Orbitz Review: Cruise Vacation Sites

Orbitz has been operating since 2001 and is a sibling company of Expedia, another travel booking service in our review. At the time of our visit, they were listing over 51,000 sailings from 25 cruise lines.

Listings could be more exciting

Searching for cruises on Orbitz is comparable to most of the cruise booking sites in our review. Your initial search will require you to enter a minimum and maximum duration, but you can reset that filter on the next page, and add other filters like cruise line, specific ship, and sailings with special deals. Each listing's first display image is a virtual map of the stops on the itinerary. If you want to see what the ship's exterior looks like, you can click to the next image in the carousel. There are more pictures of the ship's interior available when you click into the listing, but we would have liked to see some of the ports as well. It's easier to get excited about spending hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on a vacation when you can visualize being there.

No convenient curation

One omission from Orbitz's website, which we appreciate in their competitors, is the inclusion of curated categories like "last-minute deals" or "popular destinations" for cruises. On Orbitz, you're left to your own devices, and you'll have to rely solely on filters to find cruises that match your criteria.

Bonuses available on select sailings

Some "Agency Specials" you might encounter here when you enable that filter are onboard credits, shore excursion credits, drink, dining, and WiFi packages, and pre-paid gratuities. (If you're a first-time cruiser, you may not know that gratuities are often-mandatory charges added to your bill to fairly compensate the ship's staff for their service. They typically cover housekeeping, dining, and other onboard service personnel. Gratuities are typically an additional 15%-20% of your bill.)

Orbitz is cagey about fees and policies, and AI support chat is unhelpful

You can find the cancellation policies of individual cruise lines within their listings on Orbitz. If Orbitz charges their own cancellation or booking fees on top of what they cruise lines do, they aren't open about it. Orbitz manages so many other kinds of bookings that it's impossible to sift through all of their policies to find what applies to a cruise vacation. We tried using their Virtual Agent chat to get clarification on these matters, but the bot only prompted us to sign in or enter booking details we didn't have. Other cruise vacation sites in this review connect you with a real person immediately.

Possibility for small savings compared to booking direct

We compared a 4-night sailing out of Galveston, Texas with a stop in Cozumel, Mexico aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas. Orbitz priced this cruise at $527 per adult for 2 adults, and offered 60% off the second guest (though they don't clarify if that discount has already been applied in the rate they display) and a $50 onboard credit. On Royal Caribbean's website, we found the same cruise for $558 with the same 60% off bonus. If Orbitz actually honors the onboard credit, you'd save about $81 in total by booking through them. (Just remember there may be booking and cancellation fees they're not upfront about that could negate any savings.)

Abysmal ratings on third-party review platforms

Virtually nobody likes Orbitz, as evidenced by their "bad" 1.8-star rating average on Trustpilot and their "C-" grade from the Better Business Bureau. The majority of reviews we found on the former platform were from customers who had used this travel agency service to book flights, rental cars, and hotels, but one thing is clear: Orbitz will let you down when you need them most. If you choose to use this service, you'll be in for unexpected fees, poor customer service, and you can say goodbye to any money you've given them - they don't refund their customers even when Orbitz is at fault.

Too risky to recommend

When you use Orbitz for cruise booking, you'll get access to a large selection of sailings and potential savings through Agency Specials, but their website lacks curated collections and inspiring visuals that could make planning more enjoyable. While their search functionality is standard and they offer some onboard perks, their lack of transparency about fees and poor customer service (evidenced by terrible third-party reviews) make them a risky choice. You might save a small amount compared to booking directly with cruise lines, but the potential headaches and hidden fees aren't worth the minimal savings. Our recommendation: skip Orbitz and book directly through cruise lines or use a more reputable travel agency that specializes in cruises.

On the Orbitz website