CruisesOnlyReviews 58

A couple of days ago I went to book some shore excursions from my cruise to Alaska coming up in June 2023 when I noticed I could not book anything for one of the rooms (booked connecting rooms for my family of 5) which we had booked back in March 2022. So, I went to log into my cruise on CruisesOnly's website when it stated that the reservation had been cancelled (1 of the 2 rooms). I immediately called CruisesOnly and after almost 2 hours with Abagail Jenkins (ext. *******), trying to figure out why it was cancelled and her going back and forth between her supervisor and Royal Caribbean our call went to the survey which usually happens at the end of the call which it unfortunately was not. I waited about 30 minutes in hopes the representative would call me back but she never did so I called CruisesOnly again. The representative that picked up attempted to message Abigail Jenkins through their internal messaging system but she did not respond and upon checking it appeared Miss Jenkins had either went to lunch or had left for the day. The new representative was willing to start the process all over again but upon her reaching out to Royal Caribbean, she was told the wait time for a representative would be about an hour, so I asked if I could have Miss Jenkins direct extension to leave her another message of my own, which I did with no call back even though her recorded voicemail stated her days and hours which was the timeframe I was calling between. After waiting for another day for Mrs. Jenkins to call me back, which unfortunately did not happen, I proceeded to call CruisesOnly once again. This time I was helped by Jen Davis (ext. *******), over the following two hours we went back and forth between her supervisor and Royal Caribbean who at this point had washed their hands clean of the situation being it was CruisesOnly's fault for not getting my payment transferred over to RCCL in time, in turn causing one of my rooms (oddly) to get cancelled. I have the emails and print outs to prove that my payments as far as I (the customer) can see, were applied to my booking and that "To prevent cancellation, you must be paid in full by February 22,2023". I have the emails to prove that my payments were posted to my booking as well as another email saying my final payment was not due until February 22,2023.
I've been cruising for years now, and over the years I have mostly booked with RCCL, NCL, Disney and Carnival directly but sometimes I have used BJ's travel and CruisesOnly to book. Well after this incident, no matter how this incident turns out, I will never book another cruise unless it is directly with the Cruise line. I implore any cruisers to avoid CruisesOnly at all cost…. They caused one of my rooms to get cancelled and do not want any responsibility even though the documentation and emails prove otherwise. They will gladly take your money and then leave you out to dry when their representatives screw up. The supervisor (Tamika) was not willing to talk to me nor was she willing to even try to remediate the matter to help the customer out of the predicament they put the customer in.

Re: booking # *******0435

We had to cancel our cruise due to the airfare prices being so high and recently being laid off. We booked two adjoining rooms, and my first complaint was that they never told us that would be two separate reservations so was charged $100 each for each room. Then when I had to cancel, they charged $100 a room and I wanted to credit my sister the charge since she is still going on the cruise. They wouldn't let that happen and said it had to be used for a "future cruise credit." It's my credit shouldn't I be able to use it where I would like to? Overall, they didn't work with me on anything so think that is 250 down the drain due to the $25.00 cancellation fees and the $100 fees. All for nothing and my cruise is still over 5 months out so I am sure they will be able to sell the rooms.

I wish I had read reviews before I had made a costly mistake. We have cruised several times but this time when I went to book a cruise for our 40th Anniversary I went and booked with Cruisesonly. It seemed easier and the booking went smooth enough. Now for the nightmare part. My wife just found out that she needs eye surgery and was scheduled for week before our cruise. No problem, eyesight is much more important than a cruise. I can just cancel. It's 35 days before departure. So I attempted to call and after a 30 minute wait I finally got to a live? Person. I explained my situation and told her I needed to cancel. Immediately the attitude changed. I was on and off hold a dozen times. I was told there would be a small cancellation fee from Carnival. OK. Done... Wrong. A few days later I checked my CC statement and found that Cruisesonly had charged me another $100 for cancellation fee. That was now over $200 for booking fee and cancellation fee. BS. So I tried again to call. Never could get through. So I tried calling Carnival. Even worse. I finally got contact online chat. Here is what I got for my $1000 that I already paid out. Sorry for your inconvenience. What! I also found out that Carnival, (another rip off) was charging me over $350 cancellation penalties. This is total rip off. There must be an attorney out there somewhere who could file a class action suit against both these companies.
BUYER BEWARE. Is not strong enough to describe these scam artists.

