CRUISE PRICING BASICS
so you start looking for a cruise and hear about somebody that got a cruise for $200, lets talk for a minute about what that really means.
most cruse prices are given before “taxes and fees” also on your trip you will be paying aprox. $13 per day per person for tips/gratuities.
Taxes and fees, this can vary a bit for each cruise or port you leave from, in general for a 4 day cruise you will usually pay about $80 and a 7 day will be about $80-150 (12 day panama canal $380)
Tips, (at $13 per person) for a 4 day cruise you would be about $52 per person and a 7 day about $92
so if I find a 7 day cruise for $350 plus $100 tax plus $92 tips your actually about $550 per person, just something to plan/budget for.
almost all advertised prices you see will not include taxes or tips, one thing that can cut your overall cost is onboard credit, read on.
Specials, you will see a lot of specials advertised like BOGO (Royal Caribbean, buy one get one half off) Friends and family sail free (Norwegian, 3rd and 4th in cabin free) free cabin upgrades, up to $500 onboard credit/spending money, etc.
it would be great to get all these deals on top of the best price you find, but unfortunately there are several things that make most of these deals not much better than that sweet price you found.
BOGO we looked into this with Royal Caribbean, it is based off more of a “list price” , we had found a room on the Allure of the Seas for about $600 ($1200 for 2 people), checked with RC on the sale, the price was based off the room being $800 and the second 1/2 price at $400 ($1200 for 2 people).
3rd&4th free, i checked prices on a Norwegian that was at $429 for a 7 day (newer Getaway ship), inside room, so if you could get 3rd&4th free (you do still pay taxes and tips on the 3rd and 4th) that would be awesome. when we ran the numbers the promotion did not apply to the $429 cabin, you had to go up to a $999 balcony.
so with no promotion 3rd & 4th people are $229 ea. in the $429 room and averages at $329 ea, which isn’t bad for 7 days on a newer ship.
but, with the balcony option they also include prepaid tips (which if figuring base price before taxes and tips) you could figure the $999 x 2 divided by 4 is $499 ea, and minus $92 for tips and you have $407 ea for a balcony.
free cabin upgrades, you are not going to pay for a inside room and get a balcony, most of these specials refer to an upgrade within the cabin category, like from a B1 inside to a C1 inside. might be in a little better location. there are a very few times i have seen an upgrade from inside to ocean view or ocean view to balcony, not often though.
$500 of onboard credit,if you see that advertised to pull you in this is how it usually works $25 credit on a 3-4 day $50-100 on a 7 day, $200-300 on a 14 day, or the other rate option is based off the room you get, you may have to book a “grand suite” for a few thousand per person to get your $500.
although there are some sales that do allow combining offers, we were able to book one through Royal Caribbean that had a every 3rd night free ( which just brought the price into reasonable, not awesome) but then kids sail free (as the 3rd and or 4th in the cabin, 12 and under) really made it affordable for a family trip, we were able to find the price at about $500 per person (with the every 3rd night free) so it worked out perfect for us since we have a total of 8, (4 kids that were 12 and under) so it worked out to be about $250 per person (before tax) this was originally for a guaranteed cabin (no picking room numbers) but then the price dropped again and the standard interior cabin came down to the price we booked at and we were able to switch cabin categories and pick our rooms (even got adjoining)
Onboard credit, a couple notes on onboard credit, there is no rhyme or reason to when onboard credit is offered by cruise lines, off and on it is available and if you can get onboard credit most cruise lines will treat that as cash in your onboard account and you can pay for tips with it, the last cruise we went on we were able to get $175 onboard credit (balcony room) and it was able to cover all our tips within a few dollars. Norwegian does not let you do that though, i have heard of people cashing out their Norwegian onboard credit in the casino then putting it back on their account and were able to use it for tips that way.
its common to see about $25-50 for inside cabins and $50-150 for Balconies (per room, not per person) when they are available.
so, in that way if you have onboard credit that can go towards your tips you can kind of figure the base cost of your cruise a little less.
Guaranteed cabins, most of your cheapest cabins (inside and balcony) are what they call guaranteed, which basically means that with that cabin category you cannot pick your room number, which is not a big deal if you only need one cabin, but if you are traveling with family or friends and want/need to be next to each other or have adjoining rooms that wont work.
when to book, if you have a specific date that you have to work with or if you need connecting rooms you will need to book earlier rather that wait for last minute deals. also some of the bigger new ships will sell out sooner than others
if you are within driving distance of a port and you don’t have to book flights (last minute air flights can usually cost a lot more) you can wait to see what things do and take stuff that drops as sail dates get closer (although that is not always going to happen) some of the more common i see drop as it gets closer are Norwegian and sometimes carnival.
