Cruises Only - feedback requested

[Billy P]

We are Diamond Royal cruisers and booking two cruises in 2024. I have received the price from my travel agent that we have used for all our cruises. My dilema is Cruises Only is giving me a price far less than my agent for both cruises. First time this has ever occured. Any feedback from anyone that has booked a cruise with Cruises Only is appreciated. I am reluctant to book with them. TIA

[Ampurp85]

Be careful in what is included. Sometimes they quote you a price before taxes, fees and gratuities. Which your TA probably includes. Also some time they have group rates with a lot of fine print.

[Xaa]

I've used Cruises only in the past and everything worked out just fine.  They probably have some group space on your cruise.  I never had an issue on a cruise booked with them so I can't say how the service would be if you did.

[Sharla]

Sometimes group space is contracted by large companies such as that. We can even do that sometimes with MEI because we can book into our consortia group space. But it's not on every ship/ sail date and it's generally limited to 2 guests per room.

That being said, Cruises Only probably has contracted space, just check what is included and the terms. I agree with other posters, I don't know what happens if something goes wrong and you're booked with them.

[teddy]

15 minutes ago, Sharla said:

I don't know what happens if something goes wrong and you're booked with them.

While I'm not actively trying to make this reply a plug for the travel agency that sponsors this forum, I do know what happens if something goes wrong and we're represented by our MEI agent.  The amazing service we received when the covid pandemic shut down happened was incredible.  Despite the fact that our agent was dealing with many, many clients (a lot with more lucrative bookings), we always felt we were her #1 priority.

A quick web search of "Cruises Only" shows me their title of "America's Largest Cruise Agency".  I'm sure that's a good thing, but I'm skeptical of the one on one service we would receive.

My wife and I have made the conscious decision to stay loyal to our agent who stood by us when all cruising came to a complete stop. 

 

 

[Billy P]

Thanks  to all that responded. Your feedback was very helpful. Hope to see some of you on a ship one day. Cruise On!!

[Fuzzywuzzy]

I booked 7 cruises through them. 3 were cancelled during the Covid troubles by RC.I have no complaints. You can basically do it yourself through their website, choose the cabin number you want, get insurance, schedule dining, etc. They also give me a couple hundred bucks in onboard credit. I had to call and speak to a human about the 3 cruises that RC cancelled. I got every cent I paid Royal back quicker than I thought. I used another agency for my last cruise (Alaska) because I needed to speak to someone in person for this cross country trip but I will use Cruises Only for my 2024 bookings. Your results may vary.

 

[PlanetRC]

Booked our 1st RC cruise on Oasis back in 2017, had no problems with CO. That said, we switched to another big box agency for subsequent cruises because they offered better deals, which is consistently what I’ve seen since then when quoting cruises.