My tip is to know what kind of passengers will be on the cruise line you choose. I’m currently on Carnivals Mardi Gras. The crowd in the Serenity deck is so loud and rowdy that I can’t relax, nap, or even read a book. I’ve come to the conclusion this is no longer the cruise line that meets my needs. Thankfully this is the last cruise I’ve booked with them.

Just to make it clear: A passport card is for land and sea but not flights if you get sick or they throw you off the cruise ship.

I used to use a travel agent and then on a cruise this passenger told me about Costco travel. I would get quotes from Costco and then call my travel agent, give her the particulars and told her if she could come close, within a couple of hundred dollars, I would book with her. After doing this twice she told me Costco doesn’t have to make a profit and businesses compete to be on their website. She said 90% of the time she couldn’t come close to Costco prices so just book with them. I have for years now and haven’t had a problem. But in listening to you, I’m considering using an agent again. Thanks for the content.

Excellent advice. We're Platinum Plus on NCL and almost always book our cabin as far out as possible to get what we want. We booked next year's Transatlantic crossing on Epic a year ago. Since that time the fare for the Haven cabin we booked has increased nearly $2000 pp. And as a retired airline pilot, I can't tell you how many times I had passengers onboard who were connecting to a cruise on the same day and missed their sailing because of blizzards, thunderstorms, mechanical issues, etc. In the summer the popular cruise departure ports in Florida are plagued by afternoon thunderstorms. This translates into arrival delays, holding patterns, and diversions, all of which eventually results in Air Traffic Control instituting ground stops for all traffic bound for that area. In winter the major hubs of New York and Chicago are prone to snow, sleet, ice, etc. Some people have no choice but to fly in the day of the cruise but if at all possible, arrive at least a day early. If you can't, then get the earliest flight possible to avoid the creeping delays. Love your channel.

I am in the UK and I can't agree that booking direct is a problem. I booked direct with Princess for a cruise that was just over £5000. Before the cruise I got an email from the cruise line that the same cruise was available for £3200. I called up and they moved to the new price with an extra £100 admin fee. I regularly get email deals direct from the Princess agents.. The worst case would have been that if they would not honour the lower price I would just cancel the expensive one and rebook with the new price for about the same cost. The moral of the story is to keep track of the price after you book.

As an agent for one of the largest cruise agency in the country, you are spot on with not booking direct. People have no idea how the pricing works for cruises. A single cruise may have twenty booking codes from which to select. Agents spend a lot of time making sure you get the best rate. Our agency often has lower group rates with on-board-credit for a given cruise.

Always such great advice provided! Thanks for the research .

Thanks Gary. Always enjoy your videos and hope your recent cruise and stay in Las Vegas was fabulous 👌🏻

I am always cautious about taking advice about anything. I have learnt that the hard way! Thank you for the video. Great tips.

Sir Gary. These are all great tips. We are eager to book and forget to be mindful of cabin location, comparing prices etc. Thanks so much and see you next video.

You are so savvy about cruising...and it makes sense that you are since you've taken so many cruises! Thanks for sharing your tips about making your vacation plans through an agent.

Sea sicknes; "Bonine" works for me. First came across it in the 90's on a dive boat when the captain handed it out to anyone who wanted sea sickness tablets, he said he'd rather pay for that than clean up puke. Never been sea sick since i started using it. Ive only ever been able to buy it in the US I dont think its available in the UK.

Dear Gary - thanks for vouching for us - the hard working travel agents. Can not express how much it means to us!!!

Always a good video with great tips!

My tip on booking a cruise in say a year's time, would be take out insurance that covers cancellation. Who knows one of your party could fall ill or there could be another pandemic or war.

We always book with our travel agent and sign up on Cruise Watch to get alerts if fares drop. We also always book our flights through the cruise line after watching others scramble when our cruise disembarked in Miami rather than Lima. Thanks for the info Gary.

Thanks Gary … I like your good advice to counter bad advice.

Me too on the Dramamine advice. Always bring it with me after the first cruise where I didn't. Seasickness, even mild, is the worst!

