Itinerary search engine

[caribsun]

Is there a cruise itinerary search engine where one can plug in a few islands and come up with a cruise more to your liking ? 

[1025cruise]

If there is, it belongs to a TA, which we aren't allowed to mention.

[drsel]

Yes there are some online cruise agents, where you can input the ports of call in the advanced search

[clo]

Have you tried Google? Not being sarcastic. We wanted to go from Rio to Buenos Aires by cruise. I googled.

[TargetsMom]

There is a very nice (free/public) site called Cruise Timetables. You can search for ships/itineraries leaving from a particular port OR (as I commonly use it) search for ships that will visiting particular ports of call during certain months. Highly recommended.

 

kathy

 

[NantahalaCruiser]

As drsel said, just check out a couple of online TA websites.  I have a favorite that has tremendous flexibility in their search capability - always use it for my searches - never booked with them 😎

 

Among the various search options are:

• range of departure dates by year, month & day
• min/max number of nights
• embarkation port
• disembarkation port
• included ports
• excluded ports
• included cruise lines

Have fun searching

[drsel]

Yes there are some online cruise agents, where you can input the ports of call in the advanced search.

Most important is cost per day before taxes and fees.

Also plenty of deals below $50 per day

[jeremyosborne81]

Cruise Critic has the feature where you can input ports of call. However, it doesn't limit to just those ports of call but includes all cruises that include each port selected.

it was helpful for me to find a cruise that specifically went to Key West and Cozumel.

Edited April 27, 2020 by jeremyosborne81

[ldubs]

On 4/26/2020 at 3:19 PM, NantahalaCruiser said:

As drsel said, just check out a couple of online TA websites.  I have a favorite that has tremendous flexibility in their search capability - always use it for my searches - never booked with them 😎

 

Among the various search options are:

• range of departure dates by year, month & day
• min/max number of nights
• embarkation port
• disembarkation port
• included ports
• excluded ports
• included cruise lines

Have fun searching

 

I think the cruise line websites also have this kind of cruise finder search capabilities.  But of course results would only be  for the specific cruise line.   I like the idea of the flexible search capacity you describe.  

[NantahalaCruiser]

16 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I think the cruise line websites also have this kind of cruise finder search capabilities.  But of course results would only be  for the specific cruise line.   I like the idea of the flexible search capacity you describe.  

I am most familiar with Celebrity and they can only search on the embarkation port - not any other ports

[ldubs]

5 hours ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

I am most familiar with Celebrity and they can only search on the embarkation port - not any other ports

 

Thanks Nantahala.  That makes perfect sense.   

[jan-n-john]

On 4/26/2020 at 6:19 PM, NantahalaCruiser said:

As drsel said, just check out a couple of online TA websites.  I have a favorite that has tremendous flexibility in their search capability - always use it for my searches - never booked with them 😎

 

Among the various search options are:

• range of departure dates by year, month & day
• min/max number of nights
• embarkation port
• disembarkation port
• included ports
• excluded ports
• included cruise lines

Have fun searching

 

The really powerful feature about that website (which of course shall remain unnamed), well at least the one I like best because I'm a cheapskate, is that when you get your list of cruises based on your search criteria, you can change the column on the right from "status", whatever that is, to price per night which will display the price per night for the cabin category you are currently viewing.  Then click the column heading and it will display the cruises in each group from lowest to highest price.  Really great for quickly sniffing out bargains.

 

Also the "custom search" feature is far more powerful than the simple one that shows up first -- it does take a little practice to get the most out of it however; one of the custom search features I always use is ship ranking, which cuts out a lot of returns that I'm not interested in and saves time.

 

I've not yet found a website that can touch that one's capability to quickly search out cruises, and trust me I've looked.  If anybody knows of one I'm all ears. Don't mention names though.

[Robinsoncruiseso]

Your local TA will have the ability to search by port of call.  Give them a chance, they can probably meet those on-line prices and will give you personal in-person service.

[iancal]

We stopped bothering with cruise line web sites a long time ago.  We find the TA websites fare better.  Not just in functionality but also in performance and ease of use.  

 

We view the search engine capability as a significant value add even from the person bricks and mortar agencies.  We can sit at home, any day, any time, and review the results at our convenience.  Once we narrow down our choice we call or email our on line TA.  We do not require a high level or service.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by iancal

[jan-n-john]

On 5/4/2020 at 10:26 AM, iancal said:

We stopped bothering with cruise line web sites a long time ago.  We find the TA websites fare better.  Not just in functionality but also in performance and ease of use.  