I went through Cruises only because I couldn't figure out the best configuration and place to book my family of 10. I ended up with 3 doubles and 1 quad... which was a bad choice in that I had 4 adult grandchildren in the quad and it actually cost MORE than if they split up into 2 doubles... but did the Cruise guy give me any advice or help--nope! He just got NCL on the line and they booked very fast with lots of errors and overpayments. When I needed to get credit for my overpayments I had to FIGHT with the Cruises only rep to get him to call on my behalf (can't talk direct to NCl if you use an agent). It took forever to get him to even agree I had $877 coming back! They had to change things 2-3 times to fix THEIR errors but when I realized I could've done better by putting the kids in doubles, would then make that change? Hell no--their policy prevails. I would have to cancel, take a 75% hit and re-book. I wasted hours trying to get them to acknowledge I overpaid I still haven't gotten my refund (will dispute with cc company) and hours trying to get NCl to explain why they added extra charges even Cruises only didn't understand. In the end, I was disappointed no one went to bat for me to make it right by helping me get better accommodations. But what do I expect, human compassion and fairness. Bull! I think having to go through Cruises only hindered my ability to get things taken care of directly. He didn't help me get a better room, explain which would be the best ways to go... no "travel agent" just order taker. Eddie was a nice enough guy, just shared a few of the worst days of my year with him because of this fiasco.

The so called "Travel Pros" have 1 (one) job, get your 1st payment. After that, you can call all day and leave all the messages you want, no call backs. The push you over to a customer service agent that just don't care, that the agent that took the money, doesn't call anyone back. The company seems to promote this behavior, and why not? The commissions are in the bank. If you cancel for Covid, that cost 100.00, even though you can not go? Covid Tax! They line their pockets, don't call back or you hold for hours just to hear, their keeping your money and adding insult to injury, they add on the 100 dollar cancellation fee. Call your State Attorney General, National Leisure owns all these websites, cruises only, cruises.com, cheap cruises, and so on.

Do not book it's a SCAM the people leaving reviews work for the company. They will keep your money and Cancel your Cruise. Book Directly from the Actual Cruise lines. This Company is a Sham. Do not find out the Hard Way. I Got Scammed

Booked with them only cause we were looking for connecting rooms. Agent said found two on Princess ok book. That was 2 months before sailing, then 9 days before sail date princess sends e mail stating they don't have connecting rooms. Call them to complain Princess said sorry you paid CruisesOnly. Called them 9 days before sailing Cruises only said we will get back with you. Now 3 days before sailing CRUISESONLY NEVER GOT BACK CALLED THEM SORRY BOOKING CLOSED. CRUISESONLY OFFERED 50 CREDIT ON A FUTURE CRUISE. GIVE US ANOTHER CHANCE TO SCREW UP YOUR VACATION! DON'T THINK SO OTHER OFFER BOOKING FEE REFUNDED. THEY TOTALLY SCREWED US UP AND THAT IS WHAT THEY OFFERED. CRUISE IS MYSELF MY WIFE IN ONE CABIN. 83 YEAR OLD MOTHER IN LAW IN OTHER. THANKS CRUISESONLY YOU SUCK

Greetings, fellow cruisers. I have always had a wonderful experience with CruisesOnly and have booked five cruises with them for my daughter and I. However, this time has been different. My daughter and I were booked and I paid in full for the Carnival Freedom on June 2nd, which is the ship that the tail caught fire on. Of course, that cruise was cancelled on May 27th. I called CruisesOnly and since the Carnival Liberty sailing on June 6th was the same price (a four night cruise to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral), Georgia at CruisesOnly switched me to the Liberty and we had a wonderful time on that cruise. HOWEVER, Georgia, for whatever reason, used my future cruise credit for that sailing! There was no price difference! Where is my $286? I am still working on getting to the bottom of this and it is true that if you book through Cruises Only, Carnival will not discuss or help with any issues at all. Carnival sent me an email or rather CruisesOnly sent ME the email they received from Carnival stating "We are sorry for any inconvenience. In addition to a FULL refund, you will receive a Future Cruise Credit of cruise fare on a later voyage." My daughter and I were excited about this and I called to use that Future Cruise Credit for the July 22,2022 cruise from Miami to Nassau. Nope! Georgia at Cruisesonly used my FCC for that booking. I AM hopeful to get to the bottom of why this happened and get my refund. Book through the cruise line. Also, a cruising tip. If you can afford it, the ocean view room is completely worth the extra money. Not only can you look outside in the morning or any time to see the weather, you can sleep better knowing that there is not a bunk bed container above your head as in the interior stateroom. I was always afraid in that interior room that I would sit up suddenly and conk my head!

