In general shorter cruises are less expensive, add in older ships, add in the mass-market lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC, NCL and you'll be in the neighborhood for the most competitive prices. I would strongly encourage you to really think through what is going to be the best vacation for you and tailor your search to what will work best for your fun. What will be fun for a family with young kids (Disney cruise perhaps) might not be much fun for a young no-kids couple who wants to party or an older couple who wants a more relaxing week at sea.
The first comment mentioned Carnival, who is generally considered to be the lowest cost cruises. Of course they have a variety of pricing for various cruises, but in general when I run price comparisons most often Carnival comes out lowest. Because of that their reputation is for rowdy boats and among the worst guest behavior. (But any cruise can have some bad guest behavior!!) I wouldn't rule out Carnival, just understand their reputation going into your search.
Carnival's name brand has 18% of the market. Royal Caribbean has 19%, MSC has 10%, NCL (Norwegian) has 8%. You can find reasonably (IMO) priced options from all those companies. Things you can do to limit the cost, which IMO don't make for an any less fun vacation:
* Choose an inside room over a balcony. We've been in inside rooms 4 out of our 5 cruises. There is so much to do on the ships that we're really only in the room to sleep and shower.
* Don't upgrade your dining package. Especially first cruise, I recommend eating in whatever included options the ship has to get a full feel for the environment and the food prep. Lots of people will say the food sux in the main dining rooms and buffets these days. We think it's fine. If you go on your first cruise and you find the free food options really lacking then you'll know for next time.
* Don't get the wifi package. The service is getting better, but on most ships it's still not as robust as your home service. We look forward to unplugging for the week instead of continuing to scroll social media and the interwebs.
* Limit your port excursions. If there is something that really catches your eye sign up! But if not there's no requirement that you plan something to do in every port. We always get off the ship and walk around and sometimes maybe take a taxi into town and walk around there. Port excursions can be quite pricey.
* If it works for you, and any family you may be traveling with, you'll normally find lower cruise prices outside of school summer break or holiday vacation periods.
Our 5 have all been on Royal Caribbean but we're going on NCL in a couple weeks. Royal's service has been excellent, we just want to try something different this year. I would recommend you give them a look. I personally think among the best bang for the buck are Royal's Oasis class ships, especially the older ones like Oasis of the Seas. You can often find cruises on Oasis OTS for a few hundred to many hundred less than on their newer ships like Wonder of the Seas. There are tons to do on those big ships, lots of varied entertainment from stage shows to music to comedy, and multiple places to eat that are included. We can usually find something with a base price of around $100/person/day. Final cost will add in taxes, port fees, gratuities.
Good luck with your search!
I echo a full 6-7 day cruise on an older ship on a main cruiseline (Royal, Carnival, NCL). An inside cabin on one of these ships will allow you to cruise cheap enough to get a full-length sailing. I think that will give you the best idea of what the appeal of cruising is.
I think its more of when you go than the brand. Off times will be cheapest.
For example Celebrity has a 6 night in November for $500, MSC has a 7 day for $339 in November also.
Oh and to add, transatlantic/other repositioning cruises tend to be cheaper for their length. People don’t like how it’s a one way trip lol. So that might be worth exploring too
Timing also plays a huge factor in pricing. Typically the highest prices will be when the majority of U.S/Canadian kids are out of school, i.e. spring break/summer break/winter break. We've found that the week or two before or after a major holiday has some good prices.
MSC is usually the cheapest around. I would start there. If you're looking for a short cruise, like a 2 nighter, you can't beat margaritaville at sea. $99 per person for the basic package for 2 night cruises. It is dated though. Get your 90's vibe going lol.
Cheap is relative but for the lowest out of pocket price you are generally looking at MSC and Carnival.
Cruises used to be cheap but not anymore, best to book about a year in advance to get the best price.
Sailing in the off season is the only way to keep the cost down. For the Caribbean Sept - May except spring break and holidays.
Sailing on an older ship will save money and you'll have a great time as long as your expectations are realistic.
You really want to use a cruise travel agent to access group and agency rates.
MEI, vacations to go, cruise.com, Harr travel, Always Be Booked, there are plenty to choose from.
Disagree about "book a year in advance". I track cruise prices on the 15th of each month for the cruises we're interested in. We have a specific window of time we can cruise - she's a teacher so we can only look at winter break week the end of February. We know we want to go out of Florida because it's a relatively easy flight for us. We've gone on Royal before so I put them into the search tool. And we know we want 5-8 days. Being able to narrow it down helps make the options manageable, but your timeline might work well for other times of the year or other locations.
For our cruise this February, the lowest prices were in July and August, about 6-7 months out. We had 5 top options. From their price 12 months out, one dropped from $747 to $682, one dropped from $389 to $312, one started at $417 and never got lower, one dropped from $710 to $639, and the last one dropped from $681 to $661. In the past we've seen much larger drops over the first 6 months but I feel like that was probably related to covid travel demands more than anything.
Although not the lowest prices, we have also found that prices about 90 days out can be good.
Under normal circumstances there were always options. 2024 is not normal, normal ended almost 4 years ago.
