Using us site from Uk

[rdt123]

Hi all

 

we are looking at a 14 night on the seaside in August 2020 from Miami. We have done half a dozen cruises or so.

 

the cheapest cruise only fare I can find in the UK is still a few thousand pounds more for the same stateroom and experience level than I can find on a US website. 

 

Ive heard mixed reports over the years about whether this is a problem. I have checked the box for ‘not a US citizen’ and selected UK and it offers me the same cheaper price in Dollars. I won’t name the site as I’m not sure I’m supposed to

 

thanks for any advice 

 

rob 

 

 

[John Bull]

Hi Rob.

Yes, it's cheaper by booking thro a Stateside agent - but name no names, it's taboo on Cruise Critic.

But that does sound like a very big difference.

 

MSC is a family-owned cruise line, not subject to the rules of the likes of Carnival or NCL, of which one at least won't honour bookings thro US agents from cruisers not resident in the US or Canada. (there are ways round that, but not for this thread.)

You might like to check on Cruise Critic's MSC board to find if anyone's done it & what hoops - if any - they had to go thro'.

 

If you book thro a US agent there's another big plus - your deposit is returned in full if you cancel for any reason before final payment day (about 90 (???)) days out.

 

But there are negatives too .........

 

Your money isn't safeguarded by ABTA if for instance the agent goes belly-up or runs off to the Caymens with your money. So pay only by credit card for a degree of security.

 

Your cruise is priced in US dollars, so it's subject to currency fluctuations and by the time you pay it'll cost you more if sterling has dropped against the dollar. (will of course work out in the opposite direction if the dollar drops).

 

Mandatory add-ons are by law included in prices in the UK and EU. So expect to find for instance that port fees are an add-on if you book in the States. Nothing drastic as I recall but eats a little into the savings.

 

Most important of all - read MSC's contract terms on both their UK and US sites, and note the differences. Certainly American cruise lines can play hard and fast with their one-sided contracts - it's not unusual for a cruise to be cancelled at short notice by the cruise line because they got a better offer for a charter of the ship. In that case if you book in the States you get your cruise fare back and that's it - your other expenses (flights etc) are your problem. And there's an NCL Getaway trans-Atlantic cruise due into Southampton about now that was reduced from 12 days to ten with two missed European ports because NCL decided that it wanted to put the ship into dry-dock for a refurb (not an urgent mechanical issue) a couple of days early. NCL gave the passengers just 8 days notice of this, and promised them a 25% refund. Caused a massive stink on the NCL forum and they have upped the refunds since, but their US booking terms didn't require them to. This is a significant part of the reason for the price differences - book in the UK and the bookng is subject to English /EU law's more stringent contract laws.

 

We booked thro' a US agent a long time back - a lot cheaper and no problems. 

Nowadays we've found the price differences much smaller, and because we're retired we play it a little safer and can book late-late bargain cruises thro UK agents.

 

JB 

 

 

[rdt123]

Thanks so much for the detailed reply. Had a look on the MSC USA site and it states that the fares are applicable in to USA and Canada residents. 

 

Ill ask over there in the msc board - prices for the balcony aurea experience -

 

msc website - £6400

uk agent - £5600

us agent - £4411

 

quite a difference - basically the cost of flying four of us to Miami !

 

rob

[iancal]

We cannot comment on Carnival Corp cruise lines...HAL, Princess, Costa, Carnival etc. but we have booked RCI and Celebrity cruises in other countries in order to save money.   The last one we saved just over 30 percent by booking it directly in Australia vs booking with our usual NA on line TA.   There was no issue whatsoever.

 

It pays to shop. And it pays to be a little creative.  After all, the product is identical.  You will not get the same consumer protection that ABTA provides but if you pay with a credit card that should give you some protection.  Especially if it has trip interuption insurance.

 

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by iancal

[babs135]

Could someone clarify a question for me please.  If I booked a cruise and stay package through a US travel agent and then had to cancel would I get all my money back?

Sadly we had to cancel a cruise and stay package over the Christmas and New Year holidays and our travel insurance company paid back the whole cost (quite considerable) less a very small excess fee.

 

[hallasm]

13 hours ago, rdt123 said:

Ill ask over there in the msc board - prices for the balcony aurea experience -

msc website - £6400

uk agent - £5600

us agent - £4411

Are you sure that you are buying the ‘same product’ ?

I have often bought cruises at both European and US sites - both direct and from TA - in general gratitude and some times tax and fees are not included when booking in US while always included at European sites. Check primarily if gratitude is included in US offer.

[iancal]

We experienced a very similar price difference between US and Australian pricing on an Aus/NZ cruise.   We booked in Australia.

 

Two years ago we did a SA cruise.  We also did land travel in SA.  It was 25-30 less expensive to book our internal Aerolineas flights directly with them in Buenos Aires than it was to book them in North America.  We experienced the same price difference

on domestic flight in Turkey.    

 

These price discrepancies do happen from time to time.  We booked a South African safari directly with the SA operator and saved a considerable amount of money over what our TA was proposing.   On several occasions we have booked with Thomson and CooP Travel in the UK.  They actually phone us back in Canada, no issue with booking, and sometimes the pricing is much better.

 

The trick is to understand the pricing and the terms and conditions.  Get the net pricing.   After all, a cruise is really a commodity product.  It is like sugar.   It does not matter where you buy it, the product will be the same.    You should check on gratuities. You should also ask about TA provided OBC (on board credits).  It is not unusual for US based on line TA's to rebate as much as 8-12 percent of the commissionable fare in the form of on board credits that you can use on the ship.  Much better that a bottle of wine or a few chocolate covered strawberries that some TA's hand out.  Do not be shy to ask if any are provided.

Edited May 7, 2019 by iancal

[mickey89]

On 5/6/2019 at 8:22 PM, rdt123 said:

Thanks so much for the detailed reply. Had a look on the MSC USA site and it states that the fares are applicable in to USA and Canada residents. 

 

Ill ask over there in the msc board - prices for the balcony aurea experience -

 

msc website - £6400

uk agent - £5600

us agent - £4411

 

quite a difference - basically the cost of flying four of us to Miami !

 

rob

 

I would question the prices you quoted.  I have recently booked a MSC Seaside cruise for next year via an American agent and the price difference was negligible between UK agent and the US, the US was slightly higher by £60 but I did choose the US agency as I got $450 obc and the deposit was refundable so it persuaded me to the US as the cruise was 18 months away.

We have booked with the same US agent for many years mostly for Celebrity cruises and always have great service.