Dean Caporella asked: With the warmer months approaching, cruising will be one of the more popular summer vacations on people’s minds however, if it’s a cheap cruise you’re looking for, then you may struggle to find one.
The summer period, especially the holiday time is prime time as far as cruise companies are concerned. This is the time of the year they have little trouble in filling their cabins.
This doesn’t mean you cannot cruise cheap. Let’s take a look at two solid options which will help you land that bargain vacation on the high seas.
Travel Agents
Many people seem to overlook travel agents and one reason for this may be because they are such an obvious choice. They should be the first port of call simply because of their connection to the cruise companies. Connection as in receiving an order of tickets to fill that is.
Filling cabins is what it’s all about with cruise lines and their number one aim is to make sure there isn’t a vacant cabin left when the ship departs port. The travel agents job is to fill these cabins and they have the ability to be negotiable on the price of tickets.
A good tactic is to come up with a list of travel agents and then speak with each one individually over the phone. You are simply asking about the cruise you’re interested in, what’s the cost and what sort of a deal they can do.
Some may be hard to get on with and others will be very accommodating. This is simply shopping around for the best price and don’t be surprised if you can get your cost down anything up to 10% of the original quote.
It’s a great way to come up with a cheap cruise deal. How many travel agents should you contact? That’s entirely up to you but try to speak with at least five. Obviously time will be a factor but in the end, even if you are looking at saving $100 of your trip, it’s an extra $100 you can spend on your holiday.
Online Cruise Sites
This is a must alternative simply because of the power and competitiveness of the internet. Cruise companies proliferate the online scene all competing for your business but they also have the ability to locate and get you on a cheap cruise holiday.
Join some of the site’s who offer newsletters and correspondence with their visitors. This way, you can be kept up-to-date with what’s coming up and one of the advantages of these mailing lists are you’ll usually be the first to hear about the super deals.
Cheap Airfare
