Cruise search engines

[bazzaw]

In all our many years of cruising, I have never really be able to find a satisfactory Cruise search engine - They all leave something missing . For example I might be able to tell one search engine that I am looking for a cruise from say Brisbane to Singapore but it will want me to input what month? I don't know what month because I am available during any month. Another will allow me to do a year wide search but wants to know what ship I want - I don't know what ship I want until I know what's available and when. Anybody know what is the widest ranging cruise search engine?? 

[Cbtours]

15 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

In all our many years of cruising, I have never really be able to find a satisfactory Cruise search engine - They all leave something missing . For example I might be able to tell one search engine that I am looking for a cruise from say Brisbane to Singapore but it will want me to input what month? I don't know what month because I am available during any month. Another will allow me to do a year wide search but wants to know what ship I want - I don't know what ship I want until I know what's available and when. Anybody know what is the widest ranging cruise search engine?? 

That’s very true! And if I go to some of the promo ads, like from agencies, they want me to input all my details before they will show me “anything”.

best result I’ve found so far is to go direct to the cruise lines and search that way.

so I’ll be watching this topic with interest 😁

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 minutes ago, Cbtours said:

That’s very true! And if I go to some of the promo ads, like from agencies, they want me to input all my details before they will show me “anything”.

best result I’ve found so far is to go direct to the cruise lines and search that way.

so I’ll be watching this topic with interest 😁

Even some of the cruise line ones aren't the best. Princess is actually the best one I've found so far. 

 

Some of the TAs seem to limit what they offer either in terms of region or cruise lines.

 

I wish there was one global one, with good search criteria and filters, that was worldwide and covered all cruise lines.

[yarramar]

The best one that I know of is part of a TA which can't be named on CC.

Cruise Critic can be used but I have never really tried. Maybe Google will bring one out like they have with Flights.

[Ozwoody]

Oh guys, your all so right on the nail with this, its something that I think only the cruise industry could/should put together, or someone with a real burning itch.

Even if it was just something reginal, say Australia; US; Europe; Asia; what ever, it would be a gold mine.

 

At one time, way back when Princess would release their Cruise Atlas, I had a spreadsheet (yeah ok stop laughing) where each ship had a column and each line was a date and you could see where each ship was on a set date, and if they were in the same port within a week of each other, they highlighted green bold.

I thought it would be handy to cruise somewhere, spend a little time and then catch another cruise to somewhere else.

Stop giggling I thought it was a possibility......🙄

Edited February 20 by Ozwoody

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, bazzaw said:

In all our many years of cruising, I have never really be able to find a satisfactory Cruise search engine - They all leave something missing . For example I might be able to tell one search engine that I am looking for a cruise from say Brisbane to Singapore but it will want me to input what month? I don't know what month because I am available during any month. Another will allow me to do a year wide search but wants to know what ship I want - I don't know what ship I want until I know what's available and when. Anybody know what is the widest ranging cruise search engine?? 

Isn't that akin to asking which online travel agent has the best search engine? No comment.

It is a piece of peas if you know when you want to travel combined with a home port or a ship. If you want a search engine to tell you when & where, maybe try a chat bot.

[rkmw]

I like searching from a certain online agency in Canberra which we can’t name and see what’s available and then see what the cruise line prices are 

[Ozwoody]

32 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Isn't that akin to asking which online travel agent has the best search engine? No comment.

It is a piece of peas if you know when you want to travel combined with a home port or a ship. If you want a search engine to tell you when & where, maybe try a chat bot.

Ah Geoff, your exactly what the world needs, a realist.😉

However I guess I'm a what if!, we can do so much on the net, solve almost any problem.

But like a certain Beatle said, I'm a dreamer, what if we could???🤣

[arxcards]

2 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Ah Geoff, your exactly what the world needs, a realist.😉

However I guess I'm a what if!, we can do so much on the net, solve almost any problem.

