First time on a Cruise - have lots of questions

On Jun 8, 12:43*pm, D Ball wrote:
On Jun 8, 1:35*pm, Ohioguy wrote:

* *If you've been on a cruise line before, do you get lower rates? *I
noticed several of the websites asking this, and my wife has been on
Carnival before. *However, that was back in 2001, and she doesn't know
the passenger # or whatever they are asking.

Yes, there is often a past passenger discount. Call Carnival's past
guest program (number on their website) to see if they have a guest
program account set up for her and, if not, whether she can create an
account based on their record of her having sailed (I think they
should be able to access data re her 2001 sailing).

Diana

Again - IF you were working with a Travel Agent, he or she could get
that info for you from Carnival.

Since you've been asking about discounts, both CCL (Carnival,
Princess, Holland America, Cunard, Seabourn, Costa) and RCI (Royal
Caribbean, Celebrity Azmara) offer discounts to shareholders of around
$100. (I think it can vary with the length of the cruise). Like the
Amex Platinum discount, it typically isn't worth buying stock strictly
for the discount, but it's a nice perk!

Mark

Appropos of nothing (aside from another "Small World" example) - I was
talking to coworkers about my cruise to Bermuda years ago, and a close
coworker told me that part of her family was Bermudan and a cousin of
some sort was the kid who found the caves while chasing a ball in
1905.

Mark

In article , Ohioguy
wrote:

If you've been on a cruise line before, do you get lower rates? I
noticed several of the websites asking this, and my wife has been on
Carnival before. However, that was back in 2001, and she doesn't know
the passenger # or whatever they are asking.

Yes, they usually have past passenger rates. They should be able to
find her record if you call Carnival.

--
Charles

On Jun 6, 11:43*am, Tom K wrote:
On 6/6/10 10:52 AM, Frank from Deeeetroit wrote:

Do it your self and call the cruise line, you will
receive the best service at the least cost. Spend your money on the
ship and on shore excursions.
snip

Frank

Cruise lines do not give you the "least cost" if you book with them.
All the cruise lines do is give you the same price as a travel agent
would get you, and they keep the commission that would have been paid to
a travel agent. *But what you lose is having someone look out for
getting you possible upgrades and who will keep an eye out for price
reductions (what's the chance that the cruise line will call you and say
that there has been a price reduction and you're getting a lower cost?).

--Tom

Please read my posts before you reply.

Buy your cruise from the the website that offers you the lowest
price. One you make the purchase, call your cruise line and ask about
shore excursions, up-grades, etc. The cruise line does not care who
sells a cabin, their objective is to sail a full boat.

Once you have a cruise line reservation, you have established the
relationship with the cruise line. Then, they will work with you,
proven fact.

They call us all of the time asking us for bookings and they do not
care who we book with, they just want our business and to sail a fuul
boat. Next time you fly, ask the next passenger how much they paid
for their flight? No one pays the same price for a flight, as long as
the air lines has a full flight.

Trust me, this is the real deal.

Frank

On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:12:39 -0500, Rosalie B. wrote:

No - they want your money with the least possible effort and time on
their part. They don't care whether you are on the ship or not.

Not a chance this is right. The lines look well past your simple
booking to what they can sell you at much higher profit margins.

They want and need you *on the ship*.
--
Ari's Fun Times!
http://tr.im/hrFG
Motto: Run, rabbit, Run!

On Wed, 9 Jun 2010 19:00:02 -0700 (PDT), Frank from Deeeetroit wrote:

Buy your cruise from the the website that offers you the lowest
price. One you make the purchase, call your cruise line and ask about
shore excursions, up-grades, etc. The cruise line does not care who
sells a cabin, their objective is to sail a full boat.

They care, but they have no choice. TA's aren't fully going away
anytime soon. they are, for now, needed.

But the final goal is to fill the boat. If not, then the TAs would be
put out of business much like the old agent's were in filling airline
reservations.

Whether you use a TA or not is mainly a matter of ability. Few
actually have the ability to deal with the cruise lines, with proper
room selection, excursions independently booked, etc. Proof is right
here on this forum where experienced cruisers have been forced
upgraded (to rooms they don't want) and assorted other cruise
variations.

Btw, TAs for the greatest part aren't that damn smart, don't track
your cruise details and don't do what ppl are claiming they do here on
RTC.
--
Ari's Fun Times!
http://tr.im/hrFG
Motto: Run, rabbit, Run!

