Cruise Compete This good?
Jul 12, 2015, 10:29 pm
#77
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 223
CVO has been good to us. One key to get the best deal from them on NCL is to be certain to mention your cruise compete number. sometimes they have special pricing which provides a better discount than when they rebate their commission ion by way of extra OTC. FWIW, we have used Mike off and on over the last five or six years. He has been responsive and helpful when we find price drops on our booked cruise.
Mar 30, 2018, 6:52 pm
#79
Join Date: May 2011
Location: San Antonio, TX
Programs: AA EXP, DL Silver, Global Entry
Posts: 1,863
Personally I don’t use Cruise Compete because I have an established Internet based agency that meets my needs. Years ago my problem with Cruise Compete was that many of the agencies/agents had no history that I could discovered. There were a few agencies/agents that turned out to have the shelf life of mayonnaise on a warm summer day. That’s not to say there aren’t some good ones out there but lacking recommendations I’m hesitant to gamble on an unknown.
Mar 31, 2018, 7:46 am
#80
Join Date: Jun 2006
Programs: UA Premier 1K, Star Alliance Gold, Titanium Elite Marriott, Celebrity Elite, IHG, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 343
Cruise Compete
I tried the website a couple of weeks ago. I was on a cruise about a year ago and someone mention the site. I wanted to book a cruise later in the year. I submitted the information to Cruise Compete. I received several quotes some were straight forward and the prices were in the same range of the cabin requested. Others listed different cabins with higher and lower price with and without perks. I was not familiar with most of the agencies. Some were small agencies with limited inventory and other had slightly larger inventories but not like the major cruise agencies like Vacations to Go, Online Vacation Center and Cruise Line.com. Cruise Critic is a good site to use when looking for a cruise.
Mar 31, 2018, 8:44 am
#81
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Dusseldorf, Germany
Programs: Business Travel Agent, Sabre Junkie, Miles & More Silver
Posts: 13
I run one of the agencies giving quotes to CruiseCompete clients and we don't even bother quoting unless we can offer a substantial discount (minimum -20%) over the current market price.
For us CruiseCompete is a side business helping us fill group space, and pick up new clients along the way, who then mostly become repeat clients because they appreciate the service and reliability we offer.
We are small (20 people) and highly specialized, so it is quite likely that most folks have never heard of us, but really if someone only wants to book with a big agency what is the purpose of using Cruise Compete versus simply calling them or checking their website.
I think the beauty of CruiseCompete is really that small specialized agencies like ours can get their competitively priced inventory to market and stand out of the crowd.
In that respect CruiseCompete is rather unique.
For us CruiseCompete is a side business helping us fill group space, and pick up new clients along the way, who then mostly become repeat clients because they appreciate the service and reliability we offer.
We are small (20 people) and highly specialized, so it is quite likely that most folks have never heard of us, but really if someone only wants to book with a big agency what is the purpose of using Cruise Compete versus simply calling them or checking their website.
I think the beauty of CruiseCompete is really that small specialized agencies like ours can get their competitively priced inventory to market and stand out of the crowd.
In that respect CruiseCompete is rather unique.
Mar 31, 2018, 9:56 pm
#82
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 681
I tried the website a couple of weeks ago. I was on a cruise about a year ago and someone mention the site. I wanted to book a cruise later in the year. I submitted the information to Cruise Compete. I received several quotes some were straight forward and the prices were in the same range of the cabin requested. Others listed different cabins with higher and lower price with and without perks. I was not familiar with most of the agencies. Some were small agencies with limited inventory and other had slightly larger inventories but not like the major cruise agencies like Vacations to Go, Online Vacation Center and Cruise Line.com. Cruise Critic is a good site to use when looking for a cruise.
The quotes I've seen have typically been from the places you mentioned, plus Cruiseone, which is a franchise operation and the company that responds will be (in my experience) just a one person operation. That's actually who my current agent is with, and I found her with Cruisecompete. She's not always as cheap as places like Crucon, but she responds quickly to email I send at 10pm (or later).
My only disappointment came recently, when I asked for a quote or an Oceania cruise and only got one response. Apparently they had that cruise (and maybe all Oceania?) set up to go to a single agent. The price wasn't even all that great.
Cruise Critic is an excellent resource, but not for finding travel agents as their policy says you cannot mention them.
Apr 1, 2018, 10:04 am
#83
Join Date: Nov 2013
Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum; Amex Plat; Four Seasons; Fairmont; HH; etc.; "Retirees-In-Training"
Posts: 658
I run one of the agencies giving quotes to CruiseCompete clients and we don't even bother quoting unless we can offer a substantial discount (minimum -20%) over the current market price.
For us CruiseCompete is a side business helping us fill group space, and pick up new clients along the way, who then mostly become repeat clients because they appreciate the service and reliability we offer.
We are small (20 people) and highly specialized, so it is quite likely that most folks have never heard of us, but really if someone only wants to book with a big agency what is the purpose of using Cruise Compete versus simply calling them or checking their website.
I think the beauty of CruiseCompete is really that small specialized agencies like ours can get their competitively priced inventory to market and stand out of the crowd.
In that respect CruiseCompete is rather unique.
