How to Score a Best Price on a Cruise?

Ace26 on 09/04/2019 - 16:16
Last edited 09/04/2019 - 17:12 by 1 other user

Considering booking a cruise for next year with Royal Caribbean (Voyager of the Seas)
Price seems to be fluctuating about 10% depending what offer they have at any given time.
This is our first cruise and friends who have been on commercial cruises have suggested we book an interior room
We are travelling with 2 young kids so banking on some of the kids activities and play centres.

Wondering what's the best way to ensure I pay the best price for the cabin I am after

Does 28 degree Mastercard cover for travel if I find a better deal in the future?

Any particular sites I should look at or book direct with the cruise liner?

TIA

Travel Cruise

Comments

  • salmon123 on 09/04/2019 - 16:35
    -1

    First time cruiser here too - we booked a celebrity cruise (also part of the royal caribbean family).

    I found they had a 'kids sale free' sale event, which worked great for us. You should speak to a few travel agents to see if they've seen anything like that for your cruise.

    Cruise Companies (like airlines) have different deals in different markets all the time. I'm not sure what the T&Cs are around booking in another market, for a better deal, but often worth looking in other markets (eg US, Europe) to see what they're offering for your cruise.

    Note that when you book in the US market, the price wont include 'gratuities', but in Australia it normally does.

    Price seems to be fluctuating about 10% depending what offer they have at any given time.

    I found the 'bonuses' like onboard credit and drink packages to be poor value. Find a website that sells the bare cabin, without extras and compare that to a site that sells it with the extras to see what I mean. You're allowed to bring duty free liquor for consumption on board, so the drinks package at $50+ per person per day is quite a bit.

    Any particular sites I should look at or book direct with the cruise liner?

    Most travel agents in Australia are using the same backend to check room availability, etc. The prices shouldn't vary too much, but you can probably squeeze a 5% discount out of a travel agent.

    • Mistymoo on 09/04/2019 - 18:20
      +1

      You can't drink your duty free liquor on board on any of the cruise lines, at least not the ones I've tried so far anyway. They take it from you as you board and you pick it up on the morning of disembarkation.

      RCC is two bottles of wine brought on board only.

      The drinks packages are excellent value actually. We'd gotten our money's worth in a day and a half lol, and we bought it for a short three night cruise. It doesn't just cover alcohol either.

      • salmon123 on 09/04/2019 - 18:27

        The drinks packages are excellent value actually

        The way I saw it was, $50 per person per day … That's $700 for a 7 night cruise. There's no way I could drink that much for 7 nights in a row. Maybe on a shorter cruise.

  • SydEng on 09/04/2019 - 17:15
    -1

    Book last minute, most of the time if there is an empty room cruise companies charge almost nothing for them as its better then just letting it be vacant.

    • Gracey on 09/04/2019 - 19:21
      +1

      Where is the best place to book last minute? And what time frame are you seeing the best deals? Like within the next week or 2?

    • Danstar on 10/04/2019 - 07:16

      Also interested in this

      • driver33b on 10/04/2019 - 17:33

        Booking last minute works great where sales are slow…does not happen much in Australia…big gamble if you are set on a vacation on that date.. I have paid on a Tuesday and sailed on the Saturday… only because of price and because we could :)

  • deveshwar0 on 09/04/2019 - 17:42

    You're allowed to bring duty free liquor for consumption on board, so the drinks package at $50+ per person per day is quite a bit.

    You can bring duty free alcohol to the ship but you're not allowed to access these. These are confiscated when you board the ship and handed back when you disembark.

    • Agarwal on 09/04/2019 - 17:46

      Yep, Royal Caribbean will allow you to bring 2 bottles of wine for consumption on board but anything else will be confiscated. Drinks can get pretty expensive so a package can be worthwhile depending on how much you drink (and how many sea days there are).

      • salmon123 on 09/04/2019 - 17:57

        Yep, Royal Caribbean will allow you to bring 2 bottles of wine for consumption on board but anything else will be confiscated.

        My understanding was 2 bottles, including spirits and further top ups are possible when you're in-port in a foreign country. It would be pretty difficult for them to enforce this stuff anyway, especially if you started decanting stuff into hip flasks and baby bottles.

        Drinks can get pretty expensive so a package can be worthwhile depending on how much you drink (and how many sea days there are).