One area where I feel cruise lines miss the boat (couldn't help myself) concerns airfare. Don't use their deal and you're on the hook for transfers, delays and more. However, their bulk airfares are all economy with upgrades to business class very pricey. Over years of travel accruing award miles and points and taking advantage of credit card bonuses, I accrued several million redeemable miles. The cruise line however has no way for one to use these in conjunction with their offers. Worse, the cruise line makes no concession for one not making use of the discounted or free deals. This may not be the case everywhere, but with my last several cruises (Celebrity and Viking) I was essentially told to go pound sand. Still, flying from the U.S. to or from Singapore, Rome, Barcelona, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London in business class was worth it, not only for comfort, low, low cost and fewer hassles, but the ability to move about frequently. After one long trip in cramped quarters six years ago I developed blood clots that nearly killed me. Never again fly coach I vowed. Can't afford it, won't go.

As always Great Advice for any Cruisers ....No matter how many You have Taken ....Always Mid--Ship and 3 or 4 Decks from any Rest . or Bars ....

I have a 16 day Norwegian cruise this summer. My travel agent was able to re-book my cruise when the price dropped. She managed to save me $2000 and get a room up-grade in the process. The upgrade room was within my location preferences.

I always book direct with Regent Seven Seas. I have had the same representative for 10 years and have always received updated benefits or reduced fares as they became available. Great cruise line, great service.

My wife and I booked a Grand Suite on RCCL and was traveling with another couple. They wanted to get the drink package. My wife and I don’t drink. I called RCCL and told them my situation and they allowed my wife and I not to purchase the drink package even though we were in the same cabin. Just a heads up if you are sharing a cabin with drinkers.

Great advice. I don’t understand why some people refuse to get passports. Everyone in my family have passport because we’re a get up and go and never know what can happen when you’re in another country

Always so informative. 🙏🙏🙏

Gary, Love your videos. I found it is usually better to book pretty far in advance. Booking close to the sailing, may get you a cheaper price, but less desirable cabins are available. Also, if you notice after booking, that the price of your cruise has gone down, the cruise line will often tell you, you have to cancel your first cruise first, to get the second cruise and the second cruise, while the room rate may be less, it may not have the same promotions or the promotions may be better, but the actual cruise price may be higher.

I'm going on Freedom of the Seas next month and eating up your tips as fast as I can. Thank you for doing this video.

Another useful video, Gary - Thanks! Just in case there are any viewers like me who get side effects with motion sickness meds or prefer to avoid optional meds... I'd recommend trying some anti-nausea wristbands ('Sea Bands' is the brand I have) and see if they help. They're small, quite inconspicuous, knitted wrist bands with a little domed button which presses gently on the inner wrists. I don't know the science or whatever but, apparently applying a little gentle pressure there can prevent or reduce nausea. During a few of our cruises we've had a rough day and/or night, and as soon as I felt a hint of queasiness I put on the wristbands and have quickly felt OK again after that. Even if it's not rough, I always find a way to keep them with me 24/7 on board, just in case. I've spotted others wearing them over the years and the few I've chatted to about them would never cruise without them either.

I've done both through the cruise line and through an agency. It really depends, if you have a good travel agent(I've had some that were terrible), the agent is better and agents usually offer additional perks at the same rate as cruise line. Now that being said when you book through the line you do need to deal with the call center which can be very irritating BUT in the past I've traveled with people we booked through the line and they used a travel agent, the line sent us an offer to upgrade 2 or 3 categories up to suite for something silly like $250 per person on a 2 week cruise so something that was like 3k more per person when we booked. We tried to get the same for the other people who booked with us and they flat out told us and them it was only for those who booked with the line. I also had situations where they offered us loyalty rates agents couldn't touch, so do a price compare sometimes you do better through the line other times the agents have a lower rate. As for booking flights with the cruise line, yes if it is competitive, if not get travel insurance that covers interruption and missed connections, yes you'll have the headache of coordinating the arrangements at the airport but the insurance will cover the cost. A small premium to book through the line is one thing but hundred or thousands more for the same flight is not a deal even with the guarantee. The key is flying in days before the cruise or if you are going same day make sure it is an early flight so you have buffer and that there are no connections, airlines do not want to pay compensation for the late flight so they will go through extreme lengths to keep the delay below 5-6 hours when they have to pay. We had people in our party miss a connection and miss the boat, no insurance and not through the cruise line but the airline got them to Greece and the people in the airport really helped them make their arrangements to meet the boat. In the end the airline got them to Greece and they had to get a hotel and catch a small plane to an island but it was really not terrible maybe like $800, in any even based on EU rules they should have been compensated but I don't think they complained. Booking too close to the cruise is risky as a lot of times as it fills the prices are higher, we have had people come in late and usually they paid more, don't book more than a year out around 6 months to one year when the lines are running promotions/sales gets the lowest price. I've gotten good deals around 4th of july for cruises in the winter or spring so around 8 months or so out during a holiday promotion.

