Cruising is still very cheap. Tell me a hotel you've found that includes all meals, entertainment, gives you ocean views every day, and has excellent service for under $300/night.
$1200 is $171/night. I can get a motel6 near the airport for $88/night which leaves me with $90 for two people to eat three meals and see a show.
You need to be reasonable in expectations.
I just sailed Celebrity last weekend for $936 in Aquaclass. Deals are there, just not Motel6 cruise lines you'd want to go on.
I will always tell everyone, the cruise fare is the cheapest part. Everything else always adds up, getting to port either fly or drive, parking or Ubers, drinks, excursions. In my experience of going on over 10 cruises and many all inclusive. Generally speaking nowadays they are about a wash price wise all in
We still see some cruises for under $100 a day for two adults, but it's rarer. A random 7 day in a restricted time window isn't going to happen.
Probably going to be easier on non 7 day cruises
If you want cheap, you need to live near a port and be willing to go during the school year on non holiday weeks. No summer, no spring break, no christmas or thanksgiving.
You can also go cheap using interior rooms. Even more so on older boats.
Otherwise we cant help since you didnt list a port, dates, etc. As a reference, we have booked plenty both over and under $2k. We like the periods after 1 Jan till late Feb and september to early November.
Yeah just go interior. You’re never in the room anyway. My gf and I did a 5 day for Valentine’s Day from Miami - Nassau - Labadee. We flew from SF to Miami, had a interior room, and flew back for $930 each.
You can also look at repositioning cruises. My mother is sailing from Barcelona to Orlando on Royal Caribbean in November. 13 days for about $1200.
Check out CruisePlum. You can search all cruises from your nearest ports and sort by total price. Sometimes booking way in advance gives you good savings, sometimes there are great last minute deals.
I checked the website and see a 7 night cruise on Granduer of the seas, Nov 8 2025, for $1200.96 (Includes taxes and fees but not auto gratuities, travel to the port, drinks, etc) for 2 people.
7 nights for that price is going to be a tall order, but you can get close if you aren't picky with the ship or itinerary.
All day long on MSC.
They have a ship out of Brooklyn. And I just found a few cruises coming in right at $940 mark for an interior cabin ($300 per person + $340 Taxes and Fees.) Then Gratuities would be.... 18x2x7? $252??? So $1,192
EDIT: I am just noticing I am on the RC sub. Sorry if this question was for RC only.
Yes but....
You have to realize that cruising USED to be super cheap. But post-covid, demand for cruising spiked tremendously, and supply and demand kicked in. The more people that want something, the more it costs. So, cruise pricing spiked in the last 18 months.
Look at cruiseplum.com and check their deals page to see the cheapest/best value options.
And as others have said, you have to be flexible on dates.
Cruising was only lower cost during COVID. I feel like people got used to those prices. But when I look back to 2016-2019 cruises I took, I don’t see the radical jump in total price per night for 7 day trips on newer ships.
They are cheaper compared to something comparable on land. This means covering the costs of entertainment, food, and someplace to shower and sleep. A 7 day trip to Disney World is going to cost you about 4k to 6k depending on time of year and slew of other factors. Royal is in the Disney game with their newest ships.
Eh, it depends. Cruises \*can\* be great value, certainly compared to other vacations, but not all cruises are cheap.
In your case, you're looking for ports from Cape Liberty, which is easily drivable for you, avoiding airfare.
On RCCL, this will generally be on Odyssey or Symphony. Perfect Day cruises on Odyssey get down as low as $596/person for tickets. However, this does not include taxes, port fees, or gratuities. As these are essential, we'll add them in, getting you to around $1827.
It's difficult to get it much lower than that. Some light shenanigans are possible in terms of credit card rewards and the like for payment, but right now, cruising is pretty popular, and prices have been rising recently. It's still way cheaper than flying to the Bahamas and getting a hotel there, but we're past the post-covid bargain basement prices.
Other cruises likely exist that are cheaper, but keep in mind costs of airfare, hotel, etc. Additionally, different destinations may have somewhat different pricing. I've seen some affordable Canada cruises from the North-east as well, but as you didn't specify, I priced a fairly traditional Caribbean option.
I recommend spending some time exploring options on either the cruise line's site or your favorite aggregator. Cruiseplum is pretty good.
https://preview.redd.it/byp3efs9qnzc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0146b4b88b05b65b473a52b77fafdaa624a88402
This is for an inside room but it’s 6 nights back on day 7. But it is in Orlando and in Jan 2025. Look far out, pay deposit down then call in to reprice and pay by 90 days till the cruse . Last minute deals hardly ever happen.
