El Cheapo Cruises Thread

[arxcards]

9 hours ago, Freyta said:

Okay thanks.

 

Sorry, I'm a cruise newbie !

 

What do you guys consider good prices? I'll keep an eye out if I find them.

 

Also how do you prefer deals posted? Something like "Melbourne - Sydney (x1234) $200/$100p/n"?

Most of us love a good deal. The long running topic of "El-Cheapo" is about sharing something that is pretty much a clearance price, as well as any general cruise line "sale" promotions. Traditionally el-cheapo is below $100pp per night twin, and should be deals that are generally available, and not insider or casino pricing.

 

Check back over the few pages and see what is being posted by others. Just knowing the ship and departure date is all anyone here needs to suss out the deal via the cruise line website or their own preferred travel agent. Using terms like X1234 is speaking in travel agent language, which reads as somewhat strange when being used by a new member/cruiser. T/A discussion, referrals, links are not allowed on Cruise Critic, and moderators will remove. If in doubt, refer to the guidelines link near the top of the page. 

[sewgood]

On 10/2/2024 at 12:06 PM, Freyta said:

What do you guys consider good prices? I'll keep an eye out if I find them

It used to be under a hundred dollars per night but now that is very hard to come by for even an inside cabin.

In my opinion a cruise that the price has dropped a significant amount from the launch price is a bargain.

 

For example

Island Princess Feb 16, 2025

Sydney to Cape Town 21 days

from $2486

 

For a sector of the World cruise that is a bargain as they are usually around $300 a day including the Crew Appreciation Payment. Of course the one above doesn't include the CAP as it is part of the WC leaving from the USA.

While not everyone's cup of tea as airfares have to be added there maybe some people who wanted to go to South Africa to visit family or take a holiday.

[sewgood]

On 10/2/2024 at 12:06 PM, Freyta said:

Sorry, I'm a cruise newbie !

 

That's OK, we all were at some stage.

Always glad to have new cruisers join us here.

 

On 10/2/2024 at 12:06 PM, Freyta said:

Also how do you prefer deals posted?

 

To make the deals easy to find without naming travel agents it is good to list the ship, the date and where it is going eg Sydney to Melbourne or Sydney round trip.

You can list how much a day if you wish or you can state the number of days and the cost.

As Axcards said look over a few pages of the thread to get a feel for it.

Happy cruise bargain hunting.😄

[Freyta]

Date	Nights	From	Destination	Ship	Cost ($aud)	Daily ($aud)
30-10-2024	5	Auckland	Melbourne	Pacific Explorer	321.0	64.2
10-09-2025	9	Sydney	Queensland	Pacific Adventure	790.0	87.78
05-03-2026	15	Singapore	Brisbane	Pacific Encounter	1329.0	88.6
29-03-2025	9	Sydney	Vanuatu & New Caledonia	Pacific Adventure	804.0	89.33
17-05-2025	9	Sydney	Queensland	Pacific Adventure	837.0	93.0
02-06-2025	10	Sydney	South Pacific Islands	Pacific Adventure	930.0	93.0
23-06-2025	8	Sydney	Australia	Pacific Adventure	744.0	93.0
21-07-2025	10	Sydney	Queensland	Pacific Adventure	930.0	93.0
13-08-2025	9	Sydney	South Pacific Islands	Pacific Adventure	837.0	93.0
01-09-2025	9	Sydney	South Pacific Islands	Pacific Adventure	837.0	93.0
20-10-2025	8	Sydney	South Pacific Islands	Pacific Adventure	744.0	93.0
18-09-2025	22	Seattle	Sydney	Carnival Luminosa	2125.0	96.59
03-08-2025	10	Sydney	South Pacific Islands	Pacific Adventure	976.0	97.6
14-11-2025	8	Brisbane	Papua New Guinea	Pacific Encounter	790.0	98.75

 

 

 

There's some deals for you. Sorted by cheapest per night cost, and are for interiors. You may have to add gratuities depending on who you book with?

I made a Python script for myself to find bargain cruises where it finds them under $100p/n. As of right now, these are the cheapest. Hopefully the table actually stays, otherwise someone please tell me how to make tables on here!

Edited October 3 by Freyta

[Freyta]

Here are some international cruises for less than $100 per night. Most seem to be one way. Mainly seems to be P&O UK, and Carnival, with a bit of MSC, Princess and Royal Caribbean.
 

