Holidays to Go Cruise Critiques: What Cruisers Actually Suppose

Cruise vacationers are at all times in search of methods to save cash.  In spite of everything, the extra you save the extra cruises you may take.

With Holidays to Go promoting decrease charges and every kind of perks, the corporate has a powerful promoting presence.  Most of you might have most likely heard of them. 

However what’s the catch?  Is there one?  Is there a draw back to the “cruise offers” discovered on Holidays to Go?

You may normally get some added perks like onboard credit score thrown in, however what different elements do you have to be careful for?

On this article we’ll weigh the potential professionals and cons which were introduced up by clients who’ve left opinions on Client Affairs.

I ebook nearly all my cruises instantly via the cruise line’s web site.  I additionally use cruise serps to search out offers, however for the reserving course of, I simply benefit from the direct technique.

However there are sufficient individuals utilizing Holidays to Go to make me do a deeper dive into the experiences individuals had who used the service.

Based in 1984, Holidays To Go is a journey company specializing in discounted cruises. They promote themselves as providing last-minute offers on unsold cabins negotiated with main cruise traces.

The web site is legendary for these last-minute offers via their “90-Day Ticker” and has been a staple of the corporate for years.

With 273 verified opinions on Client Affairs alone, Holidays to Go has been utilized by fairly a couple of cruisers up to now. 

Nevertheless, these opinions paint a combined image. 

With a mean ranking of 1.4 stars out of 5 on the buyer advocate web site, I examined current suggestions inside the final 12 months, so solely the latest experiences had been thought of.

Within the opinions and feedback many talked about potential benefits like discovering discounted fares and the comfort of a “bundled reserving course of”.

However there have been additionally some frequent points introduced up, together with deceptive pricing, reserving hassles, and issues about buyer assist. 

Pricing and Promoting

Some reviewers on Client Affairs have been disenchanted with the pricing marketed by Holidays to Go.

A commenter from New York famous, “One instance is I checked out Royal Caribbean for a collection. V2G marketed $2,679 say I save 48%, however after I checked RCCL web site for the very same cruise, date, and room, they’re giving me the very same worth.”

Opposite to frequent perception, journey brokers and low cost journey web sites can’t actually provide cheaper pricing on cruises – not technically anyway. 

Generally they will provide onboard credit score or different perks, however the worth is just about the identical wherever you look –except one website is making an attempt to squeeze out a bit extra income.

One other reviewer shared, “Costs marketed on their web site usually are not what’s quoted once you attain an agent. The worth quoted to me was astronomically greater than the web site.”

This may be because of the “hidden charges” that many reserving web sites don’t present till you might be on the checkout web page.  Issues like port charges, taxes, and single complement charges can positively inflate the ultimate value.

Due to a brand new California regulation, extra clear pricing shall be seen throughout the online, as cruise traces will embrace a few of these hidden charges within the marketed worth.

This challenge was a recurring theme within the opinions. One cruiser from Florida who was seeking to ebook a Windstar cruise talked about, “As quickly as I paid in full the web site is now promoting 6000 for a single. That’s 5000 much less! I wrote and requested them if they might honour this charge and was advised it’s too late as I’ve paid in full already. ”

Reserving Points

A number of customers have confronted challenges in the course of the reserving course of. A reviewer from Texas shared an expertise about making an attempt to get a gaggle charge however by no means listening to again:

“He referred to as me the following day. I reiterate what we wanted and he says, ‘I’ll name you again in ten minutes.’ It’s been a day and a half and no name from Curtis S. He additionally mentioned there was solely double occupancy rooms left and I’ve to get further rooms. I referred to as Royal Caribbean instantly and booked our cruise.”

One consumer from Oregon famous a problem with how the corporate bundles completely different transportation wants saying,

“When reserving a cruise there are sometimes different wants…. Transportation, connections, coordination, accommodations, and so on., the issues journey brokers do. VTG doesn’t provide these providers and as soon as you employ them to ebook the cruise, journey brokers aren’t anxious to supply you the opposite related providers.”

