Originally Posted by
Dangjr213
I agree with happy's post.
I sail with cranival 2-3 times a year. The barclays's carnival card was my primary account. Took a lot of spending until I finally hit 100,000 fun points and was able to get $1,000 off my next cruise. I figured out I was better off with a cash back card.
Then after finding this site, I planned on churning cards for free cruises but have only ended up using points for flights/hotels and paying for my cruises. The points are just much more valuable that way. The way I look at it, I can sail from any port and not have to worry about the added expense of getting there.
In case you didn't know you can use UR points towards cruises at $.0125 per point. (I wouldn't do the statement credit mentioned above) The only catch is you have to have enough for full redemption and call the 1(800) number because you can't book online (phone fee is waived). The ones I priced out were the same prices as the cruise line's website.
And if you have a good cruise agent, you usually can do better, even at rock bottom prices you may still get a small break. Besides if you use a cruise-only agent, over the time you build up a relationship that you get a much better personal service then book directly with cruise lines or with online travel services.
We cruise a lot. This year we did a TATL Ft. Lauderdale to Europe in late April. In October we will do a Holy Lands followed by a TATL back to Ft. Lauderdale. Total days on cruises this year would be 39 days with the 3 cruises. They were all rockbottom last minute prices. While my agent does not have group discount on those, she could still give me a small break like absorbing 30 to 50% of the taxes. Our cruises add volume to her bookings even though we dont book fancy cabins. We also dont need her to hold hands in choosing cruises or monitoring prices. I tell her what we are eyeing, what all-in prices she can quote, and is there any OBC from her side. We then decided which to book. I do the request for shareholder benefits by myself. Once that is done, I ask her to send me an updated guest copy of invoice on which the OBC is listed. In short, she would not make much money from our bookings, but she also does not need to do much work, and our bookings add value to her yearly total volume. So it is a win-win relationship that we have since 2006 after I got her thru a private referral from a friend on cruisecritic board. All her business is from customers referrals among customers.
Originally Posted by
AlohaDaveKennedy
Do check into the Carnival-Southwest Airlines deal. Southwest is a Chase card and I do magic tricks with Chase cards.
But I will say RCL and Disney would be better for a cruising first impression.
It depends. A Carnival new ship such as Breeze or Dream, would beat RCCL's crappy Vision of the Sea or Grandeur of the Sea by a Mile.
New cruisers need to know lines have their own characters, and ships within the same lines are of different classes, and age. They make huge difference in terms of the "fit" between you and the cruise chosen.
Dont think cruise is an all-inclusive vacation as advertised. The daily gratuity is not included - the attendants rely on your tips for their living. Please pay the recommended amount and dont skim it.
Other expenses just like any other incidentals you would incur on a land trip - if you eat at the fancier specialty restaurants, drink alcohol or soda or specialty coffee / tea and fresh juice, eat ice cream outside the normal free hours (dining room, for example, is always free), and of course the shore excursion (just like your normal sightseeing tours on shore, but somewhat more expensive.) You need to factor those into your spending budget as well.