Royal Carribean

lesley1960

katiep wrote: »

My brother used to work on that boat

It's a lovely boat , great staff , a cruise would be perfect if the boat stayed in dock!!!

lesley1960

pompeii wrote: »

I looked into doing this a while back, we were wanting to book a cruise out of Florida. I think the main problem was booking the cruise/flight package, with the flight originating in the UK.

Is the Mariner one that sails out of the UK or Europe?

I was not overly impressed with Royal Carribean cruises (Brilliance & Enchantment of the Seas i think), I felt the ships were too big and the services hit & miss or downright couldn't be bothered, even the food was at times unapetising, and i promise you i am not fussy.

Celebrity who i think are part of the Royal Carribean group were much better all round. We also had a great cruise round the Carribean with Fred Olsen even though we were youngster compared to the majority of the passingers i would love to do that one again.

We sailed out of Port Canaveral , Florida on the Mariner

elvis_girl

Thanks to all. Can anyone see any pitfalls regarding booking this through a US website (ie getting tickets etc)?

Amys

RCCL will not allow direct bookings through the US page. You can use a US travel agent, for example, www.vacationstogo.com has good prices. Other may offer you on board credit.


In the UK I have found it better to book thoguh certain agents that buy cabins in bulk, try www.cruise.co.uk they have good prices, but cal rtather than go by the website to get prices without the crusie lines own flights. (Booking flights with the cruise line does NOT gurantee that the boat will wait if the flight is delayed).


If you do book with RCCL don't use the airfare package, book that seperately, it will be cheaper

lisyloo

If youa re booking the holiday and flights seperately then make sure you have insurance from the date of booking.

If you have a package and something goes wrong with one part then you have still bought a package and they need to provide the whole thing.

If you purchase things seperately then the cruise provider has no liability towards your flights, other hotels etc. as these are independent arrangements.

You should have insurance from booking anyway (in case someone dies and you have you have to cancel) but I thought it's importatnt to note the difference when not booking things as a package.

tilly455

I have been looking at booking a cruise with Royal Caribbean through www.vacationstogo.com but if you click on international vistors, UK, there is note at the bottom of the page saying that they are now prohibited from selling cruises for Royal Caribbean and others unless you are a resident of the US or Canada. Has anyone booked through them recently or is this a new ruling? I am trying www.cruisecompare.com now to see what that comes up with!

IvanOpinion

Some points to keep in mind. Firstly ignore the 'reduced' brochure price you should be able to negotiate at least 10% off these prices and you may also be able to get some on board credit. Secondly make sure you compare like-for-like i.e. include costs of transfers, maybe an overnight in a hotel etc. Thirdly if your flight is late, you lose your luggage or you arrive late then you have no comeback.

I know of several people who say they have booked through American TAs very successfully and on one occasion I was about to do (so on a Princess cruise) until I realised that I would have saved less than £50pp. Given the peace of mind of having a package I did not think it was worth it.

Ivan

bobstheboy

I have spoken with vacationstogo this morning (they open at 5.30am our time !). The only cruise lines that you cannot book at present, unless you can give a friends or business address in the USA or Canada, is Princess and Oceana.

IvanOpinion. I would agree that if savings are minimal then it may not be worth it, but one example where it is worth it is my next cruise on the Norwegian Jade, departing from Southampton on 30th May. I booked this for $999 (£506 at the time) in October and it was £899 at most UK TA's. !!

Bob

lisyloo

The only cruise lines that you cannot book at present

We tried to book Cunard last year and couldn't although I guess it might have changed since then.

The only problem I can see is you might not have ABTA or ATOlL cover, however I don't think this is a problem if you book by credit card.

The only other issue is insurance.
If you purchase a package then the vendor is responsible for the whole package.
If you have independent attangemtns then the vendors are not responsible for consequential loss e.g. an airline wouldn't be responsible for you missing a cruise.
So make sure you allow contingency and have insurance.

honey_bee1384

I booked a cruise with RC only the other day for me and my h2b's honeymoon next year.

I got a quote from RC direct and then a quote from Thomas Cook. Thomas Cook were cheaper to begin with and with a better cabin. I went back RC and told them what TC had quoted for the better cabin. She pretty much met their price, gave us onboard credit of $100 dollars each and agreed to waiver any C/Card charges.