Booking a cruise on Expedia

brownies95 · #1 (**permalink**) January 24th, 2007, 09:47 PM

Hello to Everyone!

My wife and I are thinking about taking our first cruise this May. My question is this. Has anyone ever purchased their cruise through Expedia? I did some comparing between Expedia and Carnival and Expedia was between $400-$500 cheaper. I was wondering how Expedia can sell the cruises at a cheaper price then the cruiseline?

Thanks for your time,

Tim

Kuki · #2 (**permalink**) January 24th, 2007, 11:58 PM

Any travel agent can sell the cruises for less than Carnival... if they chose to.

Frankly I've never found Expedia to be the best deal out there. I'd call or e-mail a few more cruise agencies and get a quote too!

Then, if Expedia's still lowest, by all means, book it.

Mike M · #3 (**permalink**) January 25th, 2007, 12:15 PM

I agree with Kuki. Expedia rarely gives you the best deal. Other agencies can often beat them. Do check around and see if there are better deals out there.

I will add that on one cruise I took in 2003 a "mega" online agency had the best deal but, since then, they have not been able to beat other agencies.

One other thing to keep in mind is that any agency can sell you a cruise but they EARN their money if and when something goes wrong. This doesn't happen very often but when it does you want someone on your side who WORKS, for you, to make things right.

Take care,
Mike

popsec · #4 (**permalink**) January 25th, 2007, 02:03 PM

I used Expedia for our first cruise but have learned alot about shopping around since then. Also, if you're past or present military (or anyone in your group is) be sure to ask about military discounts.

MaryLou · #5 (**permalink**) January 26th, 2007, 05:47 AM

Another comment about sites like Expedia, etc: I have found that it is much more difficult to make changes to your reservation through these sites. I've not had experience with a trying to change a cruise...but trying to change airfare is unbelievable. Trying to change airfare was going to cost close to $$1000 with the discount site...but a call to the airline brought that down to about $150. I have also had the experience of arriving at a hotel in Montana that was booked on a discount site and being told that I was at the wrong hotel. After checking into it further....the site booked the wrong hotel, but gave me the information for the hotel I arrived at. Trying to get that straightened out was quite frustrating.
Another thing to really watch when you see cruise prices at a much lower rate is to be sure you are compaing apples to apples. Make sure all port fees and taxes are included in the price you are seeing.
So, buyer beware!