 

Date	Nights	From	Destination	Ship	Cost	Daily
28-11-2024	17	Southampton	Fort Lauderdale	Sky Princess	1341.0	78.88
21-03-2026	15	Barcelona	Galveston	Carnival Dream	1202.0	80.13
17-11-2024	15	Marseille	Salvador	MSC Grandiosa	1270.0	84.67
11-04-2026	13	Barcelona	Port Canaveral	Carnival Glory	1115.0	85.77
30-04-2025	5	Los Angeles	Vancouver	Caribbean Princess	436.0	87.2
06-12-2024	12	New York	Caribbean	Carnival Venezia	1047.0	87.25
17-11-2024	18	Marseille	Rio de Janeiro	MSC Grandiosa	1574.0	87.44
11-06-2025	15	Barcelona	New Orleans	Carnival Valor	1323.0	88.2
26-10-2024	15	Rome (Civitavecchia)	Rome to Tampa	Carnival Legend	1324.0	88.27
16-11-2024	19	Genoa	Rio de Janeiro	MSC Grandiosa	1689.0	88.89
06-01-2025	6	Los Angeles	Mexico	Carnival Radiance	536.0	89.33
03-02-2025	6	Los Angeles	Mexico	Carnival Radiance	536.0	89.33
30-10-2024	18	Barcelona	Miami	MSC Seaside	1623.0	90.17
14-02-2025	10	Piraeus (Athens)	Greece, Kusadasi & Cyprus	Celebrity Infinity	910.0	91.0
16-11-2024	21	Genoa	Santos (Sao Paolo)	MSC Grandiosa	1918.0	91.33
26-10-2024	22	Genoa	Rome to Miami	MSC Seaside	2013.0	91.5
18-11-2024	17	Barcelona	Rio de Janeiro	MSC Grandiosa	1567.0	92.18
04-12-2024	18	Rome (Civitavecchia)	Rome to Fort Lauderdale	Island Princess	1660.0	92.22
05-12-2025	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	648.0	92.57
10-11-2024	16	Rome (Civitavecchia)	Rome to Fort Lauderdale	Caribbean Princess	1485.0	92.81
30-11-2024	5	Tampa	Bahamas	Carnival Paradise	467.0	93.4
20-02-2025	5	Los Angeles	Mexico	Carnival Firenze	467.0	93.4
25-02-2025	5	Los Angeles	Mexico	Carnival Firenze	467.0	93.4
15-05-2025	16	Tokyo	Los Angeles	Ovation Of The Seas	1508.0	94.25
09-11-2024	14	Paris (Le Havre)	Fort De France	MSC Virtuosa	1320.0	94.29
16-11-2024	16	Genoa	Salvador	MSC Grandiosa	1510.0	94.38
08-11-2025	14	Rome (Civitavecchia)	Rome to Tampa	Carnival Miracle	1326.0	94.71
03-01-2025	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	665.0	95.0
04-01-2025	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	665.0	95.0
10-01-2025	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	665.0	95.0
17-01-2025	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	665.0	95.0
29-11-2025	14	Barbados	Caribbean	Britannia	1337.0	95.5
09-10-2025	8	Valletta	Tenerife	Azura	768.0	96.0
07-12-2024	5	Los Angeles	Mexico	Carnival Firenze	482.0	96.4
13-01-2025	5	Los Angeles	Mexico	Carnival Firenze	482.0	96.4
18-01-2025	5	Los Angeles	Mexico	Carnival Firenze	482.0	96.4
23-01-2025	5	Los Angeles	Mexico	Carnival Firenze	482.0	96.4
16-10-2025	14	Barcelona	Port Canaveral	Carnival Mardi Gras	1354.0	96.71
09-01-2025	3	Taipei (Keelung)	Naha (Okinawa)	MSC Bellissima	291.0	97.0
12-10-2024	25	Singapore	Los Angeles	Carnival Panorama	2429.0	97.16
21-03-2026	13	Barbados	Southampton	Britannia	1268.0	97.54
28-01-2025	5	Los Angeles	Mexico	Carnival Firenze	488.0	97.6
08-11-2024	22	Southampton	Fort De France	MSC Virtuosa	2149.0	97.68
30-11-2024	6	Los Angeles	Ensenada & Cabo San Lucas	Carnival Panorama	591.0	98.5
15-02-2025	5	Los Angeles	Mexico	Carnival Firenze	495.0	99.0
28-11-2025	14	Barbados	Caribbean	Britannia	1387.0	99.07
12-01-2025	4	Naha (Okinawa)	Shanghai	MSC Bellissima	397.0	99.25
13-09-2025	14	Port Canaveral	Barcelona	Carnival Mardi Gras	1393.0	99.5
06-12-2025	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	698.0	99.71
12-12-2025	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	698.0	99.71
13-12-2025	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	698.0	99.71
02-01-2026	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	698.0	99.71
03-01-2026	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	698.0	99.71
09-01-2026	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	698.0	99.71
10-01-2026	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	698.0	99.71
16-01-2026	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	698.0	99.71
17-01-2026	7	Tenerife	Canary Islands	Azura	698.0	99.71
02-12-2024	5	Los Angeles	Mexico	Carnival Firenze	499.0	99.8

 

[resordanis]

I think I might finally have a cheap fare for some. Crown Princess South Pacific cruise 3rd December 11 nights to South Pacific $1898 for a balcony. Considering the prices of Princess cruises atm, I did think this one was tempting. If only Princess would tell us where they were going instead of Noumea and Lifou, I would be more interested.

