Europe a la Carte Blog

Direct Line Cruises offer discounted rates on cruises with major cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Cruises.

Direct Line Cruises has grown to be a leading cruise line specialist agency from humble beginnings in 1995. The company was started in 1995 as a part time home business by an American lady who had fallen in love with cruising after her first voyage. Now the company handles bookings for over 25,000 US residents per annum from its headquarters in New York.

I decided the review the site by searching for a European cruise in the Spring. There are departures from several European ports such as Harwich and Dover in the UK, Barcelona in Spain and Citavecchia (Rome) in Italy. If you book before 31 December 2007 you can choose between free bonuses such as paying no initial deposit or a free wine selection. Travel insurance is included at no additional cost if your trip lasts for more than four nights.

I carried on through the enquiry process with a 12 night Mediterranean cruise for two travellers, which was available for only $1099 (US dollars) per person, in the cheapest inside cabin. There are many options available if you wish to have more luxurious accommodation in a suite or stateroom. I liked the fact that you could choose a specific cabin at this stage and see a photo of that grade of cabin. However I did get a nasty surprise when another $280 was added to the total price for taxes and fees. I’d prefer the total price to be displayed from the start. Once I’d completed the passenger details I had 11 minutes in which to make the booking.

The whole enquiry process went very smoothly and there is an extensive FAQ section which assists you along the way e.g advice on which type of cabin you should choose, on-board entertainment and dining and kids facilities.

I had a look around the rest of the site. I was pretty disappointed by the blog as the most recent post was from last month, it seemed like a lost opportunity to me, as I thought there should be plenty to write about on the topic of cruising. I had a look at a video to get some insight into cruising, as I’ve never been on a cruise. I didn’t like the Royal Caribbean online video I watched at all. It was like a whistle stop tour of Europe with just a few seconds of footage at each destination. You hardly had time to focus before you were onto the next destination.

I have to say that I didn’t like the design or layout of the home page. I thought it was cluttered with everything trying to catch your attention, there was animation, large coloured lettered, yet empty blue space on both margins. There was no obvious path for your eye to follow through the page.

I clicked on Contact us, as I wanted to ask if they accepted bookings from UK residents as I thought you might be able to get a good deal booking a European cruise through an American intermediary with the pound high against the dollar. However the only method of contact was through an American telephone number, there was no way to contact them by email. I would expect a company to offer this method of contact.

However the main purpose of the site is to find and book discounted cruises and I was impressed by the low price of $1250 per person, including taxes, for a 12 night European cruise and the quick, smooth booking procedure.