How to get the best deal on a cruise.

[Nonny]

I've never booked a cruise before, and I'm wondering how much room there is for negotiating prices and getting good deals. When we took a cruise for our honeymoon my H did all the work, and got a good deal working with a travel agent, but that was 10 years ago and kind of before booking online was a big deal.

I've found a cruise where I like the cruise line, the itinerary, and find the dates agreeable. But it seems as though the prices are the same on all the websites; the only difference seems to be on extras. For example, through Costco it seems as though I can get on board ship credits of a few hundred dollars, or through Travelocity I can get 15% off excursions.

I'm wondering if a travel agent would be a better bet.

Thoughts?

Tips?

[chicago]

Try Cruise Compete. You put in your desired itinerary and it contacts a bunch of companies all at once. They'll email you their best offers. You may not get a lower price, but you might get a guaranteed upgrade, on-board credits, etc.

I'm not a cruise expert (only been once), but I thought cruise prices were typically pretty firm. meaning the price is the price is the price. Not to say the price can't go down and if it does, I'm pretty sure you can typically get some of your money back.

[littlemisssunshine]

I usually book our cruises directly through the cruise website about 8-6 months in advance and only pay my required deposit. Then I check on the cruise every day. If the price drops or I see I can get a better room for the same amount I call and get my reservation changed. You usually end up calling a bunch, but gradually getting better rooms/pricing and one time I ended up with a 5 night cruise on Royal Caribbean out of Port Canaveral in Florida for $139 pp. The full amount isn't due until 3 weeks before you board.

[gtkim]

If you book your excursions on your own and not through the cruise line you will save a crapton of money. Check www.cruisecritic.com for vendor recommendations for your particular ports of call.

[Deleted]

We've booked two cruises in the last few years. One we booked directly through the cruise line (NCL) and paid a deposit (I spoke to an agent and booked over the phone, got a contact person, etc. rather than book online). I called the agent back about two months before the final payment was due, and the prices had dropped significantly, and they honored the lower fare. They were also having some kind of promotion that came with a 100 onboard credit or something. More recently, we booked a cruise through a travel agent specializing in cruises. She got us a 200 onboard credit and I think a bottle of champagne. There seem to be so many promotions, my one concern would be to make sure that it's refundable and/or that they will honor a reduced fare if the price drops after booking but before you've paid in full.

[Deleted]

I have booked two cruises and found the best deals (on board credit) on American Discount Cruises Cruises. Their customer service is excellent also. The prices were the same everywhere.

[jewel]

I've booked directly with cruise lines, through discount website, and Costco. Costco, by far, has been the best. Their prices were about the same as the others, but we got $300 in onboard credit.

You can try kayak.com too, to compared various site at once.

I'm still a diehard Costco fan though, and also trust their customer service above the others. That said, I am not loyal and will book whatever is the best deal.

'discounts' on excursions is a joke. You can often pay half price by booking off ship, directly with the travel group.

[GilliC]

FYI - If you're looking at a Carnival cruise, any extras will only be available for another week, so you might want to consider booking soon.

"Carnival announced that effective 8/1/12, they will not allow travel agents to give ANY cash equivalent value-adds (i.e shipboard credit, pre-paid gratuities, gas cards, airline miles, reduced airfare; free or discounted travel insurance, hotel nights, or shore excursions) and will be limiting any booking incentives to a $ 25 pp non-cash equivalent item (like a tote bag, hat, beach towel, memory book, sunglasses and Carnival gifts delivered onboard (Bon Voyage items))."

In general, there has been a strong push from the cruiselines in recent years to start limiting agency extras, and a few other cruiselines have already put this kind of restriction in place.

[Nonny]

Thanks, I'll look at the various sites mentioned. I'd be perfectly happy getting a room upgrade for the price of a cheaper room (I think that's the deal my H got 10 years go).

How do you find the companies to book excursions and how do you know who is reputable? This feels like such a n00b question but with our last cruise we were too poor to do anything and just walked around the ports, and our trip to Tahiti the activities just came as part of our package.

[chicago]

Cruise Critic will definitely give you an idea of who's reputable. The companies we booked through came highly recommended through them and were way cheaper than doing similar (but more crowded) excursions through the cruise line.

What itinerary are you thinking about?

[Nonny]

It's a cruise through the Panama Canal, with stops in Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico. I think I'm most interested in doing some kind of river float in CR, and some kind of Mayan temple thing in Guatemala.