Saturday, April 13, 2024

How to Find the Best Cruise Deals, According to Travel Experts

how to get the best cruise deals

If you can be flexible on which week you cruise, you can save money by choosing whichever sail date has the cheaper price. The cheapest room on the ship is an inside cabin, so choose one of those rooms if you want to spend less on your next sailing. You'll get access to the same pools, restaurants, shows and activities as the folks in the balcony cabins; all you're missing out on is a window and some more floor space. Some people actually prefer inside cabins for amazing sleep in the pitch dark and because they spend all their time out and about on the ship and are never in their room. There's no guarantee you'll get a residential discount, but it can't hurt to mention your home city and state during the booking process, just in case. Look for options for requesting these deals about halfway through the booking process when you use the cruise lines’ websites.

Best Online Deals for Cruise Tickets - Virgin Voyages

Best Online Deals for Cruise Tickets.

Posted: Fri, 29 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Going Going Gone Rates

THE 25 BEST April 2025 Cruises (with Prices) on Cruise Critic - Cruise Critic

THE 25 BEST April 2025 Cruises (with Prices) on Cruise Critic.

Posted: Tue, 24 Oct 2023 06:48:31 GMT [source]

Often, you'll find a better price for four, five, six and eight-night cruises. For most families, a week-long cruise is the perfect length of time for a cruise because it fits in nicely with school vacations and time off work. Keep in mind that you may end up with a cabin at the very front or very back of the ship. Those that value convenient cabin location or are sensitive to motion sickness may not want to roll the dice on a guarantee cabin. It's important to act quickly if you do spot a good cruise to book that sails soon, because inventory within the last month or two of a cruise will disappear fast.

Tips for Finding Cheap Cruise Deals

The package will most likely include flights to and from the port city of origin and departure, transport to and from the cruise ship, and the cruise itself. Remember that the half-price offer will be calculated on the basic cruise fare, not including all your taxes and fees. This cruise line offers significant savings, and you will see headlines such as 30% discount or a 50% discount for all guests in the same cabin. They even take away the deposit so you can book a cruise for the future and secure a cabin of your choice without paying a deposit.

Consider repositioning cruises.

To get the best holiday deals on a cruise, look for sailings that end before December 23 or start January 2 or later. A good travel agent can guide you through the different fares, help you pick out the perfect cruise ship cabin type for your family and avoid the bad cabins. More often than not, the best cruise deals are found on sailings one to two years in the future. In most scenarios, if you’re looking for the best deals, we recommend booking as soon as possible rather than waiting until the last minute. Many times the cruise lines will work with you to compensate for the lower fare, even though they often aren’t obligated to do so. They can refund the difference or offer onboard credit to make you happy.

To top it off, the bonus is only available for select cruise lines. The big drawback when booking directly on a cruise line’s website is that you can miss out on extra deals that online travel agencies (OTAs) may offer. ● Norwegian offers a stateroom category called Club Balcony Suite. These are larger than average balconies and come with a few bonus perks. If you are planning to book a balcony cabin, always check pricing for this choice too.

Book during a Kids Sail Free promotion

They have to discount the trips to fill the ships as much as possible. When it comes to the best time to shop for Carnival cruises, the best deals happen just before demand for cruises to warm sunny destinations heats up. In other words, shop for Carnival deals between November and March.

That’s enough for a $200 statement credit on your next Princess purchase. Plus, enjoy 2X points per $1 spent on all Princess purchases including onboard purchases. Princess offers up to $250 free onboard spending money as a way to thank the brave men and women of the American and Canadian militaries for their service. Royal Caribbean sails from many cruise ports around the United States, and there are definitely certain embarkation ports where prices tend to be lower for a variety of reasons.

Rule #9: DO book your cruise when you find a rate you like

Those cruises are a bit pricey, but look for seasonal deals in January, September and October, or early November and early December. ● If your itinerary is flexible, compare the port fees and taxes, which can vary dramatically. In Alaska, where port fees can be exceptionally high, we found the fees ranged from $235 to $322 for 7-night cruises. Norwegian also runs popular 50% off fares, free or reduced fares for third and fourth guest offers, and even buy-one-get-one airfares when you book air through the cruise line. These offers are usually time restrictive but are especially useful for families looking to share a stateroom. Finding a good deal on a Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) cruise can be tricky, but it's not impossible.

how to get the best cruise deals

This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers that are on the market. See our advertising policy here where we list advertisers that we work with, and how we make money. ● For warm water cruisers, we found amazing deals on Norwegian's Bermuda/Bahamas combo cruises, with balcony cabins around $89 per person per night. ● Some of the best deals we found were NCL's Canary Island cruises, some with balcony cabins for as low as $85 per person per night.

Costco Travel is easy to use and offers all of the search and filter functions found on any other website. So while the deals offered could be lucrative, they aren’t necessarily a slam dunk. One of the nice things about Orbitz is that it offers a rewards program, but, unfortunately, cruises are not eligible for Orbitz Rewards. Cruise Critic is a cruise-focused website that features reviews, tips, and advice for a huge community of cruisers. The Cruise Critic forums provide a place to ask questions, give advice, and get help booking your next cruise.

May and September typically are when Alaska cruise prices dip to their lowest. To get the best cruise deal, you're going to want to employ these top tips for getting a great price. No matter the time of year, these tricks should get you a great price so you can maximize every dollar of your vacation budget.

The exception in this example was Cruise.com, which offered a savings of $50 on the price of the cruise. However, some of the extras offered by other sites could be worth more than that, so it’s always a good idea to price your cruise on multiple websites before booking. We combed through the most popular websites used to book cruises to look at their pros and cons and to do some head-to-head price comparisons. The better deal is to book back-to-back, 7-night, one-way cruises, which are NCL's best Alaska cruise deals. ● Norwegian's frequent cruiser's loyalty program, Latitudes, offers discounts onboard, as well as insider deals and members-only pricing.

how to get the best cruise deals

However, many third-party sites can have special deals such as onboard credit that’s not available if booking through the cruise line. We’ve seen up to $750 in onboard credit just for booking through these types of sites, depending on their offers. The basic rule of thumb is that if school is out, then cruise fares are high. Cruising off season can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Garden Templates

Table Of Content Which pattern, how many circuits, and what variation might be most appropriate? Avalon à la Chartres™ Step 8: String Cord t...