Send Deals To Your Inbox
The vast majority of cruise lines and agencies still rely on eletters to help fill cruise ships. Major cruise lines, such as Celebrity, Norwegian, Holland America, Princess and Royal Caribbean, offer deals emails with ongoing promotions in addition to last-minute deals and short sales. For the hardcore deal-seekers who don’t want e-deals cluttering up their personal inboxes, we suggest setting up separate accounts just for bargains mailings.
Look For Off Season Cruise Deals
Consider taking a cruise to a destination currently in its off-season. Or, even in the early or late shoulder seasons. Taking a cruise to areas during their tourist off-season is going to be so much cheaper than during the peak seasons.
The other advantage of off-season cruising; the cruise may also be less crowded as will the main attractions at the destination. Win Win.
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Consider A Repositioning Cruise
Cruise lines sometimes need to move ships long distances between major markets, resulting in repositioning cruises with odd itineraries that often are tough to sell and thus available at the last minute. Many lines move vessels from the Caribbean to Europe in the spring, for instance, and then back to the Caribbean in the fall, resulting in long, one-off sailings with lots of sea days that only appeal to a small subset of cruisers. Repositioning sailings between Europe and Asia in spring and fall are another good place to look for last-minute deals. Some cruise-focused websites such as VacationsToGo.Com offer tabs listing last-minute repositioning cruises that you can sort by date and price.
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Tweet Your Way To Savings
Tech-savvy shoppers can try Twitter for last-minute cruise bargains. Just about every agent and agency — including Cruisedeals.com , Cruise.com and Best Travel Deals — is tweeting its best cruise deals. Take it a step further by customizing a list of deal tweeters using Twitter’s list function, in essence creating your own deals aggregator.
Finding Last Minute Royal Caribbean Cruise Deals
As much as you may try your best to play your cruise vacations well out in advance, the reality is work, school and everything else in life seems to always get in the way. ;So when you find a week to go on a Royal Caribbean cruise but it’s last minute, what can you do to take advantage of this and make a cruise vacation happen?
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Search For Cruises Close To Home
You can also skip the hassle of booking a plane ticket entirely by searching for cruises with embarkation ports within driving distance of your home. This way, if you do find a great last-minute deal on a cruise, you can simply pack your bags and jump in your car instead of having to worry about finding a low-priced plane ticket to the departure port.
Seattle, Washington
For U.S. residents in the Pacific Northwest, look for a round-trip Alaska cruise from Seattle, Washington. If you live in L.A. or San Diego, you can book a Pacific Coastal cruise or a Panama Canal cruise without worrying about airfare to the port.
East Coast residents can find Caribbean cruises leaving from Cape Liberty, New Jersey in the north or last-minute cruises from Florida departing from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa in the south.
Last Minute Cruises From Your Own Home Port
If youre searching for a last minute cruise, you can save time and money by sailing from a port thats closer to your home. Home Port Cruising means less money spent on airfare. You can find cruises from port cities in every coastal region of the U.S., from Boston to Los Angeles. Caribbean cruises leave from Galveston, New Orleans, Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and many other ports. Cruises to Bermuda can be found from the ports of Boston, Baltimore, New York and Cape Liberty, NJ. When youre looking for a quick getaway, try searching for cruises from a nearby port.
Whether youre wishing for a few days in the Caribbean sun, or a refreshing voyage to the coast of Alaska, you can find a great cruise at a great price, leaving any day now.
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How To Get Last Minute Cheap Cruise Deals
Doug advises that you start with a travel agent, as they have relationships with the cruise companies and can often get better rates and last-minute deals. And my experience has me agreeing. While there are many do it yourself options, travel agents often can find much lower prices and can act as liaison to cruise companies when something goes wrong.
If you want to go with the do it yourself angle, you only need to go to these three best websites for finding a cheap cruise:
These websites do a detailed job of scouring the web for cheap cruise deals. Vacations to Go is more of a travel agent/operator and thus often has better deals since they can negotiate with the cruise lines directly, but keep in mind that they add a lot of fees. Cruise Sheet is simply a website aggregator that crawls the web and then displays cheap last-minute fares. This is my favorite cruise site, as it seems to find all the deals and makes finding a cheap cruise easy.
In terms of timing, dont book early. As Doug states, the only benefit to booking early is to secure the room you want. If you want a specific cabin, book early. Otherwise, wait until the last minute. As I said in the beginning, cruise companies dont want to sail empty ships and so do heavy last-minute discounting ;be sure to sign up for cruise company newsletters to stay informed!
