How to Get the Best Deal on Your Cruise

Why Cruise Prices Vary Widely

The funny thing about cruise prices is that out of a cruise ship full of 2,000 or more people, few will have paid exactly the same price for the same voyage. In fact, their prices will vary widely based on several factors (follow links to our terms page for words you’re unfamiliar with):

Cabin Type:

Generally speaking, suites are most expensive, balconies next, then cabins with just a window and finally inside cabins will be least expensive. But the deck and location will also impact the price. On deck plans you’ll see a color-coding system corresponding to numerous cabin categories affected by size and location. Your cheapest cabins are often on the lowest deck at the back of the ship. These cabins can be noisy and vibrate or you may hear the anchor.

Your cabin will impact your enjoyability of the cruise so use cruisemapper.com to check on cabin reviews for your ship and view their deck plans (or the ones on your cruise line’s website) to select a good one. A “guaranteed rate” is usually the very cheapest and basically means you are paying for a category of your choice (i.e. a balcony cabin) but your exact cabin will be assigned to you by the cruise line. Take a chance if you like, but realize your balcony could have a completely obstructed view, thus all you see is a lifeboat (the same is true when you bid for an upgrade), or your inside cabin might be right under the noisy buffet. As noted below, during some sales, you can get an upgraded cabin. Sometimes this is just to a better location. But once in awhile you pay for an inside or window cabin and get a free upgrade to a balcony for the same price! This presents a great deal!

Packages and Amenities:

For example, a spa room comes with a Thermal Suite pass yet cost less than a regular cabin plus purchasing the pass separately. A “ship within a ship” cabin has very different inclusions and a different price. Purchasing a package that includes service charges/gratuities, wifi, drinks etc will affect your price based on the level of inclusions you choose. On MSC (see tips on drop-down. menu at bottom of the tips page, you have to choose an “experience” level that will affect your inclusions and price.—this is very important to understand before booking on MSC).

Do the math to see if you should buy cruise-only fare or a package that includes drinks, wifi and gratuities (a daily service charge automatically charged to your cabin, per person, called various things on various cruise lines).  If you don’t drink much (including coffee, soda, juices and bottled water), and don’t need wifi every day, the full package might not be worth it for you.  Wifi and drink packages (including non-alcohol packages) can be pre-purchased separately. Wifi can usually be purchased for 24 hrs at a time as well—cheaper if you just need it a couple of times. Remember, when you are in port you can use your phone data or an esim (though it might only work on upper decks and off the ship). 

Travel Agents:

Use a travel agent (TA). There is no cost to you.  You do not save money booking directly with the cruise line (they just keep the commission portion).  I prefer one who is independent of all cruise lines (and one who will book MSC, as not all will).  It’s easy to book yourself online and I did that for many years, but during the pandemic when we had 8 cruises cancelled and credits all over the place, I was sure glad I had a TA to sit on hold to the cruise lines and work it all out! All TA’s are not created equally. Get references and pick a good one—one who will always be available if you need them and who has backup if they themselves are traveling. In my opinion, an engaged, reliable, available travel agent is of more value than a slightly cheaper online price through a cabin clearance website. The only freedom you give up with a TA is the ability to deal with the cruise line on your own when making changes to your reservation. If you don’t have an agent, feel free to email mine.

  • Sometimes travel agents can get you additional onboard credit or perks, or even a cheaper price.  Some agencies buy a block of rooms and re-sell them, passing on a discount or incentives. Their advice on cabin can also affect the price you pay. TA’s can help you choose a good room (I often choose my own based on the ship maps during a mock booking but my agent knows my rules). 

  • If the price drops before final payment, your travel agent can often get you the cheaper price, or if it drops after final payment they can often get you onboard credit to make up for the difference. 

  • They can find out which country-specific travel visas are already included in your fare/fees (this recently saved us quite a bit of money and hassle when we traveled to Papua New Guinea—cruise lines generally just tell you you’re responsible for obtaining all necessary visas and did not inform us of the PNG difference.  Always ASK your travel agent). 

