Lower the price of cruising

mrweetabix

Afternoon All

As this is the holiday planning forum I thought it would be good to help people lower the price of their cruise.

The golden rule is never ever book online. Always negotiate over the telephone. Computers won't budge on their price. People will.

All cabins have a "category" so make sure you are comparing apples with apples. If you don't mind where your cabin is situated always go for guarenteed option or ask for the cheapest category for inside, outside, balcony or suite.

Once you know what cruise you want to go on, what the flight details are, what cabin category you are in you are ready to start negotiating.

As i mentioned the easiest way is to telephone and bounce the companies off each other. Get a pen and paper and get to work.

All the below companies are ABTA registered and are leading agents in the UK:

1)Cruise/Victoria Travel - 0800 091 4308
2)Cruise Direct - 0800 093 0622
3)Thomas Cook - 0800 524 4390
4)Ideal Cruising - 0845 296 1340
5)Cruise Deals - 0808 120 5132
6)Cruise Harbour - 0800 542 9021
7)Virgin Cruises - 0800 542 4610
8)Iglu Cruises - 0208 544 6620
9)Cruise Finders - 0844 9011 000
10)Gills Cruise - 08454 606060
11)Cruise 1st - 0800 230 0655
12)1st for Cruising - 0844 871 5656
13)Cumbria Cruise - 0800 540 540
14)The Cruise Store - 0800 3277 391
15)Cooperative Cruises - 0845 219 0419
16)Low Cost Cruising - 0844 372 2279
17)Cruise 118 - 0808 1234 118

If you know of anymore reputable companies please PM and I will add to my official list if suitable. On the other hand if you have had bad experiences please let me know and i will start to rank who is the best.

delwynshd

Well I would put Virgin at number 1 lol

Remember guys the beat my quote thread is there to be used for Cruises too

Del

mrweetabix

Good point made by Del about beat my price.

I would say this list contains the 17 biggest agents in the UK so you would have to be lucky or have a secret source to beat them!

delwynshd

I work for Virgin now so I should be able to compete with the other agents

Lets save some money !!!!!

Del

getmore4less

mrweetabix wrote: »

Good point made by Del about beat my price.

I would say this list contains the 17 biggest agents in the UK so you would have to be lucky or have a secret source to beat them!

What like access to cheaper flights.

delwynshd

Yeah I try my best

Del

hansi

mrweetabix wrote: »

Afternoon All

As this is the holiday planning forum I thought it would be good to help people lower the price of their cruise.

The golden rule is never ever book online. Always negotiate over the telephone. Computers won't budge on their price. People will.

All cabins have a "category" so make sure you are comparing apples with apples. If you don't mind where your cabin is situated always go for guarenteed option or ask for the cheapest category for inside, outside, balcony or suite.

Once you know what cruise you want to go on, what the flight details are, what cabin category you are in you are ready to start negotiating.

As i mentioned the easiest way is to telephone and bounce the companies off each other. Get a pen and paper and get to work.

All the below companies are ABTA registered and are leading agents in the UK:

1)Cruise/Victoria Travel - 0800 091 4308
2)Cruise Direct - 0800 093 0622
3)Thomas Cook - 0800 524 4390
4)Ideal Cruising - 0845 296 1340
5)Cruise Deals - 0808 120 5132
6)Cruise Harbour - 0800 542 9021
7)Virgin Cruises - 0800 542 4610
8)Iglu Cruises - 0208 544 6620
9)Cruise Finders - 0844 9011 000
10)Gills Cruise - 08454 606060
11)Cruise 1st - 0800 230 0655
12)1st for Cruising - 0844 871 5656
13)Cumbria Cruise - 0800 540 540
14)The Cruise Store - 0800 3277 391
15)Cooperative Cruises - 0845 219 0419
16)Low Cost Cruising - 0844 372 2279
17)Cruise 118 - 0808 1234 118

If you know of anymore reputable companies please PM and I will add to my official list if suitable. On the other hand if you have had bad experiences please let me know and i will start to rank who is the best.

Sorry, I can't agree with your "golden rule". My wife and I have been on over 35 cruises and lately we have been booking online direct with the cruise line. We have found them to be not only very competitive, but we also save ourselves the 2% (or similar) credit card charge which I consider outrageous anyway.

lucylucky

For cruising in the Caribbean it can be a lot cheaper to deal direct with US companies.

Over t'internet of course.

dickydonkin

hansi wrote: »

Sorry, I can't agree with your "golden rule". My wife and I have been on over 35 cruises and lately we have been booking online direct with the cruise line. We have found them to be not only very competitive, but we also save ourselves the 2% (or similar) credit card charge which I consider outrageous anyway.

Totally agree - I always book my trips independantly - including my last two cruises and flights.

Also, many hotel web-sites offer best price deals.

I have also noted that when you book directly with the hotels, the room upgrades seem to be offered more than when booking with a third party.

And don't get me going on credit card charges!

stoneman

If booking a cruise from the U.S. Go to cruisecompete.com put in your details of where you want to go and within hours you will have several companies will come back to you with their best offer.

mickey234

Highly unlikely that Cruise Companies offer the best deal, much better to shoparound. Agree with stoneman that a good indicator is to get a quote from cruisecompete.com

Uk agents offer better value at the moment due to the Exchange rate. Always play the field.