My wife uses Sea Bands, which you wear around your wrist, as they are also effective preventing seasickness. If there are really rough seas, she will take a Bonine too.

Very good advice! Learned a lot!

I always tell people to book their cruise as soon as they think they want to take one. If fares go down you can almost always get it matched and if you are outside final payment you can always cancel and rebook. I also strongly encourage everyone I know to pay the extra for a refundable deposit. It is usually a small difference and saves so many headaches later.

Gary you are the best with honest and thoughtful information. We river cruise which is more our style and always make our own flight arrangements. BUT we always stay at least 2 to 3 days pre cruise to enjoy the departure city and to make sure we're ready and not panicking in an airport. I always pack an emergency kit, flashlight,, and we bring our passports plus leave a copy with our daughter just in case they are lost or stolen.

Best times to book river cruises are different. The ships only have about 100 cabins of which 2 or less will be for single travellers and if you want a larger cabin there may be only 2 or 4 on the ship. These cabins at the bottom and top end of the price range tend to sell out first (especially the singles) so if you want them you have to book as soon as the cruise goes on sale. Even doing that I've sometimes had to be flexible on date to get them.

So glad we booked our Australia🦘/New Zealand New Zealand 🇳🇿 cruise on Celebrity 18 months in advance, as the cost eventually went up $1000 and did sell out. We have used Shawn Power in the USA from “Nancy and Shawn Power” for 4 of our 6 cruises. We were referred to them from Avalon Waterways and just kept using them as we got great deals and service. $💵 They, like Gary, have cruised over 60 times so have lots of first hand knowledge and information. We use our VISA travel card for free airfare. ✈️

I learnt that by having a travel agent book your trip can be inconvenient. You may get some extra benefits with booking with them at the time of booking, but I find more often than not travel agents will not call you to tell you the fare has been dropped or there are additional benefits since booking, they already have the booking, that would mean extra work. One time in particular we had a flight with mechanical problems, there was another flight prior to ours that we could have changed to but because we did not book it ourselves but through a travel agency and they were closed we were unable to make the change ourselves. We were stuck with what the airline changed us to, missing our connecting flight, ended up being home 6 hours later than being able to be home on time.

I can attest that booking flights via the cruise line is the way to go. I ran into issues twice over the past few years when booking my own, notably when cruises were canceled. The short version is that I was able to get cash refunds of my tickets. It just took a lot of time and energy. That included getting money back from the refundable tickets I bought from a certain well-known online travel agency. I am planning to switch to a local travel agency. I've been using a major online one, but their service has declined a great deal over the past few years.

I sometimes book the drinks package simply to avoid the hassle of arguing about the bill on checkout. But sometimes the drinks package doesn't include anything other than the most basic drinks and then I don't have it, but I find the system of writing your cabin number on the wine bottle and it coming out again tomorrow so down market.

I use Sharri Mizel with United Cruises. She listened, and got me everything I needed. She's gold!

If you're not flexible, then you ALWAYS book as far in advance as you possibly can for every cruise. There are lots of tools available to alert you for price drops, so you can call up the line and get them to match the better price or give you some credit. You should only ever wait last minute if you're not really married to any specific details of a cruise and you don't care that much about the cabin you're going to stay in. My cruises are always with my family, so the details matter a lot, I never wait for a better price. I book VERY early, get exactly what I want and just turn on price alerts.

I’m someone who suffers from motion sickness, mostly when gaming, so I really appreciate you taking this issue into consideration. From my personal experience, my additional advice is to avoid the fitness center while the ship is moving. Maybe if the machines faced the front of the ship or the ship was in port, I would have been fine but spending time on an elliptical while facing the side of the ship was a mistake. (And at that point, once you feel sick, I believe Dramamine is less effective given that it is designed as a preventative measure.) I had to drink some ginger ale and take a nap before I felt better.

