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For example, the Alaska cruise shoulder seasons are May and September, which often extend into late April and early October and can be cheaper to book. But, like any deal that comes with a "too good to be true" price tag, buying a last minute cruise has its pros and cons. Read these tips and tricks for cruising on the cheap and avoiding potential savings pitfalls. Cruise with your nearest and dearest — and get rewarded for it, too.
Work with a travel agent
Cruise experts recommend looking at cruise prices for many destinations and not limit yourself to just one week. Instead, look at prices across two or three months and you'll likely find many better deals. Before the pandemic the Going, Going, Gone weekly flyer was a staple at Royal Caribbean that would list especially good rates for last minute cruises to book. If you can travel on short notice and aren't picky, there are last-minute cruise deals to be had for those that look for them.
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We've done the math and spent hours sifting through Carnival cruise deals looking for the nuggets -- including calculating what kinds of things can make or break your deal. Shopping for Carnival cruise deals is (as it should be) fun, so let's get started. ● Norwegian offers a stateroom category called Club Balcony Suite. These are larger than average balconies and come with a few bonus perks.
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The higher your loyalty status with a particular cruise line, the better chance you have of finding cheap cruise deals. If you cruise often with Royal Caribbean, we recommend sticking to the cruise line in order to grow your loyalty status in the Crown & Anchor Society. Despite the lack of flexibility, booking a guarantee cabin is one of the best ways to make a great cruise deal even cheaper. Booking a guarantee cabin on Royal Caribbean means you can save money on cruise fare with the caveat of not being able to choose your exact cabin location. While there’s certainly more travel time required to get to Europe as opposed to Florida, searching a wider range of departure ports means opening up the possibility for more cheap deals.
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If you’re planning a cruise with kids, the best time to book is during one of Royal Caribbean’s Kids Sail Free promotions. Booking a cruise at the last minute might seem counterintuitive to our advice about booking a cruise early. And although we usually recommend booking early as opposed to later, you can often snag a cheap cruise deal by booking at the last minute. Options include Norwegian Cruise Line's The Haven, Royal Caribbean's Royal Suite Class and MSC Cruises' Yacht Club. Travelers who book these suites get VIP treatment compared to their shipmates.
Last-minute cruise deals
In addition, you can earn frequent flier miles with participating airlines,” according to the Holland America website. Similarly, some lines, including Regent Seven Seas Cruises, offer free two- or three-night land programs and a one-night pre-cruise hotel stay for some guests. 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. The Caribbean continues to be the most popular cruise destination.
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If you’re hoping for a blend of a cheap deal and "new" ship, look at cruising on an amplified cruise ship. As part of Royal Caribbean’s Royal Amplified program, the cruise line made significant refurbishments on select older vessels. During the process, they added features such as waterslides, new dining venues, and revamped pool decks. The oldest Royal Caribbean ships—Vision, Radiance, and Voyager Class ships—often see some of the lowest prices.
According to Palmer, cruise lines are often willing to extend a discount “for groups of six or more.” For example, Royal Caribbean, Virgin Voyages, and Princess offer group discounts. Ashton Palmer is also a T+L A-list travel advisor who specializes in expedition sailings. Rob Clabbers is a Travel + Leisure A-list travel advisor who specializes in cruises. He also founded Q Cruise + Travel, a Chicago-based travel agency.
Book early
Royal Caribbean will periodically offer a kids sail free promotion, where the third and fourth passengers under the age of 12 in your cabin will cost you nothing extra in terms of cruise fare. When you book at the last minute, you'll have less cabins to choose from and last minute airfare prices may negate any savings from the cruise fare. Because agents often book in bulk and work directly with the lines, they have access to deals that normal cruisers don't. 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.
But you could save money because under Carnival's policies, you can bring up to twelve cans of soda onboard on embarkation day. If, however, you also plan to drink a few alcoholic beverages per day, the Cheers drink package would include the sodas and cover the cost of beer, glasses of wine, and cocktails (up to $20 menu price). 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. If you can stand the wait, Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals often push fares a little lower with added bonuses like higher onboard credit to enhance your cruise.
Just like a 6am flight, there is less demand for these departures and that means lower prices to be found. While there are lots of people enjoying a cruise, the good news is you can still get a great deal on a cruise if you're looking for a deal. Keep in mind that each cruise line has its own threshold for groups. Some lines consider 10 guests (five cabins) to be a group, while others require 16 guests (eight cabins).
Carnival makes it super easy to search their site for deals, often with a red alert at the top of the page and by clicking on "Cruise Deals" under the main "Plan" tab in the header. The secret sauce with Carnival is always to be logged in with your Very Important Fun Person (VIFP) Club account, which you can sign up for free before you even book your first cruise. Keep in mind that Royal Caribbean frequently enhances its fares with onboard credit and category upgrades while teasing you with both dollars and a percent off of the base fare.
If your tour independently, you won't have to pay for a guide or cruise line overhead. If you don’t need these sorts of things on your cruise, then look for an older ship to get a much cheaper cruise. It’s not written in stone, but you will usually pay much less to sail on an older ship compared to a newer one.
