FreshCruiser

If you’re like me, you wish you were always cruising. Or, maybe you’ve never been on a cruise before. Whatever your circumstances may be, it’s always good to look for a deal before you cruise.

Here are my tips for finding a cheap cruise:

- Don’t be picky about your cabin type or location
Ask for what’s called a “Category Guarantee" for your date of sailing. By doing this, you are guaranteed the category you booked; however, there is a good chance you will receive an upgrade to a better category cabin. Even though you have the option to select your actual cabin number, as long you’re not picky, you could end up paying less for a better cabin.

- Just ask! Cruise Discounts are out there especially for you!
Tell the agent some quick information about yourself and who you are traveling with as there are all types of discounts offered by cruises. You can receive discounts for where you reside, your age (55+), and if you are a past-guest. Also, there are discounts for different professions including military, firefighters, EMTs, police, and teachers.

- Travel at the beginning or end of a season
Take one of the first or last cruises to Alaska, normally a little cooler temperature which means a less in demand time to cruise

- Be willing to embark and disembark from different ports
If a cruise ship is transitioning to a new location, commonly known as a repositioning cruise, many times you can get a good price on the cruise because it’s not always the most desirable ports or involves a lot of days at sea.

- Be ready to go last minute
Cruise lines want to sail with a full ship every time, so if you can be flexible, you can get some great last minute deals

- Be flexible with when you want to go, have a few weeks in mind
If your dates aren’t set, it will give you more flexibility to finding a deal

- Go during off times – hurricane season, colder weather, holidays, etc
Try to avoid cruising during peak times like Christmas, New Years, and Spring break.

- Check with different travel agents and online resources
By checking a few sources, you can see what’s being offered as they might be offering different incentives including on board ship credit, cash back, and hotel credits

- Sign up to receive special offers from cruise lines
Keep updated on offers from cruise lines by subscribing to receive promotion e-mails. It’s a great way learn first about discounts.

Freshcruiser Tip: A little time and research will save you money!