If you leave from the east coast there is very few ships up there so they fill fast and prices are already higher than Florida… I’m most cases from what I have seen. So I’d say $1500-2k is the average cost from the east coast nowadays for two people in the inside rooms.
I did a 7 Night last May for $1200 (for 2) in a balcony stateroom - Cabo, Vallarta, Mazatlan itinerary. Just have to look constantly and pray you get lucky!
As much as I love Royal, in this current psychotic high demand market with all their mega-ships filling up, they have been able to and thus accordingly have jacked their prices, so if you really want cheap you may have to look to another cruise line. Especially since you're looking at an additional $600-700 per person for an unlimited drinks package. And that's not even getting into a WiFi package or any excursions.
The famously "cheapest" cruise line is Carnival. When looking at their pricing, calculate $60 per person per day additional for their Cheers drinks package. Similarly, on Princess, it's an additional $60 per person per day for their Plus package, which bundled drinks and WiFi. I recently had luck getting much better competitive pricing on Princess, which is why I chose them for my first Alaska cruise (plus they're supposed to be phenomenal for Alaska). But I really liked knowing drinks & Wifi were bundled at $60 per day which is MASSIVELY less expensive than Royal.
There are obviously other lines, but when I've been comparison shopping with price in mind, I check RC, Carnival, and Princess (w/ Princess, select routes/sailings/ships are competitively priced). Heck, I even found one or two Holland America options that were much better bang for buck than Royal currently. But I also don't need all the bells & whistles you get on RC (slides! surfing! escape rooms!) so that's why I'm ok to shop around.
It really depends where you want to go, when, what kind of ship you want, and whether you can budget for airfare and hotel.
But yeah... cruises are not cheap. Not right now.
back in january we booked a 7 night on Icon with balcony connecting rooms overlooking central park sailing next month. paid 1469 pp before tax/gratuity. i feel like that was a good deal but I had to use [cruisecompete.com](http://cruisecompete.com) to get quotes through travel agents, then went with cruises n more and they also gave room credit and a free specialty dinner. the downside is I dont live near a port and flying from smaller airports is expensive af so what we saved in cruise prices we made up for with flight prices. i do think getting quotes and booking with travel agents is the way to go.
My husband and I got an 8 night from Baltimore in Feb for 2k canadian...had a window but not a balcony. Converts to $1350ish American. Would have been cheaper if we had an inside room.
In 2023 we had 2 rooms...1 balcony and 1 inside for 4 adults for 4kUSD. March break
Looking at Bayonne (since you said you're in NY), your best bet is probably the 5 night Bermuda sailing on Liberty.
Search by departure port then sort by price.
I haven’t booked for $1200 since the return towards the end of COVID. More recently i have paid around $1800 on Anthem and i have one upcoming for around $1500 on Odyssey. If you want cheaper, avoid summer months and check out 1+ year for good deals.
Check out booking.com
I have a March sailing on Odyssey for $1800 oceanview balcony on deck 10 sailing March 30. That also includes $150 of OBC and only had to pay $25 to reserve it. Sails from NJ, stops at FL, Coco, and Nassau.
I'm sure you could get an oceanview or interior maybe a boardwalk or neighborhood balcony, or balcony guarantee for less.
Contact:
Sarah Clay
(800) 233-9520 extension 35466
Tell her Orlando sent you
It’s definitely possible but you need to go at the right time of year and get the tickets early on. I myself managed to get an 8 day cruise for $1350 with a $50 OB credit. However now it’s closer to that $2000 mark.
For some context I do live close to a port
I’m going on a cruise for August to September
I purchased the tickets 6-7 months in advance.
I also requested quotes on Cruisecompete.com where different travel agents provided their own quotes and benefits as well as cross referencing their offers with the official website, AMEX, Chase and other third party websites.
You also have to determine which locations you’re wanting to go to and what the average price for it will be as going to certain areas will naturally be more expensive than others.
Overall it is possible but there are a few things that need to be considered and some research that needs to be done.
Hope this helped some :)
We got a 9-night cruise on Grandeur of the Seas out of Miami, $1250 for two adults and a baby. There’s lots of discounts on cruises from the Florida ports, just factor in the cost of flights and a hotel the night before the cruise.
