Obtaining the Best Price for a Cruise

Leodogger

Can anyone tell me the best way to go about getting a bargain price cruise. There seem to be loads of cruise companies on the net all offering the best prices. Is there a system for getting the best price? Where do you start? We were thinking of a Cruise & Stay but it seems that these are sold solely by Thompson and no one else offers them cheaper, or am I wrong?

Is it best to go to the Tour Operator selling these or the online agents or the Tour Operator shops themselves?

:rolleyes:

nw_man

If you can hold your nerve and are flexible with dates and possibly destinations then waiting until a month or 2 before you go is our preferred method of getting a cruise bargain.

Find the cruise(s) you fancy, monitor them daily in terms of price. As the cruise gets closer, the price starts to drop !

shoppaholic_returns

Most cruise companies will let you add on a week or so stay before or after a cruise.

The last cruise company I would use is Thomson, they have the worst ships and quite frankly I don't believe they should even be in the cruise market. They are poor value for money and a substandard product. I would hate cruising if I had to go with them!

Firstly you need to asses the right company for your needs, are you a family who needs lots of activities? eg..Royal Carribean/ Princess is for you.
A couple who likes a quiet more luxurious trip, eg..P&O/Holland America/Cunard is more for you.

You will get better rooms/food/service/activites from any other quality cruise line other than Thomsom, who should quite frankly stick with package holidays on land.

Take a look at www.cruisecritic.co.uk to see the companies available.

A very good company to deal with is Bolsover cruise club, who have just won cruise agent of the year,very easy to deal with over the phone and very knowledgeable. They have different offers every day so you are better speaking to them directly rather than internet, and they will find you a great deal. I have never had any problems with them.

shoppaholic_returns

JWhite wrote: »

Can anyone tell me the best way to go about getting a bargain price cruise. There seem to be loads of cruise companies on the net all offering the best prices. Is there a system for getting the best price? Where do you start? We were thinking of a Cruise & Stay but it seems that these are sold solely by Thompson and no one else offers them cheaper, or am I wrong?

Is it best to go to the Tour Operator selling these or the online agents or the Tour Operator shops themselves?

:rolleyes:

Thomson sell most of their stuff themselves, but for other lines,ALWAYS FOUND IT CHEAPER TO GO TO AN AGENT FOR SOME REASON!

Not always do you get the best prices at the last minute either, if the itinerary is particularly good then prices often go up.

barginunter

Ignore - Thomson cruises are fantastic value for money with top rate entertainment. If you want to stay in a floating box rather than a ship then by all means go elsewhere.

shoppaholic_returns

barginunter wrote: »

Ignore - Thomson cruises are fantastic value for money with top rate entertainment. If you want to stay in a floating box rather than a ship then by all means go elsewhere.

Obviously, you havent taken many other cruises, or taken a look at the high rates of dissatifaction amongst Thomson cruisers?? Maybe you should take a look at criuse critic, Berlitz cruise guide, cruise international amongst others.

Oh and by the way I help manage a forum on cruise critic, which is totally unbiased, maybe all of the others cruisers are wrong..... don't think so!

When it boils down to it, unless you've had vast cruisng experience, you can't really comment, and its each to his own! So telling someone to ignore good advice, sounds like you work for Thomson??;);)

dollydosh

i should ignore barginunter if you want a proper cruise and agree 100% with shopaholic returns.
thomson buy all the old ships from the proper cruise operators after they have had there day and refurbish them. Example, thomson destiny built 1982 bought from royal caribbean and refurbished in 2004,Length / Tonnage: 705 / 37,584.. the oasis, royal caribbeans new ship is 1181 ft / 225,282 ton, so for barginunter to say
(Ignore - Thomson cruises are fantastic value for money with top rate entertainment. If you want to stay in a floating box rather than a ship then by all means go elsewhere) he clearly has no idea what he's on about

You can save alot of money by the type of cabin you chose but still get all the amenities that a modern cruise ship offers by going with one of the well known cruise operators
I have recently received a broucher from cruise club uk 0800163164 and they are offering cruise and stay holidays.ie 7 night orlando 7 night caribbean cruise with NCL from £1099.royal caribbean 3 nights orlando 7 night caribbean cruise and 4 nights las vegas from £1499 or 2 nights hong kong 7 night oriental cruise 2 night shanghai also with royal caribbean from £899. i don't know how these compare in price with thomson but hope it helps with your plans

nw_man

Now now people cant we all just get along.......

I recently returned from a cruise on The Island Escape, now owned by Thomson but previously by Island Cruises.

The ship wasnt the best, however we had an uttelry superb holiday, possibly the best we have ever had ( and we have 4 a year ). Notr to mention outstanding value for money.

Its all down to opinion.

getmore4less

The Thomson product is fine but different to the Amercan mass market lines. the ships are older and smaller which has i's benfits.

Sailed with Thomson,RCI,Celebrity,NCL,Fredolsen,Windjammer and the now defuct Island and Sun(Airtours).

You have to watch for the pricing on Thomson they can be expensive sometims but the drinks are much cheaper on Thomson than the US lines.
Also thomson are tips included so no adding $10-$12pppd to the cruise cost.

If looking at a US cruise line always check US prices they are often a lot cheaper.

Cruisecritic is a commercial web site that has restrictive policies especialy when recomending travel companies that offer good prices and discounts.


As a guide we aim for £50 per person per night for our cruises.

The cruise lines do not compete on price with the travel agents which refund there commisions to cut prices

Shop around for thomson also some of the big TAs often have better prices than the thomson owned outlets.

daveyjp

I know someone who goes on a cruise at least three times a year, but they always get a bargain by waiting until the week before the ship sails.

If you need to book ahead you just need to shop around.

TA were cheapest for us last year, this year they couldn't touch the price from a specialist cruise company.

getmore4less

There are a few of us that post the deals we find here

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=101339&sid=718c6ea85ec2a628bc429de1391c1428

worth a look to see what deals have been around for the last few months.
and where they have been.