Travel News

Ask Peter: Booking Blocked Seats & Bucket-List Cruise Deals

Locations in this article:  Chicago, IL Los Angeles, CA Tampa, FL

Question from Laura in St. Could, Minnesota: I’m planning a cruise in July or August of next year for my daughter’s sweet 16. We are a group 14. I just want to know the right questions to ask a travel agent. I’ve been searching online making myself crazy.

Peter replied: If you’re traveling with a group of 14 and searching online, you are crazy. You have the strength of numbers here. It’s time for you to have a conversation with a travel agent who specializes in cruises, a cruise-only travel agent, for three reasons.
1) Those agency probably have a great preferred supplier relationship with the cruise line.
2) You have strength in numbers. You can get a cabin discount, and maybe one or two of you will even be able to travel for free on that ship.
3) You can negotiate discounts on all the other on-board revenue items, get preferred seating times at the restaurants, and score preferred spa times, May you can even score all-you-can-drink Coca-Cola coupons so that at your daughter’s sweet 16 she’s not going to bankrupt you ordering Diet Coke at the bar.

When you speak to a cruise-only travel agent, say, “With 14 people traveling, tell me the deal.” And remember, you should only look at a cruise websites to do your research on the official catalog price.

For more special family travel ideas, check out Kerri Zane’s Window Seat or Aisle Sea columns.

By Peter Greenberg for Peter Greenberg Worldwide