Obtaining the Best Price for a Cruise

coupleuk

I think it depends on what type of cruise you want and where you're going.

My experience lies with the main US companies (Royal Caribean, Celebrity, etc) and cruising the Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii and Europe (not on UK ships/lines).

Firstly, visit the Royal Caribbean (and Celebrity) website and sign up for their "Specials" Newsletters as there are some amazing bargains to be had (eg 7 nights Caribbean on new ship for $349 (plus flights to USA)).

Also, visit www.cruisecompete.com and enter a cruise you are interested in. Then, several cruise agents will compete to offer the best price/incentives. It saves you having to find/visit several websites as they come to you.

Whatever you do you MUST book with a US cruise agent as their prices are always (OK 99%) cheaper than UK prices (use a credit card).

Finally, once you have decided on a cruise and have paid your deposit, keep visiting that cruiselines website to see if the price has dropped. If it has, contact the cruiseline or your USA agent and ask for the reduced rate. In the USA they MUST refund the money if the cruise is reduced (some T&Cs do apply, such as not valid once final payment is made).

Based on the above, I always book my prefered cabin number as early as possible as I know where I will be on the ship and I can get my refunds later if need be.

Our best bargain was in 2007, when we booked a 13 night transatlantic from Miami to Southampton on Voyager of the Seas for $999 each. We asked for 3 seperate refunds over a 12 month period and finally sailed for just $399 each.

Good Luck