 

 

Cruise line websites are for their marketing, not your information gathering or decision making.  To me they aren't much better, if at all, than those fancy brochures they send out, which are a colossal waste of paper and just extra stuff to haul off to the recycling center. But I guess both must work for some folks or the lines wouldn't do it.

 

The main caveat is that the TA website discussed above doesn't break down cabin types more finely than the four main categories, and the price it displays is the cheapest available cabin in that category. So to decide which, say, type of balcony cabin you want among the 12 or so sub-types available, you can make use of the cruise line website to see the price and amenities for each; OTOH there are other on-line TA sites that give that same information and add in which specific cabins are still available. Usually when searching for a cruise that's my procedure: select cruise based on TA #1 website, then select cabin from TA #2 website, then book however works best.

[iancal]

The only time we go to a cruise line website is when we have decided on a specific ship and are not booking a gty.  We look at the selection of cabins.  Often we have the deck plan open when we call our on line TA.  We find HAL and Celebrity web sites to be among the worst for both functionality and performance.

 

We have never had a bricks and mortar TA or a cruise line be competitive with our on line TA pricing.

[drsel]

Yes online travel agents do discount prices substantially in most cases.

Even the future cruise agent on board could not match the price of the online travel agent.

Plenty of deals under $50 a day (including port fees and all taxes, excluding gratuities/service charges) for transatlantic and trans Pacific cruises.

Europe cruises starting 62 dollars a day including port fees and taxes.

Asia cruises are a little more expensive starting around $82 a day including port fees and all taxes.

These are the starting prices for inside cabins.

Edited May 6, 2020 by drsel

[jan-n-john]

9 minutes ago, drsel said:

Yes online travel agents do discount prices substantially in most cases.

Even the future cruise agent on board could not match the price of the online travel agent.

Plenty of deals under $50 a day (including port fees and all taxes, excluding gratuities/service charges) for transatlantic and trans Pacific cruises.

Europe cruises starting 62 dollars a day including port fees and taxes.

Asia cruises are a little more expensive starting around $82 a day including port fees and all taxes.

These are the starting prices for inside cabins.

 

Question. Actually several questions.

 

Is it your sense that mostly how they do lower fares is by rebating the customer part of their(10%?)  commission?  If so, the saving should probably be, what, 7% or so?  Or due to their volume do they get bigger commissions, and/or do they actually get lower fares from the lines which they pass on? If the latter, is it special situations only like last minute or is it across the board?

 

Put another way, what is your sense as to how much (percentage terms) are they actually typically able to save the client?  Does it vary with the level of cabin or cost of cruise generally?  Luxury vs. mass market? And how much business do you need to do with them to get the best level of savings, or can anyone  get it first time?  Are the perks they throw in worth much

 

Does the deal made by stand-alone agents compare favorably with the deal from big box agents (one in particular of course)?

 

A lot of questions I know. All help appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

[ldubs]

2 minutes ago, jan-n-john said:

 

Question. Actually several questions.

 

Is it your sense that mostly how they do lower fares is by rebating the customer part of their(10%?)  commission?  If so, the saving should probably be, what, 7% or so?  Or due to their volume do they get bigger commissions, and/or do they actually get lower fares from the lines which they pass on? If the latter, is it special situations only like last minute or is it across the board?

 

Put another way, what is your sense as to how much (percentage terms) are they actually typically able to save the client?  Does it vary with the level of cabin or cost of cruise generally?  Luxury vs. mass market? And how much business do you need to do with them to get the best level of savings, or can anyone  get it first time?  Are the perks they throw in worth much

 

Does the deal made by stand-alone agents compare favorably with the deal from big box agents (one in particular of course)?

 

A lot of questions I know. All help appreciated.

 

 

X2 - I'm very interested and following this.  

 

Truth be told, I doubt we have every booked a cruise via a TA.  I know, I know (as I hold my head in shame).  Lol. 

 

What I find irksome are those claims of huge savings compared to the brochure price.  You know, "half off" or "two for one",  etc, etc.   A frequent poster just relatively recently talked about what a terrific savings they had from the "list" price.   The fact that no one in the history of mankind has ever paid the list price seems to be overlooked.  Haha

 

 

[iancal]

My sense, based only on our experience, is that the price difference is based on two things.  First is the commission rebate which has been anywhere from 6-10 percent, once in a while 12 percent. The second part has been the ability to join a group booking.   For us that meant a small saving but did result in a complementary tour and great lunch at a nice island venue.

