I've used them several times before, they're really a big cruise agency that offers AA miles if you contact contact from the AA cruise portal or phone number. They charge fees and sometimes the bonus miles don't post. I've given up on them and use cruise.com. cruise.com has really good prices as long as you don't need any customer service, I've used them several times and one time had to cancel a cunard cruise and was able to do it after a bit of phone tag and had no issues with a refund (based on the cruise lines policies). Bottom line, unless you need the miles/LPs I'd avoid AA Cruises.

Thanks. Doesn't look like I can book two rooms at once with cruise.com either. May not be a big deal, but the second room is for my kids (21 & 23) at the time. I think it is best if our reservations are connected.

Hello friends. Have been on many, many cruises. I always book with an OTA and I have tried them all: Amex, UA Cruises, AA Cruises, Orbitz, Costco, Expedia and Priceline. First, over 10 "mileage program" OTA's are operated by World Travel Holdings (WTH). They are the largest cruise seller in the USA. Second, the price varies dramatically between OTA's. Last week there was a Royal Caribbean sailing for $4k on one site and under $2k on another site - same cabin category (note-all the WTH sites have the same price but different promos, while different OTA's can have wildly different prices). The reason for this frequent price disparity is because many OTAs buy or guarantee to fill a certain number of cabins on certain sailings. So WTH might have a dozen balcony cabins on sale for $2k and Expedia/Orbitz will have the same cabins for $2,500 just because WTH decided it's time to get rid of the ones they still need to fill (they pay for them if they are not sold). On other days, Expedia/Orbitz will have dramatically lower fares for the same reason, they need to dump their inventory. On yet other days, they will all be pretty close.

The best thing to do is to check all the "sellers." Compare all of them and see which one has the best deal. Note that not all balcony cabins are the same, nor are all interior or ocean views. Each ship has many different categories for each type of cabin. See the different prices, see if the cabin codes are the same or different, and also see what extras or promos they are offering. UA Cruises usually has the best promos and they typically give the most miles, but their miles are becoming much less valuable, while AA usually gives the very least miles but you score some LPs. Amex has largely been way overpriced in the last 2 years, often higher than the cruise line website for some reason, while Orbitz and Expedia have occasionally been shockingly cheaper than everyone on some sailings. Plus, Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline Cruises (maybe others) can be found on some of the airline shopping portals. So you can get even more miles if you click through (eg. the MileagePlus shopping portal has several cruise sellers).

Yes, WTH charges $24.99 per cabin as a service fee, and they do tend to charge an extra $100 if you cancel - on top of the cruise line cancellation fees- but if they have a significantly better deal and good promos, then it could be worth it.

I've had my share of problems with most OTA's - it just happens. In my opinion Amex is the absolute worst of them all, while Orbitz/Expedia, WTH and Costco tend to be pretty helpful. But to say any of them are "terrible" or whatever, it is not true. If you have a problem, yes then you are always better off having booked directly. If you use an OTA and need help, it can be a bit of a pain in the neck, but at the end of the day for people who travel a lot, it is worth using an OTA because all those miles/points/promos really add up and overcome the hassle of not booking directly. When having travel-related cruise problems, WTH is decent with resolving things, Expedia/Orbitz a little harder, and Amex has been really bad.

And it's not reasonable to be mad if you book a cruise and the price goes down later. That will happen often enough, and it can be a big price drop. Don't be mad at the travel agency just because the cruise line has policies and don't give back money when prices drop. They have refund periods and cancellation deadlines, and penalties or fees always go up as the cruise date approaches. This is their business model. You cannot reasonably expect anyone to make an exception and honor a lower price later, just because you want money back. If that's what you want, try a different vacation type because cruises do not typically have price guarantees and their policies are strict. Again, not the travel agent...in fact, the travel agent does not even collect your cruise fare. It is paid directly to the cruise line no matter who you give your credit card number to.