My tip - Keep the initial cost down

[happy cruzer]

I love all the tips for saving money after you are on the cruise.

 

I find that I can save the most by keeping the cruise price and other travel prices down from the beginning.

 

I try to:

 

1) have an idea of what a good price would be by doing lots of research.

2) be flexible. I always get a good deal when I don't really care what cruise line, what date, or what itinerary the ship is on. But am just watching for the value per night.

Most of the rest of these ideas really are part of being flexible.

3)Research cruise costs with driving to a port. Include gas, parking, etc. in the cost.

4)Do wide searchs online (any destination, any cruise line, any length, etc) then sort by price. Do this over a month or two and you will start to see patterns of which cruises are the least expensive. Try to figure out why they are the cheapest. If they are cheap for some negative reason, like the pods need repair, then they may not be a good value.

5) Research air fare just like the cruise. Many people find a good cruise price and find the air is too expensive. Sometimes this is why the cruise is affordable; the line is having trouble getting folks to pay for air fare. Round trip tickets usually are the cheapest vs. open jaw (multi city) ones.

6) Look hard at the port fees and taxes. On different intineraries they can really vary.

7) Book the lowest cost cabin you can be comfortable in.

8) Be patient. Good deals often come out the last 2 months before the cruise is ready to go.

 

There are many things to research. But I my point is that controlling the cost up front is where you can save big bucks but you have to be very flexible and cost has to be the driving factor. Once you start limiting your choices then you start losing the ability to keep the intial cost down.

 

Enjoy!

[cruise_lover]

I let my TA know what I want then sit back and relax. He does everything for me and I am aways happy with the results. The more time I save on doing my own research the more time I have to spend on-line here at Cruise Critic dot Com.

[firefly333]

It cost me over $600 to drive to Florida from Texas, so the way for me to keep the cost down is to book out of Galveston.

 

All the cost cutting measures in the world dont make up for having to go further to cruise.