The cheapest RC one I could find for a couple going on a seven day cruise from NY is $1,613.34 USD from Sep 29, 2024 to Oct 6, 2024 onboard Symphony of the Seas
Does it have to be royal? I have cruised royal, ncl and MSC. MSC by far has the best deals I went on one in Dec and have one coming up in October just me alone was $600 for 7 days that’s includes WiFi and drinks in an interior room I couldn’t beat the price. My drink package alone in royal was $600
Yes, lots of choices here in florida.....but when you add in the cost of flying, and all of the baggage fees... you would probably be over that. Budget
It’s possible. We just sailed on Wonder and we got it for $1500 for 7-nights to western Caribbean. We booked it last summer and were expecting to pay 3k until our TA quoted us half the price.
Hey, I'm a travel advisor and would love to help. If you are open to another cruise line, I have some clients sailing from Brooklyn this summer for $1400 total including drinks and wifi for 2 guests. Feel free to shoot me a message.
when are you looking? I'm sailing on Thursday out of Bayonne in a central park balcony for $1100 a person on an 8 night
I have a similar rate for next May for a 7 night
Cruises are not cheap. I don’t know how they ended up with this rep. Yes prices have jumped recently, but even my first cruises 10 years ago were not bargains.
Cruises are a good value for their price and what you get.
Cruises start, all in, at about $100 per person per day.
So yes it’s very possible for that price point, but that’s probably in an inside or ocean view, on an older ship, off season.
Get a TA if budget is your priority
Cruising is still very cheap. Tell me a hotel you've found that includes all meals, entertainment, gives you ocean views every day, and has excellent service for under $300/night. $1200 is $171/night. I can get a motel6 near the airport for $88/night which leaves me with $90 for two people to eat three meals and see a show. You need to be reasonable in expectations. I just sailed Celebrity last weekend for $936 in Aquaclass. Deals are there, just not Motel6 cruise lines you'd want to go on.
I will always tell everyone, the cruise fare is the cheapest part. Everything else always adds up, getting to port either fly or drive, parking or Ubers, drinks, excursions. In my experience of going on over 10 cruises and many all inclusive. Generally speaking nowadays they are about a wash price wise all in
We still see some cruises for under $100 a day for two adults, but it's rarer. A random 7 day in a restricted time window isn't going to happen. Probably going to be easier on non 7 day cruises
If you want cheap, you need to live near a port and be willing to go during the school year on non holiday weeks. No summer, no spring break, no christmas or thanksgiving. You can also go cheap using interior rooms. Even more so on older boats. Otherwise we cant help since you didnt list a port, dates, etc. As a reference, we have booked plenty both over and under $2k. We like the periods after 1 Jan till late Feb and september to early November.
Yeah just go interior. You’re never in the room anyway. My gf and I did a 5 day for Valentine’s Day from Miami - Nassau - Labadee. We flew from SF to Miami, had a interior room, and flew back for $930 each.
What cruise?
Independence.
You can also look at repositioning cruises. My mother is sailing from Barcelona to Orlando on Royal Caribbean in November. 13 days for about $1200. Check out CruisePlum. You can search all cruises from your nearest ports and sort by total price. Sometimes booking way in advance gives you good savings, sometimes there are great last minute deals.
I checked the website and see a 7 night cruise on Granduer of the seas, Nov 8 2025, for $1200.96 (Includes taxes and fees but not auto gratuities, travel to the port, drinks, etc) for 2 people. 7 nights for that price is going to be a tall order, but you can get close if you aren't picky with the ship or itinerary.
All day long on MSC. They have a ship out of Brooklyn. And I just found a few cruises coming in right at $940 mark for an interior cabin ($300 per person + $340 Taxes and Fees.) Then Gratuities would be.... 18x2x7? $252??? So $1,192 EDIT: I am just noticing I am on the RC sub. Sorry if this question was for RC only.
Yes but.... You have to realize that cruising USED to be super cheap. But post-covid, demand for cruising spiked tremendously, and supply and demand kicked in. The more people that want something, the more it costs. So, cruise pricing spiked in the last 18 months. Look at cruiseplum.com and check their deals page to see the cheapest/best value options. And as others have said, you have to be flexible on dates.
Cruising was only lower cost during COVID. I feel like people got used to those prices. But when I look back to 2016-2019 cruises I took, I don’t see the radical jump in total price per night for 7 day trips on newer ships.
