Cheapest Time of Year to Cruise?

[momofmab]

Hello-

 

With school-aged kids, we've always been locked into cruising during peak weeks.  With the last one flying the nest next year, I'm looking forward to being flexible with travel dates.

 

When are the cheapest times of the year to cruise?  Looking at 2022 - either the Caribbean or even the Mediterranean (if I can do it when it's not 150 degrees there).  Would love to try Celebrity but would do Royal Caribbean or NCL as well.

 

Thanks! 

[CruiserBruce]

In both cases, its the shoulder seasons...April/May and September/October for the Med. And Oct-early December (not including Thanksgiving week) for the Caribbean.

[navybankerteacher]

58 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

In both cases, its the shoulder seasons...April/May and September/October for the Med. And Oct-early December (not including Thanksgiving week) for the Caribbean.

I would also suggest June for the Caribbean - children still in school and the weather in the north being good reduce demand.

[George C]

I believe cheapest in Caribbean is Peak hurricane season September to beginning of November. Disagree on June since schools in south are normally out. 

[mafig]

I've found good deals the week after Thanksgiving.

[George C]

17 minutes ago, mafig said:

I've found good deals the week after Thanksgiving.

We cruise the week after thanksgiving every year , normally can get great deals , less children and cheaper than thanksgiving. Of course we had to cancel this year. 

[iancal]

Our experience....Early December and sometimes very early Jan. For the Caribbean.  Late Sept/Oct for the Med..  

 

We primarily do late booking/last minute.  We have had two great last minute balcony fares over Christmas and two during spring break.  You just never know.

[MCC retired]

Those Caribbean sailings between Thanksgiving and Xmas are priced low from the start and usually include ship decorated for the holidays.

[Tapi]

We have small children so I feel your pain about not being able to cruise when rates are cheapest. 
 

But we made a great discovery 2 years ago. Needless to say, Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated in Europe, so I priced out a Mediterranean cruise over that week during the kid’s school break, and it was dirt cheap. Literally a fraction what we would’ve paid to cruise the Med during the summer. It was also cheaper than cruising the Caribbean that same week.  It was SO ridiculously cheap that we decided to splurge and book a suite. Even then, it was still cheaper than a summer time cruise in a standard cabin.

 

Not only was the cruise cheaper, but airfare was also cheaper. The weather was great for sightseeing (60’s during the day), and because we were traveling off season, the crowds were considerably thinner. The only drawback was that sunset was much earlier (around 5pm) but by then we were back on the ship anyway. 

Edited October 13, 2020 by Tapi

[iancal]

You never know.  We did a late October last minute from Rome.  We had sun every day BUT the rain was one day behind us all the way to Barcelona.  Cruise was a bargain, cruise air pricing  home made it even better.

 

Our best time in Rome was five days in November.  Light sweater in the AM, off by noon, few tourists, sunny skies, and lower prices.  

[neverbeenhere]

If this cruise is for you, then Celebrity is the way to go. If this cruise is for the children, then go with RCL or NCL.

[iancal]

Our experience is that you can 'pick up' cruises at low prices any time during the year.  It is all supply and demand.  The tick is to be flexible, shop several ships/cruise lines at time (as well as air if required), establish a buy price.  

 

If you expect to get the lowest price and keep delaying a purchase then chance are you will be having a stay vacation.  IF we need air our on line TA can sometimes place a hold for several hours until such time as we finalize air.  That way we do not get stuck with a low cruise price and  abnormally high air fare.

 

When you price hits, buy it.  Don't sleep on it because it could disappear or the price could increase overnight.   The other thing we do is shop prices in various countries on various websites.  For cruises, domestic air, hotels, AI's.  The can be surprising price differences on the identical products.

[Ashland]

For us mid to late May to Alaska.  March & October to the Southern/Eastern Caribbean. Sept/Oct to the Med. May Med/Greece. Aug Russia . March Asia That's just happened to be looking back when we've gotten our best deals.

 

 And when taking the extended family that includes 4 grand children under 12 it would be when RCI offers KSF.

[iancal]

We live within an easy drive of Vancouver.  We keep an eye on Alaska prices.   For the past several years it seems that there were too many ships on this run.   If one was interested in an inside or outside you could get fares anywhere from $299 to $499, excluding taxes, during most of the season...including July and August.  Not on all ships, all cruise lines but on some. Certainly HAL and Princess.  The trick is to get a good fare on both north and south trips OR get good air.

