Norwegian Cruise Line
 

We are looking at a Mediterranean cruise with Norwegian, specifically the Spirit. There is a specific itinerary that covers precisely what we would like to see. My question is who best to book with - directly with Norwegian or use a travel agent? I haven't used a travel agent in years and not since we moved to The Villages.

Try Suzanne Gordon who lives locally. She is with Cruise Planners: Suzanne Gordon - Cruise Planners
sgordon@cruiseplanners.com

In my opinion the best information, pricing and service is by booking directly through the cruise line's cruise planners.

I would suggest using an online agent called CruCon.com

They always give extras such as prepaid gratuities andextra onboard credits.

When we took our cruise to Alaska on Norwegian it was cheaper to book directly with them. I also called a travel agent and they wanted $400 more.

The cruise lines set the prices. Travel agents can give some benefits, like a bottle of wine, alternate dining or OBC. You'd be very lucking if a TA had a group booking for that itinerary. Then you'd get a much better price than the published one.

Also you should keep monitoring the fare for your category (or a higher one) every other day or so (or use CruiseFish.Net with email alerts). When the fare goes down after you book, contact your agent and ask to be rebooked (same cabin) at the new lower fare. Travel Agents don't like to do it and AAA charges $75pp (I think) to make the change but the cruise company will do it without question and without charge. Just ask for the savings. (Sure wish airlines did this. Wait a minute, Southwest DOES bank the difference for you.)

We cruised back to back (27 days) trans-Atlantic plus Med cruise and watched the fares drop 3 times before sale date. Each time we called our agent and they re-wrote the booking. We saved almost $1600 on those two cruises on Celebrity.

We've seen 13 day trans-Atlantics on RCL recently from $399pp Rhapsody OTS out of Malaga, Spain via the Canary Islands to Florida in the fall of 2016. Incredible value that only lasts a few days then disappears (lowest today is $660pp) for that cruise. CruiseFish is great (just a little clunky to use). They sell nothing. You book through whoever you want.

NCL is NOT my cruise line of choice, however. We like better food and service.

Always ask for Senior, Military and Florida resident rates.

Hope this helps.

Skip

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I'm going to start with the cruise line. I know Norwegian is not the the high end but the ports are precisely what I want and that is my priority. We're not finicky about the amenities.

Once you book, join CruiseCritic.Com and look for your "Roll Call" for that ship and sailing date (costs nothing to join). Other CC members will be onboard and some seasoned CruiseCritic member will book private port tours for the other CC members that cost half what the cruise line charges. Some cruise lines throw a Meet & Greet Party for CCers with door prizes and refreshments, (hosted by the CD) etc. But NCL is not one of them.

We recently did a land tour and it was $49pp all day, whereas the cruise company tour was $99 for half a day. Ours included free food samples at one stop. There's didn't.

You'll be a seasoned traveler before long.

Skip

I had once a cruise through the same line and it was a different experience for me. My cruise was through Blount Small Ship Adventures in a small ship and that was my first real experience on a small ship. I loved the onboard time on it along with the pleasure of cruising! Hope you will have a great time cruising.

We just booked the same cruise departing 9-30-16 from Barcelona and returning 10-12-16 from Venice. We would like to do a few days pre and post. Booked through Vacations to Go and got a great price with nice perks. Took the travel itinerary to AAA and they could not match of beat the price even through NCL's website. They could only quote a guaranteed cabin. With Vacations to Go, we were able to pick a mid ship balcony cabin on the 10th deck. The price AAA quoted was $2,000 more. Never used Vacations to Go but looked at the reviews and they were positive. NCL was the only one offering that particular itinerary.

Suzanne Gordon " An experienced travel agent who has traveled the entire world" Recently got a client a reduction in price of $800 that Expedia or Trivago would never have found. And the cruise lines directly do not point out any price reductions.

Mediterranean cruise
 

Did you take your cruise? We are scheduled for the same cruise departing Sept. 30. Do you have any suggestions or recommendations?

We did book and will be sailing on the NCL Spirit leaving Sept. 18 from Venice to Barcelona. We are booking an extra night in Venice and Barcelona. The reviews are looking good. We have our shore excursions - all small vans - booked through the Roll Call. I organized a couple of them including Rome and Toulon - going to Cassis and Aix en Provence.

We saved a lot booking through Costco on line.

I looked on the CruiseFish website you mentioned here:coolsmiley: and saw that the charge for their service is .99.
Is that 99 cents per day until the cruise leaves? Please explain how it works. Thank you.