Mike wrote:
making arrangements that I wanted.

I haven't yet committed to them but wanted to ask your opinion.
- How safe is booking directly with the cruise line?
- Anyone have any troubles booking directly with the cruise line?
- Any gotchas that I should be aware of?

I know the guy from Royal Caribbean said that if they make all
arrangements for me then they are responsible for getting me to the
ship. He even said the ship won't leave without me if my flight was
delayed for a few hours. Now if the flight was delayed for a day or
something like that then it wouldn't wait of course, but they would put
me on another cruise of my choosing.
- Truthfully, is this something I can bank on?
- Has anyone booked with RC and gone through something like this? I'd
be interested to know how you were treated.

Thanks
Michael

Hey Mike,

Booking directly with a cruise line (cruise, air, transfers, etc.), is
about as safe as it gets but I don't recommend this. Booking the cruise
with and TA, and booking your own air and hotel on line, can save you
real money. Let me explain:

Most TA's (live and on line) will rebate a portion of their commission
from the cruise line to you. These rebates are anywhere from 5 to 10% of
the cruise line price (excluding port taxes and fees). So if a cruise
is priced at $1,000 pp by the cruise line, you can expect to pay between
$925 - 950, using a TA. That's a saving of $100 to $150. Nine out of
ten times, I have found that the cruise line air add-on costs
considerably more than the price you would pay by booking directly with
the airline. Here the savings can be $100 pp or more.

If you a flying from Canada to Florida (especially in the winter), I
would recommend that you plan to fly a day or two before your cruise.
This plan would take care of bad weather problems in the winter. It
would also leave you much more relaxed when you board the ship and begin
your cruise. Unless you are a platinum member of RCCL's crown and
anchor society, they will add an additional charge to your airfare for
if you do this, under the heading of an "air deviation". You can do it
on your own for no charge.

With respect to a hotel and transportation to the port, I will assume
you are flying into Miami, because that is where most RCCL ships sail
from. All last year and much of this year, people have booked the Hyatt
Regency in Miami (a bona fide 4* hotel) through priceline.com for prices
of $27 to $47/night. If you try to book this hotel through the cruise
line, it would be (depending on what you paid thru priceline) 4 to 8
times more expensive. It would also be much more expensive to book
through a TA. Finally, I have found that the cheapest (if there is more
than one person cruising) and best way to get from your hotel to the
port is by private taxi.

Hope this helps. Happy cruisin!

Howie