Sunday, March 31, 2024

BEST Cruise Deals: Cheap & Discount Cruises 2024

how to book a cheap cruise

While Travelocity doesn’t advertise as many deals and savings as other sites, the price still manages to come out about the same as other websites. Additionally, there are sometimes opportunities to earn even more miles. If you’re sure of the cruise line you want to take, it makes your search a little easier because you’re just looking at one specific line.

secrets to getting a luxury cruise for less

For this reason, some users just use the website to browse their cruise options and then they call Travelocity directly to book their chosen option. Despite the name, you can book cruises to destinations other than the Caribbean through CheapCaribbean.com, including Europe, Canada, Hawaii, and Alaska. Your first instinct when booking a cruise may be to go directly to the cruise line’s website, especially if you have elite status with a specific cruise line. There are definitely some benefits to this — it’s simple and there are fewer hassles if you have to make any changes.

$400 pp — 4nt Bahamas/Key West Balcony: exclusive $25 OBC, no deposit & 75% off 2nd guest

3 ways to book a cheap Royal Caribbean cruise - Gwinnettdailypost.com

3 ways to book a cheap Royal Caribbean cruise.

Posted: Sun, 31 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Parking a car for a week is almost guaranteed to be cheaper than airport transfers, flights and a pre-cruise hotel for a family of four. Cruise lines love casino players because they spend money on board. Once you've established yourself as a member of a cruise line's players club, you may find yourself the recipient of cruise discounts and complimentary casino cruise offers. You can definitely save on a cruise when all you have to pay are taxes and fees. Some of my strategies are obvious and others I've learned from trial and error over 50+ sailings.

The Best Cheap Family Cruises

The periods around major holidays — such as Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day — also are considered the busy season for cruising and bring higher prices. In the Caribbean, these months also fall during hurricane season, which keeps some people away from both land resorts and cruise ships in the region. Very similarly, if you’re a SkyMiles member versus an AAdvantage member, you can earn miles for your cruising when you book with Delta SkyMiles Cruises. Rather than receiving a certain number of miles for which cruise line you cruise with, you’ll receive miles based on how long you cruise, up to 10,000 SkyMiles. You also get extra perks if you book more luxurious rooms.

Sign Up for a Travel Credit Card

Group leaders can choose to spread the savings across the group or keep it all for themselves. Norwegian offers group members a choice of complimentary amenities beyond its Free at Sea promotion, such as extra onboard credit or a cocktail party for the group. When the fare plummets, you can request a rate change, cancel, and rebook at the lower rate or request the difference in onboard credit. What you're entitled to varies by cruise line, but it all leads to more money in your pocket. In addition, bundling multiple vacation elements together can help you save on individual costs.

People get excited about new ships and don’t mind paying more, especially for the maiden voyages. You’ll find some large price differences between different ships in each fleet. Cruising on a newer cruise ship will cost more than a cruise on an older ship. Gratuities are charged per person, per day and added on to your bill for you to pay at the end of your cruise. The fees vary depending on the cruise line but are often around $16-18 per person, per day. When you add those on, a seven-night cruise for a family of four can cost an extra $450, or more.

How To Book Cheap Cruises, According to Frugal Redditors

Cruise lines often open departures for bookings with the lowest prices at which they want to sell the trips. Then, as the departures start filling up, they slowly raise prices on the remaining inventory. However, you might find the cruise booking portion of the agency’s website a bit clunky.

Sloan offers another take saying that your travel budget should lead the way. If you are prepared to drop $1,000 a night on a cruise, start out on an upscale line with smaller ships like Silversea Cruises or Seabourn. These will give you a taste of cruising with fewer passengers, and often to smaller, less-frequented ports. That means every cabin has at least two people in it and some have more. In other words, ships don’t normally sail with empty cabins. All things considered, the shorter a cruise’s length, then the less money it’s going to cost.

In addition to reviews and traveler forums, Tripadvisor acts as a metasearch engine, comparing prices on lots of other websites. We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. The reason for this wave is that Christmas is out of the way and people start to think about what they want to do in the coming year. Thoughts naturally turn to travel and marketers cash in on this by offering incentives to get people to book cruises. It’s a myth that cruises get cheaper closer to the sailing date.

It’s free and you’re signed up automatically if you have booked with Cruises.com at least once before. Benefits include things like shore excursion credits, onboard spending credits, or deposit waivers. Benefits are identical to those offered through the CruisesOnly loyalty program. While you might think of Tripadvisor as just a place to get reviews and photos of hotels, restaurants, and activities, it’s actually much more than that.

However, after reading the fine print you’ll notice that in order to get the full bonus you’d have to spend $20,000+ on a cruise. To top it off, the bonus is only available for select cruise lines. Priceline often offers deals above and beyond what’s being offered through the cruise line. At the time of writing, a few different deals offered perks like $1,000 in onboard credit or 30% off every guest. With each cruise listing, you’ll see bonus details next to each sailing date — just click on each icon for details. Some of these are already reflected in the price and some are extras like onboard ship credit or discounts on shore excursions.

For example, an entry-level suite on luxury line Seabourn's Seabourn Encore is a veranda suite measuring 246 to 302 square feet with a 68- to 83-square-foot private balcony. On a seven-night Greece and Turkey cruise departing in June 2025, prices for these rooms start at $5,499 per person. Opt for the next suite level up — a 450-square-foot penthouse suite with a 93- to 103-square-foot balcony — and prices start at $9,299.

Last-minute cheap cruise deals are a tough find in the most popular seasons and routes, especially if you want your pick of cabins. Summer travel and school holiday periods book up early, particularly for cabins that sleep three or more and are in demand by families traveling together. Costco members can purchase cruises, hotels, airfare, and car rental packages all online. But if you’re a frequent traveler, you’re probably already pretty familiar with the very popular online travel agencies out there. Priceline, Expedia — it’s incredibly common that you’ll find your best hotel and flight deals with one of these websites. But many of these online travel agencies likewise offer deals on cruises.

Additionally, booking with a cash back credit card such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited® can put 1.5% or more back in your wallet. Lastly, stacking these savings with another cash back program such as BeFrugal or Rakuten will further increase your savings. See also our guides on the best websites for booking cheap flights, the best websites for booking cheap hotels, and the best websites for booking cheap car rentals. But sometimes, you can also purchase cruises through providers who aren’t online travel agents, or cruise lines, or even anything close. Airlines, hotels, and other brands also offer deals on cruises for their most loyal customers.

how to book a cheap cruise

If eating and drinking are how you spend your money on a cruise, you may save by bundling your purchases. Most passengers get off the ship when it's docked in port, so they prefer to book spa treatments on sea days. Because agents often book in bulk and work directly with the lines, they have access to deals that normal cruisers don't.

Adding these cost savings to your trip will lower the overall price of your entire vacation. Normally I would advise against purchasing flights, hotels, and transfers through the cruise line. You’ll often pay more or get stuck with something less than ideal (a red-eye flight for example or many connections). Sometimes cruise lines will offer “free air” or “two-for-one” air that can save you significant money. I was able to save over $1000 on an upcoming cruise embarking in Buenos Aires by taking advantage of a two-for-one airfare promotion.

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