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Look Before You Book
excerpts from
The Perfect Cruise
by Chris Dikmen
 There
are literally hundreds of web sites where you can book your
own cruise online. It sounds so appealing. Just put in your
credit card, fill out a form and voila! However, there might
be some things that you should consider before doing all the
work yourself.
There are basically three types of web sites where you an
book online:
- Cruise Line Sites - Some major
cruise lines allow you to book directly with the cruise
line through their website.
- Mega-Sites - Expedia, Travelocity,
etc. These sites are actually huge travel agencies which
are paid commissions by the cruise lines. These
companies have large marketing and advertising budgets.
However, that does not necessarily make them the best
place to buy your cruise.
- Travel agent websites - These are
independent travel agents who have implemented booking
technologies on their own smaller websites (small in
comparison to the mega sites).
I am not a big fan of online booking. Why? Because I cannot
come up with a compelling reason to do so. Remember, you are
not buying a book or computer memory. This is your vacation!
That being said, it is just easier for me to pick
up the phone and talk to a real person ( travel agent) and
let them do all the work. After all, I am the customer,
right?
There is also a misconception that a price you are quoted
through an online booking site is the best price. Maybe,
maybe not. The only way to know that you are getting the
best deal possible is to deal directly with a professional
travel agent.
This is why I would never book a cruise directly with a
cruise line website (or even via phone directly with the
cruise line). I prefer to have someone on my side, an
advocate, just in case something goes wrong or a problem
arises. You only get that with a travel agent. Booking
online with one of the mega sites is better than booking
directly with the cruise line, but still not as good, in my
opinion, as working with a smaller agency. I guess I just
like personal service, and since it does not cost anymore,
why not get the best price and the service?
I suppose if I were forced to book online, I would do so
with a travel agent website where I would at least have
access to a live person if a problem were to arise. Which
brings up another important point. Don't ever do
business with any online business unless they have a phone
number, address and email contact clearly posted.
So my recommendation is, use the Internet to do
your research. Use websites like this one to shop and
compare. But always talk to a live travel agent before
putting your deposit on a cruise.
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