Cruise Mouth

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

Clark Norton asked:


Many cruise lines, travel agents, guidebook writers, and “cruise tip” websites will try to convince you that booking a cruise as early as possible will result in the best discount cruise deal. Not true — you’ll often save more money when you book a last minute cruise.

Passengers who book a last minute cruise may save hundreds — or even thousands of dollars — more than passengers who book their cruise many months in advance.

That’s because the hottest deals and deepest discounts in cruising are usually available within two to three months of sailing, or less. That’s when cruise lines offer a discount cruise deal on the cabins they’re afraid will go empty unless they cut their rates drastically.

It’s not uncommon to see a “last minute” discount cruise deal as high as 60 percent, 70 percent, or even 80 percent off the brochure rate.

Choosing to book a last minute cruise is not for everyone. You need a fair amount of flexibility in your travel plans to take advantage of this tactic.

If you have to sail on specific dates, or over a busy holiday or vacation period, or if you have to have a certain type of cabin or are traveling with a large group, then booking your cruise early will better assure you of getting your top choices.

But if your main goal is to snag a bargain and you aren’t too particular about where and when you sail, or on which ship, then patience can not only be a virtue but can help you land a great discount cruise deal.

The best last minute cruise deals are usually offered by big travel agencies — especially Internet mega-discounters — that have special relationships with the cruise lines.

The cruise lines make their best deals available to the mega-discounters, and the agencies pass much of those savings on to you. Sometimes the big mega-discounters will buy up large blocks of cabins from the cruise lines and then re-sell them to their clients at big discounts, making their profits from bulk sales.

Passengers may really benefit if these cabins don’t completely sell out. Rather than risk getting nothing for their investment, the agencies are likely to offer them for sale at bargain-basement rates.

The result for you is the same — you’re likely to pick up a great deal when you choose to book a last minute cruise!

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