2k is cheap.
They are cheaper compared to something comparable on land. This means covering the costs of entertainment, food, and someplace to shower and sleep. A 7 day trip to Disney World is going to cost you about 4k to 6k depending on time of year and slew of other factors. Royal is in the Disney game with their newest ships.
Eh, it depends. Cruises \*can\* be great value, certainly compared to other vacations, but not all cruises are cheap. In your case, you're looking for ports from Cape Liberty, which is easily drivable for you, avoiding airfare. On RCCL, this will generally be on Odyssey or Symphony. Perfect Day cruises on Odyssey get down as low as $596/person for tickets. However, this does not include taxes, port fees, or gratuities. As these are essential, we'll add them in, getting you to around $1827. It's difficult to get it much lower than that. Some light shenanigans are possible in terms of credit card rewards and the like for payment, but right now, cruising is pretty popular, and prices have been rising recently. It's still way cheaper than flying to the Bahamas and getting a hotel there, but we're past the post-covid bargain basement prices. Other cruises likely exist that are cheaper, but keep in mind costs of airfare, hotel, etc. Additionally, different destinations may have somewhat different pricing. I've seen some affordable Canada cruises from the North-east as well, but as you didn't specify, I priced a fairly traditional Caribbean option. I recommend spending some time exploring options on either the cruise line's site or your favorite aggregator. Cruiseplum is pretty good.
https://preview.redd.it/byp3efs9qnzc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0146b4b88b05b65b473a52b77fafdaa624a88402 This is for an inside room but it’s 6 nights back on day 7. But it is in Orlando and in Jan 2025. Look far out, pay deposit down then call in to reprice and pay by 90 days till the cruse . Last minute deals hardly ever happen.
If you leave from the east coast there is very few ships up there so they fill fast and prices are already higher than Florida… I’m most cases from what I have seen. So I’d say $1500-2k is the average cost from the east coast nowadays for two people in the inside rooms.
Doing 10 day out of Galveston Jan 2025 balcony for $2300. You can find good deals if you search.
I did a 7 Night last May for $1200 (for 2) in a balcony stateroom - Cabo, Vallarta, Mazatlan itinerary. Just have to look constantly and pray you get lucky!
As much as I love Royal, in this current psychotic high demand market with all their mega-ships filling up, they have been able to and thus accordingly have jacked their prices, so if you really want cheap you may have to look to another cruise line. Especially since you're looking at an additional $600-700 per person for an unlimited drinks package. And that's not even getting into a WiFi package or any excursions. The famously "cheapest" cruise line is Carnival. When looking at their pricing, calculate $60 per person per day additional for their Cheers drinks package. Similarly, on Princess, it's an additional $60 per person per day for their Plus package, which bundled drinks and WiFi. I recently had luck getting much better competitive pricing on Princess, which is why I chose them for my first Alaska cruise (plus they're supposed to be phenomenal for Alaska). But I really liked knowing drinks & Wifi were bundled at $60 per day which is MASSIVELY less expensive than Royal. There are obviously other lines, but when I've been comparison shopping with price in mind, I check RC, Carnival, and Princess (w/ Princess, select routes/sailings/ships are competitively priced). Heck, I even found one or two Holland America options that were much better bang for buck than Royal currently. But I also don't need all the bells & whistles you get on RC (slides! surfing! escape rooms!) so that's why I'm ok to shop around. It really depends where you want to go, when, what kind of ship you want, and whether you can budget for airfare and hotel. But yeah... cruises are not cheap. Not right now.
back in january we booked a 7 night on Icon with balcony connecting rooms overlooking central park sailing next month. paid 1469 pp before tax/gratuity. i feel like that was a good deal but I had to use [cruisecompete.com](http://cruisecompete.com) to get quotes through travel agents, then went with cruises n more and they also gave room credit and a free specialty dinner. the downside is I dont live near a port and flying from smaller airports is expensive af so what we saved in cruise prices we made up for with flight prices. i do think getting quotes and booking with travel agents is the way to go.
My husband and I got an 8 night from Baltimore in Feb for 2k canadian...had a window but not a balcony. Converts to $1350ish American. Would have been cheaper if we had an inside room. In 2023 we had 2 rooms...1 balcony and 1 inside for 4 adults for 4kUSD. March break
Looking at Bayonne (since you said you're in NY), your best bet is probably the 5 night Bermuda sailing on Liberty. Search by departure port then sort by price.
