# Booking a cruise:  Has anyone used Crucon?



## jmatias

Looking into a cruise and Crucon has a rate that looks good.

Has anyone used this company before?  

Thanks,
Jen


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## Passepartout

We have one pending with them. Their website leaves much to be desired. We prefer www.vacationstogo.com

Jim Ricks


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## LisaH

If you are a Costco member, check its cruise rate. I found the best the price with Costco on two of my upcoming cruises.


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## Mimi39

I've gotten good deals at www.cruise.com.


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## beejaybeeohio

*Google CruCon*

Last year we had a stressful experience using CruiseCompete and booking with an agency that had a great offer on our cruise.  Had I done due diligence on the internet. I would have learned that EcruiseStore was infamous for soliciting advance payment in full for extra onboard credit (I fell for this b.c. my Continental Visa was offering a wonderful bonus for spending so much by a certain day) and then NOT remitting final payment to the cruiseline on time.  This agency went bankrupt 3 months after I booked, but luckily our monies were remitted and all was well.

Just booked a Celebrity cruise thru Costco- very pleased with their service and OBC offered, since this cruiseline doesn't discount.


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## Judy

A couple of years ago I signed up for a group cruise.  The cruise group leader had contracted with crucon to do the bookings.  The price I got through crucon was about the same as what I could have found myself at that time, but the service was far worse than I'm used to using my own TA.  The crucon agent never answered her phone.  I had to leave messages and wait several days before she returned my calls.  I don't know whether the problem was just with this one agent or the agency itself, but I won't be using crucon again and I won't be joining any group cruises that do.


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## Bee

We went on an Alaska cruise a few years ago. I found that several agencies were willing to meet prices I had gotten from other agencies. I found my best deal and asked for the same price and an additional on board credit and the cabin I wanted. I got it! It pays to shop.


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## jmatias

Thanks for the replies.

Agent I'm working with at Crucon has been very helpful and responds quickly.  Also, they have the best offer I've found for the cruise I want.  So going with them for this cruise.  

Hopefully all continues to go smoothly.

Thanks,
Jen


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## nightnurse613

I had made a reservation with Carnival for a cruise and kept checking for lower prices. Eventually I found a lower price on Costco for the same cruise with some onboard credit. Carnival refused to match (even though they had a lowest price guarantee) so,  I called up Costco and transferred my exact reservation to them and saved enough to cover my on board tips and still had some change!


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## Bee

Reading nightnurse613's post jogged my memory. I reserved the cabin I wanted through the cruiseline early, then I continued to shop for a better deal. Once I found the best deal I could I had my reservation transferred to the new agent.


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## nightnurse613

I just wanted to add, there were a couple of quirks in transferring the cabin. I don't remember what they were exactly but, I think they couldn't have already been paid for or they had to be outside a window of 45 or 60 days.  Just be careful.


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## Bee

I had only paid the cruiseline a down payment to hold my cabin. If I remember correctly, I think I had until 60 days prior to the cruise to transfer the booking. It was the same as the cancellation period.


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## Passepartout

Now I don't think this is exclusive to Crucon, but it does pay to use a T/A. We have an upcoming cruise on Celebrity booked through Crucon. Celebrity assigned us early dining at an assigned table. We had requested open dining where we could go when we wanted and dine with different people. Celebrity told us this option was oversold and unavailable. Out of the blue, a Crucon agent contacted us asking if there was anything she could do, so we asked if they could pressure Celebrity to change our dining option. They did. At a cost of pre-paying the on-board 'fixed' gratuities. That is a Celebrity requirement for open dining and no inconvenience for us, as it eliminates that gigantic gratuity bill at the cruise end.

So, +1 for Crucon. 

Jim Ricks


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## markbernstein

Good timing on reactivating this thread. 

We just booked through Crucon, for a Bermuda cruise on the Norwegian Gem in October.  I chose them because it was the best deal - the cabin price was identical everywhere I looked, but Crucon threw in an extra $100 in on-board credit per cabin.  So far, the confirmation process seems to have gone smoothly.


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## JudyH

My friend uses a specific person at Crucon all the time and she is very happy.  I will use that person too, if the TA I am using at another agency doesn't come thru for me soon.


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## beejaybeeohio

*"We have an upcoming cruise on Celebrity booked through Crucon. Jim Ricks"*

Hope you have a great time on Celeb.  We love that cruiseline!  BTW we use Costco as our Travel Agent and each time I've booked thru them, they are in direct phone contact w/ Celeb, putting me on hold, to be sure everything is as we wish.