 

The additional benefit to late booking on the Alaska run is that you can get some insight into what the weather will be.  Not 100 percent but near enough.   We had wonderful trip, our friends had rain four days out of 7.

[SelectSys]

9 hours ago, momofmab said:

Hello-

 

With school-aged kids, we've always been locked into cruising during peak weeks.  With the last one flying the nest next year, I'm looking forward to being flexible with travel dates.

 

Congratulations!  I can remember this as well in terms of being linked to school calendars with respect to cruising.  

 

9 hours ago, momofmab said:

When are the cheapest times of the year to cruise?  Looking at 2022 -

 

At times, there are also good deals on repositioning cruises that have historically been good deals.  These tend to be in the spring and fall months.  Of course, you need to like sea days as almost all of these have fewer ports than a "normal" cruise.

 

It will be interesting to see how available "deals" will be after cruising returns in force.  I am thinking that there won't be too many deals available as some ships are being retired and lots of pent up demand will exist.

[momofmab]

Thanks everyone for the responses!  Lots of great info!  Now I just have to decide where I want to go 😊

 

very excited to have flexibility!

[navybankerteacher]

On 10/13/2020 at 12:55 PM, iancal said:

Our experience is that you can 'pick up' cruises at low prices any time during the year.  It is all supply and demand.  The tick is to be flexible, shop several ships/cruise lines at time (as well as air if required), establish a buy price.  

 

If you expect to get the lowest price and keep delaying a purchase then chance are you will be having a stay vacation.  IF we need air our on line TA can sometimes place a hold for several hours until such time as we finalize air.  That way we do not get stuck with a low cruise price and  abnormally high air fare.

 

When you price hits, buy it.  Don't sleep on it because it could disappear or the price could increase overnight.   The other thing we do is shop prices in various countries on various websites.  For cruises, domestic air, hotels, AI's.  The can be surprising price differences on the identical products.

Good advice — waiting for a better deal, once you see something you want at a price that seems right, is not a good bet:  at any point prices can go up as easily as down.

[iancal]

I learned the hard way.  Waited too long on one or two good offers and lost them because of delay or the expectation of further reductions.   

[evandbob]

It may turn out to be the last few days before cruising resumes, whenever that may be.  There may be cancellations if folks who booked don't want to be the first to try out the new COVID procedures.  The cruise lines will want tosail at their minimum boarding #.

 

Pre COVID, I found the first week of December to be lowest fare point.

[iancal]

There is no such thing as the cheapest time to cruise. It is all relative.  Itinerary, cruise line, ship, cabin type, etc in our experience of doing late booking cruises.  Not to mention the basic demand/supply price curve.

 

One of the best Caribbean per day rates on balcony cruise was on a 10 day Celebrity Christmas cruise booked three weeks out.   The next closest in terms of daily cost was a March break balcony on a Carnival cruise booked three days out.

 

Who really knows post covid.  We have been monitoring international air fares on two potential land trips next Sept/Oct (depending on covid).  No intention to buy at the moment.  As of this week both routes are competitive with what we either paid or what we shopped for the last several years.  The fares could of course increase substantially over time. 

 

Who knows what cruise fares will do.  Post covid is a new ball game.   I suspect it will take some time for seniors (with health issues) and families to return to the market.

Edited October 17, 2020 by iancal

[firefly333]

On 10/13/2020 at 8:03 AM, George C said:

I believe cheapest in Caribbean is Peak hurricane season September to beginning of November. Disagree on June since schools in south are normally out. 

Agree, even last week or so of august when kids go to school. Cheapest week is right around labor day for Caribbean...hot and can miss ports. Theres a reason it's usually cheaper, though with covid iv found all sort of deals thru out the year. I've booked 6 really good deals on rcl, one ccl booked on carnival just because of the large obc they are offering. Rcl prices actually are much better and with lift and shift and cruise with confidence rcl and celebrity both more flexible. 

 

So I'll cruise a bunch looks like and get on up that loyalty level perk wise. Deals were too good to pass up on rcl especially. 

[iancal]

IF one is looking at Alaska cruises, the cheapest late booking Alaska cruises we have seen have been on Princess and HAL.  Mid July to September.  But...seldom balcony cabins.   Extremely low prices (exclusive of tax) on insides and outsides.  This has been the situation for the past four or five years.  Too many ships.

Edited October 18, 2020 by iancal