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You can book a cruise through a huge travel retailer with branches around the country, a local cruise agency or even a home-based agent who will talk cruising with you at your local coffee shop. You'll find pros and cons of working with the different types of agencies; for example, you might get more personal service from an independent agent but better deals from a large company with a high volume of bookings. Once you’re ready to book, Cruise Critic shows you a variety of offers from some of the best cruise booking sites, including bonuses such as onboard credit and prepaid gratuities. Then you click off to the site of your choice to make your purchase. Expedia’s cruise deals tend to come paired with other enticing offers, including steep discounts on pre-departure hotels when you book both your cruise and hotel through Expedia.
Vacation Deals
A good cruise travel agent will not only help you navigate these tricky questions they will hopefully provide you with some reassurance. You will also want to ask the travel agent if they have a preferred relationship or negotiated agreement with any specific lines that could lead to special perks for you. You should consider booking a cruise through a travel agent because a knowledgeable agent can help you understand the nuances of a cruise purchase and help you make the best decisions for your vacation preferences.
American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA)
For instance, one recent search promoted free gratuities on trips booked through the site, but we couldn’t find any mention of this once we actually started the booking process. Digging further, the incentive applied only to certain cruises, despite being heavily promoted. That’s a big help if you’re not entirely sure about which cruise you should book. As well, these sites often have deals and incentives to entice you to book. We think so as they can help you look at every cruise available to find one that fits. Smart cruise shoppers use them to look at all their options and see what sort of incentives they have for booking through their site.
You're Experienced
Making the correct choices is very important to your overall cruise experience. There’s also a live chat widget if questions come up while booking. (Cruise lines pay agents a commission, though a few very high-end consultants do charge a planning fee.) Yet they can save you money, time and headaches, and ensure you have the best cruise experience. It's time to team up with right luxury cruise travel professional. Question the agents on cruising trends or up-and-coming destinations, and ask them to explain the differences between cruise lines. Find out how many cruises they've taken that year and with which lines they've personally cruised.
There you can search by cruise line, ship, destination, departure date, and departure port. Each of these cruise line websites will allow you to be as narrow or as broad with your search as you wish. You can search all cruises, or search for trips on a specific ship, leaving a specific date, and from a specific port.
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Cruises offer a great value and are an excellent way to see your favorite destinations around the globe. Cruise.com offers cruises on all cruise lines, including Carnival Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Princess Cruises and a host of others. When booking a cruise on Cruise.com you can select your preferred cruise line, destination and many other search options to find the best cruise for your next vacation. Our agents are experts in cruising and are available 24/7 in case you prefer to book over the phone. As one of the largest cruise sellers Cruise.com is able to offer our clients exclusive discounts, onboard credits, upgrades and many other valuable amenities. CruiseDirect is a leading online cruise travel company dedicated to providing customers with better deals than any other cruise website and access to great deals on cruise vacations.
Finally, as cruise lines pay agent commissions, you don't have to worry about paying extra for their planning services. Not only should you interview prospective luxury cruise travel agents, but he or she should want to interview you as well. A good agent will want to talk with you about the sorts of travel experiences you've had -- ones that you've loved as well as the ones that have fallen flat. If the travel agent starts recommending cruise lines without getting to know you first, take that as a red flag and look elsewhere.
Luxury Cruises
Its cruise-booking interface is simple and straightforward, only requiring you to enter your preferred sailing destination and date range, as well as how many passengers you’ll be bringing along. Then Expedia does the heavy lifting for you, with comprehensive results that make it one of the best cruise search engines. In addition, while aggregator websites will almost always have the same prices you’ll find everywhere else, they often offer perks you won’t find on the cruise lines websites. It all starts with the boldest cruise ships at sea — and ours have won awards for everything from world class dining and spectacular entertainment, to record-setting onboard thrills and groundbreaking innovation. Companies such as Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line provide online directories to help you find an experienced cruise travel agent near you. You aren't just booking general passage on a ship, either, as you will be asked to pick a specific cabin and when you prefer to dine.
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Making a mistake in these categories can ruin your cruise experience, as there are such thing as "bad" cabins and dining times (think noisy or claustrophobic cabins, dinner at 8 p.m. with cranky children, etc.). When you book a cruise, you are making a vacation decision that goes way beyond a flight or hotel nights. Which ship you choose determines your dining and evening entertainment choices for the duration of your vacation. Which itinerary you choose impacts which destinations you'll visit and which shoreside activities will be available to you.
We offer our unbiased opinions and do not accept compensation to review products. All items are in stock and prices are accurate at the time of publication. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission. By waiting until the last minute you aren’t likely to find great deals, but it will mean that you have fewer cabin choices.
For instance, Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, and Orbitz.com, are all part of the Expedia family. Below we lay out the advantages and disadvantage of booking with each different type of website. You can bounce ideas and questions off our cruising-obsessed travel experts who have seen it all.
Alternatively, you can call your cruise line of choice to inquire if they have a list of recommended agents. If you'd like to book a cruise through a travel agent, you can pop into a downtown storefront or search for cruise sellers online. If you want to look for agents registered with travel organizations, here are some resources for finding agencies near you. Booking with a travel agent gives your transaction a personal touch -- you have a resource for asking questions and someone to contact if something goes wrong during your travels. But, your relationship with an agent doesn't tend to end after one trip. The agent will keep you in his or her database, alert you to deals or sales and can even suggest future trip ideas.
No matter where you are or what you need, we’re happy to talk to you 24/7 on the phone. 4.7 Overall Satisfaction Rating based on over 10,000 Ratings from our customers. If you'd like to plan your vacation with the advice of a travel advisor professional, we can help you locate a travel advisor near you.Simply enter your five-digit ZIP code (USA) or your postal code (Canada) below. Travel professionals are there to help you plan your next vacation aboard a Carnival fun ship.
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