[Default] Thus spake Ohioguy :

I forgot to mention, you can get air from the cruise line. I'm not sure
if they have prices online but you can ask your travel agent to quote

That's another thing I wanted to ask - I've never used a travel
agent. Normally I've just taken a train, bus or car to wherever I was
going, then camped, stayed in a hotel, or something along those lines.

I always thought that the travel agents simply made money by adding
on a couple of hundred dollars to the cheapest thing out there, and
folks figured it was ok because of the convenience of them doing most
all the work of getting scheduling and everything to work out. You're
saying it is not like that?

If so, I might have to check out a local travel agency before buying
the tickets myself.

I think every agent here has pretty much the same view. I want to
find you the vacation (cruise in this case) that most satisfies your
needs and wants (two different things) at the best price. Sure, I
might lose commission by not selling you the Emperor of the Universe
Suite when all you really need/want is a good inside, but I'll bet you
come back next time since I "saved" you money (I know, this is like
"saving money" by buying one and getting a second at half price, even
though you only need one). It shouldn't cost you anything, since the
cruiseline pays me. And if you don't use an agent you still pay the
same price and wind up talking to some person in Omaha who may never
have even seen a ocean in person, never mind been on a cruise.

Ask an agent questions. And make sure he/she asks a bunch of
questions. Stuff you haven't thought about.
--

- dillon I am not invalid

Warick: "Who brings a gun to a knife fight?"
Gil: "The winner?"

On Thu, 10 Jun 2010 22:46:19 -0500, Dillon Pyron wrote:

[Default] Thus spake Ohioguy :

I forgot to mention, you can get air from the cruise line. I'm not sure
if they have prices online but you can ask your travel agent to quote

That's another thing I wanted to ask - I've never used a travel
agent. Normally I've just taken a train, bus or car to wherever I was
going, then camped, stayed in a hotel, or something along those lines.

I always thought that the travel agents simply made money by adding
on a couple of hundred dollars to the cheapest thing out there, and
folks figured it was ok because of the convenience of them doing most
all the work of getting scheduling and everything to work out. You're
saying it is not like that?

If so, I might have to check out a local travel agency before buying
the tickets myself.

I think /every/ agent here has pretty much the same view. I want to
find you the vacation (cruise in this case) that most satisfies your
needs and wants (two different things) at the best price.

Not a chance since many of the big ticket TAgencies push their TAs to
deliver the best commissioned deals.
--
Ari's Fun Times!
http://tr.im/hrFG
Motto: Run, rabbit, Run!

Ari wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jun 2010 22:46:19 -0500, Dillon Pyron wrote:

[Default] Thus spake Ohioguy :

I forgot to mention, you can get air from the cruise line. I'm not sure
if they have prices online but you can ask your travel agent to quote

That's another thing I wanted to ask - I've never used a travel
agent. Normally I've just taken a train, bus or car to wherever I was
going, then camped, stayed in a hotel, or something along those lines.

I always thought that the travel agents simply made money by adding
on a couple of hundred dollars to the cheapest thing out there, and
folks figured it was ok because of the convenience of them doing most
all the work of getting scheduling and everything to work out. You're
saying it is not like that?

If so, I might have to check out a local travel agency before buying
the tickets myself.

I think /every/ agent here has pretty much the same view. I want to
find you the vacation (cruise in this case) that most satisfies your
needs and wants (two different things) at the best price.

Not a chance since many of the big ticket TAgencies push their TAs to
deliver the best commissioned deals.

But we aren't talking about big ticket agencies. We are talking about
real travel agents

And when I said they didn't care - I meant the phone person in Omaha
or Seattle or Miami who works for the cruise line. The people who
answer the phones don't really care whether you are satisfied or not.

On 6/13/10 12:00 AM, in article ,
"Rosalie B." wrote:

And when I said they didn't care - I meant the phone person in Omaha
or Seattle or Miami who works for the cruise line. The people who
answer the phones don't really care whether you are satisfied or not.

Oh really? You think only waiters and cabin stewards are concerned about how
their services are evaluated in the CS questionnaire and "the people who
answer the phones" don't care, even though passengers can rate them as well?
Which cruise line (other than NCL) that you called gave you that impression?