Has anyone used either ecruises.com or Moments-notice.com to book a cruise? If so, what are your thoughts. I am looking at booking a cruise, but am not sure if I should trust them. Thanks.

I don't know if a sample of one is valid but a fellow employee used momentsnotice for a Med cruise last year and his trip went fine. The only negative I can remember is that they required the entire amount paid at the time of the booking, which in his case was about six months. It also seems to me that he had some trouble getting ahold of the agent to ask questions. But in the end, it worked out ok.

Moment's Notice has been around for a long time (pre-internet), so you don't have to worry about them being a fly-by-night outfit or anything like that. We've used them a couple of times, and it's worked fine. They can have amazing deals.<BR><BR>HOWEVER, make sure you know what the quoted price includes. Some of their deals include port taxes, and others don't. You also have to pay for a membership fee, and then there's an additional &quot;handling&quot; charge.

Have booked w/Moment's notice 2x &amp; the agent was so knowledgeable she correctly talked me out of my orig. choice.<BR>$25 fee covers 2 people for 1 yr &amp; since both fell within that span I didn't consider fee unreasonable.

Dena: BE CAREFUL. Same old story, ecruises advertises prices without taxs, port charges, etc. <BR><BR>Heres how deceptive this is... The number #1 cruise listed on their (ecruises) site today is a 7 day cruise to the Eastern Carib. for $149! Sounds great right... too good to be true? Yep, you have to click thru at least 6 menu items until you learn that its on the Norway, leaves in less than a month and does not include taxs, port charges, etc. Once you add it all up the cheapest you can get this $149 cruise for is $348. Other sites will commonly quote this ship for &quot;as low as $299&quot; in their ads, which includes port etc.<BR>Again agents, please standardize your advertising so we can easily compare apples to apples!<BR>

I agree you really need to read the fine print. Plus they try and get you to purchase insurance also. Still $348 is still a bargain for a week. I wouldn't complain about that price.

Be careful of moments-notice!!!<BR><BR>A few years ago, we booked a last minute cruise for 4 on a Tuesday, the ship was sailing the following Sunday. They faxed a booking confirmation number.<BR><BR>The following day, my sister wanted to go, so she called and booked the same cruise. They immediately charged her credit card, and sent her a confirmation. They neglected to include a booking number, but she didn't even realize one existed.<BR><BR>When we went to board, RCCL had NO RECORD of her. Therefore, they told her if she wanted to cruise she would have to pay the brochure price, which was $400 more than the price advertised and that moments-notice charged her CC. Apparently, the agent from moments-notice never got the reservation confirmed from RCCL with a booking number. A nightmare ensued, my sister didn't want to pay the high price as the only reason she booked was because it was such a good deal. We couldn't get ahold of anyone at moments-notice on Sunday. They finally (after 2 hours)agreed to let her board, but still wanted her to pay the high fee. They said they would wait a few days to try and straighten it out. It took 3 months for them to finally work it out. It was NOT fun.

Moments-notice is o.k. but with so many other places to purchase cruise tickets I would rather use a TA and be done with it. Just my opinion. I have not seen a significant difference dollar wise. Plus the hassle of people you can only get on the phone. If something goes wrong, then you are stuck.

I know I'm slow, but I've never understood &quot;If something goes wrong, then you are stuck&quot; if you book online. I would assume that if something went wrong (which it hasn't yet in twelve cruises) I would call up the booking agent and they would be able to do whatever the &quot;brick and mortar agent&quot; would do. The only advantage I can see is I can grab the latter by the throat.<BR>

That'll be the day an internet site would give the service that a local travel agency would give or any travel agent that is running a business. This is why most people use travel agents to book vacations and cruises (fact).<BR><BR>Paul

Paul, I do not use a TA. They don't do much, obviously because you are always on this board trying to drum up business.

The point is &quot;if something goes wrong yu are stuck&quot; as in Nina's sister case. It was a Sunday no one was available to consult or straighten out the mess. It took months so she states. Many people have use various web sites only to encounter headaches and problems when they arrive. You are lucky if you can reach them to staighten out the mess. I have used expedia with much success but I have heard stories of those who have not been so lucky.

xxx will find out eventually the hard way. Anyone that does a lot of traveling knows problems will arise eventually - happened to me a few times before and my agent saved my vacation more than once. To each is own.

I have stressed so many times that when you talk to a travel agent you ask what they can do for YOU. Also, do not talk to a kid just out of high school that has never traveled outside his/her home state. Bottom line ... if something goes wrong the TA can usually take care of it even if if means loosing money. They also know how to get to the right department of the cruise line. <BR><BR>Also, if you have the time to spend hours searching the net to get a better than a $499 price and you get to save $20 .... all the more power to you. Travel agents are not going to go out of business.<BR><BR>Paul

Lets test out this $20 thing. Paul, what's the best price, including port charges, you can get for the 2/9 sailing of the Rhapsody? My bet is my .com is more than $20 cheaper than yours.

Ecruises.com is a local agency in Danbury, CT. It is also one of the top producers for a number of cruises lines. I priced cruises from a number of local agents in New York and then online. Ecruises.com had the best prices by far when everything was added in. This agency is web-based and local both so you have great customer service combined with unbeatable prices. I saved $500 of the second best deal I found for my 14 day cruise.

Paul<BR>You must live in a bubble You said travel agents won't go out of business?? Five travel agents in our area closed thier offices People don't need them anymore

I have booked our upcoming South America cruise with moments notice. I have very mixed feeling dealing with them.<BR><BR>First they were very anxious to book it, obviously, and wanted full payment 9 months in advance. I said I would make a deposit.<BR><BR>I had been working with a very nice agent there, but no one answered my e-mails. It turned out that he had been fired three weeks prior to me finally calling them. They just didn't bother to answer any correspondence.<BR><BR>The person that I spoke with was quite rude, and the issue was our cabin assignment. She did change it from one with a window and not a porthole, but was most obnoxious and I had to remind her whose money it was.<BR><BR>So, at this point, they have acted about like every TA I have worked with.<BR>I don't know if booking directly with Celebrity would have been better, but MN had a better price.<BR><BR>Anyway, I don't like their attitude!

We always book directly with the cruise line When you book thru a TA, you can't call the cruise line to ask any questions , you have to go thru the TA who is not always available. We just book Century thru Celebrity The are always pleasant and helpful We check for any price drops on the Celebrity site and they always honor the lower price We would rather be in charge of our vacation so we can check and double check so no problems will happen

Bonnie, in my experience a travel agent has halways been several hundred dollars cheaper than the cruise line direct, I learned the hard way. Also, if you have a problem during a vacation a travel agent will always resolve the problem better than you will have done on your own. I do a great deal of booking short trips on our own but anything involving a cruise or travel to Hawaii or out of the country I always use a ta.