not all cruise ships are the same, when you find a great deal just be aware not all cruise ships are the same, even within one cruise line you can have ships that are rated from 3 to 5 stars or up to 6 if you want to go real fancy, the higher the star rating the better the food and amenities, usually the lower rated are their older ships that do the 3-4 day cruises
take Royal Caribbean for example, one of their ships Majesty Of The Seas (3.5 stars) was built in 1992, has 2 pools a jogging track and a rock climbing wall, and does 3-4 day cruises out of Florida.– where one like Allure of the Seas built in 2010 has an ice skating rink,2 rock climbing walls, 2 surf simulators, a zipline, a carousel, 4-5 pools, jogging track, mini golf course, Broadway show, diving show.etc.etc. is 5 stars and does 7 day eastern and western Caribbean from ft Lauderdale.
carnival also uses their older smaller ships for their 3-4 day cruses and uses their newer for longer cruises.
What is a good deal?, if you can only go at a certain time don’t worry about saving that extra $20-30-40 just go and have fun.
if you are watching and waiting for a deal then …… for a 4 day cruise i have seen them as low as $120 going from Florida and about $140 from California, its pretty common to find them hover around $180, the nicer Princess 4 day from California can get down to $200-220 not as often though.
for a 7 day cruise, inside room- i have seen some good ones $300-350 but they usually don’t stay there for long, $400 is a decent price, $500 is pretty normal (if you want an Oasis class ship $500-600 is pretty good for an inside).
Balcony rooms-i have seen balconies for as low as $450, even $500-600 is pretty good, $700-800 is a pretty normal price (oasis class ship $650 is lowest I’ve seen so far) and with the newer bigger ships they usually hold their prices higher.
When are the best/least expensive times to go, after watching prices for several seasons i have seen that the best prices you will get in the Caribbean are in October and November, September can be pretty good too.
i have seen some really good prices for Alaska in May.
the most expensive times and where some specials don’t apply are Spring Break, also when school is out, and some holidays-especially Christmas and New Years.
Travel Insurance, we did not use to get it, it is a decent option though.
one reason is the closer you get to a cruise date the more you get dinged for cancelling, each cruise line will have a little different policy but here is an example from Royal Caribbean below.
if you end up not being able to go on your cruise you can cancel 90 days out with no penalty, but if you have to cancel the week before all you will get back is taxes and fees, the advantage to travel insurance is that if something came up so that you could not go, especially things like sick, injured, house flood/fire, jury duty etc. you can get your money back.
Royal Caribbean cancelation policy
5 Nights or longer
90+ No charges
89-57 Days Deposit amount
56-29 Days 50% of Total Fare (taxes, fees & port expenses excluded*)
28-15 Days 75% of Total Fare (taxes, fees & port expenses excluded*)
14 Days or less No refund except for taxes and fees
1-4 Nights
75+ No charges
74-57 Days Deposit amount
56-29 Days 50% of Total Fare (taxes, fees & port expenses excluded*)
28-15 Days 75% of Total Fare (taxes, fees & port expenses excluded*)
14 Days or less No refund except for taxes and fees
other benefits “Travel Protection Programs” offer-
Travel Protection Program covers If you get sick or injured during your vacation, get the care you need. The plan reimburses for medical expenses as well as emergency transportation by air or land.
Travel Protection Program covers travel expenses when you’ve been delayed, so you can get on with your vacation without skipping a beat.
Travel Protection Program has your bags covered up to $1,500 if they’re lost, stolen or damaged and up to $500 for covered replacement items if they’re delayed.
Cancel your trip, for whatever reason, and you’re covered.
Up to 100% cash back for the unused portion of the cruise if you cancel for a specified reason, like illness or injury.
75% cruise credit if you cancel for any other reason –
this example is from Royalcaribbean.com see their site for more info
It is usually its based off the cruise price, Royal Caribbean is $30 per person for up to $500 cruise and $60 for up to $1000 cruise.
as i have learned more about insurance there is a much better option than going through the cruise line, especially if you not booking flights and transfers through the cruise line, 3rd party insurance, it can usually be about half the price (or better) with the same benefits, we have got it on our last couple trips through AllianzTravel Insurance, for $120 we were able to cover our whole family, it was a great price for a lot of peace of mind
Trip Cancelation Protection Up to amount purchased
Trip Interruption Protection Up to amount purchased
Emergency Medical and Dental $10,000
Emergency Medical Transportation $50,000
Baggage Coverage $500
Baggage Delay Coverage $200
Travel/Trip Delay Coverage $300
24-Hour Hotline Assistance Included
Existing Medical Condition Coverage Available/Conditions Apply
Online Policy Modification Included
Online Claim Filing And Tracking Included
these coverages were from our plan we got and are per person, so for just over a hundred bucks for the whole family if someone got sick or something that we could not go we could get our cruise fares back, or if somebody got hurt in some remote place it would be covered, if you missed transfers, lost luggage etc….