Defining Value Is Key
How much of a bargain is a cheap cruise that requires you to spend twice as much on airfare? For instance, you’ll typically see more Anchorage-to-Vancouver voyages on last minute lists than the more affordable round trip Seattle itineraries. Why? Air is typically cheaper on the latter, which sails into and out of the same city. The former has you flying in and out of different airports, including one in Alaska where fares are often high. Account for that cost before committing.
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Cheapest Transatlantic Repositioning Cruise Deals: Between Europe & Us
Transatlantic repositioning cruises are a classic repositioning cruise route to embark on. Theyre the most common and often the easiest to get a great deal on an inexpensive voyage.
The itineraries range from fairly barebones direct sailings across the ocean to port-intensive voyages with only a few sea days in between to break up the trip. Some transatlantic itineraries include Caribbean islands on the eastern side, an abundance of European ports on the Western Atlantic, and far-flung islands in between. Stops into Atlantic Ocean islands such as the Azores, Canaries, Madeira, and Bermuda help to break apart the lengthy ocean crossing.
Last-Minute Transatlantic Repositioning Cruise Deals for Fall 2020
Most Fall 2020 transatlantic repositioning cruises have been outright canceled. Only Norwegian cruise line has one late-season transatlantic itinerary that prospective passengers can still book.
2021 Spring Transatlantic Repositioning Cruise Deals: US to Europe
There are already some unusually low rates for 2021 transatlantic repositioning cruises, well in advance of the deals that tend to emerge in the last-minute. In fact, weve already spotted a dozen 2021 transatlantic repositioning cruises within the $50 per night range! Theres even this 16-night Royal Caribbean cruise thats down to a mere $35/night!
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Book At The Right Time
One of the best times to find last minute rates on a particular sailing is 60 to 90 days before departure. The reason? This is the last call for travelers to cancel existing reservations without penalty. At that point, the cruise line will know exactly how many cabins are left — and if there is more space available than the cruise line would like, it will quickly reduce the fare so that it can sell out the ship.
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Booking A Repositioning Cruise Deal
The above listed deals are the cheapest repositioning cruises out there, at the time of last update . Weve meticulously combed through all repositioning cruises for each route to identify the best deals.
If you want to see what additional repositioning cruises are out there currently listed at higher prices, you may want to do some additional sleuthing on your own.
You can search and sort through all of the repositioning cruises listed on CruiseDirect. Youll likely stumble across some great deals that include some additional routes, such as shorter repositioning cruises between European countries. But just realize that their list can also be incomplete, as some repositioning cruises arent labeled as such within their search system. Its also not organized, which is why weve taken the time to show the best deals for each repositioning cruise route, above.
Keep It Close To Home
The biggest challenge to booking a last-minute cruise sometimes isnt finding the right ship at the right price. Its finding flights to get to that ship at the right price. This is particularly true if youre shopping for a last-minute cruise that is far from where you live. The solution? Look at sailings in ports that you can reach by car or via an air route that is short and inexpensive.;
For vacationers on the East Coast, that might mean sailings out of New York or Boston. For a West Coaster, it could mean a sailing from Los Angeles or San Diego.;
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Why Do Dogs Lick
It is a question every dog owner has asked themselves at some point. The reasons for licking can vary from one action to another and with each species. Many people think that it is a sign of love or affection while others think it is more so a sign of submission. In some cases, licking may indicate a health problem. There are many reasons as to why your dog licks you and below we will explore some of those.
Where Can I Sail From
Last-minute cruise deals are available on cruises departing from UK ports such as Southampton, and also on fly-cruises which are packaged up to include flights from regional UK airports. Popular fly-cruises include Mediterranean cruises from ports such as Barcelona, Caribbean cruises departing from the USA and Transatlantic cruises which will include a one-way flight only. Cruises departing from the UK are popular with last-minute travellers because less planning is needed to hop on-board at Southampton.
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The Week Before Thats Cruise Deal Of The Week Was
Actually, it was 13 cruises on The MSC Meraviglia, departing SOON, this August 2 through September 13, 2021.
These are all 3-, 4- or 5-day cruises departing from Miami, going to Nassau and Ocean Cay, MSCs private island.
The free balcony upgrade for the price of an inside cabin applies only to these 13 sailings.
Kids free is on most MSC sailings, but its startling that they are COMBINING the KIDS FREE and BALCONY UPGRADE offers.
And the prices are still rock bottom, like $194 and $174 per person.
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Be Flexible On The Destination
It is also easier to find a deal when you are open to whatever is the cheapest rather than a particular destination or even a specific place of departure.
