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I would take issue with the thoughts on American cruisers. When an American books a cruise on an American ship he pays in dollars (not the stering conversion) so he is all right.Moreover having just recently returned from a cruise on the Emerald Princess we came across a family of 4 (all adult paying passengers). They had travelled from the States (can't remember where)and to include cruise and return to the States for $8000.- or at the time £4000.Seems to me that there is a lot of cross subsidy occurring here and we Brits are not the winners. As a matter of interest thisship was rock solid full, the schools nin America having just finished. There were 600 children onboard out of 3000

I'm surprised that Cruise dot co have this topic on their website. You do have an advantage if you book in the States even if you are a Brit. I've booked my last few cruises in by calling the States (toll free), several advantages, one its cheaper, two you can cancel up to three months before and even get your deposit back ( and yes I have done that). So with the experience of two previous cruises and my next two all booked in the States saving me around 20% on the best UK price what more can I say?

We now always book through a US TA for the superior booking conditions, and for that reason stopped booking Princess because they don't allow "foreign bookings" Not only is the deposit fully refundable as previously stated, but if the price drops the cruiseline will honour the lower price (even after final payment) The deposit is paid direct to the cruiseline and the booking shows up immediately on the cruiseline website, so there is no fear of a TA going bust (as happened to us years ago when BoooknGo went under less than 2 weeks before our planned cruise) I don't miss booking a cruise package as I like to have control of when I fly, precruise hotel etc. The only risk is the exchange rate between pound and dollar but I can live with that - either paying the balance early or cancelling if necessary. Most if not all the main US agencies accept bookings from UK residents - just check they don't have their own cancellation charge unrelated to the cruiseline, and also check their policy re: honoring pricedrops. I wish I could tell you who I use but understand that advertising is banned

My wife and I often book crusies via travel agents in Miami. We have 'done' RCCL, Holland America and others this way. Cheapest was NCL(Miami) which including BA flight cost us £500 each for a week (£200 cruise £300 shop for flight) . The brochure price included flight and this would have refuelled in Maine and was 13 hours. Booking oursleves we flew direct and it was 9 hours !! We discovered this many years ago when we went on a 12 night Scandinavian cruise (Harwich)only to discover US on board who paid half our price including the flight. It is also legal to book Eurotunnel as a US citizen and pay with UK card and have tickets sent to UK address at a 40% saving !! The travel agents have a lot of secrets !!

I always book in the States ,by telephone, its much cheaper than in UK. British prices on average are at least 50% more. Seems that British travel companies are getting greedy!

If you pay tour deposit and cancel you lose it that is the contract you sign. We lost a deposit when my wife's mother died and lost interest in the holiday which we new would happen though the company offered did us vouchers. couple of years later booking a cruise my mother died days before we were due to leave. We had taken out insurance with M&S and though not having hopes of a refund due to my mothers age (she was 94) posted a copy of the death certificate and had a full refund within 10 days. Sometimes the cheapest is not always the best

I feel sorry for the Insular Americans, get off yir butts and explore. As for UK resident taking advantage in your dreams, prices in USA are dollar, UK twice as much.

I don't believe the Americans are not travelling because of exchange rates, I believe,the simple truth is they are all extremely afraid of terrorists,they unfortunately thought it was patriotic to fund terrorism for over 50 years against the UK. Boyo

It is true that on American cruises you will get a deposit refund if you cancel depending on WHEN you cancel. Personally I think it is fair enough to lose some of your deposit or even all of it if you cancel near departure time when it would be difficult to re-sell places on a cruise, but on British cruises there is no question of a refund at all no matter when you cancel and that is just outright robbery as far as I am concerned. When my friend died unexpectedly a year ahead of our reserved cruise and even though I cancelled a YEAR in advance, I am neither able to get a refund or get paid from cancellation insurance,(this on the grounds that we did not have the same insurance) and legally it is correct. You do get very good deals cruising on American ships and with the dollar so low they are a good buy, but the difference is that on British cruises air fares are included which is not the case with American cruise lines. Also a lot of British cruises give quite large on-board credit incentives, again not always the case elsewhere. I have just returned from cruising Alaska with the Holland-America Line aboard the Ryndam which was fantastic and the service absolutely impeccable, with a spotlessly clean ship and excellent food. This was a mixed age group of people including families with children, some quite disabled people, small babies, retired people like me, but there was plety to do for everyone. If I have a complaint it is just that if you decide to eat late you miss some of the entertainment.