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Buying Cheap Cruise Tickets
When you think about cruises, what pops into your mind? Perhaps you think about the rich and famous sipping a margarita, on the deck of the “Love Boat.” Well, guess again! By taking the right steps, you can find some cruise tickets that are well within your budget. Here are some tips to get it done:
1. Be flexible about departures.
You can find some great deals on cruise line tickets, if you’re willing to allow for some give-and-take. No, you won’t have to depart on one particular date during the entire year. But if you’re willing to depart on a particular day of the week, depart from particular ports, and so on-then you can save some big bucks. While making these adjustments to your vacation schedule won’t cause your trip to be any less relaxing, they’ll be less stressful on your wallet.
2. Buy your tickets weeks in advance.
Buy your tickets at least a few weeks before the cruise. If possible, buy them a month or up to three months before the department. This can save you a ton of money. It also makes business sense from the cruise company, if you think about it. The sooner one cruise is fully booked, the sooner they can start filling up the next cruise. And not only will you save money, but this will help you to get the particular deck or room that you want. So you could say that the early bird gets the cruise ticket!
3. Be flexible about ports of call.
While ports of call can definitely add to the thrill of cruises, you don’t REALLY need to have 10 ports of call in the same country. Determine which ones are at the top of your list, and be willing to forego others. You’ll still be able to have the time of your life, even if you don’t visit tons of cities along the way.
4. Get a basic room.
Travelling on a cruise is an adventure in and of itself. So you if you want a cheaper ticket, forget about getting the fanciest room on the ship. After all, there’s so much to do during the cruise that you won’t want to be cooped up in your room anyway. Whether you want to swim, play shuffleboard or dance the night away-sleeping probably won’t be a top priority.
5. Get your tickets online.
As with just about everything else, you can buy cruise tickets online. By buying them directly from the cruise companies themselves, you can save a small fortune. You can also visit various travel websites on the Net, which allows you to easily compare prices for cruise tickets. This is a whole lot easier than driving around or making phone calls all day. One of the big benefits of this approach is that you cut out the middle man-travel agents, and their commissions.
6. Don’t buy tickets too early.
If you buy your cruise tickets within three months of departure, then you could enjoy savings up to 50%. So the key is to buy your tickets early-but not too early.
Cruises are no longer vacations for only those making six-figure and seven-figure annual incomes. By taking these steps, you can save a small fortune on a grand voyage!
by Graeme Renwall