Just found this forum days ago, very informative forum. A few Qs:

Please share more details on the "Future Cruise" deposits, besides mentioned above, what are the advantages? BTW, what is "cruise DO"?

Wife is interested in a crusie in the first week of Sept 2010 (off from Sept 4to Sept 12), she wants to go on a 7-night Mediterranean cruise, I want to go on at least 10- or 11-nights Mediterranean Cruise, so I suggested her to go on the US Cruises, e.g Alaska, West Coast, or Caribbean, anyone in this forum is organizing such cruise or where can I find good suggestions?

Thanks.

You basically get two advantages.

1. You can use this as a deposit on a future cruise regardless of how much the deposit would normally be. Thus, even if the deposit would normally be $500, you only pay $100.
2. You also get onboard credit - from $25 to $150 depending on the length of the cruise.

A "Do" is a FlyerTalk get-together.

cruisecritic.com is a good resource. You can also check out the Cruise forum on FlyerTalk, but it's not that active. Caribbean cruises tend to be cheaper and more for "partying". Alaska cruises are all about the scenery (and who knows how much longer that will last). When you've decided which cruise you want, I suggest going to cruisecompete.com to ask for travel agency bids - you can often get really good deals here along with onboard credits.

Hope you enjoy your first cruise, wherever it takes you!

You can, of course, also seek out a reputable and knowledgeable local travel agent and build a rapport with that person for booking your future cruises.

Any downside to using the big online TAs (Orbitz, Expedia, etc.)?

I would never use an online agent for a cruise unless the price is unbeatable. So your flight is delayed and you miss your cruise departure. How easy will it be to contact your online travel agent? Generally, not very.

Most good local agents, in my experience and in reading on CC, are able to match the larger online agencies in terms of price and benefits.

Absolutely, if you can find one. Good local travel agents are very valuable - I just haven't found one in many years.

Why would you need to? I would always contact the cruise line directly. Any time you involve a middleman, you're increasing risk and latency.

I just find them not to have the best prices.

Sorry and didn't mean to turn the thread which is about our FT cruise do into a sidetrack on the pros and cons of online versus live TA's, a discussion which has been explored and can be revisited elsewhere on the FT cruise forum. I was just merely trying to offer some alternative advice to someone seeking options and encourage that poster to read other threads on this forum for their own benefit.

Thanks again to OP for organizing this Princess cruise FT Do which I am very much looking forward to ^ and maybe that's the topic we should be returning to.

Agreed, it's a topic discussed elsewhere. Most travel agent-related threads seem to be in MilesBuzz though I couldn't find a thread with that exact topic, but it's a worthwhile thread to start.Agreed!

So you will involve a middleman (the cruise line) for your flights, but not involve a middleman (a travel agent) when booking your cruise? I don't understand.

I would almost *never* book cruise air through the cruise line. And have you read the fine print in the cruise lines' contract? Basically, they book cruise air as a convenience, with absolutely no liability. Generally if things go wrong with cruise air, they go from bad to worse pretty fast. The airline tickets the cruise lines sell are group/bulk fares and rarely allow the tickets to be used on an airline other than the one originally ticketed on.

I am not here to debate cruise air vs. booking independently or booking through a travel agent or not. I just know that based on my personal experiences and having heard from others about theirs, I would never book cruise air through the cruise line (I would and have booked it independently) and I would rarely book airline tickets directly with the airline (go to the airline forums and see how many airlines disconnected callers after the volcanic ash resulted in flights between N. America and Europe being grounded). I find the middleman is my advocate, not a risk.

Not if my life depended on it. I only book directly with the airlines (unless it's a work trip where they require we use the corporate travel agent).

You misunderstood me. If my flight is late, I would contact the cruise line to see about picking up the ship at a later port. I would then make my own arrangements to get there.

Hi folks.

I just got a message from the travel agent. It seems that Princess has canceled this sailing. I'll talk to him when I get home and see what our options are.

This sucks.

Sucks indeed! I hope there are other viable options...

Probably not many. The Golden Princess is doing a 3 night Los Angeles - Vancouver 11-14 May 2011 but no stops so not too exciting. Holland America didn't have anything of a similiar sailing.

Right now, they have the Coral ending its trip in San Francisco (screws the people who were taking the 19-day Ft. Lauderdale-Vancouver trip, too). Since I doubt they'll scuttle her here, I asssume they'll be planning something. Maybe they're just doing this so they can raise the rate...

It would guess the whole ship has been chartered and since there wasn't too many individuals booked this far out it looked a better financial proposition to Princess. Too bad as I was looking forward to cruising on the Coral Princess.

Here's an idea: Celebrity has an 8 night sailing on Century on a wine cruise Los Angeles - Vancouver 14 May 2011 with stops in San Francisco, Astoria, Nanaimo and Victoria, B.C. It's twice as long and a higher price but sort of fits the date. Any interest?