I am curious if anyone has used Expedia for booking cruises? They are showing a lower price for a cruise I am looking at booking with Norwegian, plus I can get 10% from ebates. I am worried about getting hit with hidden fees or finding out they make it difficult to cancel or change after booking.
Cancel or change? Of course you can, if the policy says so. Some things are non-refundable. One caveat: you will have to make all changes and canvellations through Expedia, not through the cruise line. Same applies to hotels, etc. make sure you read CAREFULLY and print all relevant cancellation polices.
That said, I have bought and changed/cancelled travel through Expedia (international air and hotels in HI) without issues when said travel was refundable per expedia info.
This particular cruise line (NCL) allows people to cancel up to 90 days before the cruise without penalty. I have searched Expedia’s site and don’t see any hidden fees. I guess my main concern is whether their customer service is easy to work with or if I will be on endless hold and never reach anyone if I do need to call to cancel or change.
I have done pretty much all cancellations online via a link in my reservation. Unless it is a complicated matter, everything can be done online. Most of the time, on those occasions when I did have to call, their customer service answered quickly and was OK to deal with. Once I ran into a very rude customer service agent who was super condescending and had zero idea where Stockholm was (it was a very complex change/cancel/buy/change etc. transaction), so I hung up on him and called again - got to talk to someone else. You can try a dummy customer service call and see if their speed is satisfactory.
Be sure your cruise (or hotel, etc) booked through Expedia is refundable, or you get travel insurance that will cover that if you have concerns. We have used Expedia often through the years and I like the way they do business. I have noticed that in recent years you can often get better hotel rates with a AAA discount directly through hotels while many years ago the online sites had definite advantages. The ability to cancel reservations with Expedia (and others) has also changed- now there are refundable hotel rooms if stated.
Expedia gets my vote as a good company to deal with (and joining can make a price difference). But- be sure to read the fine print, clear with Expedia in my experience. Likewise when booking for anything, anywhere- directly as well as through places like Expedia.
I have used Expedia a lot. There were few occasions when they got me a full refund when there was a penalty or non-refundable booking. I think they are better than AmEx travel with nicer customer service.
If you book directly w Norwegian, can you get the same price?
If you book via Expedia, are you still eligible of complimentary cabin class upgrades?
For airline tix purchases, I’ll shop on Expedia, but book directly with the airline.
If you belong to Costco, see what the price is through them. They offer a cash card for cruises booked through them. You might try some other travel agents too, as they might offer an on-board credit that is larger than the ebates.