Planning A Cruise Vacation: #2: How Do I Actually Plan the Trip? (Using a Travel Agent/Vacation Planner vs. DIY)

If you need help, or are uncomfortable - get yourself a Travel Agent.

Now that you've decided that you're going to book your vacation, there's another question you need to answer:

Do I book my vacation myself, or do I engage the services of a Travel Agent (some call them 'Vacation Planners')?

The quick answer to that question is: How comfortable are you with using the Internet, and how much time do you want to spend on this process?

Here's why this is important - if you're not comfortable with online searching, and you're completely petrified at the thought of inputting your credit card number online, then by all means: USE A TRAVEL AGENT.

If you're comfortable working online - you make purchases online, you're someone who regularly goes online, and are fairly comfortable with the Internet, why not try booking your own cruise?

If you want to tell someone - 'My budget is ____. I'd like to go on a cruise to ___.', and have them do all the work on picking the cruise and any other things you might need (like a hotel before the cruise, depending on when you fly into port - and those airline tickets to get you to the port,...) - then USE A TRAVEL AGENT. They'll inform you of what is available to you at your price points, and you can decide what you would like to do. You do have to be aware, though, that Travel Agents work on commission, so if they're getting an extra 'boost' to promote a particular line, they may try to steer you to that particular cruise line (over another). Just something to be aware of...

Something to keep in mind: When booking your vacation by yourself, I'm talking about booking it directly through the cruise line. (Yes - you can do that. In fact, in my opinion, if you're going to book a cruise yourself, you SHOULD book it directly through the cruise line, and not Orbitz, or Groupon, or Expedia...) In fact, many (if not all) of the cruise lines have Travel Agents that are employed through the line, so if you need help booking your cruise, chances are good that when you call the  Customer Service number for your chosen cruise line, you're probably talking to a licensed Travel Agent. It's important to know that if you book though a Travel Agent, or book online, via the cruise line, YOU CAN PAY OFF YOUR CRUISE OVER TIME.

Yes, payment plans are available. You read that correctly.

If you book via Expedia, or Groupon or Orbitz (or one of those types of sites), you need to PAY IN FULL AT THE TIME YOU MAKE YOUR BOOKING.

This is how my cruises are done - they are booked, sometimes a year in advance, and paid off well in advance of the sailing. On Carnival, you need to have your cruise completely paid off 60 days before your sailing date...which is ideal, because the best airline prices are usually 45-60 days before you travel. Finish paying off your cruise, then look for your flight to the port.

With our first cruise, my husband booked it himself, as a surprise. We were both clueless about the process because he had done it himself - and imagine our shock when we realized that we were going on a cruise in 3 weeks, but hadn't booked airfare to the cruiseport. (Yeah - he forgot about that.) In a panic, we called up Carnival, and explained the situation. One of their travel agents found us flights to and from the cruiseport. We had to pay more for the airfare than the entire cruise (that's what happens when you wait until the last moment to book!), and we ended up having to change planes both to the cruiseport and back home. (No nonstop flights available!)

If you have comments about using a Travel Agent/Vacation Planner, or booking your cruise yourself, feel free to leave a comment!