By Laura Daily • Washington Post
It can seem easier to pin Jell-O to a wall than to find the best price on a cruise. But you can find deals, especially if you are flexible. All it takes is vigilance and a bit of research.
Wait until the last minute ...
Most cruise lines have cancellation policies allowing for some sort of refund up to 90 days before departure. That's why the biggest discounts usually appear in that window. "Cruise lines use a book-to-fill model, meaning they want to fill 100% of cabins for each voyage to maximize their profit," says Emerson Hankamer, CEO of Houston-based Vacations to Go. "Since they want to sell out the ship, they offer markdowns on any available cabins."
While you may get a great price, booking last-minute may limit your choice of cabin, as well as restaurant reservations and shore excursions. To find the latest deals, you can check the 90-Day Ticker at Vacations to Go or sign up for Cruise Critic's Price Alerts and receive notifications by e-mail when prices drop or increase on specific sailings, itineraries, destinations and cruise lines.
... or be an early bird.
If you know exactly which ship, cabin type and location, when you want to sail and the itinerary, you can often get a good deal by booking as soon as an itinerary is announced — typically 18 to 24 months in advance, according to Cruise Critic editor in chief Colleen McDaniel. While the cruise lines may not discount the cabin per se, they reward early bookers with add-on incentives such as free or discounted airfare, beverage packages, prepaid gratuities and onboard credits, which can save you hundreds of dollars. Early birds may also be rewarded with the chance to bid for stateroom upgrades.
Consider repositioning.
Ships don't stay in the same place year-round and must be repositioned for maximum service. The Mediterranean is not smooth sailing come winter, and Alaska's ports of call essentially shutter from October to early May. That means many ships may deploy to the Caribbean or look to ports in Southeast Asia in the winter. Cruise lines hate sailing empty, so a trip from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., or from Seattle to Miami is priced aggressively to sell.
During our interview, Hankamer found a 14-night transatlantic trip from Barcelona to Rio de Janeiro on the luxury brand Oceania Cruises for $1,899 per person and in recent years has seen cruise fares as low as $75 per night per passenger.
Repositioning cruises have trade-offs. On the plus side, you may experience some unique ports of call, transit the Panama Canal, or have more time for workshops and onboard lectures themed around topics such as cooking, world affairs or photography. In the minus column: Depending on the route, you may have numerous days at sea, cross large expanses of open, sometimes rough water and have to deal with the extra cost of an "open-jaw" airline ticket — where the origin and destination are not the same in both directions.
