If you’re interested in an affordable cruise, you have a lot of options. The cruise lines tend to lower the prices significantly in order to ensure that every cabin and suite is booked. Even the luxury liners sometimes have good deals. As long as you’re not too picky with the destination, you shouldn’t have much trouble finding cheap cruise deals.
The season, weather, and time of year in a particular region play a role in the cost of cruises. For instance, cruise prices in the Caribbean tend to go down during hurricane season. For an Alaskan cruise, cheap deals are usually found during the months of May and September, due to the unpredicted weather. May is a dry season in the Inside Passage region. It’s not uncommon for excursions to be cancelled due to bad weather in September, but if you’re not too concerned about excursions anyway, this might not be a big deal for you.
There are four rates for a cruise, depending on the type of cabin you choose: interior, oceanview, balcony, and suite. There could be hundreds of dollars of difference between a basic interior room and full suite. However, some cheap cruise deals include free upgrades, so if you are willing to take a gamble, you could book a cheap interior or oceanview room and hope for a free upgrade to something bigger.
Types of Cheap Cruise Deals
You’ll often see deals advertised for free meals as well. While your basic meals are usually included in a cruise fare, there are tons of restaurants and cafes on a ship. If you want the really good food, you often have to pay for it. For this reason, it’s a good idea to use any cruise meal coupons you come across. Some cruise lines offer a “unlimited drink” package for a discount price. This might be worth considering as well – you don’t want to end up paying full price for drinks while you’re there on the ship.
Your choice of cruise discount site is important as well, since some sites offer better deals than others. In addition to coupons for “specialty dining”, you could end up with HUGE onboard credit that can be used for onboard activities, such as enjoying a special meal or spa visit.
If you’re not cruising alone, book at a site that offers cheap cruise deals on second, third, and fourth guests. There is no need to ever pay full price for everybody if you’re traveling as a couple or even a group. Some ships offer a more “family-oriented” experience than others, so if you’re cruising with your kids, look for cruises that offer a lot of activities for kids.
There are all kinds of cheap cruise deals available at CruiseDirect. You can easily browse through the different categories or search for your ideal cruise yourself. Use Cruise Direct promo codes to additional savings on anything from the fare itself to upgrades.