Using a TA that does big business with the cruiseline provides the 'clout' that a smaller agency or an individual just doesn't have..  Glad Crucon came thru for you


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## riverdees05

We have used

Malek Stavinoha
Travel Counselor
Vacations To Go
mstavinoha@vacationstogo.com
US and Canada: 800-338-4962 ext. 7622
UK free phone: 0800-279-8084 ext. 7622
International: 001-713-974-2121 ext. 7622
Hours: Mon-Fri: 11am-8pm (CST)

http://www.vacationstogo.com/

for several cruises and have gotten good service.

Also, you might want to consider joining Cruise Critics

http://www.cruisecritic.com/

They have boards just like TUG and a load of information is shared.


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## Jaybee

Our last cruise was booked through Cru-con, and it was a great price, plus $150 OBC.  Everything went beautifully, and Cru-con got answers to our questions right away.  We would do it again, but next time, we'll check Costco, too.  Jean


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## brigechols

What a timely thread! I'm in the market for a 2012 Alaskan cruise out of Seattle.  Initially contacted cruises.com but after reading this thread, I contacted Costco - same price but Costco offers $355 OBC. Thanks Tuggers


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## carl2591

brigechols said:


> What a timely thread! I'm in the market for a 2012 Alaskan cruise out of Seattle.  Initially contacted cruises.com but after reading this thread, I contacted Costco - same price but Costco offers $355 OBC. Thanks Tuggers



WOW that a lot of on board credit for sure.. enjoy and don't eat tooooo much..


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## Passepartout

brigechols said:


> I contacted Costco - same price but Costco offers $355 OBC. Thanks Tuggers



That is good! We got $250 OBC + $50 special restaurant credit from CruCon on our upcoming TransAtlantic. Subtract that from the $999 balcony rate.   Jim


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## Love2cruise12

Do not book with crucon, they are a terrible travel agency and booking with them was a big mistake. I have booked with cruise.com and cruise compete and had great experiences with both. Since i did not find many reviews on Crucon i took a chance with them.I am writing this to share my experience with others so they can avoid them.

I should have know when even to initially book my cruise it took 5+ phone calls to even speak to a sales rep. I left several messages and would never get a call back. Once I did book the agent made several mistakes on my paperwork including misspelling my name and just sloppy mistakes all around. For example- they use a template for all of their confirmations and items were left blank or with an Xxx which was supposed to be where he filled in my information. Misspelling your name on travel documents is a big deal and I had to call, email& chase him down to make corrections to his mistakes.

We ended up having to cancel 1 week before our trip because my boyfriend got a very serious liver disease and could not travel. I knew I was under full penalty but called to let them know so the cruise ship would not be waiting or expecting us b/c if you book with a travel agent no one at celebrity will speak with you and they refer you back to your booking agent. We were entitled to our port charge tax which was around $150 per person. Crucon told us that in order for them to notify celebrity we had to pay an additional $100 cancelation fee per person on top of our full penalty. No where did our paperwork say this and I have never heard of an additional cancelation fee when you are already under full penalty. Obviously a scam on their part to try to squeeze even more money out of us. I told them several times I would not authorize the charge and they continued to harrass me by phone and email telling me they were going to charge me the fee until I told them I would call my credit card company and dispute it if they did. 

That was all they cared about, charging me the fee. No concern or assistance with the terrible situation I was in. Nothing on their part to try to help me in any way. Since I would not authorize the bogus charge they held our port tax hostage and would not refund us. Again, an illegal action on their part.

Celebrity called me the day of our departure to make sure we were okay and could not believe the ordeal crucon put us through. A manager at Celebrity forced Crucon to mail us a check for the port charges and they even gave us a partial credit for a future cruise because they felt so badly about my boyfriends documented illness.

Moral of the story- the few bucks saved or added perks you get with Crucon are not worth it. Spend a little more and book with Celebrity or a reputable travel agency who will assist you with your travel plans and if needed cancelation instead of trying to rip you off and take advantage of you every chance they get like crucon does.


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## Passepartout

Sorry for your experience. We have one cruise booked through CruCon now. We have the direct line number to our agent there, so there is no confusion. The confirmation paperwork came through without any errors, and the cancellation fees and times allowed at each tier were clearly defined. Perhaps they have changed their forms and practices since your booking. We also book direct through Celebrity and also VacationsToGo, depending on who has the best deal on the cruises we want. We are high level Captain's Club members and will add another 35 nights to our Celebrity account this year.

We hope your boyfriend is recovered and you can find some vacations that work for you.

All the best.

Jim


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## ttt

I have used Crucon and was happy with their service, but I prefer www.cruisequick.com 
Everything must be done on the internet as they don't service via telephone, but they answer emails promptly and usually have the best prices. They have several booking options & you must know which cruise you want. You can choose a revisable fare and if the price goes down, and you notify them, you will be rebooked at the lower price. You can also choose a non revisable fare for an even lower price. This website is not for cruise beginners, you must know what you want. For the best deal, book directly with the cruiseline and then transfer the booking to cruisequick for the best deal.


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