I always use a TA. I also have learned to purchase our air travel from the cruise line as well. Peace of mind is important to us. We don't want added stress on a vacation.

I booked direct in Oct 2021, because I didn't know any better. After watching all the cruise Vloggers, I WILL use a travel agent should we chose to cruise again. First is in June 2022. Soon! I called the cruise line because the cabin I was in was being offered for less than I booked and they gave me a $400 plus on board credit. I was pretty proud of myself. But now i'm STILL wondering if I over paid. LOL. I also booked the exact suite I wanted in the location I wanted with an adjoining room for our sons. Only the upcoming cruise will let me know if that was a mistake.

I booked with Royal Caribbean and I kept checking every month to see what the price was . The price went down 600 each and they took it off my cruise!

Thank you for sharing. Great advice as always.

Paying to select a cabin will vary depending on the line. For example, P&O charge a small fortune for select cabins. In my experience, £200 to £300 a week more. The extras that come with it don't plug this huge gap. Only once has the price difference been low, and that's the one time we've used it.

Gary, just to add on to the comment about Royal Caribbean and your statement that if an adult purchases the all-inclusive alcohol drinks package, other adults in that cabin must also purchase the all-inclusive alcohol drinks package. This is not true. My wife does not drink alcohol, and for years Royal Caribbean has done an override so we can purchase for her the all-inclusive non-alcohol drinks package while at the same time, I purchase the all-inclusive drinks/alcohol package. There has never been a problem doing this other than the fact that you have to call Royal Caribbean to have this override done.

I had a travel agent and thank heaven I did. I got covid, and my agent was able to transfer my flights more than once from Heathrow to Denver! She was essential! I love a cabin on a higher deck from the aft. I know that's unusual, but it works for me. I didn't buy the drinks package, mostly because I can't drink that much. I wish they'd had a soft drink package for adults! I took dramamine just in case, but didn't need it. Mostly I found it to be advisable to wear flat shoes on rough days. Falling off high heels is just dumb!

By booking through a travel agent we have seen fares go down, sometimes by hundreds of dollars; received complimentary amenities; and once, we received an upgraded cabin. It can definitely payoff to go through a travel agent.

The only reason we book with Cunard directly is we can get the exact suite we want and sometimes (like Xmas & new year) it is open to us a day before the general public,also the onboard spending is good and the free parking

THANK YOU! Cruisewatch saved me $411 already, and I still have a long time before my cruise

Hi I can drive past our local duckpond and get seasick, I use Scopoderm patches and have never been seasick since. we recently did a Norway cruise in the worst weather I've ever seen and I was perfectly fine - we had a cabin in the bow!

Great video!

So true on a great travel agents. Saved my bacon several times!

What a very useful and clear video! I have one question. I had a good friend (now, alas, deceased) who took a number of transatlantic crossings and cruises on Cunard and, when she was retired and could spend more time annually asea, took advantage of offers to book future trips when on a voyage. Cunard had customer service personnel set up to discuss the possibilities and take deposits. She got a discount if booking ahead (as a frequent passenger) and the discounts got better the more trips you booked at one time. Also, as a single passenger, this ensured she got one of the few single cabins. (Note: a tip for single passengers if you are booking on a ship that does offer single cabins--these are not many, so to save money, book early!) My question: does Cunard still do this? Do any other cruise lines do this? Or do any give a "bundling" discount when you book more than one trip at one time?

Thanks for the advice

My wife uses the OTC Seaband which is very effective for sea sickness

I would never book direct with a cruise company. I am a solo traveller and have found Passion for Cruises, who specialise in those who travel solo, to be extremely helpful, whether communicating with them by email or phone.

We just booked a cruise through Iglu. Firstly they couldn’t find the quote they emailed me so had to go through all our wants again over the phone. Agreed a price which was slightly lower than the original quote. Paid deposit (and their £55 fee) but when the email came through with confirmation we didn’t get what we wanted nor expected. Emailed the company who said they call back within 10 days-still waiting. We did get an email saying they would have to talk to the cruise line before they could upgrade us! It is totally their mistake and need to sort it but now they have our money they don’t seem to care

Dramamine is included FREE at the guest services and / or medical office (at no charge)

I've had great experience booking direct with Viking. Their agents are very well-informed and I've never had to wait to reach one.