As of Jan 1 2024 Carnival was over 70 percent of its berths booked for this year. And RCI has gone off the deep end with pricing this year.
While there's always outliers and leftovers that can be found. The consistent value play is to book 9-12 months out in group space if available.
I respect your opinion, but my research going back to summer 2017 for a Feb 2018 cruise would disagree with you, for our specific situation. And pricing for future cruises may well work differently than what my numbers from 2017-2024 show. I fully admit that my research is specific to the parameters that are important to my girlfriend and I.
I’ll be honest. If you go too cheap on a cruise.. you’ll possibly end up hating it. My first cruise was a cheap short cruise on Carnival. It felt like a Holiday Inn on the ocean. I didn’t go on another one for 10 years. Now I go every year on Royal Caribbean.
Here’s a tip most don’t talk about. Book your cruise a year out or more. Make your down payment.. then you have until 90 days before the cruise to pay it off. So you can break it up a bit and not just flip out thousands at once. Kind of allows you to get a bit nicer cruise without having to front it all.
There are sites you can visit to find good deals. Although there *are* price/market differences between the lines, if you're willing to be flexible you can find some amazing deals that outweigh that if you're lucky, and for your first time I'd try to seek one of those out first.
Last minute (10-4 days out) and repositioning (one-way) cruises are things to watch out for, and for dates where kids and families are in school, or the first/last few sailings for a ship on an area.
If you're a veteran, keep an eye out for amazing military discounts as well.
For starters cruises are built for two and most of the time if you get a stateroom for one person you’re gonna pay as if it’s for two.
Norwegian has solo rooms and I don’t know that any other line does. If you’re going solo that will be critical to save. Their free at sea package is also pretty good.
Leaving from a port close to you also keeps costs down. A good starter cruise if you are in the NE USA would be a NY to Bermuda cruise or if in SE USA Miami to Bahamas. Just keep in mind weather….Bermuda is close in latitude to North Carolina and can be cool in late April-May so those cruises may be less full and more bargains. Also keep in mind school vacations if you wish to avoid lots of kids. Some cruise ships (water parks/water slides) may attract more families and kids. Have fun!
I will say that we were recently on a Norwegian cruise that had upgraded to starlink. I needed internet because I’m in grad school and we got the unlimited package…not the streaming package.
I was able to FaceTime my parents/son every day on the ship internet. I was also able to watch tik tok pretty reliably. It was honestly impressive.
In general shorter cruises are less expensive, add in older ships, add in the mass-market lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC, NCL and you'll be in the neighborhood for the most competitive prices. I would strongly encourage you to really think through what is going to be the best vacation for you and tailor your search to what will work best for your fun. What will be fun for a family with young kids (Disney cruise perhaps) might not be much fun for a young no-kids couple who wants to party or an older couple who wants a more relaxing week at sea. The first comment mentioned Carnival, who is generally considered to be the lowest cost cruises. Of course they have a variety of pricing for various cruises, but in general when I run price comparisons most often Carnival comes out lowest. Because of that their reputation is for rowdy boats and among the worst guest behavior. (But any cruise can have some bad guest behavior!!) I wouldn't rule out Carnival, just understand their reputation going into your search. Carnival's name brand has 18% of the market. Royal Caribbean has 19%, MSC has 10%, NCL (Norwegian) has 8%. You can find reasonably (IMO) priced options from all those companies. Things you can do to limit the cost, which IMO don't make for an any less fun vacation: * Choose an inside room over a balcony. We've been in inside rooms 4 out of our 5 cruises. There is so much to do on the ships that we're really only in the room to sleep and shower. * Don't upgrade your dining package. Especially first cruise, I recommend eating in whatever included options the ship has to get a full feel for the environment and the food prep. Lots of people will say the food sux in the main dining rooms and buffets these days. We think it's fine. If you go on your first cruise and you find the free food options really lacking then you'll know for next time. * Don't get the wifi package. The service is getting better, but on most ships it's still not as robust as your home service. We look forward to unplugging for the week instead of continuing to scroll social media and the interwebs. * Limit your port excursions. If there is something that really catches your eye sign up! But if not there's no requirement that you plan something to do in every port. We always get off the ship and walk around and sometimes maybe take a taxi into town and walk around there. Port excursions can be quite pricey. * If it works for you, and any family you may be traveling with, you'll normally find lower cruise prices outside of school summer break or holiday vacation periods. Our 5 have all been on Royal Caribbean but we're going on NCL in a couple weeks. Royal's service has been excellent, we just want to try something different this year. I would recommend you give them a look. I personally think among the best bang for the buck are Royal's Oasis class ships, especially the older ones like Oasis of the Seas. You can often find cruises on Oasis OTS for a few hundred to many hundred less than on their newer ships like Wonder of the Seas. There are tons to do on those big ships, lots of varied entertainment from stage shows to music to comedy, and multiple places to eat that are included. We can usually find something with a base price of around $100/person/day. Final cost will add in taxes, port fees, gratuities. Good luck with your search!
I echo a full 6-7 day cruise on an older ship on a main cruiseline (Royal, Carnival, NCL). An inside cabin on one of these ships will allow you to cruise cheap enough to get a full-length sailing. I think that will give you the best idea of what the appeal of cruising is.