Most of the reserving points talked about within the opinions pertained to how sure fees had been communicated – or not communicated in some circumstances. 

Buyer Assist

A California buyer who had been utilizing the web site for over 20 years talked about, “The final 5 years haven’t been so good. Most lately I’ve been making an attempt to get a refund of a deposit I made to be on a ready checklist again in 2021 with American Queen Voyages. Holidays to go calls and will get an replace for me every time I name however say there may be nothing extra they will do.”

An extra grievance got here from a consumer who tried to right a mistake, “They won’t ship you the packet to evaluate earlier than buy. Booked the flawed cruise. Spent hours on the cellphone nearly instantly making an attempt to get it switched. Nope. No assist from this firm. Actually, at one level Princess modified it for us and V2Go modified it proper again.”

Whereas some preferred the comfort of utilizing the corporate’s journey brokers to deal with points that got here up, utilizing a intermediary can typically result in problems.

A consumer on Reddit talked about being very pleased with dealing with these points, nonetheless, saying,

“I’ve additionally discovered it a lot simpler to work with a journey agent when sailings are altering as a lot as they’re now, vs. needing to undergo the road itself. For instance, when my final crusing was cancelled, I made a decision to carry and shift. All it took was a pair minutes on the cellphone with the agent telling them which new date I needed, after which they did the remainder of the work.”

Excursions

Issues with shore excursions had been additionally generally reported.

A reviewer from Missouri mentioned, “After we bought off the cruise, we needed to stroll an extended 25 minutes to succeed in the taxi service, and that’s after we discovered we had been late and the bus had left us. We had been advised that the tour began 30 minutes after the ship bought to the port. Nothing was talked about within the e mail or the ticket a couple of particular time or a particular place”.

One other reviewer from Colorado added that the excursions booked via Holidays to Go weren’t seamlessly built-in with the cruise line.

A Florida consumer echoed these sentiments saying, “In case you do determine to ebook via them, I’d strongly advise in opposition to it.”

Constructive Experiences

Regardless of the unfavorable opinions, a couple of clients reported optimistic experiences.

One buyer from Florida famous, “Thanks, Holidays to Go, for investigating my challenge and taking corrective motion. You made it proper, and which means so much.”

One other reviewer appreciated the follow-up, stating, “We’re so glad that Princess was keen to make an exception and allowed us to change to a crusing that included Glacier Bay.”

A buyer from Washington shared a optimistic expertise after some preliminary troubles, “Pleased that Holidays to Go took me critically, refunded my cash for the horrible resort reserving, and apologized in full. Due to Robin, Andrea, and Michelle for taking good care of this minor however necessary (to me) element!”

Closing Ideas

Whereas Holidays to Go has been a fantastic service for some, there are sufficient one-star opinions to make some potential cruisers surprise if they need to ebook a cruise via the corporate.

As one commenter summarized, “Simply do your homework earlier than you ebook with Holidays to Go. Examine with the cruise line and perhaps different web sites earlier than you determine.”

I ought to notice that Holidays to Go was superb at responding to opinions and feedback made on the Client Affair web site and appeared to make makes an attempt to search for reserving numbers to confirm points some cruisers had.

There was even one remark from a consumer that talked about how the corporate had made issues proper:

“Pleased that Holidays to Go took me critically, refunded my $ for the horrible resort reserving and apologized in full. Due to Robin, Andrea and Michelle for taking good care of this minor however necessary (to me) element! Very a lot appreciated by each myself and my spouse. Thank You!”

In case you’re contemplating utilizing Holidays to Go on your subsequent cruise, learn the opinions rigorously and evaluate costs instantly with the cruise traces. This manner, you can also make an knowledgeable determination and hopefully keep away from a number of the frequent pitfalls skilled by different vacationers.