[Ecuadog]

Originally Posted by dkaufnelson

I've taken 27 cruises and find VacatiionsToGo.com website to be the easiest way to search for and compare cruises. When you go there for 1st time, be sure to open free account with them and check off all the possible discounts you may be entitled to, When you click on any cruise, it will then give you the cheapest price for every category based upon the possible discounts you can get. You can then book through them quickly and they will always keep your discounts listed under your account. You may get discounts for Fl. resident, over age 55, retired/active military, airline employees active/retired, police, firefighters, teachers etc. After they give you rates, be sure to click on cruise line websites, to see if they're offering any special deals. VacationsToGo website includes all taxes in their online rate quotes. Cruise line websites don't easily reveal taxes until after you pretend to book and choose everything, then they tell you all the additional taxes at the end. Some cruise lines will have tiny print showing taxes under the starting prices they quote, but you really don't get full price until you pretend to book online and see what final price is. Then you can cancel or go ahead and book. Another thing you can look into is that many cruise lines now offer their own Visa cards that come with a deal that gives you about $300 credit toward their cruises. Highly recommend you check out ships, cruise info etc found on Cruise Critic.com. It's a great reference site for all things about cruises!

Bingo. I also use VacationsToGo.com. Their tool for searching for cruises is excellent, even if you decide to go elsewhere to to buy your ticket. Take the time to learn how to use it. Fill out the profile. When I look at a particular cruise, I also see if a discount of mine will give me a better price. I qualify for FL resident, over age 55, veteran and retired airline employee (my wife qualifies us for an "interline" discount) discounts.