  • TA’s also save you valuable time spent on the phone learning about health requirements, resolving cabin issues, getting you a credit or refund when your cruise is cancelled, and more. While we love cruising on MSC, I would never book with them without a TA as their pre-cruise experience/service is notoriously problematic. 

  • All that said, I like to find my own cruises/deals (note the offer code for your TA), do a mock booking (enter details up to just before the payment screen or until I can get the actual price including taxes and fees for an actual room I want), then screen shot the deal and send it to my TA for her to book (sometimes she finds an even better deal).

Time of Purchase/Sales:

Generally the best prices and benefits are found at the following times.

  • When a new ship first goes on sale Note that although initial sailings may be cheaper, it is risky to book a sailing for the first couple months that itineraries are offered because ships are often delayed during building.  But if you book for a sailing a few months in, once all the kinks are worked out, you may get a really great deal on a brand new ship.

  • When a new itinerary opens up For example, when Carnival started sailing out of Brisbane, Australia, on their new Luminosa which was re-vamped and rebranded from their Costa lineup, the onboard credit was worth almost as much as the extreme-sale-priced cruises.

  • Through special “loyalty” price offers online or by email.  Sign up for a login on any cruise line you’re interested in and get on their mailing list so you receive their special targeted offers.  Sometimes they don’t notify you of these offers by email so it’s good to login and check for personal offers (for example, under Carnival’s VIFP program) and last-minute pricing if you can travel soon.  These aren’t just for past cruisers with loyalty—they can be incentive for new cruisers or especially those who have cruised just once with the brand.

    If you have gambling loyalty at casinos on land or on other cruise lines, sometimes you can enroll at that level on a cruise line you haven’t even sailed with before. Gamblers often receive great offers including free cruises (port fees and taxes only). 

    I believe MSC is still the only cruise line that will match loyalty from another cruise line—so if you have a good loyalty level at another company be sure to follow the online MSC instructions to submit proof and get status-matched.  We did this and have received 5% off of all cruises since plus perks. Sometimes Virgin has special offers of a match if you are making a booking at the same time.

  • Some of the best sales take place during what is known in the industry as Wave Season, generally from January to March.

  • Last minute bookings—usually after final payments have been made about three months prior to the sail date and new rooms open up or the company is trying to fill the ship using steep discounts or extra incentives.  I like to keep an eye on the vacationstogo.com 90-day ticker for good deals if my schedule is flexible.  Usually your own travel agent can match their price but, if not, Vacations To Go is a reputable agency and they’ll assign you a travel agent.

  • During big sales for Black Friday or Cyber Monday or similar “sale” days Fall sales are great for last minute sailing before the year ends, and for sailings on new schedules they are just releasing for upcoming seasons (usually a year or two away).

  • Cruise lines almost always have some sort of sale or promotion going so just keep an eye out for the best deal on the sailing you are interested in—and keep an eye on prices even in you’re already booked in case they drop lower than what you paid. If you haven’t made your final payment, they often will match the lower price. If you already made your final payment, they may give you some onboard credit. Note: if you booked a strict fare that is nonrefundable, without changes allowed, then you can’t do this as you already got your deal.

  • Watch for free room upgrades.  Especially free upgrades to balcony rooms at time of booking.  Many cruise lines also allow you to bid for upgrades close to your sale date and some people have great success with this, though it can be risky if you don’t want to be assigned (and pay for) a “better” room that is under the noisy buffet or has a completely obstructed view where all you can see from your balcony is a lifeboat.

  • Sometimes booking your next cruise while onboard your current cruise can save you money or at least gain you additional onboard credit for a minimal deposit.  Always check with the booking desk on board to see what is on offer.  Be sure to get the terms and conditions.  Many offer refundable deposits or flexible booking/re-booking within a period of time.  Once you get off the ship, give the booking number to your personal independent travel agent if you like, and he or she can transfer the booking to their agency (they get the credit and you get personalized service from there on out).      

