CruiseDirect Review: Should You Book Your Next Cruise Through Them?
Affiliate Marketing Disclosure
Cruising is an excellent way to see the world without spending tens of thousands of dollars per trip. In fact, cruising is so popular because it is easy to get exactly what you want out of a vacation.
Everything from luxury travel to a quick and affordable getaway is on the table. The problem is, all of this choice can be overwhelming. Luckily, there are websites that help you to compare and choose the perfect voyage. CruiseDirect is one such example.
Today, I'm here to review CruiseDirect.
Booking with CruiseDirect | |
 | CruiseDirect is an online cruise company that allows you to search for and find cruise vacations that match your budget and vacation wishlist. |
What is CruiseDirect?
CruiseDirect is an online cruise booking company that specializes in helping travelers to research, book, and plan their next voyage online and in one place.
CruiseDirect is known for being a vacation aggregator, similar to Google Flights, that can help you find the perfect vacation that matches your wants, budget, and can provide all the amenities that you're looking for.
Related: 8 Ways to Save Money on Your Cruise
Cruise lines on CruiseDirect
As of the time, the following cruise lines have voyages to be booked via the CruiseDirect website:
Carnival
Celebrity
Costa
Cunard
Disney
Holland American
MSC
Norwegian
Princess
Royal Caribbean
Virgin Voyages
How to book a cruise with CruiseDirect
My favorite part about the CruiseDirect customer experience is how easy it is to book your next sailing. I recommend that you start right on the homepage, unless you know exactly what voyage you are looking for.
From here, there are a number of filters you can use to drill down into the type of sailing you want. Currently, you can customize your search by:
Destination: Pick from cruises to Alaska, Africa, Asia, Bahamas, Bermuda, Caribbean, Europe, Hawaii, Canada, Panama Canal, South America, and pretty much anywhere else you can think of!
Departure Port: Where in the world do you want to sail from?
Month: You can now search for cruises up to January 2026.
Voyage Length: Do you want to get away for the weekend or are you looking to take a longer trip?
Cruise line: Choose from any of the cruise lines above!
My favorite part about the filter functionality is that you can see the exact number of voyages that match your search criteria update in live time as you opt for more or less filters.
View your results
Next, you'll be able to view those cruises that match your search specifications. This is called the "results" page, and you'll be able to see more details about each voyage's:
Itinerary: The day-to-day itinerary for each sailing
Ship: What ship you'd be sailing on
Voyage Duration: How long the voyage lasts
Price: What pricing starts at per person
My favorite part about browsing the results given to me is that you can actually see other's reviews right on the same webpage. Given that the results are likely to have multiple different lines, it is really helpful to see how others have enjoyed (or not enjoyed) the cruises that you're considering.
In my mind, there is another underrated feature, where CruiseDirect actually labels who they believe each voyage is right for. For example, some voyages and itineraries may be best suited for families, couples, children, or others altogether.
You can sort this page by price, duration, or average review score in stars.
Find a voyage
With all of your options in front of you, it is time to pick the voyage that works best for you!
Each of the options in front of you on the "review" screen can be expanded to provide you with more information. The CruiseDirect portal is highly navigable, and you can click:
The picture of the ship for more pictures and reviews
The stateroom category to get updated pricing information
The review summary to get more details
Once you've found a stateroom category and voyage that you want to take, simply click the "Select" button to advance with your booking.
Booking your voyage on CruiseDirect
It is time to officially book your voyage! After you click the "Select" button, you'll be redirected to the booking page(s).
Here, you'll put the finishing touches on your reservation by completing personal details, including traveler ages and your email address. You'll also need to opt for the specific category of stateroom you'd
One thing that I really like about booking cruises with CruiseDirect is that they'll actually show you all of the bonus offers out there that you can take advantage of. For example, when I wrote this piece, I pulled up an example 4-night Western Caribbean voyage, and I was delighted to find a bunch of bonus offers to add to my voyage, including:
10% off shore excursions
An April sale where kids sail free
A March sale with up to $550 off your voyage
A CruiseDirect exclusive sale offering up to $500 as a Visa gift card
My thoughts on CruiseDirect
CruiseDirect is an excellent way to plan out and book your next cruise. While you may or may not save money booking through the site, it is undoubtedly a great way to see what all of your options are, particularly if you are not set on traveling with any particular cruise line.
Plus, CruiseDirect can be a great way to discover new itineraries and ships that you may not have ever thought about traveling with before.
Should you book through your cruise line?
Ultimately, this is your decision to make. But I would not hesitate to book my next voyage through CruiseDirect, particularly if the pricing is good and I could add some of the bonus offers to your booking.
CruiseDirect reviews
It isn't just me that likes the CruiseDirect experience either. In fact, it is a very popular site with travelers of all types. For instance, the site is extremely popular on almost every single review site I referenced while writing this piece. Consider that CruiseDirect has:
4.9/5 stars on TrustPilot
4.6/5 on Sitejabber
Travelers oftentimes mention that they were able to book voyages for a good deal less money than scheduling directly with your line, but you'll just want to make sure you are comfortable in booking with a third-party website.
Customers oftentimes praise the customer service experience with CruiseDirect, and that customer service representatives are friendly and easy to do business with.
The only potential con that seems to be referenced online is difficulty in cancelling a voyage, though others have referenced an easy cancellation process.
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