How to Book a Cruise for the First Time: 11 Expert Tips That Newbies Should Know

Table Of Content

• Pay in Advance
• Use Marriott Bonvoy Points To Pay for Your Cruise
• $6,969 pp — 11nt Expedition Ship Suite to Greenland: exclusive $1,150 back, $300 OBC, free tips & drinks
• You’re our first priority.Every time.
• Shorter = Cheaper (But Not Necessarily The Best Value)
• Tips for Finding Cheap Cruise Deals
• Tip 13 for Finding a Cheap Cruise: Look for repositioning cruises or those with odd itineraries
• Tip 6 for Finding a Cheap Cruise: Don’t book directly with the cruise line

If the service is exceptional, you can still tip extra later on. And for giving up that privilege, many lines discount guaranteed cabin bookings about $50 to $100 per person off the advertised fares. Take it a step further by customizing a list of deal tweeters using Twitter's list function, in essence creating your own deals aggregator.

Pay in Advance

Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information. You don't have to employ every one of these tips to save money on your next sailing, but keep them in mind to make smart decisions as you plan your next vacation and once you're on board. It's always OK to splurge a little on vacation, but you want to make sure you're not spending unnecessarily. What matters is that you're getting the biggest benefit from your vacation buck.

Use Marriott Bonvoy Points To Pay for Your Cruise

A key thing to know here is that last-minute discounting isn't as common as it used to be. Even if fares for the coming year don't come down soon, you can find ways to save when booking a vacation at sea. Likewise, you can earn United MileagePlus miles if you book your cruise through United Cruises. Rather than base the number of miles you earn on nights cruised or cruise line, though, United Cruises bases your miles earning on the type of stateroom you book.

$6,969 pp — 11nt Expedition Ship Suite to Greenland: exclusive $1,150 back, $300 OBC, free tips & drinks

During this time cruise lines see higher demand as more people look to travel. If you have an American Airlines credit card, you'll earn 2x miles, up to 20,000 miles. These miles and Loyalty Points count toward airline elite status. Additionally, trips booked through this site are eligible for promotions offered by the cruise lines. CruiseDirect is the best cruise website when all you want are cruise prices.

You’re our first priority.Every time.

CheapCaribbean.com is technically a Caribbean-specific travel booking platform, but don’t let the name fool you. Rather, you can find cruises for all around the world here, not just Caribbean cruises. The nice thing about this booking platform is that it allows you to search via a few extra categories (like cruise themes) that you won’t find on the other platforms above. Additionally, CheapCaribbean gives you plenty of incentives to book on the platform, with discounts, credits, and even a loyalty club. While the former is known primarily as a site that offers deals you won’t necessarily find elsewhere and gives you a lot of extra info, cruises.com is known for potentially lucrative deals.

Top tips to book a cheap cruise holiday including how to find the best deals - The Mirror

Top tips to book a cheap cruise holiday including how to find the best deals.

Posted: Mon, 07 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Shorter = Cheaper (But Not Necessarily The Best Value)

When comparing cruise ships and itineraries, the early bird usually gets the best cruise deal. In our experiences, you can often secure deeply discounted fares when you book a year or more in advance. This is especially true if you are looking to cruise on the world’s newest or most innovative ships. Of course, with the health crisis that’s changed a bit, but cruise lines have largely made it a point to keep pricing steady as the sail date nears. After all, if a cruise always dropped prices right before the trip, then it would train passengers to wait to book for better deals.

Tips for Finding Cheap Cruise Deals

Retired Australians spent almost 500 days at sea after booking 51 straight cruises because it's cheaper than a retirement home - New York Post

Retired Australians spent almost 500 days at sea after booking 51 straight cruises because it's cheaper than a retirement home.

Posted: Sat, 30 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Several cruise lines offer special deals for residents of certain states. Some states have better deals and promotions than others, so there is no guarantee that you will be able to find cruise deals based on your home state. Transits, when the ship is en route between ports, are known as sea days (like the term shore excursions, it's more cruise lingo); passengers, obviously, remain on board.

However, OTAs can often have cheaper prices and worthy reward programs. Also, consider booking through a specific airline or hotel brand. This can help you maintain or gain status on an airline or with a hotel brand you use regularly.

Tip 6 for Finding a Cheap Cruise: Don’t book directly with the cruise line

If you aren’t a member, then it might be worth joining up. If you have the most flexibility and are sailing from North America, check out cruises in January, February, September and October. Of course, if sailing to Alaska you can’t avoid having to sail during the summer season as these trips don’t go year-round. If you’re like many people, then summer is the most convenient time to cruise.

Let us share some of our favorite tips on how to get cheap cruises. While some may sound trite, others may catch you by surprise. No matter which cruise line you sail, it's a truth universally acknowledged that the first and last Alaska sailings of the season are the most affordable. Combine those factors with a shoulder-season fall travel date (between mid-September and the week before Christmas), and you have yourself a more affordable luxury cruise. Here are the five most affordable luxury cruises we could find so you can save a little bit when you sail in style.

While they provide a host of benefits for planning your cruise, they can also help you score cheap cruises. Our Cruise Deals pages give you access to one-tool that aggregates several websites to provide you with the lowest cruise prices for itineraries on the major cruise lines. You will also find similar price comparison websites that do the same thing. Not to mention, there is usually better cabin selections and other benefits when planning this far in advance. If cruise fares do drop after you book, you can often contact the cruise line for a price adjustment. You can use tools like Cruise Critic’s Price Alert to track prices to see if they change once you have reserved your trip.

Mind you, the flights are ROUGH, with multiple connections and many hours spent waiting in airports, but for me it was worth the significant savings. It’s no surprise that my thrifty (cheap) ways carried over to my current career as a Professor of Cruising. And now, after many years of cruising on dozens and dozens of ships and itineraries on nearly every non-luxury line, I’ve mastered how to maximize my cruise experience for the least amount of money.