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What's the cheapest longer cruise you've taken?


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  • 3 months later...

If you are anywhere near Las Vegas or visit there once a year. Make it a point to go to one of the Station Casino's (Red Rock, Green Valley ranch...and some others) and sign up for their players card. I have only been to the casino a few times, but they have had a relationship with Princess for the last few years and basically give away cruises for 2. Before anyone thinks I am a big gambler, I am not. I stayed at Red Rock one night in the last 2 years since it was near a Scoot City Tour I had planned to take and maybe gambled at most $500. Once I was on the mailing list, I would get offers for this free cruise for 2. You do have to pay port charges and you get a large selection to choose from. I went on a 7 day Caribbean, Costa Maya, Cozumel trip 2 years ago and paid $120 in port chgs/taxes and tips on board. This year I am leaving next month on an 8 day southern Caribbean trip. Port charges and taxes were just $85 on that one. I'll have tips to pay and beverages to buy but still a very inexpensive vacation.

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  • 2 months later...

Three years ago we booked an RCI 22 day Oz/NZ cruise. $1400 AUD. We booked in the final payment window. Balcony cabin. We booked direct with RCI Australia vs. through our usual NA on line TA. NA price was substantially more.

 

One downside to this cruise was that the on board currency was USD. We had just finished a Princess cruise where the on board currency was AUD. Our on board purchased on Princess, adjusted for our currency (CAD) were about 25 percent less.

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I'm currently booked on a 7 day Southern Caribbean on Carnival with an Oceanview Guaranty for $229 per person. That's $657 for 2 of us including taxes and port fees. We also got a $50 onboard credit and $100 off through American Express.

 

My experience has been that the Caribbean is cheapest in Sept thru Dec. If you can wait for a last minute deal you may find great deals then on Royal Caribbean and NCL. You do have to hope to dodge tropical storms. Carnival doesn't really do last minute deals like they used to, so their best rates for those Sept thru Dec sailings can usually be found in Jan & Feb (Wave Season).

 

An important thing to remember is that sometimes the best prices are around Thanksgiving, but you may end up giving up all of your savings on higher airfare during that time!

 

We are flexible on when we travel and we have been very fortunate to avoid tropical systems. I realize that someday our luck may run out, but until then we will book whatever is cheapest.

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I'm currently booked on a 7 day Southern Caribbean on Carnival with an Oceanview Guaranty for $229 per person. That's $657 for 2 of us including taxes and port fees. We also got a $50 onboard credit and $100 off through American Express.

 

My experience has been that the Caribbean is cheapest in Sept thru Dec. If you can wait for a last minute deal you may find great deals then on Royal Caribbean and NCL.

That's excellent! Which ship and departure date?

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Is it cheap because it's in the hurricane season?

 

I'm sure it's a combination of hurricane season, San Juan departure, and older ship. I'm okay with all of these since a hurricane could interupt a cruise anytime between June and November and I prefer the Fall offseason.

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I find them on my own by looking at various online cruise sites and sometimes on the cruise line website. It is harder to find those great deals than it used to be, but still possible, especially if you are very flexible as to date, cruise line, cabin type and itinerary.

 

I am signed up to receive emails from quite a few cruise travel agents or online agencies. You really have to look at 'hidden' costs, such as fees to change or cancel, and compare apples to apples as to base price, perks, etc.

 

Cruise Critic also helps. Last year we saved over $350 each and were able to keep our cabin and amenities because someone posted that our particular cruise had gone down substantially. This lower price only lasted a day or so. Our travel agent (online agency) was able to get the deal for us when I emailed him.

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After all price-guaranteed adjustments, we ended up paying $2300 for 2 cabins/inside-connecting for our party of 5 in the RCCL Adventure. This is including taxes/gratuities for a 8day/7night cruise for NE/Canada coming up in June. About $65 per person per day... :)

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For long cruises, you have to understand two things. typical repositioning cruises are often very cheap, such as Atlantic cross/Pacific crossing, as well as change of port from Miami to California (Panama cruise for example), and these are usually oneway trip thus requiring a flight back home. You can snag decent rooms for $50 a night even Luxury lines that are in $400 a night goes for $150 or so. But if you are looking for a long cruise involving regional or world cruises, these are not cheap and they sell out quick (world cruises go on sale around 18 months out and many do sell out within 4 months). So, if you are looking for good deal on long cruises, you can get a decent price on repositioning cruise such as one in Miami or Mediterranean leaving to go to Brazil or Argentina or Peru for Southern Hemisphere cruises in months of Oct - Mar. There is always deals around if you research enough.

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