[joejoe 59]

7 hours ago, resordanis said:

I think I might finally have a cheap fare for some. Crown Princess South Pacific cruise 3rd December 11 nights to South Pacific $1898 for a balcony. Considering the prices of Princess cruises atm, I did think this one was tempting. If only Princess would tell us where they were going instead of Noumea and Lifou, I would be more interested.

They probably aren't going anywhere extra, just sea days.

Edited October 8 by joejoe 59

[arxcards]

20 hours ago, resordanis said:

I think I might finally have a cheap fare for some. Crown Princess South Pacific cruise 3rd December 11 nights to South Pacific $1898 for a balcony. Considering the prices of Princess cruises atm, I did think this one was tempting. If only Princess would tell us where they were going instead of Noumea and Lifou, I would be more interested.

Hence the price. Lots of cruisers are giving it the same consideration, and aren't interested in paying full price.

[CDaze71]

Here's some cheapies on what will be Carnival Adventure for next year. Under $100 pp/pd. Look at the mini suite prices. 

10 nighter is the best deal, $110pp/pn for a twin mini suite. 

$80 pp/pn for a twin interior. 

Edited October 9 by CDaze71

[arxcards]

So many are reluctant to try the P&O/Carnival blend and sitting back waiting for others to try it out first. Seems about the right price to guess what your ports will end up being and what the hybrid experience will be like.

 

To note, that pricing is "GO fare" which is for guarantee cabin & non-refundable deposits. Value fare is a bit more expensive but is largely offset with OBC and gives you cabin choice. For the daily price of an inside though, you would struggle to get 3 meals at Maccas.

[Rassa]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

So many are reluctant to try the P&O/Carnival blend and sitting back waiting for others to try it out first. Seems about the right price to guess what your ports will end up being and what the hybrid experience will be like.

 

To note, that pricing is "GO fare" which is for guarantee cabin & non-refundable deposits. Value fare is a bit more expensive but is largely offset with OBC and gives you cabin choice. For the daily price of an inside though, you would struggle to get 3 meals at Maccas.

We are giving it a go middle of next year.  Didn't think twice about it.  I like Adventure.  Did think twice about the other 2 Carnival ships in our region with cruisers describing the decor.   How bad could it be during a freezing Melbourne winter?

[ceeceeDee]

On 10/8/2024 at 6:49 AM, resordanis said:

I think I might finally have a cheap fare for some. Crown Princess South Pacific cruise 3rd December 11 nights to South Pacific $1898 for a balcony. Considering the prices of Princess cruises atm, I did think this one was tempting. If only Princess would tell us where they were going instead of Noumea and Lifou, I would be more interested.

Yep. Still waiting for P&O to let the cat out of the bag for our December cruise. NC is still listed on the itinerary and there's not a hope in you-know-where they will go there.

[windsor26]

2 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

Yep. Still waiting for P&O to let the cat out of the bag for our December cruise. NC is still listed on the itinerary and there's not a hope in you-know-where they will go there.

Our recent advices for our 21st Oct cruise was changed to Santos and Vila  so very happy

[resordanis]

1 minute ago, ceeceeDee said:

Yep. Still waiting for P&O to let the cat out of the bag for our December cruise. NC is still listed on the itinerary and there's not a hope in you-know-where they will go there.

I just asked my husband is the ship his destination? If so, it won’t bother me re not going to NC or anywhere. We were on Ovation in 2022 and went nowhere! Anyway when he gives me an answer I might book.

[ceeceeDee]

24 minutes ago, windsor26 said:

Our recent advices for our 21st Oct cruise was changed to Santos and Vila  so very happy

Our original itinerary includes those two.

[ceeceeDee]

24 minutes ago, resordanis said:

I just asked my husband is the ship his destination? If so, it won’t bother me re not going to NC or anywhere. We were on Ovation in 2022 and went nowhere! Anyway when he gives me an answer I might book.

We'll be quite happy with extra sea days, we just want to know!!!