Best Way to Book Cruises

[motherofthebride]

What are the best websites to book cruises? We have been looking at ***** and orbitz. Are there other sites that we should be looking at? Thanks.

[sas80]

if you are going to have a large group (more than 7 cabins booked) then it is best to call group booking for each site and inquire about the perks that they will give you for every "n" cabins you book.

 

We used travelocity group bookings and we got 1 free fare, in the most-booked category, after we booked 8 cabins. At 14 cabins we got 2 free fares in the most-booked category.

 

If we had hit 16 rooms booked, everyone would have gotten a $25 room credit too.

 

For us it ended up being an $800ish credit for the 2 free fares (2 fares = 1 room)

 

Call around, check out the perks that they will give you for each 'tier' you hit and go with the best one!

 

Congrats and good luck!

[motherofthebride]

Thanks Sas80. Those prices look a little better than what I was seeing on the other sites. We'll narrow it down and then give them a call about group bookings.

[candyland402]

You might want to try this company too...http://www.thetropicaltravelers.com. They seem to have good prices.

[scottishflower]

I've been very happy with my local Cruise One agent - they have good relationships with the cruise lines, which expedites service and makes sure we get all the group amenities we qualify for, and has me in touch with our rccl group coordinator for my "bride" issues. I am not using the RCCL wedding services (Royal Romance) though - I don't need the headaches -

 

I know you can search their website for local agents:

http://www.cruiseone.com

[NATTRAA]

I am from Canada and we booked directly with the cruise line as prices were approx 3x cheaper. We are also flying out of Buffalo as it is only an hour a way from us and is also 1/2 the fare we would pay out of Toronto. Friends of ours booked with a TA and paid over $3000 for the 2 of them we booked directly and for 4 of us (2 adults and 2 children) it cost us under $3000 and less than $1000 addition to fly to FLL. Try going directly to the cruiseline and then check out flights from where you live to the port on expedia.com

Hope this helps too!

[HnJ06]

I'm in love with my CruiseOne agent. Scottishflower is absolutely right about how close they are with the lines. When I told mine what I wanted to do she spent the next couple of days gathering info on what all of the different lines were willing to offer for my group size and sailing dates. And then we sat down together and made the decision. After we decided on Norwegian, she informed me that she just went to an informational conference they offered and worked alongside the head of Norwegian's group bookings department. She contacted the woman that afternoon and called me back later that night with a new set of perks they were willing to offer. Whenever I have a question she either calls me back that night or the next afternoon with the answer. Plus I like that I am dealing with a real person and that if anything goes wrong I have a real person to come and fix the problem (CruiseOne offers a 24 hour gaurantee where if you are unhappy for whatever reason on your cruise they will do whatever they can to fix it, and if they can't you can call your agent within 24 hours of deportation and they will refund your cruise price and pay to fly you back to the port of disembarkation). Since this is going to be the first cruise for both me and most of my group, this security makes me a lot more at ease.