 

Others have claimed that the 'list' price has been less.  Not our experience but that does not mean it is or was not so.

 

We have found, and enjoyed, differences in list price when shopping for cruises in other countries.   So, if we are looking at a cruise in Europe or in Australia we will price that with our on line TA and with either a TA or the cruise line in those countries.   We do the same with most travel products.  There can be substantial differences but you do need to be aware of the conditions that go along with them such as re-faring.  We usually buy inside the final payment window so this has not been an issue for us.  The most recent was three years ago.  We saved 30 plus percent by calling RCI in Sydney to make a late booking vs. booking in North America with our TA or RCI direct.   My sister saved 15 percent on a Baltic cruise by booking through a UK TA.  

 

As an aside, we recently spent 7 weeks in Mexico touring about on our own.  On two occasions we picked up five days stays at two different AI's.   We shopped on line.  Twenty minutes later we were reserving, and paying  for them with a UK travel conglomerate-their price was 20 percent lower,adjusted for currency,  than the hotel or anywhere else we could find.  We travel frequently so these savings can add up for us over the course of a year.

Edited May 6, 2020 by iancal

[jan-n-john]

 

 

 

9 minutes ago, iancal said:

My sense, based only on our experience, is that the price difference is based on two things.  First is the commission rebate which has been anywhere from 6-10 percent, once in a while 12 percent. The second part has been the ability to join a group booking.   For us that meant a small saving but did result in a complementary tour and great lunch at a nice island venue.

 

Others have claimed that the 'list' price has been less.  Not our experience but that does not mean it is or was not so.

 

We have found, and enjoyed, differences in list price when shopping for cruises in other countries.   So, if we are looking at a cruise in Europe or in Australia we will price that with our on line TA and with either a TA or the cruise line in those countries.   We do the same with most travel products.  There can be substantial differences but you do need to be aware of the conditions that go along with them such as re-faring.  We usually buy inside the final payment window so this has not been an issue for us.  The most recent was three years ago.  We saved 30 plus percent by calling RCI in Sydney to make a late booking vs. booking in North America with our TA or RCI direct.   My sister saved 15 percent on a Baltic cruise by booking through a UK TA.  

 

As an aside, we recently spent 7 weeks in Mexico touring about on our own.  On two occasions we picked up five days stays at two different AI's.   We shopped on line.  Twenty minutes later we were reserving, and paying  for them with a UK travel conglomerate-their price was 20 percent lower,adjusted for currency,  than the hotel or anywhere else we could find.  We travel frequently so these savings can add up for us over the course of a year.

 

My hat goes off to you.  I consider myself a price shopper, but you put my miserable efforts to shame!

 

In the case of cruises, we haven't really looked at it hard up 'til now because my wife is a retired TA and still has privileges at a small agency she was once part of.  The problem is she has to give them a big cut of the 10% and the part she gets becomes income to her so it's taxable, so when the dust settles the saving is minimal.  So I've pretty much decided we have to take another route in the future, assuming of course there is a future.

 

So from your response related to cruises, I gather the main saving is pretty much the amount they will rebate you from their commission, which varies but 7% would be a reasonable estimate most times. The big box folks do that of course and have some other bennies that come into play, so it seems to me there isn't anyone out there who is going to undercut them in the en, at least not enough to worry about. The drawback with them is they only deal with a specific range of lines, so if the client wants a cruise on another line he will have to go elsewhere.

 

The research goes on.  If anybody else has experiences to share, I'm all ears.

 

[iancal]

We have also found, from time to time, significant differences in the cost of in country domestic air.   We have experienced this in Turkey, Greece, Argentina,  and as late as this past winter in Mexico.  We do not bother for small amounts.   This  winter we experienced a difference (35 percent) on an Interjet flight from Cancun to Huatulco by booking on Expedia vs Interjet direct or the other usual booking engines.  

 

We had the same experience with an Olympic flight in Greece this past fall  from Zakynthos to Athens.   Same savings percentage of 35 percent on Expedia plus a higher level of baggage allowance (that was of no use to us) vs booking direct with Olympic/Aegean or on other sights such as Google.  Our preference is always to book air direct but we could not overlook the pricing differences.

