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Well.....I was talking about Carnival specifically from the start. I didn't say anything about HAL, RCCL, or whatever.[/quote]
The point I was trying to make is that Cruise lines talk out of both sides of their mouth. In one breath they say no discounting and on the other hand they want the ships filled so people spend like crazy on them. Even though I dont sail Carnival, I am confident that if you use cruise compete you will have agents discounting the cruise. Oh well I enjoyed the conversation.
The key word there is "some". If you cruise compete a cruise 6 months to a year away there will be agents who will discount the cruise to sell and again the cruise line will turn their backs!
I totally believe in internet travel services. I use Expedia, Priceline and Travelosity. I use vacationstogo.com for all my cruises. Just booked a last minute 11 day Hawaiian cruise for April 1. Got an oceanview cabin for $649.00. Went through Hawaiian air and found airfare to Oahu from Phoenix for $169.00. That is $828.00 per person including airfare for 11 days. I had a very nice travel agent and had everything booked in less than 15 minutes. All my docs were emailed immediately and I preregistered with NCL and took no more than 30 minutes total without ever leaving my home. Cannot believe I could have saved anymore money at a travel agency. I am surprised when I talk to others on the ships and find out how much they paid for the same room as me. They usually say they booked through a travel agent. I check with vacationstogo.com everyday just to see what their daily special is and look for fanstastic deals......Aloha and Mahalo!
Many people book in advance so they can select a specific cabin, deck, location, etc. They don't want to wait until last minute to get the leftovers. It also doesn't benefit some people to book at last minute when they would have to pay sky high last minute airfare. PHX is a large airport with lots of competition, but someone coming from the East coast or Midwest might not have that choice. (Atleast, not without driving 3-4hrs.) So if they book their cruise early at $800, their air early at $500, they are better off than waiting until last minute paying $649 and $800 for air. IMHO I don't know why some people are so obsessed going around on their cruise talking about how much they paid anyway. Do they go up and down the airplane asking everyone what they paid? Do they go around the hotel asking everyone what they paid for their room? Do they go to a land resort and walk around the pool asking everyone what they paid? They should be going on their cruise and just have a good time. Unless a person works in the Travel Industy I don't think they will ever understand the complexity about the whole booking process about cruises. There are way to many variables. Someone may have paid more for their cruise then you did. But they might not be mentioning they also got a 1hr cocktail hour from their TA, or onboard credit, or that transfers were included. The person talking about how cheap they got theirs', might be mentioning the base price before taxes and fees, and not mention they booked on the very bottom deck and just happen to luck out and get upgraded. Everything is not just black & white. Bottom line is you should be going on the cruise to have a great time and not obsessing on how much everybody paid.
Okay I get what you are saying I'm not going around asking people what they spent on their cruise I was just asking a question but it seems like your angry about something so thanks for the info drop the attitude!!! I was just wanting to make sure I wasn't getting ripped off thanks to all that didn't seem crabby in their responses!!!!
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Carnival Conquest-2004
Carnival Valor-2005
Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas-2007
TRM7050
Sorry if it sounded that way, but it was not intended that way at all. So no attitude. As a matter of fact though, that post wasn't even directed to you, it was a response to another post. You say your not going around talking to people about what they paid, but your post that started this thread says otherwise. In your last post your use of the words "ripped off" concerns me. Which is exactly what I was trying to explain in my last post. That there are just too many variables in cruise bookings that people don't understand, and it's not as black and white as you think. Just because you paid more does not mean you were "ripped off". I think this thread has run it's course. Happy cruising.
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