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Originally Posted by BuddaDude
I'm a novice when it comes to cruise shop vacations. I've found the cruise I want to go on and am ready to purchase it. What's the recommended method to purchase a cruise? The cruise line direct or via a travel agency? If an agency, any recommendations? Thanks!
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Are you taking a short cruise out of Port Canaveral or Ft. Lauderdale? If so, you can do it yourself. Look up the cruise on Vacations to Go and get all the particulars. Look up the ship on the line's website and have your computer on when you call so you can discuss your options when choosing a stateroom. Either book through VTG or call the cruise line directly.
If you are cruising overseas, use an agent--and an experienced one. The agent will coordinate air flights, hotels, excursions, and transportation. We have used one agent for more than 30 years for, probably, 40 cruises. He knows the cruise lines, their ships, and the hotels in the cities where the cruise begins and ends.
After several years of using the cruise line's transport between the airport or hotel and the ship, the agent convinced us to use a private car and driver and to do the same for shore excursions in the ports. There is little, if any additional cost and the difference in quality, particularly on the shore excursions, is dramatic. Instead of being on a bus with 50 passengers and waiting for the required restroom stop or to visit the driver's cousin's rug shop, we are whisked, in a late-model car, from the ship to the attraction and back. In certain places, Istanbul being one, if you have a private car, driver, and guide, you go to the front of the line. For attractions such as the Blue Mosque or the "James Bond" underground reservoir "From Russia With Love", that line can stretch for two blocks or more.
One of the dirty, little, secrets about cruising is that the cruise lines make a significant amount of their money from selling shore excursions. For two people, the additional cost for a private car and driver/guide is minimal. If you are with another couple or your family, you will save money with a private car and driver/guide. In either case, you will avoid wasting time getting on/off the bus, at a restroom stop, or at the driver's cousin's rug shop, and will get to see what you want to see.