Itin. I want is on HAL website, but not CruiseCompete

[jeph]

There's a great itinerary (12 nights rt out of Venice, including Croatia, the Greek Isles, Athens, and Istanbul) on HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam that I've had my eye on for a while, and I know I want to book a cabin for either the April 30th or May 22nd 2011 sailings. I've always had good results from using the CruiseCompete feature to get the best price quotes, but ran into a problem this time around: even though the spring & summer 2011 itineraries have been up on HAL's website for a couple of weeks now, the Nieuw Amsterdam's 2011 itineraries listed in CruiseCompete end with late March.

Several days ago, I followed their directions and entered the info for the sailings I was interested in, but haven't heard back. (By contrast, in all my earlier interactions w CruiseCompete, when I was getting quotes for itineraries already listed, I had multiple quotes in my inbox from various travel agencies within a matter of HOURS.)

Please advise: should I call around to get quotes from some of the big internet agencies I've done biz with from previous CruiseCompete requests? Or should I just book directly w HAL right away, then transfer the booking or rebook w a travel agency when CruiseCompete is up to speed w HAL's website? I've always booked through a travel agent, for the reasons often enumerated here on CM, so I'm not sure how this would work, or whether I'd wind up paying some cancellation or change penalty that would wipe out any savings from a later travel agency quote. What do you think?

[Trip]

Since I have no patience, I would call around to a few agencys and see what they quote..You could also check out the ta who plans our group cruises. If you click on the front page and scroll till our Cruisemate Cruise, section you can get contact info there.

I would get a quote from HAL, then get a few more and book with who makes you comfortable. remember to ask abaout cancellation penalties. Good luck.....

[CruiseCompeteCEO]

Hi Jeph. Bob Levinstein from CruiseCompete.com here.

I was sent your post via Google Group Alerts.

Sorry we don't have the HAL data up yet. I just sent a note to our data supplier. They usually turn this stuff around within a couple of days, so hopefully we'll have the rest of the 2011 data shortly.

If I understand your post correctly, you also used the "suggest a sail date" feature to ask for at least one quote. These get routed to a particular agency which is usually very responsive. If this happened over the weekend, though, there might be some delay. If you don't hear something by the end of the day today, would you go ahead and send me a message about it via CruiseMates? If you'll send me your CruiseCompete username, your e-mail address, and any info. about the sailing/your needs (eg., cabin type, number of passengers, etc.) all of that would be helpful.

Sorry for the delay and confusion. In future, please feel free to use the Contact Us link any time you have an issue, or to e-mail me directly.

Cheers!

[Fern]

While I've checked Cruise Compete at times, I haven't booked there.

But, I find it very interesting (and good ), that the CEO is posting information here.

Bob, this post may have done more good for your site than you'll ever know !

[jeph]

Bob, I sure appreciate your concern and personal reply!

As it happens, I did receive a quote from one agency not long after I posted my question, and I think their price is still the best among those I've found among other consolidators/discounters I checked subsequently. I'd become familiar with a number of such agencies from using your service to book prior cruises.

I've told many people about CruiseCompete, and will certainly continue to recommend it in future!

Thanks again-- "jeph"