What's the best way on getting great deals on cruises

[blakemilliken2]

Hello, I am 22 years old and now that i am paying for my own cruises i am wondering the best ways on finding great deals on cruises for my wife and I. any suggestion would be great. as a kid and teenager I only went on carnival so i want to stay to as i am only 30 cruise days away from being platinum

[shof515]

book early like a year in advance and watch out for any price drops

[firegal2539]

Carnival is the cheapest cruise line out there. Book at least 12 to 18 months in advance. Cruise prices mostly go up. The problem with Carnival, the cheapest fare is a nonrefundable deposit. Need to weigh that in your decision. Carnival very seldom has sales but right now they are offering a $50 deposit. Also it is rare for price drops on Carnival.

 

You might want to look at other lines.

 

 

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[scomar]

We have always found booking a cruise one or two weeks before Christmas has some pretty cheap prices. We have sailed a couple times during that time and have gotten balcony cabins half the price you normally see.

[teknoge3k]

Also once you make your deposit, stock up on gift cards from AARP, Verizon, Allstate, etc., so you save 10% on your cruise.

[candigirl41]

Carnival is the cheapest cruise line out there. Book at least 12 to 18 months in advance. Cruise prices mostly go up. The problem with Carnival, the cheapest fare is a nonrefundable deposit. Need to weigh that in your decision. Carnival very seldom has sales but right now they are offering a $50 deposit. Also it is rare for price drops on Carnival.

 

You might want to look at other lines.

 

 

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This is not always true. NCL offers a free drink package so you only pay the gratuity. If you use the drink package on Carnival that will add around $400.00. So you have to price it out. We have also gotten cruises on Princess for the same or less than Carnival. It pays to shop around. That being said I am Platinum on Carnival. I have been on 3 RCCL. Several Princess and 1 NCL. I have 1 Carnival and 2 NCL booked.

 

Candi

Edited July 9, 2017 by candigirl41
spelling error

[firegal2539]

I have taken about 30 cruises, an platinum on Princess and Royal. I have taken 5 NCL cruises, they are comparable. I have taken two Carnival cruises and they are cheaper. It depends on what freebies you can get from other lines, sometimes you can get close to Carnival prices.

 

 

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[poppadevan]

If you spend anytime in the casinos, make sure you show your sign and sales card at the tables and insert it in the machines when you play. The casino is allotted a considerable number of cabins on every cruise for partial or total comps. You might get on their mailing list even though you are not a loser. I sail 2-3 times a year solo for practically nothing.

 

 

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[Djptcp]

Late November/early December seem to have the lowest prices. Do you gamble? I just booked a free cruise today courtesy of the Carnival's casino Player's Club. I get free or great deals on Carnival and Holland America because I play slots in the ship casinos. This will be our 42nd cruise and 29th on Carnival. Carnival has the best prices according to our past history. We live in Florida close to the ports, so we don't have to pay for airfare. Also, check their website frequently and sign up to receive emails from them. Good luck finding those great deals - they are out there.

[watermelonqueen99]

Book early, and avoid summer and major holidays, as those are the priciest times. Also, you can get some great pack and go rates out of Florida if you can cruise on short notice.

[moongal]

Late November/early December seem to have the lowest prices. Do you gamble? I just booked a free cruise today courtesy of the Carnival's casino Player's Club. I get free or great deals on Carnival and Holland America because I play slots in the ship casinos. This will be our 42nd cruise and 29th on Carnival. Carnival has the best prices according to our past history. We live in Florida close to the ports, so we don't have to pay for airfare. Also, check their website frequently and sign up to receive emails from them. Good luck finding those great deals - they are out there.

 

 

This phenomenon of getting a free cruise from gambling in the casino has had me intrigued from the first time I heard of it.

 

How much do you have to spend in the casino in order to get one of these offers?

 

On our last cruise which just my husband and I, we (well really just my husband) lost $200 playing the slot machines. I have no idea what amounts others gamble but to us that seemed like a lot of money to lose. I was hoping it would maybe magically qualify us to get a free offer, but I realize that realistically perhaps you would have to lose enough money to have paid for a whole cruise in order to be awarded a "free cruise". Is this true? Or is it just a lucky draw system?

 

I have heard that it is number of spins and not money lost? Is that true? Lol we lost our $200 in about 30 mins of play!!

 

Can anyone shed any light on this? I'm really curious!! I would love to get a free cruise!!!

 

 

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[mexicobob]

From past personal experience I assure you to get a free cruise you will need to loose much more than $200. Never known any one to get a free cruise and some have "contributed" many $thousands.

[h0mbr3]

If you can be flexible with cruise dates, that helps. We usually cruise once with the family during summer break (zoo), and then once in Jan/Feb (not so much of a zoo). Deals are out there, we are going on a 7 night on the Celebrity Summit (Balcony) in Feb. 18 for about $2000 with a drink package, $400 obc and pre-paid gratuities.......just the wife and I and we like Celebrity for the two of us. :cool:

[G&TQ]

If you can be flexible with cruise dates, that helps. We usually cruise once with the family during summer break (zoo), and then once in Jan/Feb (not so much of a zoo). Deals are out there, we are going on a 7 night on the Celebrity Summit (Balcony) in Feb. 18 for about $2000 with a drink package, $400 obc and pre-paid gratuities.......just the wife and I and we like Celebrity for the two of us. :cool:

 

Call me impressed - would love to know how you found that sweet deal. Did you use a travel agency or book direct.