Good tips, we’re travel agents and allways give better prices through Expedia then Direct. They give us a block of discount cabins on EVERY CRUISE. Never book direct for a cruise.

Well, I've already broken at least one of these rules (I booked my next cruise while on the previous cruise) but at least one of the things supposedly included in my package on the then-current cruise from the agent didn't actually show up. (I'm still talking to both.) One tip I will add is that, if you are prone to sea-sickness, before reaching for the Dramamine try drinking a ginger ale (a real one, made with real ginger). Not saying this will work for everyone so keep that Dramamine handy, just in case, but my personal experience is that ginger ale does the trick. (Ginger snap cookies are also an option if you aren't so bad off that you can't eat anything.) I leaned this trick on small dive boats and dive cruises and it has always worked for me. (But remember, anecdote is not evidence so again, try it, but keep the Dramamine handy.)

Thank you best videos

If people are thinking about last minute cruises, they better be coming driving distance to their embarkation port. But if you need to book flights, you will pay higher prices and get lousy flight choices, such as having to make connecting flights, and will may wind up only having middle seats left.

Last minute cruise sales are great, if you live near one of the departure ports. I haven been checking out Alaska cruises lately, and the remaining May and June departures are bargains compared to what the lines are charging for 2023. But the flights to Seattle or Vancouver from US east coast cost as much 2/3 of the cruise fares. Thanks, but no thanks.

When you book through an agent you gave a contract with the agent! If you have a problem don’t call the cruise line. Some agents have gone broke before booking the cruise with the cruise line. In Australia we don’t have the ATOL protection. Beware cabins at the front of the ship where the ports do not have piers. The sound of the anchors going down at 6am is disconcerting. If you suffer seasick don’t take a forward cabin. If you want a cheap cruise go for a repositioning cruise.

I book direct with Oceania, who link with the agent you last used, but done onboard as promise best price and it worked

I book direct with Princess. For our upcoming Iceland cruise the initial price was over A$12k. They have had 3 price drops, now paying A$8k. Cruise planner does this instantly. Why would busy travel agents bother to monitor price drops which equals lower commission. Also, booking direct enables you to manage your booking online yourself. I just paid the final payment and no more changes but up to 60 days before travel - I made numerous changes - so easy if booking direct. No hassle.

When I cruise I always bring a passport (the actual passport and not the passport id card because some places won’t accept it). Unfunny enough the state I live made it mandatory that if anyone was flying into or out of my state they needed a passport. I also always buy cruise insurance. You never know what might happen. I think it’s better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.

A point about sea sickness... If you understand the cause of sea sickness, no matter how prone to it you are, it can be completely avoided. Perhaps you can do a post on that???

I tried everything for seasickness and finally discovered raw ginger. A dollars worth of it from the grocery stored a single edged razor blade for slicing it lasted me for an 18 cruise with ginger to spare. I slice off a paper thin piece, suck it for a while then chew it up and swallow it. It tastes good and does wonders. I usually start a dy or 2 before the cruise and take some every few hours when I remember. Cheapest and best solution I've found.

With today's issues Travel Agent it is. I won't fly in the US without passport and Driver's license. Patch and ginger etc. Packed always

Great advice as normal, thanks. Does it make sense to book your next cruise whilst on your current cruise ship with the Cruise Lines special offers?

I just booked a cruise today through my local high street travel agent. They got us £30 off per person plus £105 on board credit and I didn’t have to do anything, so definitely better than booking direct so far.

I completely agree that agents can give you a better fare. However, on one of my cruises, I found that an agent in a different city had given a better fare than my agent! 😊 Yes, booking certain hotels and airlines directly, do give you the best rates!

Johnna at World Wide Travel in Walla Walla. She and the boss Paul have booked us the most complex arrangements AND fixed many delays and even cancellations! 30 couples from here are on the Rhine on Viking Gersemi on a group junket put together (and led by) the WWT TEAM. SUPER prices also!

I like the end. Nothing like getting rocked to sleep like a big baby if you like that thing and don't get sea sick.