        I'm told ~$8+tip for standard beer/wines/spirits. Soft-drinks, juices and coffees are ~$5. You really need to be consuming 6-8 drinks/day to break even.

        I'm sure if you put your mind to it, you'll find a thriving industry in reselling drinks onboard the ship.

        • Agarwal on 09/04/2019 - 18:03

          No it doesn't include spirits, and they do scan your bags and if they find something suspicious you have to go somewhere to collect your luggage and show them what you have is OK.

          Yeah they are around 8-10 US, cocktails are a bit more so 4 or 5 a day plus some coffee/juice/bottled water and you would be ahead.

        • Mistymoo on 09/04/2019 - 18:22

          A coffee or similar with breakfast, a drink before lunch, a couple drinks with lunch, some bottled waters, a drink with afternoon trivia, two or three drinks with dinner, and then a few while watching a show or going dancing etc…very easily done. There's a reason why P&O have now capped their packages haha.

          • salmon123 on 09/04/2019 - 18:25
            -1

            @Mistymoo:

            very easily done

            Not with kids, but yeah with kids it's probably doable.

          • kctt on 09/04/2019 - 20:13

            @Mistymoo: Is there any free drink on a cruise e.g. water or juice? I thought coffee and tea would be included free like in a normal buffet.

            • salmon123 on 09/04/2019 - 20:19

              @kctt:

              Is there any free drink on a cruise e.g. water or juice? I thought coffee and tea would be included free like in a normal buffet.

              Yes, I think instant/filter coffee + tea is included. Possibly, in-cabin too, depending on your cabin.

              Of course "tap" water is included. I heard there might be some lemonade/cordial type drink for free too.

        • robbyjones on 09/04/2019 - 18:40
          -1

          Ha ha, hilarious. You haven't been on a cruise have you?

          • salmon123 on 09/04/2019 - 20:20

            @robbyjones:

            Ha ha, hilarious. You haven't been on a cruise have you?

            Nope, did you read my first reply?

    • trapper on 17/04/2019 - 11:54

      How do they know what you have in your bag? Do they do a bag search or what?

    • justaddwater on 03/05/2019 - 13:44

      they check your bags whenever whenever you reembark?

  • SmiTTy on 09/04/2019 - 18:37

    Booking a year in advance is definitely not going to get u a good price. However the advantage is you have your pick of rooms (unless u get a guaranteed room then u should just wait for a decent sale)

    I get sea sick, so I prefer to pick my own room as close to the middle as possible.

    • salmon123 on 09/04/2019 - 20:17
      -1

      I get sea sick, so I prefer to pick my own room as close to the middle as possible.

      Lol - why go on a cruise?

      • SmiTTy on 09/04/2019 - 20:32

        It's not that bad, but I still minimise my chances of getting sea sick. On my last 11 day cruise I felt a little wozzy on half a day

  • robbyjones on 09/04/2019 - 18:42

    I would not want to cruise in an inside cabin with 2 kids. They can be a lot smaller than other category rooms. Have a look at ocean view and when looking at cabins check the size.

  • voiletmay on 09/04/2019 - 18:54
    +1

    I found with kids, some of the cruise ships only have limited spaces for kids in certain age groups. I have missed out on cruises before before of this (no room left for kids of my childrens age), so when my kids were younger, I had to book 12-18 months in advance.

    Now I just go with my husband, so I can watch the specials (got quite a few cheapies on scoopon). There are haps of websites, but ozcruising has the best search facility, so that is the best place to start looking at available cruises and prices and then work from there as a base point.

    I never had kids who had any interst in the kids clubs LOL!!

    • voteoften on 10/04/2019 - 11:03

      Royal does not limit the number of children. There is no worries there.

      OP I don’t think you mentioned the ages if your children. Ensure there is a age group that meets your needs. Very small children can not be left.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/04/2019 - 18:59

    I worked on cruise ships for 8 years and now when sailing I always book a balcony room.

    I don't know about pricing that sort of thing was not part of my job.

  • DiLs on 09/04/2019 - 19:36
    +2

    by not going on a cruise

  • rambutann on 09/04/2019 - 20:33

    I find that you can get some really good deals in october/november for departure in november-january.

    I did it a few years ago - they come up every year. Constantly on the lookout for another good deal.

    • voteoften on 10/04/2019 - 11:04

      The cheap times to cruise with royal are Nov, feb, March.