Before you start planning your cruise packing list, go into the process of looking for an excellent last-minute cruise deal without being set on a particular destination you might be surprised at what you find.
Approaching your research this way gives you the freedom to let the price lead the way and not the destination. When people look for a cheap cruise deal rather than discounts on a destination, they open themselves to experiences they may never have considered before.;
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Go For The Cabin Guarantee
If cabin location isn’t important, you might want to opt for a “cabin guarantee,” which basically means you’re assured to get a cabin in at least the category specified — and, if you’re lucky, even get an upgrade. However, you can’t choose your exact stateroom.
Many lines typically discount guaranteed cabin bookings about $50 to $100 per person off the advertised fares. However, if you’re prone to seasickness or sensitive to noise, you might want to reconsider the value of choosing your own cabin location so as to not end up near the elevators or riding the wave near the bow. Also, not all guarantee fares are eligible for booking perks, so ensure the value tradeoff is worth it before you commit.
If you’re willing to book in bulk, most cruise lines will offer free berths, depending on the number of passengers in the group. For instance, book seven or more double-occupancy cabins on Norwegian Cruise Line, and for every 10 passengers booked, one passenger can cruise for free. 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.
Group leaders can choose to spread the savings across the group or keep it all for themselves. Groups can get other perks, as well. 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.
Three Things To Remember When Booking A Cheap Cruise
1. Smaller is cheaper Smaller boats tend to be less expensive since they offer fewer amenities and attractions.
2. Cruise in the off season Traveling off season will get you markedly cheaper fares.
3. Take a repositioning cruise; Repositioning cruises are when cruise lines move ships from one part of the world to the next in anticipation of the upcoming season. These cruises are a great way to cross an ocean or sail down a continents coast on the cheap and can be found on any cruise booking website.
What about your flight? Dont book your flight with the cruise ;book it separately. Check out this guide to finding a cheap flight to lower that cost.
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What Are Last Minute Deals
First and foremost, you will need to find a cruise deal on Royal Caribbean. ;Last minute deals are around but you will need to dig for them and act fast. ;
Last minute cruises really refers to any cruise leaving in the next 60 days or so, with cruises leaving in the next 30 days being even more lucrative. ;When Royal Caribbean gets past the point of final payment, they get a good sense of how booked a sailing is and responds accordingly to fill up the rest of the ship.
If there’s a lot of unbooked space, often Royal Caribbean will reduce prices to encourage bookings. ;The closer to sailing you get, the deeper the price cuts until they reach a good sales point.
With last minute deals, there’s a fine line between good prices and the swing back up to expensive prices. ;One week there may be a deep discount available while next week, prices may be back to “normal”.
Where Can I Find Last Minute Royal Caribbean Deals
To find last minute Royal Caribbean cruise deals, there are a few places to look.
- Contact a travel agent
- Royal Caribbean sends travel agents deals and offers each week, so they may have knowledge of a deal out there.
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Best Places To Get Last Minute Cruise Deals
Planning a last minute cruise holiday? Dont worry about the skyrocketing prices of last minute cruise deals. There are many cruises that offer last minute all-inclusive cruise deals at discounted prices.
These cruises offer discounts on the last minute cruise, weekly deals, even during the season. Have a look at these cruises that offer you exciting deals and offers for you last minute cruise trip.
Check out these cruise lines, which offer great deals on several European and international routes. You can make use of their last minute deals to get the best deals on cruise holidays.
So Whats The Catch Of A Cheap Repositioning Cruise Deal
These cheap repositioning cruise deals may seem like theyre too good to be true. But theyre totally legit. There are no major catches, really.
Its a common misnomer that repositioning cruise deals are so cheap because theyre boring and stripped-down cruises. That is simply not true!
Its actually quite the opposite. Cruise lines tend to ramp up activities, lectures, and entertainment during all those extra days at sea. It can be a lot of fun. We always keep busy and never get bored.
The nightly four-course dinners include the same filet mignons and lobster tails passengers indulge in on regular weeklong cruise itineraries. The first-class staterooms are, of course, the same rooms. They dont strip down the staterooms for repositioning cruises. The high level of service remains the same too.
Meanwhile, the many exotic ports that are visited along the routes are arguably the greatest appeal of repositioning cruises. Reaching some of these distant locations would cost a fortune to fly to. Thousands of dollars! Yet a repositioning cruise deal can provide a seamless and inexpensive way to reach many far-flung destinations, all while voyaging across the ocean in luxury.
Despite our love and praise of cheap repositioning cruise deals, they certainly arent for everyone.;We strongly advise anyone to fully understand some potential downsides before booking your first repositioning cruise across the ocean:
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