Overseas bookings for BIG Savings on Cruises

[Kiwiken]

We have previously booked cruises through Vacations to Go (VTG) of the US, most recently on a Celebrity cruise of Alaska & saved hundreds of dollars.

Now we have our hearts set on a "one off" cruise of Northern Europe & the Baltic, which only HAL (Holland America Line) do, only to find we can only get the heavily discounted fares, through VTG if we are residents of the US or Canada.

Isn't this DISCRIMINATION against Australians? - Why can the Americans travel at 30 - 40% cheaper than we can if we are forced to purchase at ridiculously high rates through their Australian Travel agents.

This means that the Americans in the next cabin to me, would be laughing at us the whole trip, as we are subsidising their cheaper fares. - It wouldn't make for any pleasant after dinner conversations, I can tell you.

Even though we had our heart set on this particular cruise, I refuse to pay literally thousands of dollars more than my fellow passengers who are fortunate to live in North America & not in the southern Pacific.

Is anyone aware if Holland America cruises can be booked from the UK? - without fear of reprisal from HAL. Their (UK) prices are also considerably cheaper than Australia's (but not as cheap as US though)

As you can see, I still want to go on this cruise.

[buddinghealth]

That's crazy - I can't see why the prices are not the same - can't you pretend?

i would imagine you can book them from the UK - can you find a UK seller that you can buy from their website?

[Kiwiken]

That's crazy - I can't see why the prices are not the same - can't you pretend?

i would imagine you can book them from the UK - can you find a UK seller that you can buy from their website?

It appears you CAN book through UK Travel Agents (Not the cheaper US fares unfortunately) but you must be able to show a UK ADDRESS.

This must be spelt out loud & clear when booking your tickets, because if you use an Australian address, they can still take your money, but when you go to board, they can either refuse to allow you to board, or demand you pay the $thousands DIFFERENCE between what you paid & the AUSTRALIAN FARE.

NEVER NEVER use your Mariner Numbers (past passenger numbers) as this immediately identifies you as an Australian resident.

Apparently many Australian & NZ travellers do this, but do not want to go public & own up to it on forums such as this, just in case they are recognised & could lose their "privileges"

[heavenlybody]

we had the same problem with various cruise lines with v2g.we were recently gathering prices for a discovery cruise and an aussie discovery agent said that they couldnt match american prices but would look at quotes from england.didnt even try that and have booked with v2g.their prices were a real bargain