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Some people think you have to have deep pockets in order to afford a cruise vacation. Truthfully, though, cruising can be cheaper per day than a reasonable hotel room. If you plan ahead, you can get your room and all-you-can-eat food for as little as $50 per day! I’m going to share my best tips for how to save on cruises, including how to help you book your cruise at the best price.
How to Save on Cruises
Book early
The best months to book a cruise are early spring and fall. It’s when people are dreaming of vacations, but not actually taking them. Booking a year out can get you the biggest incentives, deal packages, and even room choices. When you book super early, you also can take advantage of time. If at any point between the time you book and the time you sail the price goes lower, you can always call and get them to change your price to the new discount!
The price difference is not always given back as cash but many cruise lines will give you the difference in on board credit. This can help pay for gratuities, shore excursions and lots of other fun things though.
Book late
If you can’t book early, then be prepared to book last minute. While you won’t have the room choices of booking early, they would rather fill a ship than have empty rooms. Look for cruises in the Caribbean to have the best last-minute rates as there are a ton of ships in the area and many are mega ships that hold 6,000 people. The best rates are all about supply and demand, and this is usually an area of the sea with a lot of supply! Booking late in some areas of the world will not get you a better rate, so you have to be flexible on your dates, location, and room types in order to save. Also, know that some ships are always sought after (like Disney lines), so booking late won’t save much.
Search the Internet
With any big vacation, spending time researching and planning always pays off. Do some research to pick the best ships, locations, and even times of the year to travel. Also, do some soul searching on whether you are a mega-ship person or prefer smaller ships. Once you decide what you are looking for, sign up for emails from your favorite cruise lines. They’ll send out emails every few weeks with different promotions and you’ll be the first to know about BOGO offers, packages, kids sail free, and even flash sales.
Talk with a travel agent
While you can still book on your own (and I do recommend still doing your own research), travel agents can also help you figure out how to save on cruises. Ask if they have any secret sales or specials running. Also, ask if they have any groups going that you can join in on. Taking advantage of group pricing might save a bundle over current rates depending on when you are booking.
Tip: Booking through an agent or cruise deal website never raises the cost and can only help you. While the internet lets you book yourself, going through an agent usually gets you a few extra perks you won’t get on your own directly (like onboard ship credit).
Know special sale dates
While the early spring and fall can bring the best rates for next year’s cruises, there are still some big discount days to watch for. (Remember, you can always price match down to the lower price if you have already booked). Most large cruise lines offer big discounts on Black Friday. These are one day only sales, but they are quite substantial. You’ll also find sales around big holidays and 3-day weekends just like the retail industry.
Be flexible
Some of the best rooms on a cruise ship are not the ones with a balcony! Long-time cruisers know that the inside staterooms are the best deals out there. You end up only sleeping in your room, so enjoy the view from the railing on the promenade deck. (A pro tip: Watch for deals that mention room upgrades—you pay the inside rate and get a room with a view for the same price.)
Also, be flexible on dates to save a ton. Shoulder dates on cruise ships are similar to shoulder dates in other vacation spots. Just like a beach house rental drops almost 50 percent off once school starts back, cruise lines do the same. Look for deals on shoulder seasons and save up to 40% off. Keep in mind that shoulder seasons do vary based on cruise location.
Hop on a repositioning cruise
Some of the best discounts are on cruises as the ship moves to another area. Cruise ships don’t sail in Alaska all year long; they are like migratory animals and move to warmer waters in the winter. When searching, many of these in North America are labeled as “Panama Canal cruises.” There are also great stops planned along the way, so it’s still a wonderful vacation idea. You’ll have a lot of at sea days, but still have a great vacation being pampered.
Cruise from a nearby port
One of the biggest costs of cruising can be before you even get on the ship—the airfare to the port. To save significant money, look for ships leaving from ports closer to home. You may find a lower rate per night leaving from Puerto Rico, but you still have to get there! If your goal is to see the world by boat, this can’t always work, since most ports only have the same destination offers, but this does let you get started cruising for the least out of pocket.
Book Your Own Airfare
If you don’t leave from a port you can drive to, then plan to book your own airfare. While booking through the cruise line offers some protection for missed flights, you’ll really come out much cheaper to book your own travel and just get good travel insurance. There are exceptions, like when Viking is running free airfare for both guests (a rare but exciting promotion), but typically the cruises book flights that are hard to upgrade and aren’t always the best travel options.
Tip: You can’t really use points to get a free cruise, but you CAN use airline points to travel. We save up our points to help us get to the cruise port for free. Use a card like Chase Freedom to earn points that you can redeem for any airline.
Get Your Own Travel Insurance
Most frequent cruisers will tell you to skip the cruise lines travel insurance and get your own instead. The prices are very similar, so it’s not about saving money but mostly about what they cover. Cruise travel insurance is very limited, many times not even giving money back for cancelations but instead a voucher. We’ve used a few different companies but really like Faye Travel Insurance the best. It’s easy to tailor it for the coverage you want and it includes some of the best medical coverage on the market (it is also rated #1 in customer reviews on pretty much every site).
Tip: If you book your trip on a credit card, many cards offer travel insurance! Look at what your card offers and then buy an insurance plan to cover anything else you need. For example we can full reimbursed for luggage, trip delays, and cancelations with our card so we are just needing medical coverage.
Be a cruise organizer
Think you can convince some friends to join you? Most cruise lines offer a free room to the “group planner” for any group over 16 people (or 8 cabins). Go big and get another free cabin for 32 people. (Maybe we should all go on a coupon cruise?)
Looking for more cruise tips? See how to save on onboard cruise costs!
