| Here is some info I put together.
As far as discount coupons, many are offerred in the magazines put
out by lines for their passengers. Example I had some from
Crown and Anchor put out by RCCL. The latest magazine only
offerred two, 1 gave you a free rccl promotional video to book a
3/4 day cruise, big deal. The other was for two terry bath robes
for booking I believe the Majesty. No upgrades or discounts.
Many of these discounts are close to a sham anyway. Turns off
many agents can offer the same discount or better with no coupon.
also most coupons when available are very restrictive, most times
certain dates only and many times upgrades are only for
a few specific categories. I gave a coupon from RCCL to someone
which was on paper good for a $600 upgrade, in reality it only
saved the person $100 which is better than nothing.
I believe generally most cruise lines are offering straight discounts
as needed now to move rooms instead of using coupons which seemed
to be more popular years ago.
There are usually a few cruise magazines at paper stores. I only
looked once at a few and did not really see anything interesting
or any good coupons. I also get Cruise news from Ocean cruise
society, they have they own travel agent but it does not look
any better than a lot of others, most deals offerred are
available to all. I get the magazine for it's information.
Best thing is shop around. If you know generally what you want then
use a discount agent, many listed below. If you do not know a good
one then try a few and compare.
A few years ago most of the best deals were had by waiting late
and booking the leftover rooms which were very cheap in some cases.
Now most cruise lines are offering discounts as needed far in advance
with the best discounts usually the farthest in advance. Six to
nine months out is a good time to book. Generally you need a $200
to $300 deposit per person up till 60 to 90 days before cruise.
If you change your mind up to this point then the cruise lines refund
it all, it is possible however for the agent to make a charge for
their time, you can ask about this.
Generally the cruise lines discount the book rates as needed to
fill the ship. They may start with 30 or 40% and if ship fills
up well they reduce discount as departure nears. Many cases the
discount is nearly the same up to departure. Many cruise lines
and some agents guarantee that if you book early and the rate
went down below your booked price they will give you difference.
There will still be cases of people who can be at the ship at the
last minute with very little warning who can get great deals.
But generally speaking if you wait, you will have very little selection
etc. and probably save no more and maybe less. If a ship has
a lot of cabins available near departure date then they probably
are not high up on list of good cruises. Popular cruise lines
will generally have few rooms to choose close to departure. You
also will probably lose out on late dinning room seating if
this is desired.
When comparing rates make sure the comparisons are valid.
1) Rates must be for exact same ship.
2) Exact same category of room
3) If air included then exact same departure airport !!!
4) AND COMPARISONS SHOULD BE DONE ON SAME DAY OR NO MORE THAN
A FEW DAYS DIFFERENCE and if so note the difference. I quite
frankly do not feel comfortable unless same date, the rates
for all can change very quickly.
5) Specify if port charges and airport charges included. Usually
these charges are fixed for specific itineraies. They have
been going up like crazy. A few years ago typically $25 to $35
for 7 days, now $80 to $100++ is normal.
When speaking to others if they say agent A was less than B then ask
if the following above is true. In many cases people tell you about
so called good deals when in reality the comparisons were not for the
same product.
On list below some of they high volume agents are only open during
week and 9 to 5 hours is not unusual. If no answer on weekend or
evening then try during workday, most have 800 numbers.
There were a lot of positive repsonses especially for CruiseDocktors.
Edited from 388.14 note.
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Note 388.14 Travel agents 14 of 17
COOKIE::SAMPLE 28 lines 13-OCT-1992 12:37
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My GOAL is to get ALL of these into one note so that it can be extracted and we
can start doing the cost comparison - 2nd attempt
A AAABCO Cruise Center P.O. Box 630877 Miami, Florida 33163
OUT-OF-STATE: 1-800-327-0699, Miami Line: 935-1091
IN FLORIDA/OUT OF DADE COUNTY: 1-800-432-3662
Admiral Pat's Cruise Vacations, Inc. 1-800-445-6541
American-Canadian Lines (New Shoreham II) has an 800 556-7450
Certified Travel - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Ask for Lee Boyan 800-327-2041
Colorado Discount Cruises, 719-260-0186 or 800-388-CRUISE
CruiseDocktors 1-800-325-2873 (NH) 1-800-682-0135 (Out of State) M-F:9 - 5
Janet Franklin, Wanda Bogin.
Cruise Holidays of Nashua (603)881-7300 (800)369-8650
Cruise Holidays of Sudbury 1-800-648-2469
cruise place brother in law found in Florida - 407-898-5353 Chuck
Cruise Warehouse 1-800-541-7327 John
CRUISES, INC., 1-800-854-0500
Diana's Travel Service, Inc. Riverhead, NY 1-800-654-8814 NY - 516-369-1188
Global Cruise Vacations in Hudson, NH. 800-858-0676.
Just Cruises is 800-331-SHIP
Ship Shop Debbi Adams (1-800-922-5510)
South Florida Cruises 2069 N. University Drive Fort Lauderdale, FL 33323
800-327-SHIP
Spur of the Moment Cruises 10780 Jefferson Boulevard Culver City, CA 90203
800-343-1991
Travel Boutique is 800-477-1854
travel channel on TV 1-800-321-cruise
...................................................
I added the following two. I've used both. Harold C., other people
have used them also.
White Travel Service, Inc. 1-800-547-4790 Located in Connecticut.
24 hr information line recording 203 236-6176. Gives information on
various cruises at low price, generally anything mentioned is lowest
category and least popular date. The $999 special may not be available
for date you want or available for only one or two date.
Cruises of Distinction 201 744 1331 but use the toll free
number of 800 634 3445 to save money. (New Jersey)
good luck, harold c.
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