Rough Seas for Online Cruise Buyers

If you believe the hoopla, you can plan and purchase a Caribbean cruise with a few clicks of a mouse. The reality: A sail through cyberspace remains full of hidden shoals and treacherous currents.

According to a recent consumer poll by the Cruise Lines International Assn., only 5% of cruise passengers have booked any kind of travel on the Web. None bought a cruise online--in large part, cruise experts argue, because purchasing a $3,000 week at sea requires far more research and hand-holding than buying an airline ticket. In fact, while airlines have made no secret of encouraging direct sales via their Web sites, more than 90% of cruises are still booked through travel agents.

But it’s not just the complicated nature of the product that makes orchestrating a cruise on the Internet so difficult.

Many cruise line sites offer the same kind of information that their paper brochures do: itineraries, ship profiles, deck plans, sample menus, and cabin layouts and photos. Alas, most of those sites--including just-launched Crystal Cruises (https://www.crystalcruises.com)--don’t list prices, let alone permit online reservations.

In a move their competitors are watching closely, industry leader Carnival Cruise Lines (https://www.carnival.com) and Royal Caribbean International (https://www .rccl.com) promise consumer booking systems later this year. A few online travel agencies, including Preview Travel (https://www.previewtravel.com), also allow travelers to book selected cruises via the Web in “real time.”

Most online travel agencies, however, require would-be customers to phone or e-mail for price quotes--with the latter taking up to several days to process. What’s more, you won’t find many Web specials that you couldn’t nab through a local, bricks-and-mortar agency or national toll-free discounter. For example, Omega World Travel’s Cruise.Com (https://www.cruise.com) offers a few last-minute deals, such as a seven-night western Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas for as little as $999 in early March. Cruise.Com also promises to deduct an additional 5% to 10% from the lowest price. But the self-styled “Internet’s largest cruise discounter” offers those same rates if you call its toll-free reservation number.

A few bargains really are unique to cyberspace. Renaissance Cruises (https://www.renaissancecruises .com), one of a handful of lines that don’t rely on travel agents for sales, boasts an easy-to-navigate site that encourages passengers to book online--and offers a $200 discount for doing so.

Recently, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises (https://www.windjammer.com) launched a “Cyber Sailor” program that promises last-minute travelers savings of up to 50%. Deals are posted on Fridays, with departures 10 days later. Recent offers included a cabin on the Legacy, round trip from San Juan, for $537.50 per person. But would-be old salts still have to confirm their plans by phone. Cruise Opinion (https://www.cruise opinion.com), run by a travel agency, includes more than 2,000 passenger reviews. Anne Campbell’s Cruise Critic forum on America Online (keyword: “cruise”) features Campbell’s own ship critiques, as well as lively postings from AOL members; the Web version (https://www.travelocity.com) incorporates the reviews but not reader comments.

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Times columnists Shirley Slater and Harry Basch, meanwhile, offer an electronic version of their highly rated guidebook at Fielding’s Cruisefinder (https://www.fieldingtravel.com). An updated version will be available, online and in bookstores, this spring.

Electronic Explorer appears the second Sunday of every month. Laura Bly welcomes comments and questions; her e-mail address is LSBly@aol.com.