Before You Get on Board:
Here's how to find the lowest fare at the best time.
•Checking the bulk buyers
Get a list of cruise consolidators. Consolidators purchase groups of cabins from the cruise lines and re-sell them at big savings to you. Even though most of these offers do not include your plane fare, the savings are so significant, you will still come out ahead. Online, you can find them at such sites as cruisebrothers dot com or cruiseone dot com, all of them showing inexpensive cruises on a frequent basis.
•Don't ignore the 'shoulder season'
The 'shoulder season' is that time in between a destination's high and low seasons. The rates are lower during these periods, because fewer people are escaping the winters. For example, try sailing to Alaska in mid-May or early September, to the Caribbean in late April or September, to Hawaii in late August or late November, or to the Mediterranean in March or November. The advantage does not stop at lower prices. Cruise lines also offer special packages to get you to sign up during these slow time periods.
•Check t
This is straightforward, you stay away from those times when the kids are off. Think spring breaks or summer vacations. That's when the quantity of empty cabins is usually the lowest, and rates for them are highest. Cruises are wildly reasonably priced right after Labor Day and during the week after Thanksgiving, for example.
•All set? Book it!
If your schedule is open, try to book your cruise until the last minute. The nearer you get to the actual departure date, the lower the pricing gets as most cruise lines begin to quietly unload empty cabins to augment their returns. Note: 'Last minute' doesn't mean what it used to. For example, security regulations now call for cruise lines to finalize their passenger list as early as 4 days before departure.
Post Boarding Considerations:
Since cruise lines almost try to give away the cabins just to get you on board, they try to make it up later during the cruise. Here's how to keep your budget afloat.
Factor in the Tips:
Some cruise lines automatically add gratuities, while others still rely on passengers to make that decision. To help you figure out how much to give or not to give, go to cruisetip dot tpkeller dot com, and you will get a very good breakdown on how much to give by services (i.e. waiters, head waiter, chambermaids and so on).
Maximize the Use of the Main Dining Room:
Watch out for these specialty restaurants that can cost you a small fortune, as compared to the main dining room which is already included in the cost of your cruise. On some cruise lines, for instance, dinner at one of their designer restaurants can run you a minimum of $50 per guest!
Alcohol is Extra:
Remember that BYOB does not apply to cruise lines. Cruise lines do not like it when you bring your own stuff, so they employ the 'liquor police' to politely get your booze as you come on board. Your booze is returned to you, of course, at the end of the cruise.
Follow these simple guidelines and you are on your way to getting the best value for your money while enjoying that well deserved cruise vacation!
Ashley works in technology at an investment banking firm. She enjoys the technology but has started looking into internet marketing on the side, setting up a varied collection of sites such as providing info on the Bellagio Hotel Las Vegas where she loves to hang out when she has the money, or if broke, the Imperial Palace Las Vegas.
