Shopping for cruises and finding the best deal can be more complicated than you think. Most people don’t realize how many affect cruise pricing.  There’s much more to travel shopping than “is this fare cheaper than that one” and often you get what you pay for when you simply purchase the cheapest fare possible. Working with a travel agent can make the pain of finding the best vacation at the best price much easier. Don’t let the daunting complication of cruise shopping keep you from your dream cruise vacation when a travel agent could help ease and improve the quality of your vacation.

Some factors that go into cruise pricing are ship size, ship age, reputation, what time of year a ship sails, cabin size, deck level, view
obstructions, desirable ports of call, departure port and it’s traffic level, and the list goes on. Though it may seem as simple as is “this cabin is cheaper than that one”, the quality of your experience may great suffer by just choosing the cheapest fare. The cruise lines are just as happy to sell you the cheapest cabin on their worst ship as they are selling you their most expensive suite on their finest ship. Their goal is simply to fill cabins and get you spending money on the ship. You are not doing them any disservice to simply pick the cheapest fare and buy it, only yourself. After the cheapest cabins sell, the cruise lines will still need to sell their higher category cabins. They accomplish that by offering sales and discounts and this is where you can benefit the most.

There are many ways to work the system and get the best bargain for your money. With the right timing, you may be able to get a much nicer cabin on a much better ship for the same price or less as those cheap fares. Also, quite often there are many upgrade offers that you are unable to see because you don’t know how to find that amazing deal where an extra $40 will get you a cabin double the size with a balcony. You would have spent that money no problem, but because you were purely shopping for the lowest price you missed out on a more luxurious cabin for very little more money. Taking a snap shot of the market prices will not give you a broad enough picture to reveal those amazing deals that are out there. Someone who works with cruise pricing every day would have a wider scope to notice when those great cruise prices are available.

Travel agents get to see the big picture of cruise pricing. They spend each day checking rates for their clients and they get to see how those rates change on a daily basis. This gives them the insight to notice trends and sense price anomalies that may benefit their clients. Agents will also know of upcoming sales and specials, which you may have missed out on by finding the lowest fare and immediately purchasing. Most agents in competition with each other have access to the same pricing from the cruise lines and you will often find the same price from agent to agent or little difference in price. The best agents will save you the most money not by out-pricing their competitor, but by helping you find that momentarily irregular low fare that you didn’t know was available or by helping you figure out when is the best time to purchase that cruise you already had in mind. You may save $40 by buying from another source, but without the right level of customer service you may have missed out on tomorrow’s $300 savings, with a free balcony upgrade, and $100 on board credit.

It is also important to keep your travel agent informed. Make sure they know who is in your party. Are they military? What state do they live in? Has anyone cruised before? Any special occasions? The cruise lines have many unpublished discount prices available and these factors will help your travel agent save you money on these discounted fares. Give your travel agent your budget so he doesn’t waste your time sending you deals above your price range or below an accommodations level you would have been willing to pay for. The more information an agent has about you and your party, the better equipped he is to save you money and enhance your vacation.

Because there is more to purchasing a great vacation than rock bottom price, finding the right deal can be a daunting task. There are many amazing special offers out there which include free upgrades to largercabins, free credit to spend on board, and discounted fares. It would be a
shame to miss out on those by trying to find the lowest price without assistance. A travel agent can help you find those deals if he has enough information about your vacation needs and can keep you up to date onthe daily bargains that best suit you. Go Your Own Way is dedicated to offering that level of service and prides itself finding each customer exactly what they are looking for.

Click here to fill out a quote request form and let someone start helping you find that amazing vacation deal or call toll free 877-868-4812 toll free to speak with someone in person.

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