Cruiser

I am thinking about taking my first cruise and am wondering which ship line and destination will give me the best overall cruise experience. Since I'm not sure I will even enjoy this experience I'm not looking to break my bank account, but am looking for a good representative trip of what cruising is like. I don't need anything exotic like Tahiti or adventerous like Alaska, just a good basic experience for a first timer. Thanks for your help!

Paul Therault

Best to talk to a couple or few travel agents that will tailor your lifestyle to your vacation.<BR><BR>Paul

Sara

Go to your local travel agent and pick up lots of brochures. Let the brochures give you a good idea of what you want and don't want. Then talk to a TA and have them answer any of your questions.<BR><BR>You may also want to pick up the book "Cruises for dummies". Excellent book for "newbies".

Cruiser

I've tried to work with different agents , but after the second or third phone call of questions I get the feeling that they think I am price shopping and I never hear back from them. Also, I've asked them to compare different ships and destinations and sometimes it's more than 24 hours until I hear back from them. I've gotten this experience from the three that I've tried to work with. I've done a lot of my own research and it seems that unless you do the upper level cruising (cost wise) that they are pretty much all the same with slight variations. I'm having trouble getting a TA to stick with me through all these decisions because I don't think they want to take the time because I get the feeling they don't think they would get my business anyway, which is not true if I could find someone to lead me through all of these decisions about ships and destinations.

Vic

You can do your own comparison of various ships on the net. Many websites including Travelocity allow you to price individual cabins, it's instant. You eliminate the telephone tag with an agent. Virtually all cruise lines and itineraries are on the web. If you shop large web agencies you can also save money.

Karen

It really depends what you like. A Caribbean cruise is basic and you can get them for a variety of time lengths. Also, different cruise lines have different strengths (food on Celebrity is excellent, I just got back from a cruise with them), Royal Caribbean is a little cheaper but food is not supposed to be as good, Princess may be a little more upscale. Try researching on Travelocity, this website, and also frommers.com for more info on specific lines and ships.

Jeanette

www.cruisecritics.com<BR>www.cruisemates.com<BR><B R>both sites have some excellent reviews and advice.

faith

Hi,<BR>I second the feedback you got about researching websites (cruisemates and cruisecritic) before you talk to agents. A year and a half ago I was a newbie cruiser. I learned about the cruising world by researching websites, reading reviews, and reading cruise books in the bookstores. <BR>Good luck in whatever you choose.<BR>Faith

Paul Therault

To Cruiser,<BR><BR>I believe you are being a bit unreasonable. You do not realize how long it takes for a Travel Agent to compare "different ships and destinations." Quite a few cruise lines place you on hold for up to 20 minutes. Also there are the hundreds of faxes that arrive daily with promotions that are date specific and have codes to be stored and entered. A travel agent doesn't just press a button and the prices come up automatically. Then when you call again and wish for them to start all over, you are asking a bit much. They know you are shopping and unless you are a past customer they now realize yes, you are shopping. This more than likely means you are calling others and will go across the street to save 5 bucks. If you plan to do this in the future simply tell the travel agent what you wish to spend. This will narrow down the search to a couple of hours. <BR><BR>A travel agent does not get paid by the hour and the little profit that is made on a mass-market cruise, lowest inside category will not buy a pair of cheap shoes. Try doing the call thing with say an attorney.<BR><BR>Good luck.<BR><BR>Paul

Vic

Paul just made my point. Use the web to determine what's available down to a particular cabin. The find the best price.

Cruiser

Paul, I am not interested in working with a dot.com company, but a local travel agent. If I am spending this much money I do expect them to compare prices between ships and go the extra mile for me. To me thats the difference between a large internet company and a small agency. I was all set to book with one agent and liked her very much until she lost interest in me because I was asking her to check costs between different ship lines. It was only after that they I went to another agent and she lost a sale. And yes they can just push a button and get a price because I've been sitting there when they've done it. To me they were not concerned with my needs, but only in making the quick buck. Comparing a TA and an attorney is like comparing apples and oranges and if a TA is in business only to make money rather than help a client I wouldn't want to work with them anyway. Now I know why people turn to the internet.

Rita

So, the customer does all the research, books with a TA, gives them the commission and dosen't even get the big internet agencies discounts. Something is wrong with this picture.

