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CruiseCompete identifies 33 North America cruise departure ports, enabling many vacationers to save money on travel costs by driving to the pier.
DES MOINES, Iowa, March 31, 2009 - Not only are cruise vacations more affordable today than any time in recent years, but cruise ships are leaving from more ports in North America. This enables many cruisers to save even more money by driving their own vehicles or taking a short flight to their departure points.
CruiseCompete, the world's exclusive competitive cruise pricing Web site, also is one of the only places on the Web that provides a complete list of departure ports in the U.S. and the cruise ships leaving from these locations.
"This is a very competitive market for cruise vacations and CruiseCompete.com enables consumers to obtain the very best deals from many of the largest cruise vacation aggregators in the country," said CruiseCompete.com CEO Bob Levinstein.
"Our port departure tool is especially helpful for those travelers who may be on tight travel budgets. One may not have to travel across the country to take a cruise. Ships are now leaving from locations that were not considered mainstream cruise ports in years past. This really makes cruising easier for many people."
Historically, cruise ships primarily departed from ports only in southern Florida and California. This is no longer true; today, the East Coast roster of cruise departure points includes (among others): Baltimore, Maryland; Cape Liberty, New Jersey; Boston, Massachusetts; Charleston, South Carolina; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Jacksonville, Florida, Miami, Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York, New York; Norfolk, Virginia; ,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Port Canaveral, Florida; Portsmouth, Virginia; and Tampa, Florida.
In the South, passengers can embark at Galveston, Texas; Honolulu, Hawaii; Mobile, Alabama, Charlotte Amalie, USVI; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and St. Thomas, USVI.
The West Coast departure points now include: Anchorage, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Ketchikan, Alaska; Los Angeles, California; Portland, Oregon; San Diego, California; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Seward, Alaska and Whittier, Alaska.
U.S. passengers also have the option of leaving from Vancouver, BC; Victoria, BC, or Montreal, Quebec.
How Cruise Compete Works
The majority of cruise vacations are booked through travel agencies but, given the sheer number of agents in the United States, one never knows which one can provide the best deal on a specific cruise, Levinstein explained, adding that agency Web sites can only list standard retail prices provided by the cruise lines. However, factors like an agency's relationship with a particular cruise line, access to group space and the agency's business volume at any given time can all influence the price of a cruise.
CruiseCompete.com solves this dilemma, operating under a simple concept: let the consumer select a cruise and then let member agents compete to offer their best deals via the Internet. This enables the consumer to avoid contacting hundreds of cruise specialists on an individual basis to secure quotes.
The process is simple:
- Consumers first select a cruise, based on itinerary, ship, departure date and port. CruiseCompete.com provides a number of tools to help with this or one can chat with an agent via our "Live Help" link.
- Once a CruiseCompete account is set up, the consumer can make a new quote request online. The ship and sail date are selected from pull-down screen menus, along with information on the passengers traveling and cabin preferences.
- Member-agencies evaluate the request and, if they think they can provide the best deal, submit a quote. CruiseCompete.com lets the consumer know when a new quote is available via email. A link takes the consumer to a comparison of the various quotes. Also included are customer reviews of each agency and contact information.
- The consumer compares the offers and then contacts the agent(s) directly via telephone, email or live chat to ask further questions or book the cruise vacation.
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CruiseCompete.com saves consumers time by finding the agent with the best deal for them. Consumers secure quotes for cruise deals from multiple travel agencies without having to contact each one separately. Since its launch in 2003, More than 1,000 cruise specialists have provided four million-plus customized cruise quotes in response to requests from over 425,000 registered users. CruiseCompete, LLC, is an independent company not owned by or affiliated with any travel agency. For more information, visit www.cruisecompete.com.
CruiseCompeteGroups.com helps those planning any type of group travel event to obtain the best deal for their gathering.
What a Site: CruiseCompete.com listed on "36 Web Addresses You Should Know"
The Washington Post, November 2006
CruiseCompete.com ranked among "25 Best Travel Value Sites"
Kiplinger's Personal Finance, October 2006
