Now that I am considering a cruise I'm wondering what all you savvy people do about booking. I've gotten used to doing all the research on line myself and making my own reservations for trips. But how about discount cruise bookers... or Expedia, Travelocity, etc. Would people say there is one that shines above the rest? any sites with particular deals on HAL or Celebrity?

Used Travelocity 2x-no problems.<BR><BR>last 2 cruises, booked with HAL thought the prices were good, great people to work with.<BR><BR>It was not worth it to us to save $100 pp with an unknown.<BR><BR>Alot of people have used i-net sites with no problems but some have. I will stick with what I know best.

Yes, I've used Travelocity for air tkts no problem... I just wondered if there was some ab fab site for cruise bookings. Thanks

The best pricing I have found is through Cruisequick at www.cruisequick.com. This is great if you know exactly what you want...what itinerary, what ship, what category, etc. It's an Internet only site that communicates by e-mail.<BR><BR>For a good travel agent that does an excellent job of watching over her clients while providing excellent pricing, check out Lori Cunningham at www.skyscrapertours.com. Lori has provided exceptional deals on Celebrity.<BR><BR>

We have used icruise.com, cruisesonly.com, and cruise.com. All went very smoothly, and all refunded money when our cruise price dropped.

i have used both cruise.com and cruises.com and both have been just fine and had the cheapest rates.

Thanks for all those suggestions- Jim M I tried skyscrapertours.com but had some trouble with opening it up....will wait for my brochures to come in then compare prices at all the spots suggested.

vacationstogo.com. Go to the 90 day ticker or the find a bargain portion of the site to get GREAT rates. Our family of 5 just got back from a 5 night...Jamaica and Caymans itineraty. Rate actually went down $100 per person to a GREAT price of $199 per person. Called them and they honored it with no hesitation. You call them or post a message to their site for them to email you. They are very responsive. Take the insurance offered. We all 5 went for $1300. (2 at $199 and 3 of us at $299...needed a 3 bed room). Rico Torres helped us.

www.cruises.walmart.com/

Have booked 5 cruises with CRUCON.com.<BR>They have an 800# and I always work with Tracy Nelson or Pat. They are wonderful and will meet your every need.<BR>If the price drops you simply ask for a refund in the difference and you get it.<BR>This is a great company and I am a comparision shopper and have never found cruise prices better than on Crucon. My next cruise is on the Navigator of the Seas on 8/30/03. Can't wait.

My husband &amp; I booked the last 2 cruises with Best Price Cruises.com<BR>I really do my homework on the internet and walk-in travel agencies, &amp; so far Best Price Cruises has beaten every quote I was given, even by cruisequick.com<BR> We went on a cruise in October &amp; just came home from a cruise on Holland America on 4/13. Had absolutely no problems...they have an 800# &amp; I happened to get a really nice person the first time, so I used her for this cruise also. Her name is Barbara Coe &amp; her ext.# is 14.<BR> Hope you have a great cruise &amp; get a great price!

have booked twice now with cruisebrothers.com. phenomenal for rccl! website could use some help, but call their 800 number and speak with a consultant (Paul Hafer x842)...<BR><BR>Long story short, Explorer 5/31 category TR (atrium) (lists @1000 w/ rccl and 950 plus w/all the other on-line travel co.'s) <BR><BR>For $549 all taxes &amp; port fees included!!!!!!!!!

Hi Collete, we were already to b ook through Orbitz, when the other couple we are cruising to Alaska with, decided to call Celebrity directly. This was a great idea because they had an over 55(I never say Senior rate &gt;g&lt promotion going on, and their priced matched Orbitz, plus we got to pick our cabin and deck. Judy

I recently used Orbitz.com to book a cruise for my parent's 55th Anniversary, they gave me the best rate I found (and I did ALOT of research and price comparisons), and they were wonderful. They even called NCL directly and booked the transfers from Boston to NY for us. I would definitely use them again.

After comparing rates with many companies and websites, I've found cruisequick.com to be the best rate for our past 3 cruises.

We have had no complaints or problems with several internet based cruise agencies. We've used mytravelco.com three times, bestpricecruises.com once and our last cruise was booked through cruisequick.com. We had quotes from the three above, plus AAA and a traditional TA. AAA was by far the highest, the TA second highest and Cruise Quick was the cheapest by $300 over the next closest quote. After we made our final payment Celebrity dropped their prices. We got an upgrade and a $500 refund immediately from Cruise Quick. I would definitely use them again. However, like a previous poster said, you have to know EXACTLY what you want and they deal strictly through e-mails.

By the by, Mytravelco.com (as mentioned above by Lenore) is the parent company to cruises.com. I used to use them but the last two times they quoted me higher rates than others and I prefer to give my business to those who don't play games. Although last time cruises.com matched the lowest price that I found, I had to ask them to do it. Why should I do the work? That is what I give the TA money for. Now I give my business to cruise.com. They give me the lowest quotes. I go to them first and then shop around and nobody can beat them.

Just booked today with Heather at Cruise Brokers.com. Quoted South Shore Cruises, Vacations to Go, 7BlueSeas and CruiseQuick.com. Cruisequick was the cheapest. But I called Heather back at Cruisebrokers because she was the nicest on the phone and she met their price. I did a little better with her as their Insurance was less. Plus I felt better being able to actually talk with someone as CruiseQuick is Email only.

Cruise Direct is very good but they deal with Celebrity only. Their TAs do not work on commission and they are very efficient. I called them when I saw that the price of my cruise had been reduced and they immediately credited my credit card, even though this occurred after we had made the final payment.

Seagull: I'm curious about Cruise Direct since you said that they deal with Celebrity only. I've sailed with Celebrity 10 times now. I went to what was I thought their website and they have most lines covered. Since I'm looking at a South American cruise I searched on that and they had the Zenith sailing to South America next year instead of the Infinity. WRONG!! Can you give me the URL?

Many thanks.