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Whenever online demand for products or services increases the scam artists of the world descend. Unfortunately for consumers, not even the world of travel is safe from these scammers. In your quest to find cruises for cheap prices you will inevitably encounter these scam artists. If you're not careful you may find your relaxing vacation has turned into a stressful nightmare! So be wary of sites claiming to offer cruises for cheap and make sure you research these offers thoroughly before committing to buy. The first thing to employ when searching websites that offer cruises for cheap is plain old common sense. If you know a specific cruise fare is $800 but a different website is offering that same cruise for $200 you may want to ask yourself why that is. You could honestly be getting a really good deal or you could be getting a really good scam pulled on you. When you find cruises for cheap your very first step should be to visit the actual cruise line website and see what they are charging for the cruise. A lot of times sites will advertise cruises for cheap as being up to 75% off the normal fare; however a quick check of the cruise line website will reveal the pricing is exactly the same as what the cruise line is charging. So you're actually getting no discount at all. A fact you would never have known had you not checked the cruise line's website. These scam sites bank on the fact that you will jump so quickly at this "great deal" that you won't even think to check the cruise line's website. If you then confront this website that claims to offer cruises for cheap they will tell you that while the fare is the same, they throw in $200 worth of on board credit and that's where the discount comes from. With that knowledge you should do the math. If the cruise fare is $800 and they claim you are getting a 50% discount because they offer $200 on board credit, you know this is a falsehood because $200 is only 25% of $800 and 20% of $1000 which is what the true offer is based on. Some sites will also advertise cruises for cheap and say they will throw in a free shore excursion. If you check the cost of the cruise line's shore excursion you may feel as if you're saving a lot of money there so it starts to sound like a good deal to you. When this claim is made these sites are usually preying on your inexperience and lack of knowledge of the cruising world. Most experienced cruises know that cruise lines inflate the cost of shore excursions, sometimes by hundreds of dollars, so in reality this isn't the great bargain you thought it was. Will it save you some money? It could, but it won't save you anywhere near what they are claiming. So how do you protect yourself when buying cruises for cheap online? Do your research! Start by checking the cruise line's website to compare pricing. Then check into the true percentage you would save if they are offering on board credit. If they are offering a free shore excursion do an internet search and see how much that shore excursion would cost if you booked it direct. That will
tell you how much, if any, of a bargain you're really getting if you purchase through their site. Once you've actually made a reservation with one of these sites offering cruises for cheap, call the cruise line's reservation number and verify that your reservation was made and shows to be paid in full. This will prevent you from arriving at port only to find they never received your reservation or that you owe more money because they won't honor the pricing the other site advertised. The best way to protect yourself is to book through legitimate, well known websites. You can also find forums and speak with the members to see who they have successfully used in the past to find cruises for cheap. Talk to your friends and family who may have gone on a cruise before and see who they went through. You can also play it super safe and just book through a local travel agent.
Ryan is a cruise enthusiast and founder of [http://www.cruise-news-network.com]. You can check out more helpful tips and ways to save [http://cruisecheaptoday.com/cruises-for-cheap-a-word-ofwarning/] by visiting his blog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ryan_Gaston
==== ==== To find more information about Cruising For Discounts, please visit http://intelligentcruiser.org/2012/02/2011-intelligent-cruiser-up-to-date-review/ ==== ====