cabin, $150 shipboard credit for the cabin, an Ultimate Dining Package for the cabin, and an additional $100 shipboard credit for the cabin on top of everything else.* Because of this particular promotion being as rare as it was, we wanted to let you know the entire package totals an amount of $650 – which means it will appear as complete shipboard credit for the cabin – you may use the funds as you wish within the guidelines of normal spending accounts with Norwegian.*

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

Please note:* of the $650 shipboard credit for the cabin you will receive from this promotion, $150 of it is NOT eligible to be used towards your gratuities for the cabin.* Please keep this in mind when you board and see your account summary that you must allocate your gratuities appropriately."

 

This was the email that we got yesterday from our online ta after booking a deal 2 weeks ago. They ROCK........GIVING US ALL OBC instead of being locked into any specific packages.

[Mom2B&Z]

OP, I notice you're Canadian. Most of what people on cc talk about seems to be related to US TAs only. I've searched and searched for any deal even remotely similar to those mentioned repeatedly on this site and I can't find them. There are different between the pricing on .com and .ca sites. Fwiw we are booked with a large multinational TA which has a Canadian branch and specializes in cruises, they are giving us the price of the cruise in Canadian dollars at par with US (more valuable as of recently...) and $50 obc. I'd love to know if and how someone finds something better that is available to Canadians :)

 

 

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[Taylor95]

Please note:* of the $650 shipboard credit for the cabin you will receive from this promotion, $150 of it is NOT eligible to be used towards your gratuities for the cabin.* Please keep this in mind when you board and see your account summary that you must allocate your gratuities appropriately."

 

 

 

This was the email that we got yesterday from our online ta after booking a deal 2 weeks ago. They ROCK........GIVING US ALL OBC instead of being locked into any specific packages.

 

 

What an awesome deal! What type of cabin did you book?

 

 

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Edited January 31, 2014 by Taylor95

[thephillykid]

Please note:* of the $650 shipboard credit for the cabin you will receive from this promotion, $150 of it is NOT eligible to be used towards your gratuities for the cabin.* Please keep this in mind when you board and see your account summary that you must allocate your gratuities appropriately."

 

 

 

This was the email that we got yesterday from our online ta after booking a deal 2 weeks ago. They ROCK........GIVING US ALL OBC instead of being locked into any specific packages.

 

 

What an awesome deal! What type of cabin did you book?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Just a guaranteed balcony, and they upgraded us to a BC on deck 9.

[Demonyte]

OP' date=' I notice you're Canadian. Most of what people on cc talk about seems to be related to US TAs only. .... I'd love to know if and how someone finds something better that is available to Canadians :)[/quote']

 

It doesn't matter where you are from. We "should" book our cruises through NCL's European office but have never done so, only through US office either directly or via TA because of better terms and cheaper prices because Euro is so much stronger currency than USD. (For most cruises we can see almost exact same figures in the price but the currency is just different resulting usually 10-30% savings for us when comparing to prices at ncl.eu site - but this is how it goes with everything here when comparing to US prices.)

 

Our upcoming cruise (we share Garden Villa with two other couples) is booked by our Canadian friends with the same US TA we have used for many cruises now and that we recommended to them and they have had absolutely no problems with them either.

Edited January 31, 2014 by Demonyte

[lisakoivu]

I just switched our NCL booking to a big box online agency. It was waaayy too good of a deal to pass up. Over $300 less per cabin, (we have 2 B6) paid gratuities for each person, trio of specialty dining for all of us, and $50 OBC. All told, about $900 per cabin in savings and perks. Never used them before, but thinking I may just like these kinds of deals.

 

how far out when you switched?

[lisakoivu]

It doesn't matter where you are from. We "should" book our cruises through NCL's European office but have never done so, only through US office either directly or via TA because of better terms and cheaper prices because Euro is so much stronger currency than USD. (For most cruises we can see almost exact same figures in the price but the currency is just different resulting usually 10-30% savings for us when comparing to prices at ncl.eu site - but this is how it goes with everything here when comparing to US prices.)

 

Our upcoming cruise (we share Garden Villa with two other couples) is booked by our Canadian friends with the same US TA we have used for many cruises now and that we recommended to them and they have had absolutely no problems with them either.

 

Well, that's the kind of intel I was looking for - I know that most discussions are about Americans buying from these sites, but it's good to known that Europeans and Canadians are able to use them successfully. Like, I just cannot believe the OBC and free DSC offers that are out there on the online agents that are sponsored by Cruise Critic even - that's as far as I got, and it's still amazing.

 

My TA is not doing much for me. I think I'm too busy and hassled to switch now and I also think it might be too late to switch for a March 9th cruise, also, I'm kinda chicken because I have my young nephew and son with me for this cruise, but the next time it's just DH and me, I think I'm gonna give it a whirl.

 

I appreciate all the input.

[newmexicoNita]

I've used an online company twice. The price was the same as the actual cruise company, but I got extra perks. On our upcoming March cruise we got free gratuities and $175 OBC. Works for me! No they do not watch the fares, but I can do that for $350 of perks. Plus they have services that will email/alert you when prices drop.

 

I think most people do not realize, most lines have what we used to call: fair market pricing, which simply means the prices are set and no one can offer a lower price. Some companies do buy up large blocks of cabins, and like you said, they will throw in perks. I would add, the deal you got was better than most. Of course a lot has to do with the cabin category. The most expensive cabins, the more perks the companies can afford to throw in. Some companies like to give free insurance, the problem with that can be, the insurance doesn't always cover what insurance you buy separately will cover.

 

I do want to add just a couple of things: after reading all these responses and being a retired agent who worked with 2 very large companies: I think the comment about not needing contact with an agent after you have cruised a few times can be pretty scary: you don't know all the problems that can arise that can be handled better with an agent and second; some of the on line companies are not really strictly on line. They are full service companies, franchised, but much of the work is done on line, so they appear to be on line only. Others truly are "on line" only. I will also have to question these $500 OBC etc. I know what commission agents get, and I can't imagine how any of them, regardless of the group classification, can offer these credits. Some are actually offered via the cruise line, but the agent doesn't tell you that.

Edited January 31, 2014 by newmexicoNita

[Mom2B&Z]

Well, that's the kind of intel I was looking for - I know that most discussions are about Americans buying from these sites, but it's good to known that Europeans and Canadians are able to use them successfully. Like, I just cannot believe the OBC and free DSC offers that are out there on the online agents that are sponsored by Cruise Critic even - that's as far as I got, and it's still amazing.

 

My TA is not doing much for me. I think I'm too busy and hassled to switch now and I also think it might be too late to switch for a March 9th cruise, also, I'm kinda chicken because I have my young nephew and son with me for this cruise, but the next time it's just DH and me, I think I'm gonna give it a whirl.

 

I appreciate all the input.

 

 

I'd love to know what you find out, I just tried booking on the US version of the site we used for this cruise (we are with you on the March 9 cruise :)) and I keep getting redirected to the Canadian site.

 

 

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