I had 5 cruise cancellations during covid lost lot's of money. One agent took 6 months to give me my refund on cancellation. The cruise line gave me my refund in two weeks! Another agent, well known now out of business, on my first cruise, told us the ship leaves port in Venice at 6pm also couldnt tell us the address. ("6pm"on the ticket.) We got there at 4:15 pm - with very angry crew telling us they nearly left us behind, which put a dampener on our first day, as they were scheduled to leave at 4pm. 😓

My issue with booking flights through the cruise is that most cruise lines fly you in to arrive day of the cruise--if you want to arrive a day early, then you have to pay extra for a deviation--Oceania does this for sure and Viking too. As well as the deviation fee, you have to pay any fare difference too. But a bonus if you do the flights with the cruise line is transfers from the airport are often included at no additional cost.

Some of this advice varies by cruise line. For example, Disney does not offer specials thru agent--the price is the price. The benefit of using an agent is their service, experience, and sometimes some Onboard credit. They have some very strange rules about booking air thru the cruise line. If you want to come in a day early, they require you to also book the overnight in one of their "cruise hotels.: You lose the flexibility of choosing your own hotel and your own way to the port (which might be cheaper or more convenient than their transfers.) My Virgin booking was "non-refundable," and I believe this was the case whether I did the deal to pay now and save 10% or not. I could change one or both names on my reservation--essentially sell it to someone else if I couldn't cruise, but no refund from the cruise line even though my booking was made 7 months before sailing. The advice you gave was accurate for the other lines that I'm familiar with--Princess, Celebrity, Norwegian, etc. For years, I've worked with a family owned agency that does the majority of their work on line. Yes, they have (or had before Covid) a "brick and mortar" location, but they specialized in cruises and sailed enough so that in the days before KZfaq they could give you a personal opinion about lines or often specific ships. And, as you suggested, I had a real person to ask for whenever I called, although I did get to "know" a few others when she was not available. There are those "on line" agencies that are basically call centers, but there are also great agencies that do a lot of work on line.

I use Travel Counsellors too

Important info!

I have only gotten seasick once and that was while stuffing a jib back in the bag while going to weather in heavy seas on a 37-foot sailboat. HOWEVER, we did carry Dramamine Suppositories as well as oral Bonamine. We also had "Bucladin" a prescription drug that contained Bella Donna to keep you from throwing up and something (narcotic?) to make you feel good. I do not know if it is available anymore.

Be careful eith Dramamine and scopolamine (patch). Both can be powerfully drowse-inducing. Dramamine2 and Bonine are non-drowsy. I used to own a sailboat, we'd be out every chance we could. I got seasick frequently, my husband, never. I tried the scopolamine parch, and actually fell asleep while standing at the wheel steering! I'll never forget waking up to find myself standing, at the wheel. Yikes!

Regarding having the cruise line book your air; We got hit by a major glitch in the Princess EZAir system. We went on a Panama Canal Cruise, FLL to SFO, embarked March 12. Princess EZAir made us reservations on Delta a several months in advance. We paid to upgrade the tickets to Comfort Class. The Princess website showed our flights and we also got several notifications about scheduling changes. The trouble is, I couldn't seem to bring up the flights on the Delta website. A couple days before the flights I called Delta and they told me that I don't have any tickets! What? Delta told me that on Jan 6, my travel agent (Princess EZAir) cancelled my tickets! Talking to Princess they told me that a "glitch" in their system cancelled my flights. The flights were still showing on the Princess website. Well Princess did some scrambling around and got us tickets on Southwest, routing through 5 airports. We were originally going to arrive the day before the cruise and stay in a hotel in FLL. The new routing got us to FLL the morning of the cruise. We didn't get any sleep the 2 days and we also lost our fees paid to upgrade on Delta. That was the first and the last time we'll use that "service".

assport card is $65 for adults first time be book is $165 for first time. The prices he listed are for renewals.

You say it’s best to book with an agent, but to call the line (cruise line?) if you see the fate go lower than your purchase price. However, you mentioned that you were emailed from someone who booked direct with cruise line and when she called after seeing lower price the cruise line would not price match.

This was an eye opener for me. I always thought booking direct was the best option. I’ve read many of the comments too. I may have to reconsider this on our next cruise. So many variables.

