CruisesOnly

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.

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.

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

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!

Destiny, at extension *******, has been a tremendous help to my wife and I.
We had a cancelled Royal Caribbean cruise and have been fighting with Royal Caribbean about a refund.
Destiny interceded on our behalf and has been fantastic. I will only book through Cruisesonly, and will use Destiny as an agent.

We used this company for a Hawaii trip. Worst cruise every. I called them during the cruise to let them know and there response was nothing I can do. REALLY you can get my money back, because there is sewer smell and the whole floor had it. I called them 6 times during the trip when I had service again nothing we can do. They would not even call them and ask to move us. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY...

It's a headache 99% of the time you call this company. You don't get a dedicated Cruise travel agent, you call into an 800 number. We've called several times with the same question and get different answers from different customer service agents. We've also had them say they are changing info that you are requesting on the account and they don't do it. They have to contact the cruise line for everything so that means a lot of wait time while you are on the phone. My advice: BOOK WITH YOUR CRUISE LINE DIRECTLY! Cruisesonly promotes these greats perks but in reality they are not that great. You have to wait 6 weeks if you opt for the amazon gift card after your cruise, then they tell you "give it 2 more weeks'. I have nothing good to say about this company.

I booked the cruise of a lifetime through CruisesOnly and got scammed. Their agent (Tony Torres) will tell you one thing and do another. I asked him to get me the best available Suite and he told me that he put me on the Port side of the ship where I would be able to see each Port from my balcony instead of the Ocean. First lie. Not so. On most of the Ports, we had an ocean view while in Port. Second lie. Tony told me that he was giving me a $300 on board credit as his thanks for booking with him. Not so. I called his from overseas on multiple occasions($5 per minute) during our 2 week cruise to inquire about the credit. Got his voicemail mostly. On the occasion that I did talk to him, he told me that he had taken care of the credit. When I got home, I emailed Tony and he told me a completely different story and that was it. NO $300 on board credit. Stay away from charlatans like Tony Torres and CruisesOnly.

I always rave about how great your services are! I recently tried to purchase a cruise from CruisesOnly.com. Horrible experience, after 4 reps (Teresa, Christina, Eleisua, and one other girl) and 10 hours on the internet and phone together, I still did not have the confirmation number on hand for cruise I wanted to book. Internet system would not let me proceed with quoted sale price and when you call the 1800 agents, each and every call revealed a new higher price, and a hidden fine print that you didn't see online. After 4 calls I was tired. It was not the reps, it was the $#*!ty system they work with and their false marketing. I called VacationsToGo with the fast deal # I got on their website. No changes in the price, no surprises, straight forward, 20 minute top and I booked the cruise even cheaper. This is my 2nd time booking cruise and wasting hours on end. Never, ever again.

We are a European journalists friends group. We sailed more than 30 cruises. First time with CRUISESONLY but after our bad experience, will be the last time.
They make a big mistake charging 2 times the fee for the same reservation. No possible speak, write or email during 7 days from Europe to CRUISESONLY.
Finally a friend call them from NYORK. At last, they don't come back our money because don't recognized the mistake.
Unacceptable!.

I've booked 4 cruises with Melissa Lemke at CruisesOnly.com and have yet to have a bad experience; certainly nothing like the negative reviews I've read here. I do my part by asking specific questions like, "So I get unlimited beverages with this cruise?" "No, you get up to 15 beverages a day. Unlimited is not a part of the Beverage Package." AND "I can use my Future Cruise Credit to pay gratuities?" "No. You can only pay for the basic cruise as listed on the cruise line web site."

Melissa knows her business and if I ask a question she cannot confidently answer she says she will research and get back to me. Melissa attempts to up sell (that is part of her job) and I respond appropriately. Just now she suggested a Premium Balcony or mini-suite and I declined BUT it prompt me to review my choices and I improved my booking at a slight increase in price,

If you are new to cruising I highly recommend CruisesOnly.com. Even if you don't book with them you will gain a lot of valuable information.

By the way as to the phone calls and waiting on hold forever, I have spoken with Melissa many times over the phone and have NEVER waited on hold. The secret? She calls me. We exchange e-mails and then when we need to talk I send her an e-mail with my availability. Works flawlessly.

Booked our cruise back in January before COVID for a September sailing. Chatted online about changing and/or canceling due to concerns of COVID. I was told that either way I would be charged the 100.00 fee. I was trying to get this taken care of before my final amount was due for our cruise, because I know how difficult it is getting money back once it is taken. They wouldn't budge on the fee. Even though Carnival itself was offering free cancelations before final amount was due. So, we changed the card on file to one that we don't keep a lot of money on. Thank God we did, because two weeks after the final payment was due, Carnival canceled all September sailings. I will always book directly through a cruise line from now on. This broke me from ever dealing with a place like this.

Still waiting for a full refund, and it's been 90 days when we cancelled. This is ridiculous! Take the money, but takes this long to get it back! SHOW ME MONEY!

After days and days of holding online for hours and hours, finally was able to speak to a customer service agent and request a cancellation of our cruise booked through them.
They applied a cancellation fee and other fees before calling cruise line Nirwigian to request a cancellation refund due to Coronavirus issues.
The perdón on the line was not helpful at all and basically implied company did not care too much.
We ended up
Losing close to 600 dollars for being their clients
Cruise lines were reimbursing all the
Money paid
We had being customers before and mis definitely will
Not be after this and will most definitely tell our
Friends and people we know to be very careful with such and uncaring business who
Takes advantage of a bad situation to take your
Money.

