cheapest time of year to take a cruise

[JRockey76]

Just wondering when the cheapest time of the year is to take a cruise? We have been on one, but would like to take our kids on one, and to do it during the summer is costing an arm and a leg. What is everyone's take on best time to take kids, and which part of the Caribbean...we were thinking either southern or western.

[luddite]

Here's the time frame for best prices.

First two weeks of November and December.

Last two weeks of January. They start climbing in February, slowly at first progressing on a curve.

[jorapp]

This article has good info.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=133

 

The short answer is that anytime school is in session, caribbean cruises are cheaper.:D This is most true for the "everyman" lines like Carnival, RCI, Disney, etc., and less true for the luxury cruise companies.

[ricew001]

Just wondering when the cheapest time of the year is to take a cruise? We have been on one, but would like to take our kids on one, and to do it during the summer is costing an arm and a leg. What is everyone's take on best time to take kids, and which part of the Caribbean...we were thinking either southern or western.

 

In July I booked a Southern Carribean cruise for the first sailing after the holidays, leaving Jan 9. It was the cheapest one they had. I got an incredible deal. I watched it go up each day, so book early and use your previous cruiser discount. Some credit cards also give you like a $50 discount. Check all those cruise deal type sites, but I think I booked directly with Carnival in the end. it was still the best deal!

 

good luck!

[Hlitner]

The answer to the OP actually depends on where you want to cruise. For the Caribbean the best deals are usually in the fall (except for Columbus Day and Thanksgiving week) cruises and there are also some good deals in early May (before schools are out). In Europe you can often find bargains at any time other then mid-May through mid-Sept. The best deals for Alaska seem to be the early cruises in May. But, the truly best deals are the so-called repositioning cruises which can actually have pretty exotic itineraries and also offer more sea days (some of us love sea days).

 

Hank

[Keith1010]

Hank, I believe the OP as asking about the Caribbean.

 

 

jrockey, if your kids are not in school then sometimes a really good time to cruise the Caribbean is around the second week of January after the holidays (sometimes you can get very good air fare as well) or in early December, between Thanksiving and Christmas. Other options include early November. I have found that it is best to narrow this down to the cruise line you are interested in and just search through each cruise to find the one(s) with the lowest price.

 

If you want the Southern Caribbean if you want a seven day cruise it will likely leave out of San Juan so you need to consider the cost of airfare. A ten day cruise might be doable out of Florida. Southern Caribbean is quite nice.

 

I also like a Western Caribbean cruise but one that avoids Jamaica.

 

Keith

[Hlitner]

Hank, I believe the OP as asking about the Caribbean.

 

 

Keith

 

You are right and I was speaking generically. However, when you factor in cruising with kids its a two edged sword. It is usually cheaper to cruise when most kids are in school, so we see some parents pulling their kids out of school for a cruise. The downside is that there are very few kids on most cruises during the school year which is not the best situation for kids who tend to have more fun when they are with other similar aged kids. We were recently on an 800 passenger cruise where there were a total of two teens, it was a long cruise, and those kids were bored beyond belief.

 

Hank

[janina]

I have found the first couple of weeks in December to be the cheapest time. Also you don't have to worry about Hurricane season which is earlier in the fall. There are also some good prices in January, but those December weeks have never failed us. Also look at repositioning cruises in October or May.

[hospvol]

We also find that the beginning of December is the cheapest time for us. We have done Caribbean cruises that way for several years.