No matter how you book your cruise – whether with a web-only agent, an agency booking engine, with a live agent, or directly with the cruise line – once you have made your deposit, you will receive an email confirmation from the agency or cruise line laying out all the details of your cruise. As a paying guest, it is solely your responsibility to promptly and carefully examine the cruise confirmation with a fine-toothed comb and make certain that everything is correct. If you find any errors, it’s crucial to contact the agent or cruise line to get them corrected as soon as possible to avoid snafus later down the road.

Pay particular close attention to the following:

Passenger names. Verify that the names are spelled correctly and are an exact match to the names on your government-issued photo ID or passport. Some cruise lines or agents will charge a change fee – as much as $50 per correction, especially if not notified of the error by final payment date. More importantly, you risk being denied boarding – and this goes for airline reservations, too!

Dates of birth and gender. Be sure that all passengers’ dates of birth and gender are listed correctly to avoid boarding headaches.

The ship and sailing date. If you suddenly discover weeks or months later that you’re booked on the wrong sailing, getting it straightened out could be costly. Fares for your intended sailing could have gone up since you booked or the ship could have sold out. Worse, if you only realize the error after final payment, changing your booking will – in essence – cancel the first, leaving you with cancellation fees, as well as the cost of rebooking the correct cruise.

It’s also a good idea to have another set of eyes – preferably a traveling companion – review the details as well. Four eyes see more clearly than two!

For more on the subject, see today's Article: 10 Mistakes to Avoid in the Cruise Booking Process