Hey all, I'm planning to go on a cruise sometime late summer. Does anyone know who I can talk to for a good deal. Hopefully a forum member.

 

 

As a person that has done many cruises, both with agents and on line.

Go online and check the ships websites, there are tons of good deals out there. We have done both RCL and Princess, but prefer Princess. They will mail you tons of stuff and they also have 800#s

 

If you deal direct with the cruise lines, they have some great deals.

Try to cruise out of Manhattan. Cuts out the hassle of airline travel.

 

Sheri Clarke handles all of the cruises for the Corvette Museum.

http://www.seamastercruises.com/sclarke/index.htm

 

we've been on 10 cruises - Holland American ( typically appeals to older folks ) , Royal caribbean , Norwegian, Carnaval and Celebrity ( the best we have been on )

found the best deals at http://www.travelzoo.com/ get on your their mailing list - they send it an updated list every week of the best deals they can find

 

May I ask why you like Princess better? What RCL ship and what princess ship were you on?

 

We have done 16 cruises. Three with RCL the rest Princess. Off the top of my head I do not remember all that info. I throw away paperwork after the cruise is over!

Last year we took the RCL ship out of NJ. Voyager? Food was not that good, service in main dining room was sporadic at best. Ship needed some work!

We took our first 2 cruises with RCL in the 90s and then switched to Princess. The Princess ships we used were the large to the extra large sizes. (That includes 2 cruises we took with the NCM sponsorship)

Other cruises include cruises to all parts of the Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii and 2 Panama Canal crossings

We liked Princess better in general, but decided to try RCL again last year, but were very disappointed.

FWIW it appears that cost cutting in general is changing the cruise experiences. A lot of nickel and dimeing is becoming much more prevalent.

Do to serious losses in my finances we will not be cruising this year.

 

I've been on a lot of cruises. I agree that you should try to go out of Manhattan if possible. You can leave your car in a secure lot right on top of the pier. I usually drop the family and luggage off at the curb, go upstairs and park the car, then re-join them. When you return, the sky cap will take your luggage right upstairs to your car for you.
I've gone out of different Florida ports too and survived it, so don't let the fact that the cruise you want leaves from someplace else stop you from booking it.
Shop around. The prices can vary quite a bit. Sometimes you can do better with a cruise specialist than the cruise line becuase they buy blocks of cabins. Other times you might get a better price directly from the cruise line itself.
I usually get my best price and then call a local guy who usually gets it for me for even less. If his price is higher I tell him and he matches the lowest price I got. The good part about going with him is that he and his wife regularly go on cruises and have always given us accurate and up to the minute reviews of any of the ships we've been on in recent years since we've been using him. He also continues to check for price changes, discounts and promotions right up until the time that final payment is due, and if he can get it cheaper he automatically re-books it for us.
One man's heaven is another man's hell, so it is important to get an accurate unbiased review of any cruise that you are considering. I've found that while I've always had a good time, each line offers different things. For instance: Although I'm in my fifties I love Carnival Cruise Lines and always have a good time, I have young kids and they have a great time too. But, others in my age group might consider that cruise a little too loud or informal. I also love Holland America, but they cater to an entirely different age group. They are much more solicitous of their passengers whose average age is significantly higher than mine. The older folks don't bother me so much because I make my own fun, but if you want to look at pretty young things in bikinis, or chug beers until you fall down drunk, it might not be the right cruise for you. My kids like Holland America too, but they say it isn't as much fun for them as the other cruise lines are.
I had a good time on NCL too, but I wasn't a big fan of the "Freestyle Dining". Yet, we have friends that will only cruise on NCL because they don't want to be pinned down to a specific dinner hour everyday.
I've been on many of the others too and have always had a good time.
If you have more definite ideas about what you want to do then just make sure that the cruise you book is going to offer the type of vacation that you and the other members of your party are looking for.