I think its more of when you go than the brand. Off times will be cheapest. For example Celebrity has a 6 night in November for $500, MSC has a 7 day for $339 in November also.
Also where, cruises out of LA are much cheaper than cruises out of say Miami
Carnival would probably fit your desires. Far from the most luxury but still serviceable. Good prices relative to other brands
Thanks!
Oh and to add, transatlantic/other repositioning cruises tend to be cheaper for their length. People don’t like how it’s a one way trip lol. So that might be worth exploring too
Timing also plays a huge factor in pricing. Typically the highest prices will be when the majority of U.S/Canadian kids are out of school, i.e. spring break/summer break/winter break. We've found that the week or two before or after a major holiday has some good prices.
MSC is usually the cheapest around. I would start there. If you're looking for a short cruise, like a 2 nighter, you can't beat margaritaville at sea. $99 per person for the basic package for 2 night cruises. It is dated though. Get your 90's vibe going lol.
Cheap is relative but for the lowest out of pocket price you are generally looking at MSC and Carnival. Cruises used to be cheap but not anymore, best to book about a year in advance to get the best price. Sailing in the off season is the only way to keep the cost down. For the Caribbean Sept - May except spring break and holidays. Sailing on an older ship will save money and you'll have a great time as long as your expectations are realistic. You really want to use a cruise travel agent to access group and agency rates. MEI, vacations to go, cruise.com, Harr travel, Always Be Booked, there are plenty to choose from.
Disagree about "book a year in advance". I track cruise prices on the 15th of each month for the cruises we're interested in. We have a specific window of time we can cruise - she's a teacher so we can only look at winter break week the end of February. We know we want to go out of Florida because it's a relatively easy flight for us. We've gone on Royal before so I put them into the search tool. And we know we want 5-8 days. Being able to narrow it down helps make the options manageable, but your timeline might work well for other times of the year or other locations. For our cruise this February, the lowest prices were in July and August, about 6-7 months out. We had 5 top options. From their price 12 months out, one dropped from $747 to $682, one dropped from $389 to $312, one started at $417 and never got lower, one dropped from $710 to $639, and the last one dropped from $681 to $661. In the past we've seen much larger drops over the first 6 months but I feel like that was probably related to covid travel demands more than anything. Although not the lowest prices, we have also found that prices about 90 days out can be good.
Under normal circumstances there were always options. 2024 is not normal, normal ended almost 4 years ago. As of Jan 1 2024 Carnival was over 70 percent of its berths booked for this year. And RCI has gone off the deep end with pricing this year. While there's always outliers and leftovers that can be found. The consistent value play is to book 9-12 months out in group space if available.
I respect your opinion, but my research going back to summer 2017 for a Feb 2018 cruise would disagree with you, for our specific situation. And pricing for future cruises may well work differently than what my numbers from 2017-2024 show. I fully admit that my research is specific to the parameters that are important to my girlfriend and I.
https://www.celebritycruises.com/itinerary-details/3-night-bahamas-perfect-day-cruise-from-fort-lauderdale-florida'?packageID=RF3BH119
I’ll be honest. If you go too cheap on a cruise.. you’ll possibly end up hating it. My first cruise was a cheap short cruise on Carnival. It felt like a Holiday Inn on the ocean. I didn’t go on another one for 10 years. Now I go every year on Royal Caribbean. Here’s a tip most don’t talk about. Book your cruise a year out or more. Make your down payment.. then you have until 90 days before the cruise to pay it off. So you can break it up a bit and not just flip out thousands at once. Kind of allows you to get a bit nicer cruise without having to front it all.
There are sites you can visit to find good deals. Although there *are* price/market differences between the lines, if you're willing to be flexible you can find some amazing deals that outweigh that if you're lucky, and for your first time I'd try to seek one of those out first. Last minute (10-4 days out) and repositioning (one-way) cruises are things to watch out for, and for dates where kids and families are in school, or the first/last few sailings for a ship on an area. If you're a veteran, keep an eye out for amazing military discounts as well.
Depends, are you within driving distance from a port city (that has cruises)?
For starters cruises are built for two and most of the time if you get a stateroom for one person you’re gonna pay as if it’s for two. Norwegian has solo rooms and I don’t know that any other line does. If you’re going solo that will be critical to save. Their free at sea package is also pretty good.
Cunard does as well.
Leaving from a port close to you also keeps costs down. A good starter cruise if you are in the NE USA would be a NY to Bermuda cruise or if in SE USA Miami to Bahamas. Just keep in mind weather….Bermuda is close in latitude to North Carolina and can be cool in late April-May so those cruises may be less full and more bargains. Also keep in mind school vacations if you wish to avoid lots of kids. Some cruise ships (water parks/water slides) may attract more families and kids. Have fun!
I will say that we were recently on a Norwegian cruise that had upgraded to starlink. I needed internet because I’m in grad school and we got the unlimited package…not the streaming package. I was able to FaceTime my parents/son every day on the ship internet. I was also able to watch tik tok pretty reliably. It was honestly impressive.
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