For us CruiseCompete is a side business helping us fill group space, and pick up new clients along the way, who then mostly become repeat clients because they appreciate the service and reliability we offer.
We are small (20 people) and highly specialized, so it is quite likely that most folks have never heard of us, but really if someone only wants to book with a big agency what is the purpose of using Cruise Compete versus simply calling them or checking their website.
I think the beauty of CruiseCompete is really that small specialized agencies like ours can get their competitively priced inventory to market and stand out of the crowd.
In that respect CruiseCompete is rather unique.
We usually want a very specific suite; there may only be two and we may want the on on a specific side for a specific itinerary.
Now, with at least some cruise lines, we can reserve with the line itself, and then (with some limitations) we might be able to transfer the reservation to an outside agent of our choice.
IF we did this, would an agency such as yours still be able to offer the same discounts/OBC as if we had gone through you at the start?
Or do you only offer cabins that are "left over" from groups where you had booked a block and didn't sell all of them?
GC
Apr 2, 2018, 5:20 am
#84
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Dusseldorf, Germany
Programs: Business Travel Agent, Sabre Junkie, Miles & More Silver
Posts: 13
We've been hesitant to deal with "unknown" online-only vendors for cruise reservations.
We usually want a very specific suite; there may only be two and we may want the on on a specific side for a specific itinerary.
Now, with at least some cruise lines, we can reserve with the line itself, and then (with some limitations) we might be able to transfer the reservation to an outside agent of our choice.
IF we did this, would an agency such as yours still be able to offer the same discounts/OBC as if we had gone through you at the start?
Or do you only offer cabins that are "left over" from groups where you had booked a block and didn't sell all of them?
GC
We usually want a very specific suite; there may only be two and we may want the on on a specific side for a specific itinerary.
Now, with at least some cruise lines, we can reserve with the line itself, and then (with some limitations) we might be able to transfer the reservation to an outside agent of our choice.
IF we did this, would an agency such as yours still be able to offer the same discounts/OBC as if we had gone through you at the start?
Or do you only offer cabins that are "left over" from groups where you had booked a block and didn't sell all of them?
GC
first of all, my company is NOT an online-only vendor but a brick-and-mortar cruise agency that does a little side business on Cruise Compete.
For all of us here cruising is the main way to spend our personal vacation and every one of my agents will sail or visit at least six different ships every year.
We will not normally take over bookings made direct with cruise lines, simply because they will then not honor any of our contracted benefits, be they (additional) OBC, speical pricing for particular sailings or extra perks, i.e. category upgrades or suite benefits for regular cabins.
We will be pleased to offer you a competitive quote on any cruise line you like and we are honest enough to tell you when we don't expect to have the lowest price in the market.
Best,
Michael Naguib
Apr 2, 2018, 5:34 pm
#85
Join Date: May 2011
Location: San Antonio, TX
Programs: AA EXP, DL Silver, Global Entry
Posts: 1,863
We've been hesitant to deal with "unknown" online-only vendors for cruise reservations.
We usually want a very specific suite; there may only be two and we may want the on on a specific side for a specific itinerary.
Now, with at least some cruise lines, we can reserve with the line itself, and then (with some limitations) we might be able to transfer the reservation to an outside agent of our choice.
IF we did this, would an agency such as yours still be able to offer the same discounts/OBC as if we had gone through you at the start?
Or do you only offer cabins that are "left over" from groups where you had booked a block and didn't sell all of them?
GC
We usually want a very specific suite; there may only be two and we may want the on on a specific side for a specific itinerary.
Now, with at least some cruise lines, we can reserve with the line itself, and then (with some limitations) we might be able to transfer the reservation to an outside agent of our choice.
IF we did this, would an agency such as yours still be able to offer the same discounts/OBC as if we had gone through you at the start?
Or do you only offer cabins that are "left over" from groups where you had booked a block and didn't sell all of them?
GC
Apr 4, 2018, 3:32 am
#87
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: ATL
Posts: 802
Apr 10, 2018, 9:14 am
#88
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 483
We have been booking a year out with cruise compete with non-refundable deposits on some, but the rates are good. We usually compare the price on expedia and get about 10% back as OBC, plus the OBC from the cruise line. I am guessing generally the contract agencies get is 20% off and they give us 10%.
Apr 10, 2018, 12:06 pm
#89
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: ATL
Posts: 802
We have been booking a year out with cruise compete with non-refundable deposits on some, but the rates are good. We usually compare the price on expedia and get about 10% back as OBC, plus the OBC from the cruise line. I am guessing generally the contract agencies get is 20% off and they give us 10%.
Apr 24, 2018, 9:13 am
#90
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 4
Haven't gone yet, but booked a cruise on Viking Ocean for July 2019 through Cruise Compete. No OBC, but a substantial savings from what the price was on their website. I spoke to the agent prior to booking (Cruise Vacation Outlets) and she was extremely helpful. Viking is known to require payment in full a long time before the cruise, and she was able to shorten it to 6 months prior. Then, I had to deviate on the air, and again very happy. Within minutes she emailed me an updated invoice.
Hopefully, I will be just as pleased next summer
Hopefully, I will be just as pleased next summer