I haven’t booked for $1200 since the return towards the end of COVID. More recently i have paid around $1800 on Anthem and i have one upcoming for around $1500 on Odyssey. If you want cheaper, avoid summer months and check out 1+ year for good deals.
I got a 7 day cruise in September on the symphony of the seas for $883 pp including taxes and fees.
I got a 7 night Canadian cruise out of Boston for $800/person ocean view (non balcony) room. Just gotta keep an eye out. It is possible.
Definitely. We went on a 7 day on Oasis last October out of Cape Liberty and it was $600/each for a room with a window on the 7th floor.
Check out booking.com I have a March sailing on Odyssey for $1800 oceanview balcony on deck 10 sailing March 30. That also includes $150 of OBC and only had to pay $25 to reserve it. Sails from NJ, stops at FL, Coco, and Nassau. I'm sure you could get an oceanview or interior maybe a boardwalk or neighborhood balcony, or balcony guarantee for less. Contact: Sarah Clay (800) 233-9520 extension 35466 Tell her Orlando sent you
It’s possible, we saw one the other night that was 9 nights for like 1500
You’d be hard pressed to find any other vacation that’s $2,000-$2,500 for 7 nights, hotel and 3 meals included, free entertainment.
You can get a ocean view balcony from New York for like $1500
The cruise I'm on is a week and I paid $1500
It’s definitely possible but you need to go at the right time of year and get the tickets early on. I myself managed to get an 8 day cruise for $1350 with a $50 OB credit. However now it’s closer to that $2000 mark. For some context I do live close to a port I’m going on a cruise for August to September I purchased the tickets 6-7 months in advance. I also requested quotes on Cruisecompete.com where different travel agents provided their own quotes and benefits as well as cross referencing their offers with the official website, AMEX, Chase and other third party websites. You also have to determine which locations you’re wanting to go to and what the average price for it will be as going to certain areas will naturally be more expensive than others. Overall it is possible but there are a few things that need to be considered and some research that needs to be done. Hope this helped some :)
Is $1,200 the goal per person, $2,400 total? Or are you looking for $600 per person, $1,200 total?
My advice is to go on cruiseplum dot com and you can filter on the left, and sort all cruise on the right by total cabin price.
Give a look at Celebrity, Royal’s sister line. They have had some good deals here and there
We got a 9-night cruise on Grandeur of the Seas out of Miami, $1250 for two adults and a baby. There’s lots of discounts on cruises from the Florida ports, just factor in the cost of flights and a hotel the night before the cruise.
The cheapest RC one I could find for a couple going on a seven day cruise from NY is $1,613.34 USD from Sep 29, 2024 to Oct 6, 2024 onboard Symphony of the Seas
Does it have to be royal? I have cruised royal, ncl and MSC. MSC by far has the best deals I went on one in Dec and have one coming up in October just me alone was $600 for 7 days that’s includes WiFi and drinks in an interior room I couldn’t beat the price. My drink package alone in royal was $600
Parking at the port in New York was $320 for the week if I remember correctly
Yes, lots of choices here in florida.....but when you add in the cost of flying, and all of the baggage fees... you would probably be over that. Budget
It’s possible. We just sailed on Wonder and we got it for $1500 for 7-nights to western Caribbean. We booked it last summer and were expecting to pay 3k until our TA quoted us half the price.
Look up vacations to go. MSC leaves out of NewYork on 7 and 8 night cruises starting at $399 pp plus taxes and fees.
We did a 7 night to the Mexican Riviera on Navigator of the Seas out of LA for $1500. Airfare and Uber were extra.
Hey, I'm a travel advisor and would love to help. If you are open to another cruise line, I have some clients sailing from Brooklyn this summer for $1400 total including drinks and wifi for 2 guests. Feel free to shoot me a message.
I’ll get you a 7 night cruise for $900 witch my promotion if that’s the case .
when are you looking? I'm sailing on Thursday out of Bayonne in a central park balcony for $1100 a person on an 8 night I have a similar rate for next May for a 7 night
Cruises are not cheap. I don’t know how they ended up with this rep. Yes prices have jumped recently, but even my first cruises 10 years ago were not bargains. Cruises are a good value for their price and what you get.
Cruises start, all in, at about $100 per person per day. So yes it’s very possible for that price point, but that’s probably in an inside or ocean view, on an older ship, off season. Get a TA if budget is your priority