You could sail through the Caribbean, cruise to Alaska or stop in Ensenada through any travel agency, but finding the cruise that best suites your style takes some research. These sites make it easy for finding the best deals for a romantic get-a-way, a family vacation or a wild party with your friends. IwantACruise.com promises excellent service as well as money back incentives. CruiseDeals.com provides virtual tours of Carnival cruise ships, adding a personal touch for the curious customer. You'll also find easy access to information regarding great savings and last minute cruise offers.
By Erin Miller

SinglesAtSea.com
operates on the most famous cruise lines including Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival and more. This party on board caters to singles that want to meet and mingle with other singles in their 20s, 30s and 40s. The breadth of cruise and itinerary options means there is something for every single traveler. Furthermore, the site is delightfully manageable and avoids being overwhelming like many cruise websites! Singles At Sea is a great way to avoid the gush of honeymooning cruise couples and to enjoy time with other fun-loving single folk.

VacationsToGo.com
offers greatly discounted prices on last-minute discounts on some the world's best cruise lines. They require you to register to get access to their great prices but if you can travel a little last minute, this site is a treasure trove. It also offers helpful information on tipping policies- essential knowledge for a cruise holiday. Users of this site know why they are there. And it’s not to look at pretty pictures of a holiday they can only afford to dream about.

Cruise.com
proudly advertises itself as the largest web site specializing in cruises on the Internet. That may be, but their crazy and overwhelming homepage is enough to put potential customers off with too many links and choices. The company sells 99 cruise lines and 25,000 sailings claiming to be the world's largest online cruise selection, and they will price match too. Their information is very detailed including the types of cuisine on offer and advertises a variety of specialized cruises including kids, luxury and special needs. If nothing else, their domain name must bring in many a customer.

IwantACruise.com
is a family run business that has expanded in size but still promises excellent customer service. Their “beat it” link allows you to input a quote from another source to see if this company can offer you a lower deal. Furthermore their sail- and- save points program offers you money back incentives when you book with them, and their list of special deals is adequate. This is a very approachable site with a nice interface.

CruiseDeals.com
is an interactive website with virtual tours of Carnival cruise ships and the opportunity to take virtual cruises to get a feel for the holiday. Their homepage is appealingly bright and uncluttered like some of the other cruise sites, and their ‘request a deal’ link is innovative- you type in your details and you will receive information about a cruise suited to your needs. For the personal touch, this site offers the benefits of a travel agent, virtually!

ECruises.com
presents a huge variety of categories on their home page to help you narrow your search, but the quantity in itself may be off putting for many. The website needs some organizing but the company do pride themselves on including everything in their prices including cruise, port charges, taxes and personal service and promise no hidden fees which is a seriously important feature in the cruise industry. Furthermore, they claim to be offering the biggest cruise sale of 2005.

4Cruises.com
designed their website to make searching simple by aiming to find something for you within one click of the home page- refreshing for internet travel. Their design is indeed uncomplicated and while their homepage is packed and may seem overloaded with offers, these are organized into helpful groups and are easy to sort through. 4cruises offers up to 70% off some brochure rates amongst other savings and discounts, but their hot deals list is simply average.

7SeaCruises.com
looks like a small search engine with a plain and unexciting interface. Its single word links just take you to cruise related sponsored sites but the webpage also advertises other completely unrelated services like singles dating. Not very helpful when you’re trying to book a cruise holiday. The website seems a good starting point if you have absolutely no idea where to find cruise related travel websites- otherwise it is quite simply boring and serves little purpose.

Princess.com
has more than 150 itineraries ranging from seven to 72 days. The cruise line sails to all seven continents and calls at nearly 260 ports around the world, with their shore excursions number more than 1,500. Their fleet is one of the newest and is set apart by claiming to offer particular flexibility, in an effort to take the regimentation out of cruising. Their website is geared toward the sophisticated holiday seeker with serious money to spend, and offers very few specials which remain steep in price. Use this website to research the cruise line and then see if you can find a better price elsewhere.

Carnival.com
prides themselves on being the worlds most popular cruise vacation with value for money vacations. Sailing to over 60 destinations their webpage is brightly colored, full of pictures and excitement, without being overbearing- a reflection of what they term “fun ships.” Their last minute cruise offers are seem reasonable enough, and the pictures reflect that the line is very family oriented, making them amongst the more middle of the range lines. And they are one of the few companies who still offer the legendary chocolate buffets.

CrystalCruises.com
offer the highest guest space ratio at sea and have won the ‘worlds best large- ship cruise line’ by Travel + Leisure an unprecedented nine consecutive years. They have a newly added special offers section but their cruises remain expensive, regularly starting at over $2000. Opulent and indulgent this cruise line is not for the faint of heart or budget, but with their exquisite interface the site is certainly a pleasure to explore even if you can’t afford the goodies.

WindstarCruises.com
is impressive from the first opening of their website which boasts an elaborate song and slide show. Their tag line is "180º From Ordinary," and with three sailing yachts cruising to over 47 countries worldwide, their vacations offer luxurious accommodations and exquisite service and cuisine. But this doesn’t come cheap- the prices on the specials page don’t seem very affordable at all. Carrying just 148 to 308 guests the yachts are best suited to the elite, those who seek real opulence and are prepared to pay the price.

SilverSea.com
is a luxury alliance member and won the 2004 Conde Naste Traveler’s people’s choice award. Their website certainly reflects the elite luxury experience that they claim their vacations offer. Their accommodations look very sumptuous, most with a private veranda and their concept is that fewer guests and more space allow for the highest levels of personalized service. Their prices are suited to modern affluent travelers, but a great feature is that all on board gratuities are included so there is no unpleasant pressure to tip staff on board.

Celebrity.com
is a middle of the range, family- friendly cruise line with a pleasant enough website, set apart only by their ‘why celebrity’ which at least sets them apart from some of the others. Having recently done a Celebrity cruise myself, I found the pressure to tip onboard very suffocating, and the service to be a little sycophantic to match. However, they do offer a number of specials and their virtual ship tours are useful. This is a better than average cruise line, without being ridiculously over the top or overpriced.