Monday, April 1, 2024

The 9 BEST Websites to Book a Cruise 2023

best cruise travel agents in usa

Tripadvisor Cruise, which launched in April 2019, is among the best websites for cruise deals—it lets you nab the lowest price by comparing more than 70,000 ocean and river cruises from some 60 of the best cruise websites. It’s got an attractive, inspiring landing page, and its newest function, “Explore Ship-tinerary pages,” lets you browse full ship profiles, details, photos, and itineraries. CEO of luxury travel agency Avenue Two Travel in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and member of the AFAR Travel Advisor Council, Joshua Bush is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to luxury travel both on land and at sea. And as an added bonus, Bush is an avid adventure traveler and can also be of service in helping you add an adventure element to your trip.

What is the best time to cruise to the USA?

Travel + Leisure's A-List Travel Advisors 2024 - Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure's A-List Travel Advisors 2024.

Posted: Thu, 09 Jun 2022 21:25:00 GMT [source]

Note that a Costco membership (starting at $60 per year) is required to book with Costco Travel, and that Costco doesn’t accept American Express. Its front page is clunky and sort of in your face, but CruiseDirect is still one of the best cruise sites for a variety of reasons. As a cruise-only company, CruiseDirect doesn’t deal in flights, hotels, or rental cars, allowing it to focus its full capacity on helping you find the best cruise deal possible. On the site, you can search by destination, departure port, month, length of cruise, and cruise line. There’s real-time online chat and a contact number for support from a cruise expert.

Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific

They’ll help you find the most romantic spots and events on the ship, and any ship-sponsored excursions. They can also provide you information about when or with whom to book a private tour guide for port excursions. Though Tripadvisor is technically a meta-search site for cruises, which means that it will send you elsewhere to actually book, its search engine lets users sort by destination, length, cruise line, and month of travel. The default search results are ordered by “best value”, unless you specifically click that you’d rather see the results organized by price, cruise length, departure date, or cruise ship.

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For example, if you want to cruise one of Europe's rivers in an intimate riverboat, you might not want to book with an agent who specializes in selling holidays on 3,000-person mega-ships. Question the agents on cruising trends or up-and-coming destinations, and ask them to explain the differences between cruise lines. Find out how many cruises they've taken that year and with which lines they've personally cruised. If the agent has rarely cruised, you might want to take your business elsewhere. In addition, you might want to look for an agent who is a cruise specialist -- either at a cruise-dedicated agency or within a larger general agency -- to get the best service. Cruise Critic is not a booking agent and does not charge any service fees to users of our site.

Best in Cruise Agency

You can search for a CLIA-certified travel agent on the organization's website. Use the search tool to locate agents in your area with a variety of levels of CLIA training. Most cruise lines, including Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line, have some version of a "Find a Travel Agency" search tool on their homepage.

Best for planning a luxury cruise

The Best Ways to Book a Cruise - NerdWallet

The Best Ways to Book a Cruise.

Posted: Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:01:35 GMT [source]

George Aballi, owner of Connection to Cruise in Redlands, California, should be on your radar when it comes to cruising, especially for travelers looking for a more active cruise experience. As a seasoned cruiser himself, Aballi has more than 20 years of experience in the travel industry pairing travelers with a trusted roster of oceangoing brands that include Silversea, Celebrity Cruises, Explora Journeys, and Hurtigruten Expeditions. Aballi also books river cruises for clients with brands like AmaWaterways, American Queen Voyages, Avalon Waterways, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, and Viking. Lately, Aballi has been putting together group cruise trips that focus on pickleball and incorporating the widely popular sport into cruise itineraries both at sea and on Europe’s rivers. Susan Reder & Penny Entin are leading and respected travel industry veterans. They are accompanied by the support of an elite group of cruise travel professionals that has garnered over 500 years of combined experience.

Best in Cruise Travel Agency

best cruise travel agents in usa

The cheapest base cruise fare does not always provide the best value or best overall vacation deal. Their expertise can help you avoid mistakes, whether you are a first-timer or a repeat cruiser checking out a brand you have not tried before. Use ASTA's consumer website to locate a travel agent who has agreed to conduct their business activities in accordance with the organization's code of ethics. Select "cruises" or "cruise lines" under Specialties to find agents that focus on selling cruise travel. Before we go any further, we should define what a “luxury cruise” is.

If you are using a full-service travel agency, ask for the cruise desk. You might get more personalized care from smaller agencies than from the huge online agencies, though websites such as icruise.com, Cruise.com and Cruise411.com also have experienced cruise agents. These larger online travel agencies can be a good option for those who prefer to make decisions and ask questions via chat. Just make sure you get the name and phone number of the representative for any follow-up questions. Many Caribbean cruises depart from ports in the United States and often stop in Miami or Key West en route to the Caribbean.

Night A Caribbean Dream And The Bright Lights Of North A...Details

Popular world cruise destinations from the United States include Fiji, the Bahamas, Panama, Mexico, France, Spain, Greece, Aruba, Jamaica, Chile, Belize, Brazil, and Portugal. The popular routes usually start in Miami or Port Canaveral and include stops at Key West, Ocean Cay Marine Reserve (Private Island), Nassau, Bimini, or Princess Cays. These shorter routes often end in the Bahamas, allowing you to explore the islands and stay for a few days after the cruise. Taking a cruise is a fun way to explore the world in comfort without having to worry about logistics. Once you’re on board everything is handled and you can just sit back and enjoy yourself.

On Expedia, it’s common to find bookable cruises for 70 percent off face value, with the ability to sort by price so the best cruise deals come up at the top of the list, saving you the scrolling. A sample search for a mid-June cruise to Alaska, for example, quickly came up with a seven-night itinerary starting at $389 per person—that’s less than $56 per person, per night for a mostly inclusive weeklong vacation. When you need an advisor who understands the needs of not only group travel but specifically traveling as a family, Darlene McClung of Frosch Vacations has got you covered. McClung has a wide variety of expertise in ocean, river, and small-ship cruising, and extensive experience sending families of all shapes and sizes on successful trips around the world.

You should consider booking a cruise through a travel agent because a knowledgeable agent can help you understand the nuances of a cruise purchase and help you make the best decisions for your vacation preferences. With everyone attached to their phones, laptops and tablets, many people assume that online is the only way to book travel. But, as booking online can often be confusing, a travel agent might be just what you need. Cruise ships provide a distinct method of travel and are a popular choice among passengers. They usually operate during two seasons – a European summer season and a Caribbean winter season – and utilize the same ships for both. In order to move between seasons, the ships must cross the Atlantic.

Luxury cruise lines such as Regent Seven Seas, Ponant, Oceania, Viking, Azamara, Silver Seas, Seabourn, Windstar, Paul Gaugin, offer an all-inclusive and tailor-made small cruise experience. They also usually have unique itineraries and excursions that the main-stream lines don’t offer. Avoya’s team of staffers and wide network of independent agencies make for a cruise booking website that’s a bit different from the rest.

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