P, E, O, P, L, E - LET'S BEGIN WITH PLANNING -
BOOKING THE CRUISE
Now it is time to book the voyage.
The excitement begins as you have your Travel Specialist inquire for availability of the room accommodation you have requested.
We would recommend that besides letting your Travel Specialist know which room category you desire that you give them a handful of room numbers you prefer. When we do this, we say if those are not available please find the next closest room one of the ones that we have identified.
The Travel Specialist will then contact the reservation agent or use an automated on-line cruise line reservation system to inquire about the room and the price. If they can obtain one of the rooms you desire they will have the reservation agent put the room on hold for you. The amount of time a room can be placed on-hold with no deposit put into place varies by cruise line but is normally between 24 and 72 hours. This will provide time for you to think about this and to talk it over.
If they have no luck, they will ask about other room categories and locations and then they will come back to you for you to decide. If this is fine with you, then you can have them place that room on hold for you. We do want to note that some cruise lines make available on line a program that will show what rooms are available similar to choosing a seat on an airline. Some will show all rooms available and others will show just a subset of rooms not yet booked, by category.
Assuming you move forward with your booking the next step is to have your Travel Specialist make a full deposit for you. In most cases deposits are refundable although there are cruise lines that will not refund the deposit. Be sure to know the rules for the cruise line. The amount of deposits will vary. On some cruise lines such as the standard lines deposits can be as small as a two hundred dollars whereas on luxury lines often the deposit will range from 20 to 25 percent of the full fare.
Once you make the deposit then the remaining balance will be due somewhere between 90 to 120 day days prior to the sailing. Again, be sure you know the specifics for the cruise line you are booking with.
Next we will discuss insurance.,
The excitement begins as you have your Travel Specialist inquire for availability of the room accommodation you have requested.
We would recommend that besides letting your Travel Specialist know which room category you desire that you give them a handful of room numbers you prefer. When we do this, we say if those are not available please find the next closest room one of the ones that we have identified.
The Travel Specialist will then contact the reservation agent or use an automated on-line cruise line reservation system to inquire about the room and the price. If they can obtain one of the rooms you desire they will have the reservation agent put the room on hold for you. The amount of time a room can be placed on-hold with no deposit put into place varies by cruise line but is normally between 24 and 72 hours. This will provide time for you to think about this and to talk it over.
If they have no luck, they will ask about other room categories and locations and then they will come back to you for you to decide. If this is fine with you, then you can have them place that room on hold for you. We do want to note that some cruise lines make available on line a program that will show what rooms are available similar to choosing a seat on an airline. Some will show all rooms available and others will show just a subset of rooms not yet booked, by category.
Assuming you move forward with your booking the next step is to have your Travel Specialist make a full deposit for you. In most cases deposits are refundable although there are cruise lines that will not refund the deposit. Be sure to know the rules for the cruise line. The amount of deposits will vary. On some cruise lines such as the standard lines deposits can be as small as a two hundred dollars whereas on luxury lines often the deposit will range from 20 to 25 percent of the full fare.
Once you make the deposit then the remaining balance will be due somewhere between 90 to 120 day days prior to the sailing. Again, be sure you know the specifics for the cruise line you are booking with.
Next we will discuss insurance.,