Paul Therault

<BR>Why don't you try Walmart.com. They are selling Carnival cruises now. Should get a good deal. Also they know quite a bit about cruises.<BR><BR>Paul

mary

A good western caribbean cruise is nice. Grand Cayman is really great if you like to snorkel. Key West, Fl is fascinating and we like Cozumel. We've been there several times. We first went on Costa Romantica which was a fun cruise, lots to do. We've cruised with them twice, once to Western and once to Eastern Caribbean. We liked the Western one a lot. I don't think they are expensive and the food was good. They get a lot of European travellers also. We have sailed on Princess twice. We thought the food was great. Try cruise4ll.com and uniglobe.com for ship reviews. They can be helpful in doing research in choosing a ship to try. We didn't like Holland America Westerdam to the Eastern caribbean (our second eastern caribbean one). We saw different destinations on this one. The ship was older and we did not care for the food much. Cabin drawers were also too small, even though they boast "larger cabins". Bathrooms were a nice size with a full bathtub, though. If you do a caribbean cruise, go on a catamaran excursion. Lots of fun. Also we enjoyed Dunn River Falls in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. This would be a good start for you. We have also done Hawaii and Tahiti with Crown Princess and Panama Canal with Princess. Check with your local newspaper to see if any specials are running or mytravelco.com website for specials.<BR>Pick a midship cabin. You will feel the rocking motion less and stay in the center of the ship when sunning on the sundeck. Hope this helps! Have fun!

jen

Paul,<BR><BR>I think you are being very stereotypical of Wal Mart. Just because Wal Mart is a large chain store does'nt mean they dont have quailfied and knowledgeable TA's working for them. You can have a bad TA anywhere you go. I have had just as many problems with local TA's as I have had with TA's of large companies. I dont see any reason why a company has to limit itself and not expand there company. If all companies did that, we would'nt have very many companies to choose from for traveling now would we?

Paul Therault

<BR>Experienced travel agents in Wal-Mart ..... hah.<BR><BR>I believe BJ's Wholesale Club was selling vacations for awhile but found out they knew nothing about the industry and gave up.<BR><BR>Now, you just gave me an idea, I am going to start selling vacuum cleaners as a sideline.<BR><BR>Paul

Harry

I cannot believe the amount of garbage that people are throwing at you.<BR>We have just been on a Caribbean cruise with Celebrity - on the Millennium. It was excellent and good value. The ship was clean and spacious. The crew were very friendly and helpful. The cabin was a very good size with a small but adequate balcony. The restaurants and entertainment were 5 star+. maybe 10% more costly than other lines but further cruises will definitely be with Celebrity.<BR><BR>Good luck.

Sara

Gosh Harry - I did that same crusie on the Millennium.<BR><BR>Our food was awful. It was cold, prepared wrong (asked for medium rare it was well done) and our dining room staff was awful.<BR><BR>Our room steward was worse.<BR><BR>I personally didn't think the ship was anything to write home about. It had excessive vibrations, the pools were closed early, and the buffet was open strange times.<BR><BR>I will take any other cruise line then sail on this ship again.

Joyce

Paul,<BR>I hate to defend Walmart Travel but I must, there owners are franchise holders, just like the owners of Carlson Wagonlit Associate Agencies, Uniglobe and several others. They just happen to have their agency in a Walmart Store. Now, I think the Web is actually serviced by a Call Center in Florida, but don't knock someone because of where they chose to have their office.<BR>I am not a part of Walmart, I actually operate from home, but I was a Carlson Wagonlit Associate for 8 years, so I do know about franchise operations.<BR><BR>For Cruiser- I do not understand the agencies you are dealing with, but there are many out there like that. They seem to forget that the Purpose of their existance is to answer your questions and through interaction with you, solid questions about your lifestyle and like and dislikes, they are to Help you determine the best cruise for you.<BR>They also are not using Technology well if it takes 24 Hours for a quote. There is an agent Web Tool that lets them compare the prices on different lines very quickly. The problem however is many agents chose to remain dinasors and not learn the newest technology, relying on the phone, which is very time consuming. Sometimes it takes an Hour or More just to get in the Queque to sit and wait for an agent.

Catherine

I just booked a cruse for my family through [email protected]. I found him on the internet along with travelocity,icruse,etc. and he not only gave me the best price for my Celebrity cruise but answered endless questions of mine comparing ships, ports, cabins, etc. I found him on the internet but have never gotten prompter, better service from any TA and as a journalist I travel all the time. I hope all of you find someone like that to help with your cruise.<BR>Catherine