Cruise Mouth

MIKE SELVON asked:


There are many people who would not ever consider taking a cruise unless they were able to find some hot deals that would save them a bundle of money. But, in most cases, those who are experienced cruisers know that the cost of one provides quite a nice, pampered vacation when compared to other types of travel. Even with that in mind, it is always a thrill to find discount cruises because everyone loves to save money, plus have more spending money while away.

The cruise lines take special care to design their itineraries so that they are providing the best value possible to their customers and with the many amenities aboard ship, most feel well taken care of and pampered. Discount cruise travel is often available on these floating resorts, which makes them an even better value. Remember that your trip not only includes the ability to float care-free from one exotic port to the next, but you have your sleeping accommodations, your food, and your entertainment all wrapped into the price of admission.

Even though you can think of these romantic, fun, and exciting getaways as discount vacations at any price, the good news is that often the companies will go out of their way to offer discounts during certain seasons. This can end up saving the traveler hundreds of dollars on a quick trip or even thousands of dollars on longer travel vacation packages.

There are two main windows of opportunity to finding hot deals on discount cruises. Often, when the cruise line first opens up booking for a new season or when launching a new ship, they will offer discount cruise travel packages in order to get a portion of the ship’s capacity filled up early.

Usually, once they have reached a certain percentage of reservations for a particular voyage, the rates will return to their standard level. This is a good case for booking your vacation early.

The other time that discount cruise travel is often found is for last minute travel. When a cruise line finds that they have a ship that will be leaving port with a number of empty staterooms, they are eager to get those cabins filled with paying customers, even if they have to offer deep discounts. Most of the costs of the voyages are fixed, so making sure that the ship is filled to capacity helps the company make a profitable voyage.

However, if you want to take advantage of last minute discounts, then you need to be on as many notification lists as possible from various cruise lines and travel agencies. You also must be ready to set sail at a moment’s notice because you may have very little time between receiving an alert for a hot deal and when you need to board. If you have a lot of flexibility and can have your bags packed and ready to go, then this strategy can get you exceptional discounts.

If you have taken a cruise vacation before, then one to get discount cruises for future trips is by watching for special announcements, either by email or regular mail. In many cases the special discount cruise travel packages that are offered to previous passengers are not available from travel agents or from online booking services. The cruise lines do this to encourage their previous customers to continue enjoying their services.

Discount cruise

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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