Best bargains

When and where do you think you get the best pricing for cruises no matter where they are to or from in No. America? I cruise to be aboard ship and at sea, have done all the Carib/Mex ports so they aren't much of a factor except if It's really hot & I can jump off the ship to the nearest beach for a swim and thats it. Thanks.

Do you mean for itinerarys or for cruise pricing itself with different agents? If it is pricing, agents names or links are not allowed to be posted here on the CC boards.

As for itinearys, heck if I know, we just book what looks interesting.

I just got a brochure from Princess for Captain's Club members with some great deals in January and February in the Carib. Really good prices!! Good time for B2B fun on several routes.

We have found the some of the best pricing to come via email from the cruise line direct. We are able to take our 10 day Panama for the price we were looking at for 7 days to the caribbean.

If you just want to be at sea and don't care about what ports you go to, the coastal cruises can be a good value. There's one next spring that's 9 days on the Island that looks pretty interesting. Usually the prices drop on these about 6-8 weeks before the sailing date. We've done 3 short coastals and just booked our fourth for next month (1-nighter on the Sapphire--very fun and convenient for people from the Seattle/Vancouver area).

Thanks all. I don't care about itinerary or ports so looking for best deals period. The 10 day canal for price of 7 day Carib is just what I'm aiming at.

I originally took your question to be two-fold:

1) When can you find the best prices? Our experience has probably been like a lot of other cruisers - either very well in advance or very last minute. This year has been strange since a lot of the 2006 pricing was horrible. The Crown Princess (for various reasons) is a good example. Fortunately, some of that has settled down.

2) On what itineraries can you find the best pricing? Repositioning cruise are usually a great value.

A later post indicated that you were looking for specific, not general recommendations. The 10 night Panama Canal cruise on the Coral we took in December was an excellent value. The ship is beautiful, the itinerary was outstanding, and the price was very attractive for a mini-suite. Those are the criteria we use when we select a cruise.

I've noticed lower than average prices on rt cruises out of San Juan, PR and also Western Carib itineraries out of Galveston at certain times of the year. Don't know if it's because of airfare to SJ, or because of the ships that sail these routes, but they seem to be discounted every year.

Do you care about the weather?...often the best deals are during rainy season.

Also look at the week or two after holidays......... Mid June,the last week in Aug.,the first week in Sept all seem to be better rates due to school....first week in Dec...

If you just care about the price and not about the cruiseline, cabin,weather or date wait for all the last minute deals...sign up for sites to contact you...you need to do your "homework"...good luck:)