But like a certain Beatle said, I'm a dreamer, what if we could???🤣

Ah, but that is the basis of turning a dream into reality. Also probably why most agency tools are set-up in a way to assist you to book your dream vs telling you everything you could possibly choose from.

 

A simple where do I want to go, then when can I go. Then it is just a matter of doing some homework & making a booking. Once upon a time we used to spend long weekends travelling with friends. A map of NSW was taped to the wall, and one of us threw a dart. We had lots of great times in places we wouldn't have given a 2nd look. Perhaps a bot isn't much more than a modern day dart - lots of possibilities, but without personal inspiration.

[OzKiwiJJ]

50 minutes ago, rkmw said:

I like searching from a certain online agency in Canberra which we can’t name and see what’s available and then see what the cruise line prices are 

Yes, that one is a reasonably good one but doesn't show all cruise lines. 

[Ozwoody]

51 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Ah, but that is the basis of turning a dream into reality. Also probably why most agency tools are set-up in a way to assist you to book your dream vs telling you everything you could possibly choose from.

 

A simple where do I want to go, then when can I go. Then it is just a matter of doing some homework & making a booking. Once upon a time we used to spend long weekends travelling with friends. A map of NSW was taped to the wall, and one of us threw a dart. We had lots of great times in places we wouldn't have given a 2nd look. Perhaps a bot isn't much more than a modern day dart - lots of possibilities, but without personal inspiration.

Ah yes, very true.

But,

what if;

You don't know what you want, and your looking for inspiration.😁

Edited February 20 by Ozwoody

[arxcards]

57 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Ah yes, very true.

But,

what if;

You don't know what you want, and your looking for inspiration.😁

Spin the globe and throw a dart.😁

Inspiration is an emotion. A search engine is a tool. Yes, many a wormhole ends up in finding a new inspiration, but then you know what to input into that search engine.

[aussielozzie18]

I also use a particular online TA - which cannot be named unfortunately.

[Yehootu]

I use several that you can easily input every filter you'd like. Of course they can't be mentioned. Start with a Google search of 

Online Cruise Planner

Cruise Industry Online Search Engine

Best online Cruise search engine.

You'll run through a few till you find one that delivers all you ask. My Mom used to love to get her Cruise Atlas and start lining things up. Just like a kid at Christmas with the Sears Catalog. 

I don't ever add any personal info, when asked I close and go to the next

[bazzaw]

There are two ways to cruise - the cheap way and the expensive way. The expensive way is where you know exactly what where how and when you want - and select the ship, itinerary, cabin class, cabin location etc -  the less expensive way is to be an opportunist and take good things when they pop up - you can wait for them to popup in your emails , or you can be a bit more organised about it and look wider. I prefer this latter approach. Hence my search for a better search engine. 

[Belmont Babe]

Google cruisetimetables

[phoenixx]

19 hours ago, Ozwoody said:

Oh guys, your all so right on the nail with this, its something that I think only the cruise industry could/should put together, or someone with a real burning itch.

Even if it was just something reginal, say Australia; US; Europe; Asia; what ever, it would be a gold mine.

 

At one time, way back when Princess would release their Cruise Atlas, I had a spreadsheet (yeah ok stop laughing) where each ship had a column and each line was a date and you could see where each ship was on a set date, and if they were in the same port within a week of each other, they highlighted green bold.

I thought it would be handy to cruise somewhere, spend a little time and then catch another cruise to somewhere else.

Stop giggling I thought it was a possibility......🙄

That sounds like a good idea to me, but you don't do it anymore?

[arxcards]

11 hours ago, bazzaw said:

There are two ways to cruise - the cheap way and the expensive way. The expensive way is where you know exactly what where how and when you want - and select the ship, itinerary, cabin class, cabin location etc -  the less expensive way is to be an opportunist and take good things when they pop up - you can wait for them to popup in your emails , or you can be a bit more organised about it and look wider. I prefer this latter approach. Hence my search for a better search engine. 

Like your the emails in your inbox, just email agencies and ask what is going cheap. Let them do the searching for you. Knowing when and where is not the most expensive option for us.