Time of Sailing:

Peak season has higher prices and (aside from major holidays) usually the best weather. Off season can have the worst weather but cheapest prices. My personal “sweet spot” is shoulder season which straddles the couple of months on either end of peak season. For example, in early November you’re unlikely to get a hurricane in the Caribbean but you the possibility makes it cheaper and the weather is usually lovely. When each season falls will vary by the region of the world. Longer repositioning cruises are often a better value as well (compare by cost per day). Here are a couple of generalities to give you an idea—you can google the seasons for your region. These are based on weather season months in America.

  • In the Fall, many ships move from the West Coast of the U.S. to Australia, Japan and South America. In the Spring, they return.

  • In the Fall, many ships move from Northern Europe, the UK and the Mediterranean to the Southeast U.S. Others move to South Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In the Spring, they return.

  • Basically, ships are chasing warm, less stormy weather. The most solidly you center yourself in that cruise season in that area, the best weather you’re likely to have as that is “high season”—the further away from center you get, the cheaper the fares usually are since you’re risking worse weather (holidays can be an exception to these fare guidelines).

Other Money-Saving Ideas 

Shareholder Credit:

If you own 100 or more shares of a cruise company stock, you can likely get free money to spend onboard any of their ships. How much you get, when you apply and other factors vary based on the cruise company so google what company owns the cruise line you’ll be using. Just as an example, we bought 100 shares of stock in CCL when it was about $8 a share and we’ve already received way more than that in free OBC. Not to mention we still own that stock that has doubled in price. If you cruise a lot, this can be a good investment. Whenever we book a Carnival-owned cruise (they own Carnival, of course, but also Princess, Holland America, Cunard, P&O, Seabourn, Costa and AIDA) we send in proof of our share ownership and they credit our shipboard account with between $50 and $250 based on the length of the cruise. Click here to view current Carnival policy. Note that they authorize it one year at a time ending on July 31 so if you cruise is after that date you need to wait for an updated policy before filing your request for any CCL cruiseline through the StockPerks app they now use. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian also offer similar shareholder credit.

Flights Through the Cruiseline

While booking through the cruise line may seem easy, discounted or even free, you do have the option to book on your own. Booking through the cruise line may feel foolproof if something goes wrong but there are many stories of groups of people stranded at airports, missing their cruise, with no compensation or help from the cruise line. Not only that, but these people have trouble re-booking their problematic/cancelled flights because they were booked through a third party (the cruise line’s flight-booking agency). It’s probably safest to book your own flight, might be cheaper or more convenient, and will allow you to stay longer in the embarkation or disembarkation port (usually cruise lines only allow about a 2 day stay). Of course, your cheapest option to book a flight using credit card points. See this page for more flight tips.

Excursions

You do not need to book an excursion in every (or any) port.  Look at the excursions to get an idea of what there is to do.  Look at the port area on tripadvisor.com to see if there are things to see within walking distance or easy transportion (check out your options—not everywhere has Uber).  Unless there is something we really want to do that can’t be done independently, we explore on our own.  You may need local currency, so also look for ATM availability.

Sometimes an independent excursion through Viator or shoreexcursioneer.com is cheaper but be sure the provider can pick you up at port (realizing some locations have more than one dock area) or recommend easy, affordable transportation to the meeting point; be sure the arrival and departure times aren’t cutting it close assuming crowds, possibly a ship tender both directions, etc.  It’s best to use a company that guarantees you’ll be returned before the ship departure.  Plan extra cushioning time just in case.  Also, check the refund policy in case your ship skips the port due to weather or other factors. 

Pre-Purchases

On some ships you can pre-purchase flats of water bottles and sometimes even bottles of wine or alcohol and mixers to be delivered to your cabin before you board.  These are usually cheaper than purchasing onboard, especially bottled water, unless you have a drinks package (though I just learned that NCL, so maybe other cruise lines as well, does not include water in the drinks package). If you can buy a bottle of alcohol for your room, you can mix it with the free lemonade or juice usually available in the buffet, saving a lot on cocktails. After you book, check the “store” online through your booking to see what is available for pre-purchase on your ship. You can often pre-purchase canapes and holiday celebration packages to be delivered to your cabin as well. Most ships allow you to bring a bottle of wine per person or 12 sodas aboard at embarkation—read the policy for your cruise line for amount, usage and packaging restrictions.

