Some Important Things You Should Know About
Making Cruise Reservations

Last year, 11.3 million North Americans took a cruise vacation, a 6% increase over the previous year..Despite unparalleled growth, only about 9% of adult Americans have sailed on a cruise ship. Today, we would like to talk to those of you who are considering your first cruise, and, perhaps, to a few of you who have cruised once or twice before but would like to know more about the industry.

The reservations process can be daunting. How do you pick a ship, a cabin, or an insurance policy? This brief guide is intended to help you navigate the cruise-selection process. Whatever process you use to select your cruise, be content with the knowledge that there is a 96.4% chance that once you return from your first cruise, you will sail again within thirty-six months. This represents the highest satisfaction level, by a wide margin, of any type of vacation experience and it is the core reason for the growth of the industry. But letâs make certain that you get it right the first time. Here are some of the questions we are asked most often by consumers considering their first cruise:

How Do I Start?

Some of the best and least subjective information about cruising can be found in books such as The Berlitz Guide to Cruising and Fieldingâs Guide to Cruising. We find the information in these books to be far more accurate than information gathered from the Internet. Friends may offer opinions based on their own experiences, but it is doubtful that they have the range of cruise experience sufficient to guide you toward exactly the right vessel. And there is only one best cruise line and vessel for you - the ships really are that different. All of your friends likely to insist that their doctor is "tops" in his or her field. It is much the same with cruises. Unless you have sampled dozens of ships and are aware of the striking differences between products, it will be difficult to make a decision on your own. Marketing departments at the largest lines aim to keep you confused. Every ship is described in glowing terms.

How Do I Select An Agent?

There are a number of cruise specialized travel firms in the United States that specialize in cruise vacation planning. Quite often, firms that sell the most cruises get preferred rates. As a general rule, you are best off working with a membert of the "By-Invitation-Only" Virtuoso Network. These are the top-producing agencies in the nation. Last year the network members sold $4.6 billion worth of leisure travel. They are the top-producing agency group for virtually every one of the top-ten rated cruise lines.

(For the complete ratings of the top ten lines, click on Cruise Line Ratings on our home page).

Planning a cruise ought to be a three-step process. First, contact a knowledgeable cruise expert to discuss possible options. It is important that your consultant tries to learn about your likes and dislikes. Do not give in to sales pressure during this first discussion. Take the time to study the brochures you will be given, looking carefully at accommodation choices and itineraries. During the second discussion with your consultant you will make the actual reservation. The third and final step in the process is a comprehensive trip review, which is usually done two or three weeks prior to your departure.

It is the first, consultive meeting/discussion that is critical. A great consultant will try to get to learn as much as possible about you and your goals for your upcoming cruise vacation. You will not be pressured to purchase. In fact, if you try to purchase, you will be asked to take the time to do some research to check the validity of the advice you are being given.

Will I get a better rate if I book with one of those 800 numbers or thje Internet?

It is true that there are cruise agencies that work out of large rooms in out-of- state booking centers. And it is true that they may have a lower price than you will find in your own community. This usually has more to do with the fact that they are rebating a portion of their commission than with any special deal they have with the cruise lines. In fact, cruise lines frown on rebaters, much as the medical or legal professions frown on practitioners who would kick back a portion of their fees to attract business. A travel firm that sells on price rather than service, runs the risk of loosing the right to sell a cruise line's product. VCruise lines cannot set the price but they can set standards and they can refuse to pay commission to those who rebate a percentage of the cost of their product.

How Should I Go About Selecting The Best Cruise for Me?

That will be determined by the skill and knowledge of your agent combined with the research that you have been willing to do on your own. Here are some questions you will need to answer to get pointed in the right direction:

What is your budget? Be candid with your agent. Can you spend more than the $2800-$3800 per couple cost of a typical Caribbean cruise with everything included?

How long can you get away? Ten to twelve days is the ideal length of time to cruise. Are you really locked into seven? One of the biggest mistakes made by first-time cruisers is the selection of a cruise that is shorter than what they need or can afford.

What do you expect to get from your cruise experience? Your agent will want to know this so you can be matched with the perfect ship.

How important is the age of the ship? Booking you on a new, glitzy mega-ship with two or three thousand fellow guests is no problem - but is that what you really want? Would you consider an older, more mature cruise ship? Wine and people seem to get better with age ö are you really certain that does not apply to ships?