 

Happy Sailing!(y)

[h0mbr3]

Call me impressed - would love to know how you found that sweet deal. Did you use a travel agency or book direct.

 

Happy Sailing!(y)

It was through a big online agency during I think a St. Patricks Day sale. .....we just booked with them for Alaska next summer on the Millennium......we are also booked for my wifes 50th.......(don't tell her) on the Equinox in September! .........I need more vacation days!!!! :D

[Wheels87]

This phenomenon of getting a free cruise from gambling in the casino has had me intrigued from the first time I heard of it.

 

How much do you have to spend in the casino in order to get one of these offers?

 

On our last cruise which just my husband and I, we (well really just my husband) lost $200 playing the slot machines. I have no idea what amounts others gamble but to us that seemed like a lot of money to lose. I was hoping it would maybe magically qualify us to get a free offer, but I realize that realistically perhaps you would have to lose enough money to have paid for a whole cruise in order to be awarded a "free cruise". Is this true? Or is it just a lucky draw system?

 

I have heard that it is number of spins and not money lost? Is that true? Lol we lost our $200 in about 30 mins of play!!

 

Can anyone shed any light on this? I'm really curious!! I would love to get a free cruise!!!

 

 

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Someone I work with went on their first cruise with Carnival and spent many hours playing craps in the casino. It doesn't have to do with how much you win/lose, it has to do with how long you play and how much you wager. Upon returning, within a few days, she was given an offer for a free 7-day cruise, but she had to book it within a short period of time. She took it.

 

Good luck!

[Djptcp]

Moongal - I think the free cruises are based on the number of points you accrue playing the slots. On our Paradise cruise in May, I accrued over 4000 points during the 5 days and I lost much less than $200 during the 5 days. I came home with just about what I took with me to gamble with for the cruise. That doesn't happen on every cruise, though. After 41 cruises, we don't need to take expensive excursions anymore because we've been to almost all the Caribbean islands, Central and South America. We don't spend much in the ship stores, so we prefer to spend our money in the casinos and have fun. We look at it as the cost of having fun on the cruise. We would be taking the cruises anyway and having them be free or at very low costs is a good way for us to take more cruises :)

[nealstuber]

Good deals are always out there, the key is flexibility. If you lock yourself in to a certain ship, date or line, you are less likely to find the deal you are hoping for.

 

Browse prices frequently, before you are actually ready to purchase, and you'll know a great deal when you see it.

 

As others have said, transport and onboard expenses can easily double what you spend, but you have a lot more control of that.

 

 

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[MissMarmalade]

If you are a resident of a state that has a carnival port check for last minute fares

[G&TQ]

h0mbr3

I have sent you a friend request I would love to know more about the travel agency you used.

Would love to cruise more and would love to find that kind of deal. Thanks!

[Retired_to_Cruise]

Carnival is the cheapest cruise line out there. Book at least 12 to 18 months in advance. Cruise prices mostly go up. The problem with Carnival, the cheapest fare is a nonrefundable deposit. Need to weigh that in your decision. Carnival very seldom has sales but right now they are offering a $50 deposit. Also it is rare for price drops on Carnival.

 

You might want to look at other lines.

 

 

The early saver deposit being "non-refundable" is a little confusing. All you can ultimately lose is a $50.00 change fee. Your deposit is held and will be applied to the next cruise you book.

[Steelers0854]

Find a good high volume travel agent. Agents that book a lot

of cruises will not only discount fares but give you OBC in addition to any offers the cruise line is offering. Plus it's great to let someone do all the work for you, and if something goes wrong it's a simple email/phone call and the issue gets resolved with little to no effort on your part.

[EBFURR]

All good advice so far. We do not use the casino much but we do know people who have gotten free and discounted cruises that way. My method is to browse and shop almost daily. I use a few of the online agents as well as the cruise line's sites. Look for promos and discounts. These can be confusing sometimes and they come & go on a regular basis even on the same cruise. I am told by a friend who used to work in the IT department at RCI that they have very specific benchmarks for every sailing based on how many cabins of each category should be sold at a given point in time prior to sailing. If a certain category/sailing falls behind they run a promotion to "catch up". That is why a cabin may drop for a week or two then spike back up. Booking really early or really late can lead to best price but not always. One thing about booking earlier is that most cruise lines will honor price drops if you contact them or your agent as soon as the price reduction takes place. I say this because if a price drops and they sell out that category before you call they usually will not honor the drop. You have to stay on top of it. There are services that assist in this, some free, some not. Some travel agents will do it but you have to trust them. Booking a new cruise while on board will usually get you either a discount, on board credit, reduced deposit, or all of the above. Sometimes you can transfer these to a different cruise later and sometimes not. Ask. Lastly, when you get serious and ready to book call some travel agents and see if they will match the lowest price you can find and offer an additional discount, on board credit, prepaid tips, etc. Generally you will get a better deal on the phone than by using the web sites. Some folks are better at it than me, but we have booked 26 cruises over the years and that is my best advice.

[JaniceB]

Great advice EBFURR

[Scurvy Seadog]

From past personal experience I assure you to get a free cruise you will need to loose much more than $200. Never known any one to get a free cruise and some have "contributed" many $thousands.

 

13 of my 14 cruises have been courtesy of the casino as either bounce backs, Premier or Ultra cruises where I have only paid taxes and port fees. I primarily play slots and with the exception of one cruise I have always walked off the ship ahead by $1000+.

Edited July 13, 2017 by Scurvy Seadog