For the first time in many cruises, I booked with this agency and didn't balk at their $100 cancellation fee and their $45 "processing" fee because the price was good, frankly. But this was in the middle of COVID. When RCCL announced that we could cancel without fees at any time, early in 2021, I contacted Cruises Only and they said although I was late they would forward my paid amount (over $1000) to a future cruise, in September '21, with a final payment due May 25. On May 12 I decided to cancel and contacted them again. I was informed that because I had "forwarded" my cruise date there would be no refund.
The agent actually said she would arrange a refund of $200.00 but even that did not happen. Remember, this: The cruise line refunded Cruises Only and they decided to keep the money! Never again with this lousy outfit. If I could give them less than one star I would do so.

As a frequent Cruiser, I absolutely **LOVE** working with Cruises Only. The staff are friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Plus, you get extra perks for using them, such as on board credit, discounts on shore excursions and resort for a day fees.
It is true that they charge a $25 processing fee, which you get back in the form of a gift card or refund. You may also be charged $100 cancellation fee but it is usually waived if you just switch to another reservation.
Covid travel restrictions have hit the industry hard. They are also working through the same staffing issues and doing the work of rebooking the cruises. I had one cruise rebooked FIVE times. It can be very frustrating. Every time, the agents walk you through all the new and ever-changing rules.
If an agent is unavailable, all you have to do is speak to someone else. They used to be 24/7 but now it's like 18/7.
The negative reviews seem to be from people who are new to cruising or have unrealistic expectations. If you cruise a lot (I am Platinum on NCL and Emerald on Royal), use them. I have booked at least 10 cruises thru them, so I am Diamond and earn $100 OBC, $100 shore excursion credit (including pre and post cruise) and up to $100 resort for a day credit (just the deposit so read the small print).
Great job and special shout-out to Miss Kimberly and Miss Kathi who helped me navigate the FCC debacles.

A price is quoted then they come back and say they made a mistake but you owe more money or they will cancel you.
Nice way to ruin a vacation! When one books a vacation it is supposed to be a good time.
Not a nice experience. Will never use them again!

After mishandling our reservation to begin with, we were finally happy to just be booked and ready to go on vacation. Little did we know that without ANY explanation, Cruises Only was going to email us that they were changing our vacation itinerary around on us again. This is the worse I hae ever seen.

Call the tool free number to get help or get answers, and sit on the line for upwards of literally 3 hours each day ( called 3 days in a row to try to reach anyone at all) and then I get Tammi, who is in a chromic level bad mood herself. Nasty attitude, crass responses, cold manner and absolutely rude in everything she cut me off to say today. I would NOT book anything trough this company again. Zero concern or customer service once they have taken your money. No resolution and no apologies for a ruined trip. 0 stars.

I don't mind paying a $24.99 booking fee for good quality service. However, even though Royal Caribbean gave us a full refund for cancelling due to COVID-19, CruisesOnly charged a $100 cancellation fee! So, $124.99 in fees to CruisesOnly for a cancelled cruise. Ugh. Next time I'll just book direct with the cruise line.

Spent hours on the phone registering and booking 5 rooms. The planner then did not book them. 3 days later the rooms were not available. Wouldn't give full refund so had to book the rooms separated. Called later and prepaid the gratuities for all 5 rooms. They didn't push that through. Didn't notify me. I had to go to customer service twice on the ship to straighten that out. Long lines with BS on a vacation when it should have been taken care of. Cancelled my CC because I'm not sure why they were taking my credit card numbers and not following through. The refund policy sucks and the planner made false promises. Stay away.

