So, if I'm not mistaken, CruiseCompete works because certain agencies buy blocks - get discounts because of buying blocks - then resell individual rooms from the block to buyers?

I don't know. The quoted price is always the same for Carnival and Royal Caribbean as I see on the cruise line sites in my experience, it's the bonus offers on each response that differs. I think they are just discounting out of their commissions and going for volume to make their money.

I have never used it, but I think the price would be the same as the lines, but with maybe an extra thrown in.

Not always the case. I once booked a cruise on Seabourn that priced at $25k on Seabourns web site, but I paid $23k using cruise compete. My experience is that the higher the price, the more big agencies can discount as many rebate part of their commission.

Interesting thread. We have never used cruisecompete before.

I have used them 4 times in the last 5 years. Never had a problem with any cruises I have booked through them. They've been great. Just this past November, I booked a cruise of the Greek Islands for this upcoming June. Got a great price on a balcony plus extra on board credit and all the perks from the cruise line. Now to get my flights booked:eek:

It depends.

I've seen better deals with them on a 7-night Western Caribbean with RCI but mainly because we were booking 2 Junior Suites, and they had OBC and pre-paid gratuities which basically got us about $200 per cabin cheaper than RCI.

On Carnival on the other hand....
I got a whole $25 extra OBC.

But $25 is $25.
Plus a $50 restaurant.com gift card (I'll use it as it has a restaurant I go to).

It's easy to use and only takes a few moments of your time, so give it a whirl.

I just discovered cruisecomplete, set up an account, and requested a cruise quote. One question: when opening an "account" I was asked if I would be using an American Express card. Why??

I assume some sites have deals for Amex customers.

Maybe a post from the other side of the aisle can clarify a few things....

I run a small travel agency chain that uses CruiseCompete to generate new business.

We have multiple ways of offering cruise discounts:
a- cross-border selling. Cruise lines, like airlines, offer different prices in different markets. Only a few lines like Holland America and Princess do not allow cross-bordering between the US and Europe, so in times of weak Euros prices can differ up to 25percent
b- buying groups as early as three years ahead of the sailing date at the lowest possible prices. when prices go up closer to the date, we still have space left at "old" prices
c- buying distressed inventory from other agencies/tour operators. a lot of agents buy huge blocks of more than 100 cabins and end up with a few leftovers that they can't return to the cruise line. we buy these at large discount and resell them
d- commission rebating: only when we are missing a few $ to our next commission level, will we actually "buy" business this way. If giving one client $100 means getting back $1000 from the cruise line in commission on my other business, I would say that's an easy decision

@ratherflythantalk
some cruise lines offer deals specifically to AmEx Platinum clients. If the quoting agent is aware of them, he/she may be able to get a better price from the cruise line

^Thank you! Very helpful in understanding why some cruises on certain dates are discounted so much more than others. I have found that the disparity in my discounts or obc for the last 4 cruises made no sense, now it is a bit more clear why that may be!!!

Here's an example of why I find it hard to trust cruise compete.

Allure of the Seas Jan 2016. 2 cabins, 4 people. Balcony and an inside across the hall for the kids. RCI website quotes me in Canadian funds. $4884 all in, and then $200 US on board credit as part of the BOGO sale on right now. Cruise compete agency of the year comes back with US $4949, with a $650 on board credit. So basically $4300 US, which still equates to almost $5400 CDN. That's still almost $800 higher than the RCI website price after factoring in the credits from both offers.

Here is why I trust cruise compete. I saved $2,000.00 over what the cruise line offered on their own web site. :D

I have tried but don't use CruiseCompete. Over 20 plus years of cruising I've found three or four discount cruise agencies that have given me great discounts. We have a Med cruise coming up this coming June and the agency we booked with us giving us a 12% discount in real money not on board credits or inexpensive bottles of wine.

RCI and NCL and Carnival all offer a discounted exchange rate if you book direct or thru a Cdn travel agent. I've recently been quoted 1.1 to 1.16 by those lines. A quote from a US travel agent will likely not use that rate.