Bargain Cruising

Prologue

The stock market is not behaving very well lately and there is a lot of concern over the real estate market. It is worthy to try to save money while having a luxury vacation. Today we’ll focus on cruise vacations.

 

Bargain Cruises - What You Can Expect

When I lived in the New York City area, I sometimes vacationed at the large resort hotels in the Catskill Mountains. Rates per person, that included 3 full course meals, where generally $100 or often a lot more per person. I tried to limit my vacations to the $70-100 range by looking for specials that were sometimes available.

Somehow the $100 per day per person number has stuck in my head and even though there has been much inflation from those days, I like to limit my cruise costs to $100 per day or less. This means paying $700 or less for an eight day - seven night cruise. I have typically paying $499 for a seven day cruise. Lately there has been less choice for the $700 per day range I am guessing due to demand, general inflation, and fuel prices.

The prices I quote above include port charges (a substantial part of the cost) but not taxes, tips or transportation/airfare to the cruise city.

Finding the Bargain Cruises

You can book cruises on-line through the big three travel sites. There are also a number of specialized cruise sites that you can find by googling or using any other search engine.

The cruise sites I use allow you to book the cruise on-line, while others will send you information via e-mail or call you once you fill out an on-line form.

The last time I booked on-line, I found the same cruise at the same price at several sites. However, one site had a free outside cabin/ocean view upgrade plus a free $50 debit card. I usually, double check price with the cruise line by phone just in case they can give it to you cheaper. Some cruise lines offer discounts for past guests and for mature audiences (over 55). If you book your cruise on-line definitely call the cruise line afterward to see that everything is ok. Also, there may be some choices you have to make in terms of dining seating.

It usually takes up to two weeks to get tickets – so if you book at the last minute call the cruise line and ask them to hold the tickets/other material at the terminal or ask them to over night the material the latter at added cost.