 

We do not understand the reason for these differences.  Perhaps they are anomalies, but we are happy to take the savings for just of few minutes of surfing the web

 

For hotels, we belong to the usual programs.  Marriott, Hilton, Choice, Accor, and Melia.   We find Marriott and Accor (and their multiple brands) to be the best for offering great member only offers but they are usually the book/pay in advance type.  Accor is good for Boxing Day specials.  We expect to save 25 percent when we book/pay in advance and only do so if we are confident that we will not be cancelling and if the date is a month or so away.

Edited May 6, 2020 by iancal

[jan-n-john]

4 hours ago, iancal said:

We have also found, from time to time, significant differences in the cost of in country domestic air.   We have experienced this in Turkey, Greece, Argentina,  and as late as this past winter in Mexico.  We do not bother for small amounts.   This  winter we experienced a difference (35 percent) on an Interjet flight from Cancun to Huatulco by booking on Expedia vs Interjet direct or the other usual booking engines.  

 

We had the same experience with an Olympic flight in Greece this past fall  from Zakynthos to Athens.   Same savings percentage of 35 percent on Expedia plus a higher level of baggage allowance (that was of no use to us) vs booking direct with Olympic/Aegean or on other sights such as Google.  Our preference is always to book air direct but we could not overlook the pricing differences.

 

We do not understand the reason for these differences.  Perhaps they are anomalies, but we are happy to take the savings for just of few minutes of surfing the web

 

For hotels, we belong to the usual programs.  Marriott, Hilton, Choice, Accor, and Melia.   We find Marriott and Accor (and their multiple brands) to be the best for offering great member only offers but they are usually the book/pay in advance type.  Accor is good for Boxing Day specials.  We expect to save 25 percent when we book/pay in advance and only do so if we are confident that we will not be cancelling and if the date is a month or so away.

 

I don't know either but especially with little carriers like that it wouldn't surprise me if they are playing games with exchange rates when they can.  Screw the Yanqui's and so on. Maybe Expedia has found a way to put a stop to it.

[iancal]

No.  The Intejet and Olympic prices on those flights were the exact same, adjusted for currency, as those on Google and a few other NA travel websites.  We went to Ireland two years ago on Westjet.   We booked with Expedia only because the same flights, same times, at the same time of booking were about 20 percent less on expedia.  Believe me, we are not expedia fans and only use them when this occurs.  We always prefer to book travel products direct.  The one exception to that is cruises.

 

After retirement we booked a safari in South Africa.  We got put off by a so called expert TA to the point that we contacted the vendor direct and worked with them via internet and facebook.  Much better results, both from a communication perspective, a planning perspective, and a pricing perspective.    We are not rookie travellers.  We can tell fairly easily when a TA is trying to blow smoke us our whatsit or is completely out of his or her depth.

Edited May 7, 2020 by iancal

[drsel]

8 hours ago, jan-n-john said:

Is it your sense that mostly how they do lower fares is by rebating the customer part of their(10%?)  commission?  If so, the saving should probably be, what, 7% or so?  Or due to their volume do they get bigger commissions, and/or do they actually get lower fares from the lines which they pass on? If the latter, is it special situations only like last minute or is it across the board?

 

Put another way, what is your sense as to how much (percentage terms) are they actually typically able to save the client?  Does it vary with the level of cabin or cost of cruise generally?  Luxury vs. mass market? And how much business do you need to do with them to get the best level of savings, or can anyone  get it first time?  Are the perks they throw in worth much

 

Does the deal made by stand-alone agents compare favorably with the deal from big box agents (one in particular of course)?

1. For some of the big online travel agents, commission varies from 10% to 16% in mass market cruise lines.

2. Due to their volume, they get the biggest commissions. Sometimes lower fares as well for a group booking.

3. Last minute cheap fares are provided by the cruise line to fill the last few cabins. Online travel agents merely pass it on to you.

4. They can save the client 8-14% if the fare is the same. Much more in group bookings, where the fare itself is substantially reduced by the cruise line for a large group.

5. You get the biggest or best saving first time also.

6. The deal is sometimes a few dollars less than big box. Sometimes its the same.

7. When the cruise line itself gives you an excellent deal, then the agents discount is zero or negligible.

One good deal right now--

Carnival Splendor Mar 25, 2021 starts at $218 + 96 taxes for 8 nights @$39 per night.

Really excellent value! 

Edited May 7, 2020 by drsel