When booking a cruise, which provides the best value? -- booking with the cruise line directly, booking through a travel agent, or booking through a package travel service such as Grand Circle Travel or Vantage Travel?

I always book my cruises at www.Cruise411.com It's a very detailed site and very easy to use. I plan on using it again this year for our cruise.It's a lot cheaper then a travel agent.

As I have posted earlier,after almost five years of being a TA(but not any more!)I can tell you that depending on what cruise line you're looking at,some seem to be better than others than giving you the "best rate" when working directly. There are so many different specials and promotions...and you don't always seem to have access to all of that online.Call the line directly, and you may or may not get someone helpful. A TA will be able to work the ins and outs of pricing better for you-just check on what their service fee,if any, will be.(Just remember that it stinks to do someone hours of legwork and then they book it somewhere else-I'd admit defeat it if you can find a better rate, but don't use me if you have zero intention of booking through me!There were times that I felt like an information kiosk) If you really know what you want,then I suggest cruisequick.com-an excellent company who saved me several hundred $$ over direct booking.Very reliable and always respond to your queries.No matter what way you go,make sure you pay attention to what the quote includes,cost of insurance(and what it does and doesn't cover) and cancellation policies and penalties. Good luck !

KK......Have you taken a cruise before? I am reqading between the lines and guessing you have not.For your first experience, I would book thru a travel agent.If you are in a large city,there is bound to be at least one "cruise only" agency.These are travel agencies that ONLY do cruises...they dont do packages to Cancun or Vegas or Europe or Hawaii(cruises excepted of course!)This way you can look eyeball to eyeball and ask questions until you drop.Then on your next cruise you will have a good idea of what you want and you can veer into the cyber world.Just my humble opinion and Good Luck!

I do the research, decide which cruise line and where I want to go, then I go to Cruise.com. I get a sense of the ball park price on line, search other travel sites, get a quote from CruiseQuick.com and then go back to my TA at Cruise.com and she does better than the lowest (other) internet rate I can get every time. I have booked my forth cruise with Cruise.com., discuss the details with my TA that I maintain some loyalty to and my docs arrive safely and on time at a good, bottom line price.

Definitely shop around.

Try a service like www.cruisecompete.com which allows you to get quotes from competing agencies in one place.

Good luck!