Do you like the Mirage and Caesar's Palace? I ask that question, because some of the new ships being launched closely resemble floating Vegas resorts with huge casinos, several dining options, and numerous onboard options. But there are alternatives for those of you who donât want a glamorous, high-energy cruise experience. One cruise line employs Oxford and Cambridge lecturers on voyages that concentrate on the antiquities. There are small, comfortable ships where you never have to don a tie, sailing ships that cruise the French Riviera, 100-passenger ships that ply the rivers of the Colonial South with visits to antebellum mansions along the way, and small ships that sail with just six couples to Alaska. The point is that there are numerous options for those who want to do other than mainstream cruising.

What Will My Fellow Passengers Be Like? This is the least-asked, most critical question to consider. When you are traveling you are relatively careful about the hotel and the restaurants you select. You are concerned with health and your personal safety. But you are also concerned with something we call, for want of a better term, "the jerk factor." A deal on a ship with a group of rampaging drinkers who are going to keep you up till the wee hours is not a deal. It's money down the drain. Your vacation is an expression of who and what you are.

The fact is that the more expensive the cruise product the more refined an audience it will tend to attract. Of course, refinement is not for everyone. Comfort is also important. But the "jerk factor" on various cruise lines is definitely worth discussing with your agent. Cruise line brochures do not, unfortunately, offer "jerk factor" ratings.

The Internet: Two thumbs up!

by Richard Turen

Dear client: Like anyone who enjoys a good deal, it may have occurred to you that you can actually plan some of the best moments of your life online. A proportion of vacation planning is done that way and I, as your agent, want to tell you about some of the advantages in using an online site, instead of me, to plan your next vacation:

1. Your privacy will not be invaded. The Internet will never want to meet you, to know your personal likes and dislikes, to strive to treat you as an individual. No one will ask about your prior travel experiences to match you with the very best travel product. No one will inquire about your medical background. In fact, to protect your privacy, your entire transaction may be occurring in Bangladesh. But this won't bother you because no one will tell you this.

2. The simplicity of the Internet is appealing. The only bit of information you need to give up is your credit card number. Sure, credit card security is a major issue, and you may actually be speaking with a hotel reservationist who is currently incarcerated, but giving your credit card to someone who may be using a fictitious name is not really that dangerous. Don't worry about it.

3. You won't have to deal with any negative information. In fact, you probably won't have to deal with any downside information about your hotel, your airline seat or your cruise line. Everything smells like a strawberry on the Internet. It is a world where everything is fine and your booking will be simple and efficient without wasting time discussing the relative merits of hotels and their locations, air routing, personalized sightseeing geared to your interests and feedback from personal inspections. No downside information. The Internet is always positive, even if your hotel is a hellhole. I like that about them.

4. Internet sites often allow you to pay more for your vacation. This keeps lots of folks employed. You never have to worry about being called a cheapskate for using the Internet, since there is such a good chance that you are paying the same or more then you would have paid to use my services. You see, after you work with me, you don't have to call the hotel, cruise line or tour operator, checking to make certain that the Internet site did not mess up your reservation. Since I do my job and the Internet often doesn't, who do you think gets the better rates form suppliers?

5. Booking online gives you one less number to call in case of an emergency. Just strike it off your list. Just get your doctor on the phone if there is a problem overseas.

6. Remember the Woody Allen movie where prisoners were sentenced to spend time locked in a room with an insurance salesman? Well, on the Internet that won't happen. Chances are no one at all will discuss the benefits of various travel insurance policies. That would take too much time. You can always use more free time. So what if you're uninsured? What could happen?

7. You may get to work with many Web sites to book your vacation. It's fun to try new things. And because online travel firms go out of business at a rate that is significantly higher than home-based or brick and mortar firms, you will get to meet lots of new friends, all of whom want to be friends with your credit card -- but not with you -- which means you've saved even more precious time.

8. The best part of booking your next vacation on the Internet is that it's more fun. If you have to cancel or change your trip, doing it over the Internet is like a strategy game. If you love virtual reality and have lots of time on your hands, you will love making changes to an existing Internet booking. It is much more of a game then just calling me up. Now that's boring.