Recently booked 2 Balcony rooms through CruisesOnly for the same ship/cruise. One of the promotions they offered was for a $50 onboard credit with cruise fare minimum of $500. The cruise fare for one of the rooms came out to $624. This was confirmed by also pricing through the Royal Caribbean website direct, and taxes, fees and port expenses were confirmed in the fine print section of the Royal Caribbean website as $136.74 per person. In the booking confirmation page prior to clicking 'finalize booking', CruisesOnly matched Royal Caribbean exactly, and the cruise fare showed as $624.

After clicking to book, one of the bookings didn't receive the onboard credit. While looking at the detail, it appeared $320 was moved from the cruise fare bucket to the taxes & fees bucket. This happened on both bookings, but the 2nd booking was a slightly higher fare category so it still made the $500 cut off.

Have left voicemails and sent emails to the parent company (World Travel Holdings) customer support line with zero reply. Have spoken to a few different travel agents through the 800 number. Some didn't offer any help, one consulted with a different group and submitted a form to get it fixed which was supposed to take 24 hours. A week later and nothing was fixed. The agent has not picked up the phone when I called or returned any voicemails since. Another agent also consulted with a different group who informed the $320 amount represents an additional port fee not disclosed by Royal Caribbean as it's built into their cruise fare which is $160 per person. The issue then being one of the rooms is a solo cruiser, and that room also had $320 moved from the fare to fee bucket. The response from CruisesOnly was that all cabins pay double occupancy on this [non-listed, non-disclosed] port fee.

Meanwhile, in addition to Royal Caribbean's website clearly stating "taxes, fees and port expenses are $136.74 per person", the Royal Caribbean cruise ticket contract states clearly "governmental and quasi-governmental fees are not included in the cruise fare": [from the cruise ticket contract] d. "Cruise Fare" or "CruiseTour Fare" includes the amount due for the Cruise or CruiseTour, whether such amounts are owing and/or have been paid by the Passenger, but does not include amounts due for other products or services such as air transportation, photographs, gratuities, telephone calls, or medical services which can be purchased separately, nor does it include government or quasi-governmental taxes and fees, whether assessed on a per passenger, per vessel, per berth or per ton basis, nor any fuel surcharges, security surcharges or similar assessments made by airlines, trains, buses, hotels or other third parties which are subject to change and are due and payable by Passenger upon request. For CruiseTours that include air travel, airfare is included in the CruiseTour Fare.

CruisesOnly can not point to any formal documentation showing there is a $320 port fee charged per room embedded in the Royal Caribbean cruise fare as shown prior to booking, nor is there any disclosure of such a thing to be found on the Royal Caribbean website. This seems to be fraud on CruisesOnly's behalf to avoid promotional offerings. I've seen many complaints of people who didn't get their onboard credit, and found out after boarding; I'd be willing to bet this is why for many.

On top of a very questionable business practice, they're absolutely awful to get any help from if things aren't perfect. I've attached supporting documentation to show exactly what I've explained.

We had to cancel our upcoming cruise due to Covid 19. Cruises only charged us $100 per cabin to cancel. We had 4 cabins booked. This cancellation was not our fault, nor did we want to do it, but were forced to due to Royal Caribbean policies. Royal Caribbean even offers a 100% refund. I will never recommend Cruises Only. A world wide pandemic is going on and Cruises only feels it is necessary to steal money from it's customers. #cruisesonly shame on you.

I had booked a cruise before with them and had no problems. This time was horrible. Our agent Kathi won't call us back. It has been three weeks since my first e-mail asking a question. We are trying to get our refund from Royal. Our agent knows that we had to cancel but since it's not money for her, she won't call us back. Your best bet is to deal directly with the cruise line directly.

Here at CruisesOnly, our customers' satisfaction is our number-one priority. "The CruisesOnly Advantage" is the claim, when in fact they do not have the ability to fulfill this obligation. I understand with the pandemic come setbacks. However, the pandemic was not the customers fault either, yet we are the ones penalized! I paid for insurance and deposit twice! This was nonrefundable (approximately $300-375)! Now, we have been unsuccessful at receiving a refund for a cruise that we cannot take because the final booking changed port of call and ship. We have been repeatedly promised a refund from Royal Caribbean, yet are still waiting! On top of this, I have proof from email that we were promised over $200 more than what they are planning to refund of our money! I am so disappointed! The only positive experience was the agent Kathi Tait! She gets 4.5 stars in my book!