How to Shop for the Best Deal on an Ocean or River Cruise

Every day, I get an email very similar to this:

“I’m looking for a river cruise on the Danube in September.  Please send me your very best deal and do not call.  For your information, I have also sent this email to several other websites.”

Now, if you’re shopping for a tube of Crest toothpaste, this approach is just fine.  Presumably, one tube of like-kind Crest toothpaste is the same as another and looking for the lowest price for the same tube of toothpaste is a reasonable thing to do.

However, this approach, when considering a travel experience is frankly a horrible idea.

To take my reasoning to the extreme, if you were wrongfully accused of murder, you probably wouldn’t be looking for the lowest priced attorney.  If you were facing a severe health condition, you aren’t likely going to shop for the lowest priced physician.

You would want the very best practitioners.  Right?

Now, I understand that planning a travel experience isn’t a life or death thing.  However, the chances are very high that you don’t know what you don’t know, and if you’re going to spend many thousands of dollars for a fabulous journey, why would you be looking for the bottom of the barrel travel advisor willing to sell his/her soul for the next deal?

If we go back to my example above, the person simply looking for the lowest price will probably never consider the following items:

• What are the available cruise lines offering river cruises and how do they differ?
• What is the best time of year for a river cruise?
• Should I sail upstream or downstream on a river cruise?
• I hear that river cruises sometimes run into problems with high and low water issues.  How can I attempt to avoid this?  Or, how can I protect my investment if this does happen?
• What is the optimal stateroom type for my style of travel?
• I understand that ocean and river cruise companies don’t allow anyone to discount their fares.  So, how might I get the best bang for my buck?
• What is the best river for a first-time river cruise?
• How might the rivers be different in the sights and experiences available on each of them?
• I’ve heard horror stories about flights getting canceled or missed flights because of improperly structured fight packages.  How can I avoid this?
• Who do I call if something goes wrong during my travel experience?
• Hey travel advisor, how many river cruises have you personally experienced?  What rivers have you personally sailed on?  You wouldn’t want a heart surgeon who has never performed heart surgery, right?  Insist on finding an experienced travel advisor who is also a veteran traveler.
• And lastly, would you rather call into a large call center full of very nice 25-year-olds and have to explain your situation over and over to different people?  Or, would you rather work with a team of 4 professionals all dedicated to assuring that you have the best possible experience?  After all, remember, you are buying an experience, not a tube of toothpaste. 🙂

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.  Right?  There are many moving pieces in putting together an international travel experience and you deserve and should desire a very experienced travel advisor to help you.

Plus, despite all of the hype on the Internet, travel advisors are not allowed to discount ocean and river cruises.  Sure, there may well be perks added, but if everyone takes truth serum, you will quickly learn that you want an expert and experienced travel advisor on your side and not the person saying this or that and offering you “the best deal”.

We have grown to become one of the nation’s largest producing travel advisors.  We have relationships with the world’s largest and most respected travel brands, and because of this, we have the ability to help you find a fabulous offer.

But most important of all, we are going to help you avoid hassles and problems; we are going to save you a lot of time and worry, and when we accomplish all of this, we hope to become your trusted travel advisor.

Let’s have a conversation on the phone and discuss this further.  Sound fair?

To learn more about our travel services, please call Roaming Boomers Travel Services at (480) 550-1235 or use our convenient online information request (click here) and we will reach out to you. 

You might also enjoy this article: Best Way to Book an Ocean or River Cruise

If you enjoyed this article, sign up for our travel newsletter to keep abreast of our best travel tips, on-location reviews, exclusive travel offers, group travel events, and much more.

Roaming Boomers Travel Services is an Independent Affiliate of Cadence, a Virtuoso® member. CST#201120-40