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

RUN! RUN! RUN! Away. Don't walk! They Bait and switch. I booked a cruise several weeks ago and have spent two weeks trying to jump through hoops to get the discounts that were promised when booking. First I clicked broken link after broken link trying to get the form need to get the rewards. After a week i was told the link is on my Invoice. OK i asked for my invoice. Nothing for a week. Finally got a link from a rep who said it won't hit my on-board account until 3 days prior to sailing. OK what about the "Cruise with free pre-paid gratuities" promo? Do i have to fill out another form... oh no you can't get that due to the suite you booked. Never said that while booking! Not even in any of the confirmation emails. I now see the promo is off the site but i still found it cached. "yes we offered that but not to you" That $200 difference was the only benefit to book with them vs Direct with the cruise line. Lesson learned! Book direct, the price is higher on paper until the discount disappears then its the same and direct you get a real person to talk to.

Buyer beware! DO NOT book a cruise through CRUISES ONLY! We booked a cruise that was canceled because of COVID and it has been a nightmare! The cruise line won't talk to us because we booked through these guys. These guys won't help us! Although you may receive a few extra perks, if something happens and your cruise is canceled, you'll be screwed! We will NEVER book a cruise through Cruises Only again!

WE CRUISE A LOT AND BOOKED 2 or 3 OF OUR CRUISES WITH THEM OUT OF OUR 10 PLUS CRUISES THEY GIVE MORE BONUSES AND PERKS TO THEIR GUEST AND THEY SERVICE YOUR WANTS AND NEEDS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SEEMS TO BE THEIR PRIORITY ASK ABOUT THE CASH BACK OPTION THEY GIVE AT THE END OF THE CRUISE WHICH IS AWESOME!

I booked a cruise on Cruises Only many years ago and was pleased. Thought I'd try it again for a Boston to Bermuda cruise on August 18 - August 25,2023. I found their reservation agents to have little to no knowledge about the cruses they are selling. They have absolutely no information regarding the layout of the cabins. I ended up booking a cabin on deck 11, which I found after a little homework to be below the pool area. After a couple days, I was able to call and change the room (again the agent had no knowledge of the ship layout). He tried to sell me another room which he said was the last available balcony on the ship. I told him that was probably not true! This room was under the Italian restaurant. Short story, I cancelled the cruise and lost a $100 booking fee. I normally (41 cruises) book directly with the cruise line, but thought I'd try Cruises Only again. Shame on me for not checking the latest reviews beforehand. Stay away from this company and work with a travel agent you trust, or directly with the cruise line.

Just cancelled my cruise that's 6 months away. Didn't expect to get charged $100 more for cancellation fee. I understand the booking fee is nonrefundable but there was no indication of the $100 fee. When booking online, the $24.99 is clear as a fee but there is only a small area that doesn't even have a box to click for terms and condition in order to process payment. Looking at it after the fact it is very misleading and crooked. They make it small and it says by purchasing you agree to the terms. If you miss it, not click on it to read the terms you'll be out of $124.99. Alex on the phone states manager will not over ride or waive the $100 fee since it states on the confirmation. But after you purchase, getting the confirmation with clear $100 cancellation does not help the fact that it wasn't clear before purchase. She stated once it's purchase it's too late to call and cancel without being charged. Horrible company. They just lost a customer. Will let all my friends and family know about their deceiving practices.

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 will never book through them again. I have called them 23 times from December 1,2019 - May 7,2020. I booked 8 rooms. The information has been wrong with date of birth, and address several times. I had cancel a couple of people and replace others and they still had information wrong to were the first people I had on there was still on. Due to COVID -19 we had to cancel the cruise and request our money back. I cancel all room on March 28,2020 received an email stating it was cancel. Went back in for some reason and it was cancel. Call back on 5/7 to check on since they only deposit one amount out of the 8 rooms. I was told that 2 room didn't get process so now we are having to wait another 90 days for the money. Please anyone cruising go through the cruise you are going on. I have travel Carnival several times and went through them and never had a problem. CruiseOnly had a special for $25.00 to hold the room, next time i will pay the $99.00 through Carnival. Also if you book through them and try to call the cruise you will be going on they will not give you information you would have to go through CruiseOnly. You don't know what CruiseOnly representatives are tell them for as information.

Royal Caribbean did the right thing by changing the ports that could be close to Hurricane Lee for the safety of all passengers on the September 10th sailing out of Port Canaveral.
I contacted CruisesOnly and asked if we could obtain a cruise credit and book another cruise date since my wife and I had no interest in Mexico and Honduras. The man I spoke with said we could not re-schedule our cruise or obtain a cruise credit for a later date sailing. He further stated we could simply go on the cruise and stay on the ship when it docked or just not go on the cruise and forfeit our $2700.00
We are on day 3 of this 7 day cruise and per Royal Caribbean Customer Service, we could have absolutely received a credit for a future sailing date since we had no interest in the ports this ship will be stopping at on days 4 & 5.
We certainly won't be doing business with CruisesOnly in the foreseeable future. The number of Royal Caribbean employees we spoke with about this issue said travel agents should have known that passengers could request a future cruise with desired ports to replace the current booking. This situation will make for interesting conversation when talking about this misadventure.