What's the best way to shop deals for a cruise?

Question

We'd like to go on an Alaskan cruise in August. I've had people tell me to shop online for the best deals, use a travel agent, or get a cruise through Costco. Based on your prior experience or knowledge, what do you think is the best way to get a good deal on a nice cruise?

Answer 1

Use expedia, orbitz, priceline, hotwire, travelocity, etc....

HAVE FUN ON YOUR CRUISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

Answer 2

TO BE THE BEST IS TO SHOP AROUND AND THEN CALL THE CRUISE SHIP LINE DIRECTLY AND TELL THEM THAT I HAVE THIS PRICE FOR THIS DATE AND TO SEE IF THEY COULD MATCH IT.  REMEMBER WHEN YOU BOOK TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS LIKE IF THE IS A BLOCKED VIEW OR WHERE IS THE CABIN THEY ARE GIVING YOU.  SOME PLACES HAVE SPECIAL RATES BUT THEN THE CABIN IS NOT IN THE PLACE PLACE.  ANOTHER THING REALLY SHOP AROUND UNLESS YOU USE A TRAVEL AGENT

Answer 3

i know AAA and Costco gives very good details on vacations.

Answer 4

Well the cruise season for Alaska is mid-May through mid-September and the lowest priced cruises will be the first couple cruises in May and the last couple in September.  This is primarily because its slightly cooler, but not cold, in Alaska during those time frames.  

All of the cruise lines give the best discounts for booking early So you are not really get a deal unless a cruise line has a voyage that is not selling out.  My advice is skip Costco and all of the other cruise wholesalers and just go to the cruise line web sites and look for "specials" or deals".  You may be able to find a good deal but at this point don't count on it.

I have found that Carnival and Royal Caribbean, and also Celebrity, cruise lines have the best web sites for finding specials.  Carnival has a web link to take you to its specials.  Royal Caribbean has a link on its home page titled "Hot Sails" that lists its specials.  So try those.

Now you can use a travel agent to look for deals for you and it will not cost you anything as they are paid commission by the cruise lines for selling cruises.  But you need to do some research on what exactly you want to do on your cruise because there are a lot of options on an Alaska cruise in terms of the departure port, ports stop, the  order of the itinerary.  Some Alaska cruises for example begin in Anchorage or Seward and cruise south while others start in Seattle or Vancouver, Canada.  Some cruises are longer than 7 days if you want to do a land tour, which you can do either before or after the ocean voyage.

Several cruise lines do Alaska cruises and cruise tours and in my book the best would be Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean, and maybe Norwegian.  So you do have a lot of choices for good cruise lines.  But that means that you have more options to sort through.

http://www.hollandamerica.com/

http://www.princess.com/index.html

http://www.celebritycruises.com/home .

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/gohome.do

http://www.ncl.com/

http://www.carnivalcruiselines.com/

Answer 5

Here is a site that searches all others including orbitz, expedia, etc. and has great rates

www.chadhenninger.worldventures.com

Chad was the agent that gave me his site to the best cruise deals on the planet.