Theresa

Hi-<BR><BR>My family is thinking about taking a cruise this summer for the first time. We've tentatively narrowed it down to Voyager of the Sea's (or some other RCCL ship) 7 night western carribean trip. My question is about the online booking agencies I've been reading about. I was interested in using CruiseQuick.com, but I wasn't sure how to specify a cabin - and what type for a family. I have two children (9 and 13) who would be fine in their own room - but I'd prefer it to be adjoining. Any suggestions? Also - everyone was referring to working with Ray. How do you do this? It looked quite automated to me.<BR><BR>Thanks - and any other advice would be wonderful!<BR><BR>Theresa

Paul Therault

Sounds to me like the people that tell you to book with Ray either work with Ray or are related to Ray.

Larry

The first time I used them, i had done my homework first and knew exactly what we wanted, ship,date,category....I used the main site (cruisequick.com) and Ray is the person who responded. Now, I just contact him directly at [email protected]. Just go through the original site (cruisequick.com) and you'll get a quote from someone. When the quote comes back and you can chose to book right then and there or not.

Peter

Theresa - We travel with two teenage daughters and have booked &quot;quad&quot; cabins on all of our eleven cruises. They range from insides to owner's suites. The insides tend to be a little crowded and the owner's suites are fabulous. Yes, you can get adjoining cabins - sometimes they have a door and sometimes they share a balcony (they sometimes can remove the partition separating cabins).<BR><BR>Ignore Paul's comments - he's a brick and mortar travel agent who hates online agencies. You can email Ray at [email protected] and ask him any number of questions and get a quote directly from him. If you want testimonials about him or cruisequick, read the several current threads on this board.

Paul Therault

I have no problem with people booking over the net. No travel agent does. They do not wish to sell these $400 cruises. The expense and time does not cover the commission.<BR><BR>As far as this Ron/cruise-quick. There is something fishy here. Too many people are praising him. Not other web company gets this attention.<BR><BR>Paul

PumpkinEater

Well Paul - do you wish to sell the $3,000 cruises? Ray (not Ron) will beat your prices for those as well.

torpeedo

Nothing &quot;fishy&quot; about CruiseQuick. If you don't mind e mail communication rather than a human voice, they will provide timely, accurate, and cost effective service. We comparison shop with a local TA, and several on line agencies, and we've booked two &quot;suite level&quot; cruises with them in the past year. They also book us the specific stateroom we want, if available. We have done business with Ed at CruiseQuick, so I'm sure they provide good service regardless of the person you deal with.

MissAsh

Paul : After reading so much about cruisequick.com, I decided to get a quote and it was $1500 less than my booking with a brick &amp; mortor TA. I faxed the quote to my TA and asked him to do better on his price due to the substantial difference for the same cabin class. My TA called me back and is going to contact RCCL to check out the validity of cruisequick.com and thier quote, because he said his agency does not make that much on the cruise and does not know how they can offer it at such a good price. I am following what is published on the website for cruisequick.com because they suggest you offer the price match to your TA first if you have already paid the deposit. If they cannot match the price the TA can transfer the booking to cruisequick.com by instructing RCCL. It looks ok to me but I am only in the beginning stages. I will let you know what happens. I am going to give my TA another week. I am in a group of 8 couples who have booked the same cruise through the same TA.

traveller333

I first heard of Ray through a referral and contacted him directly to compare a quote I had already received. Sure enough he was FAR cheaper. I have sinced used him several times (still comparing rates just to be sure) and he has come in lowest each time. As far selecting a cabin....if you have specifics, say an inside cabin on a particular deck just TELL HIM. Just like any TA, if the cabin that is available does not suit you, tell him what you do want. Subject to availability, he will work with you and get you a cabin category and location acceptable to you. I've found him very easy to work with. The one thing that cruisequick.com does not do is the research for you trying to select a cruise. You do all the homework and then contact them ONLY when you're ready to book. They also don't book Radisson cruises (I had tried to refer my brother)....not sure why but I found an excellent TA that books only Radisson and Seabourn so that problem got handled!

Lenore

I also used CruiseQuick due to the many positive remarks I saw on this forum. The agent I got was Pat, and he/she is fast, efficient and saved us hundreds of dolllars over the next closest quote. They also got us upgraded and a substantial refund when Celebrity dropped their prices for our cruise. I know it's a legitimate booking because I checked directly with Celebrity, both online and by telephone. If you plan to use them, be sure you've done all your homework ahead of time and know EXACTLY what sailing and cabin category you want. Once you've decided that, request a quote and be specific. For example: &quot;We need two adjoining cabins for the April 4th Celebrity Summit sailing in the 1B cabin category. What cabins numbers are available and what is our total cost?&quot; You'll have a quote in an hour or two. Good luck!

MissAsh

Paul: I have spent quite alot of time checking out cruisequick.com Thier price was the best I could find and everything I searched point to cruisequick being a reputable cruise web-site selling commission-free cruises. I even get the feeling that it may be affilliated with the cruiseline's own inside agency and therefore they do not have to pay commissions to anyone and can offer such a good price. I am guessing on this part, but it would explain the great price. <BR><BR>My final verification is that I emailed all the travel assocations that they said they were members of on thier website to confirm they are members and I asked them how long they have been members. I will book with them after I receive confirmation.

wagsdvm

someone on these boards once made a terrific recommendation for room selection. Travelocity actually provides a diagram of rooms by floor for each cruise and indicated which rooms have already been booked. We were able to book a larger than normal suite on Celebrity by using this method as the diagrams accurately depict individual room sizes. once you've located adjacent rooms, contact your agent at cruisequick and let them know what rooms you want.

MissAsh

Paul: My TA called me back after a week and is going to match the CruiseQuick.com price. My TA checked out cruisequick at RCCL and found they are fine, but warned me that there is no telephone # to call if I had any problems, and that my TA is always a telephone call away. I guess he did not want to lose the group booking and lowered his price, which is really a great savings.