We were just on NCL, and priced out with out the drink package and with it. There was only a 200 difference in having the drink package.

What irks me is when I book special cruise deals on these online Cruise agencies, they always hit me with "Promotion Fees" when I book their Free drinks and Wifi specials. Taxes, I din't mind but if they are free specials, why am I paying "Promotion Fees"?

When it comes to the airline advice, there's one big exception: if you're a top tier flier on some airlines, you're much better off booking your own. I was returning from a (non-cruise) trip some months ago and due to weather we suffered numerous cancellations, delays, and misconnects. We were able to get onto the only flight that even made it anywhere near home that flew that day from our origin airport on any airline, but only because I was able to access the special booking agents when hold times were over 6 hours on the phone, the line for the rebooking center was nine gates long, and travel agents were shut out completely to allow the IT systems to keep up. Even if the IT systems have a meltdown, those agents will interline me on another carrier by picking up the phone, leaving me with many more options than even travel agents have.

I ❤️ my cruise planner (Carnival). Like a HOST in Las Vegas he can make things happen that a travel agent can’t! As far as flights and hotel accommodations are concerned, unless you have the time and diligence, go with a travel agent. Smooth sailing 🛳

I can not stress too much about how I agree with NOT dealing directly with the cruise line. A year and a half ago I did this with Celebrity (21 day B2B cruises). With everything from double charging my credit card for the final payment, to later canceling this same cruise for non payment, to canceling but still charging me for our flights, I had to continuously fight with a call center that actually refused on 2 occasions to pass me to a supervisor. After over 16-1/2 hours on the phone (by far most of the time on hold) 3 days before we were due to leave I finally got the last bit semi corrected with out as much as a "sorry" out of them. Needless to say I will not be back.

Thanks Gary. Great advice. I have been on some cruises where the ship will take your passport because of international customs checks at ports. The last cruise I was on I was without my passport for a few days as they were waiting to hear from port officials. I always worry about this if you are out exploring a port and something goes wrong. Is there any way around this as I never want to be without my passport when I'm out.

Some cruiseship prices only include food for 2 people in the cabin!!!! ...whilst advertising 30%-50% off. If you have 4 people you have to buy their food which can work out quite a chunk of money... ie more than if they didn't give 30-50 % off and charged normal price for e everyone to include food. (Perhaps choose seperate cabins?)

First of all, you are one of my favorite cruise bloggers. Matter of fact information without gimmicks or hysterics. That said I find number 1 and 2 confusing. Do not book your cruise through the cruise line, but do book your flight through the cruise line??? We have used our Princess PVP Rose Rigor (is it ok to put her name out there)for years and she is wonderful, always looking for our best possible deal and tracking refunds during the whole COVID debacle. I agree that booking a guarantee cabin is not a great idea, but we recently booked a cruise we wanted and our preferred category was only available as a guaranteed. will let you know how that works out. Since COVID restart our drink packages has been included. Since only one of us has more than two drinks per day, we will have to evaluate this when freebies end. We always carry passport, but put them at bottom of backpack, purse etc, so not easy for pickpockets to access. Finally, we have been on 17 cruises, including transatlantic and in the Pacific. Always have dramamine and ginger, have never used them. Hmmm, maybe I should check expiration on dramamine! Happy sailing.

My girlfriend and I were able to book a Princess cruise for next month cheaper on the website via smartphone than at the agents office. But we were able to transfer the booking to the agent and get the agencies promo credit.

People talk about how great it is to book at the last minute. We just booked an RCCL cruise less than three weeks out. We could not get a first or second seating for dinner, and with My Time Dining, slots until 8:15 are filled. Every entertainment venue is booked. The good excursions are full. We can't get a cabana at Coco Cay. We have to be on a bus from the Orlando airport by noon, but we can't formally check in until 2pm. They tout how great having status is, but being Emerald status is getting us treated just the same as if this were our first cruise. I guess I'm filling up a suitcase with all of the books I haven't read and sitting on my balcony the whole time and eating three meals a day in the Windjammer.

Great advice thanks! With Viking I have not found an agent that can offer lower fares than what I get booking direct after Viking includes our multi cruise customers. Does anyone know of a agent that does?