[Ozwoody]

Every so often, we take a trip up to Maroochydore to buy my TA a coffee, and just discuss cruise ideas.

A little later after one of these what if's trips, he contacted us and said there is a cruise from Southampton to Australia in Sep, if you did your trip to England you wanted, you could catch the ship back.

That turned into one of the best trips we have done.

All from a "What If".

 

There is always room, for a what if in a cup of coffee.😁

[Ozwoody]

On 2/21/2024 at 1:28 PM, phoenixx said:

That sounds like a good idea to me, but you don't do it anymore?

Hi phoenixx

Did you mean make the spreadsheet of the ships?

 

If so no, it was possible when Princess issued their cruise atlas's, but with out them its too much hunting around to find what each ship is doing, it fiddly just link up a back to back, without a whole year for each ship.😵   🤣

[Mareblu]

There are several cruise lines we love to sail with.  None are at the more economical end of the pricing scale, but we cruise far less frequently than most on the Aust/NZ threads, maybe once a year, or even once every two years.  This year is very different as we are doing two cruises only three weeks apart, using substantial cruise credits for one.  

 

My usual strategy is to search each individual line’s site, and compare, always destination driven.  We are flexible for dates and seasons.   so destination first, but also, certain ships are important.  If Oceania, we prefer the larger Marina, Riviera and now Vista.  These are still very much “smaller sips” by any standard.

Then, after we’ve mulled it over together, I ring our Canberra TA we’ve dealt with for many, many years, and after discussing with her, ask her to book it.  She has amazing pulling power with and good contacts within the lines, and airlines.  She’s scored us so many amazing deals, even getting half fares if sales on our choices pop up  months after we’ve booked at full rates, and twice had us upgraded to the top suites on specific lines.  We have her private number for any after-hours problem while we’re out of the country.  

 

I wouldn’t dream of not using our TA for our trips;  she’s become a valued advisor, and a friend in every sense.

Edited February 25 by Mareblu

[mr walker]

On 2/20/2024 at 8:02 PM, arxcards said:

Once upon a time we used to spend long weekends travelling with friends. A map of NSW was taped to the wall, and one of us threw a dart. We had lots of great times in places we wouldn't have given a 2nd look. 

This reminded me of when our kids were young we went on what we called a "dice tour" that we made up loosely based on a TV show we had seen. We spent a week travelling around by car based on directions decided by rolling a dice that decided in which direction we were to go. From home it was no point in heading E (not far to ocean from Penrith 🙂 ), so first roll was 1 or 2 was N, 3 or 4 was W etc & we would use the same process each morning, leaving out of the options the direction we had travelled from the day before. We made up rules like we couldn't stay the night in the same place we had lunch. We travelled down the NSW Sth Coast & across to Canberra and then back home, following the dice directions. Tracey & I really enjoyed it - the boys not so much. At one point they insisted a rule mod to 1,2,3,4,5 or 6 would send us home 🙂 We still talk of this today.

 

BOT, yes, I share the frustrations of the options available to search for cruises.

[Mareblu]

51 minutes ago, mr walker said:

This reminded me of when our kids were young we went on what we called a "dice tour" that we made up loosely based on a TV show we had seen. We spent a week travelling around by car based on directions decided by rolling a dice that decided in which direction we were to go. From home it was no point in heading E (not far to ocean from Penrith 🙂 ), so first roll was 1 or 2 was N, 3 or 4 was W etc & we would use the same process each morning, leaving out of the options the direction we had travelled from the day before. We made up rules like we couldn't stay the night in the same place we had lunch. We travelled down the NSW Sth Coast & across to Canberra and then back home, following the dice directions. Tracey & I really enjoyed it - the boys not so much. At one point they insisted a rule mod to 1,2,3,4,5 or 6 would send us home 🙂 We still talk of this today.

 

BOT, yes, I share the frustrations of the options available to search for cruises.

What a fantastic idea!