MayflowerMadam wrote: “Cruise Critic is incredibly helpful. After we book a cruise, I check that cruise’s forum every couple of days where fellow passengers connect to share info. If one notices a drop in the price, we all know about it and can call our agents or the cruise line and adjust. And their threads on general tips for savings are excellent.”
Be sure and monitor your Roll Call. Lots of neat information on saving on your specific cruise.
Do you use a Travel Agent? I know several who will discount the cruise line price by around 10%. Also, if you have a Costco or Sams Visa card you can get 3% cash back on your travel purchases. I always pay them off quickly or the interest will eat up any savings.
“Be sure and monitor your Roll Call.”
Yes; that’s what I was referring to — our specific cruise’s Roll Call. A wealth of information and, by the time you board, you’ve already “met” many passengers already. And usually Cruise Critic sponsors a nice get-together in one of the bars on the first or second day.
We primarily cruise Princess, but broke away early this year to try Celebrity. (Hated it!) And for that cruise, we went through AAA. (Hated it!) Usually we go through the Princess travel people, but have had excellent service and prices via our agents back in California.
We will check out Costco for any cruises in the future.
For a long road trip with my sister, I rented a car through Costco and was pleasantly surprised with the price itself and the fact that you can add an additional driver free. Most (all?) rental agencies tack on a fee, sometimes $10/day; Costco doesn’t.
It’s 18° at this very moment in E. TN, and is supposed to get down to 8° tomorrow. We could use a glimpse of sunshine in an exotic location from a ship’s balcony.