Table Of Content
- Are you getting the best price?
- Tips for keeping your cruise deal as cheap as possible
- Departure port
- Night Asia And Asia Pacific
- ways to get a deal on a cruise
- Newsletter Sign Up
- Royal Caribbean sticking with no last minute discounts and extending the program to the UK and Ireland
- Airfare and hotel prices
Therefore, we recommend looking for last-minute cruise deals closer to your home port than ports across the country (or world). If you live in the northeast, look for deals out of Cape Liberty rather than Los Angeles or Miami. A 7-night cruise is the “standard” length of a cruise vacation, offering just the right amount of time for a mix of sea and port days.
Are you getting the best price?
When I search for last minute deals, it's not as difficult to find a good price as it is to find a good price on a sailing that you want to go on. By doing this, you can see a list of the cheapest cruises departing in the next few months. Royal Caribbean regularly sends information to travel agents about deals on upcoming cruises. Therefore, travel agents may have a better understanding of what ships and sailings are offering last-minute deals.
Tips for keeping your cruise deal as cheap as possible
While not everyone can take advantage of sailing at non-peak times, particularly if they have kids still in school, it can lead to great cruise deals for those with more flexibility. One-way Alaska cruises travel from Vancouver, Canada to Seward, Alaska and vice versa. These 7-night itineraries allow guests to visit more Alaska ports as well as spend time in Alaska’s interior before or after the cruise. While providing an excellent itinerary, one-way cruises see less demand compared to roundtrip sailings due to the inconvenience of starting and ending in different ports. If a cruise itinerary still has a significant number of empty cabins in the months leading up to the sailing, Royal Caribbean may drop the price in order to increase demand.
Departure port
She loves to get active while at port, whether cycling through mountains in the Caribbean or scuba diving under the sea. Planning a last-minute cruise can be more complicated for some passengers than others, so it’s important to consider logistics before booking. Prices of cruise addons may be more expensive as well, as you don’t have the ability to book addons far in advance and later cancel and rebook if you see a cheaper price. In addition, Voyager and Freedom Class ships come with great savings in the Caribbean compared to the Oasis Class, which rarely have last-minute deals available.
Night Asia And Asia Pacific
Royal Caribbean’s website has a Last Minute Cruises page where they list the best deals on cruises. Booking at the last minute comes with far fewer stateroom categories than booking in advance, which could leave you disappointed. One of the biggest cons of a last-minute cruise is that fewer stateroom choices are available. How much this matters to you depends on your cruising style, as some passengers spend a lot of time in their cabin and others view the cabin as just a place to shower and sleep. Booking in advance can actually offer a cheaper (and more flexible) cruising experience due to Royal Caribbean's repricing policy.
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From shore excursions to drinks to dining, there are a few other ways you can pinch pennies while on a cruise. If your cruise is out of Fort Lauderdale, consider flying into West Palm Beach, Miami or Fort Myers. Likewise, if you are flying out of New York City, try all the city airports as well as Westchester, Philadelphia or Hartford. Another consideration is if you are booking a cruise after the final payment date, you will need to make a full payment up front, rather than a deposit and then the rest later.
Booking a last-minute cruise means you are late to the game when it comes to booking cruise addons like shore excursions and dining packages. By the time you book your cruise, you may find much less availability on excursions and dining packages may be sold out. The biggest benefit is the lower price available, meaning you can save more of your cruise budget for things like drinks, shore excursions, and specialty dining.
Royal Caribbean sticking with no last minute discounts and extending the program to the UK and Ireland
If you’re booking a cruise just a few weeks (or days) before the cruise departs, some cabins may be sold out. Whether a balcony, interior, or oceanview stateroom, there’s no guarantee a particular cabin will be available on a last-minute cruise. Royal Caribbean markets their newest and biggest cruise ships more than the fleet’s older vessels, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid smaller cruise ships. By searching for cruises on older ships, you’re almost guaranteed to find cheap cruise deals. Popular travel websites like Expedia, Priceline, and Costco Travel all have extensive lists of last-minute cruise deals.
Airfare and hotel prices
Those who booked cruises to northern Europe far in advance with the hope of visiting St. Petersburg, for example, faced itinerary changes in light of current political events. While being able to snag the greatest deals is more likely when booking a cruise far in advance, this isn’t always possible for all guests. We also started noticing that there were a lot of bachelorette parties, groups of young friends celebrating birthdays, and large multi-generational families cruising with us. This made sense as it is less of a time commitment than a longer cruise, making it easier for people’s schedules to align, and get away together for a weekend.
A last-minute cruise is considered any cruise you book past the final payment date for that sailing. Royal Caribbean requires final payment to be made for a cruise at least 75 prior to departure for 1-4 night sailings and 90 days prior to departure for sailings 5 nights or longer. Cruise lines recognize the value of selling every last cabin, even at a fraction of the regular price.
At the top of the ticker, you can click on each column name (Nights, Sailing Date, Cruise Line, etc.) to filter the results in alphabetical order. Booking a last-minute cruise may mean spending more on transportation to and from the cruise departure port. Airfare, rental cars, train tickets, and hotels tend to only increase in price over time. While you can still have an excellent cruise vacation in a different room category, it might not be the experience you were hoping for in a suite. Plus, if a travel agent knows you are looking for a last-minute cruise, they’ll be able to contact you whenever a deal appears to see if you would like to book the cruise.
Let’s go over everything you need to know about last-minute cruise deals to help you make the right decision before booking. The advantage of booking a guarantee room, of course, is to save money—depending on the offer, you may be able to save over a hundred dollars by not choosing your cabin location. If you’re picky on cabin location, it’s best to pay extra to select the location yourself.