Some spa and specialty dining costs are discounted if you pre-purchase them online before your cruise. The same is true for drink packages and wifi if you didn’t book with a package. Watch the emails leading up to your cruise for offers.

Spa Services

If you enjoy spa services like massages, facials, manicures, hairstyling and the thermal suite, take a tour the first day and sign up for their drawing—you may win some spa credit. Also watch for port-day spa specials. As mentioned above, discounts can also be had by pre-purchasing online inside your booking before your cruise.

AARP discounted gift cards

Here’s a little-known secret hack for saving up to 10% on many cruises!

Big savings can be had by paying for much of your cruise fare at select cruise lines using gift cards purchase at 10% off through AARP Rewards. AARP is cheap to join (and alll ages are welcome). Go to AARP Rewards, find your cruise line and select up to 5 cards per month (bigger denomintions if you have to make a big payment), purchase, then give the gift card #’s to your TA for a payment. Before purchasing, ask your TA to verify that your booking is eligible to use them. For example, our recent Carnival cruise out of Australia was not eligible (but the Singapore one was). Deposits are also not eligible. Pre-paid gratuities may or may not be eligible. Royal Caribbean has special booking method and payment time rules you need to check (Celebrity may too) so check even before using a TA.

Gift card availability and discount vary at AARP and any site. You might want to also check giftcards.com and watch our video on travel hacks to save money so you can learn about stacking discounts for even greater savings on your cruise! Maybe even more than 10%.

I paid $8000 of our Princess transpacific cruise with cards over several months before the final payment was due, 5 cards for myself and 5 for my husband, each month. This saved us $800. Significant! Do note, however, that your credit card insurance won’t work if you use gift cards so be sure you have some other type of cancellation insurance. NOTE: ALWAYS KEEP THE CARD NUMBERS!! If your cruise is cancelled you will be refunded back onto those exact cards so you must be able to access them—and you must be willing to get a refund that way and re-spend that money on the same cruise line if your cruise is cancelled.

If you are a nomad trying to purchase from AARP from outside the US (with or without a VPN), you made need a contact physically in the U.S. to do it for you, as I did.

With any gift card purchase, be sure you read the limitations, and read the cruise lines own rules, first. Also, immediately check the balance to be sure your gift cards loaded the correct amount. Problems are best dealt with immediately.

Should You Use Cruise Compete?

Some cruisers have recommended using cruisecompete.com to find the cheapest fare. Should you use this website and the discount agencies you may find in the results? I tested it out.

Cruise Compete is not an agency itself—it’s more like a referral service. On the website, you can input a cruise you’re considering and their community of 500 travel agents will be able to send you a price quote. I received four quotes. Three of the quotes equaled my own research and what my travel agent could get.

One was cheaper—from a cabin clearance discount agency site. Although it was significantly cheaper, I didn’t book it for two reasons. One, it was for a nonrefundable guarantee cabin (unpublished on the cruise line site). Secondly, I sent several emails to the responding agency asking for assistance but didn’t receive a response until 2 days later saying they’d referred it to an agent, who then finally responded to say she’d be at work next week (after I even contacted her directly and by next week the sale would be over). If an agent won’t even respond to someone mentioning their website and YouTube channel, they just don’t value anyone’s business that much. That’s just not service I trust.

Another agent who responded via Cruise Compete seemed to be independent and may have been a better choice but had the higher rate available anywhere online. The other responses were from agencies with that same price.

Perhaps Cruise Compete can be a way of finding agency group deals to see if your own agent can match, and also a way of trying out a new travel agent, but please use it (and especially all discount sites that may respond) with caution. I personally wouldn’t book until I felt confident in speaking with an agent personally at least by email, unless perhaps it was a cheap, last minute booking.