  • JIMB0 on 10/04/2019 - 08:01
    +6

    My grandfathers great great great grandfather got a free cruise many many years ago just for stealing a loaf of bread. It was a one way trip from England to Australia.

  • SnowDragon on 10/04/2019 - 08:37

    Either booking close to the date or ages in advance.

    Generally the prices end up being the same with/without a sale. For example the cruise I last booked was $1600/pp + $500 on board credit. On "sale" it was $1100/pp.

    Booking an interior room will be cheaper than a balcony. Having four people will also lower the pp price.

    If you are planning on having a bit to drink, think about a drinks package. They were roughly $70 AUD/day. On board drink prices are in USD. So a beer might look cheap at $8, but that's $11 AUD. I think they also slap a 18% gratuity fee on top as well. But this may be included in the price. Cocktails start at $11.50.

  • crozza on 10/04/2019 - 08:53
    +1

    I am no expert but find it useful to receive email 'special offers' from various Agencies.
    Example: cruisesheet.com - they have a graph for each cruise showing the price history, an eyeopener.
    Vacations to go - American site.
    Think plenty Aussie ones like Cruise Guru.

    Cruise Critic has an enormous volume of cruising information

    recent cruise booked used cruiseoffers.com.au whom were cheapest.And good to deal with.[cheaper than RCC direct]

  • crozza on 10/04/2019 - 09:04

    as someone said, last minute can be good if this style works for you.Risk is it books out, you miss out.

    Example : Cruisesheet.com, 19night Sydney to Honolulu leaves April 12 $987 [probly $US, didnt check] $52 per day

  • backpaqer on 10/04/2019 - 10:40

    I'm just about to go on my first cruise. I went for a suite as it gives me more options such as priority boarding and getting off the boat faster (important when there's 5000 passengers on the same boat). Also drinks all inclusive at that level including the minibar in the room.

    • welfoj on 16/04/2019 - 22:07

      which cruise has drinks included in the suites?

  • voteoften on 10/04/2019 - 11:16

    With Royal, if you buy a drinks package, everyone in the room must buy one, including children. Obviously they do not get the package that includes alcohol but you will be talking about almost $200 aud per day for the family.

    Everyone seems to be telling OP that the drinks package is great value, it’s not good value for everyone. You can get your two bottles of wine. Buy some $89 usd cocktail cards onboard for 10 drinks that can be shared. The casino has $2 mimosas at lunch time. The schooner bar in the royal ship I am on now has a three hour happy hour.

    OP, the price stats roughly the same regardless of what sale is on. The exception is when cruises first get offered. Like straight away. And last minute. After final payment which is generally 60-90 days before sailing. In your instance you will benefit by getting a sailing which allows third and fourth cruises to sail free or at a discount or a kids sail free promo.

    I think you should go to cruise critic and look for tips. There are even threads there where people list cheap cruises they see.

  • srpeel on 10/04/2019 - 15:05

    Try

    https://www.dccruising.com.au/pages/cruises-from-brisbane-in…

    This page specifies Brisbane start but has Cruises from (anywhere really) Sydney, Melbourne or Fremantle.

    There are other sites that offer cruises starting within the next 3 months that offer up to 70-80% of list price, but OZ is not well supported.

  • windale on 10/04/2019 - 16:55

    there are several videos online how to empty wine bottles and fill with spirits so it is not obvious…might help out :)

  • nix1016 on 11/04/2019 - 06:55

    Keep an eye out for cruise deals at https://www.ozcruising.com.au/sale/red-hot-deals/cruises

    Also booking guaranteed rooms rather than selecting your own room will generally be cheaper if you're not fussed. I've scored a few balcony cabins for less than $100 per day per person on the voyager before.

  • tunzafun001 on 25/04/2019 - 11:55

    My tips. Booking via the US is always the cheapest. Vacationstogo is who I use, but some cruise lines require a us address (freight forward address does the job. Ie shipito).

    As for seasick, back of the boat, bottom deck is where the restraunt is for a reason. So go as low as you can, back/ mid.
    Eat ginger, ginger beer, ginger biscuits if you can. It works.

    As for drinks. You don't need a drinks package. Juice,water etc will be served all day. You can bring your own non alcoholic drink of choice on id you like, ie a slab of ginger beer! Also, wine at dinner will be corked and kept for you over multiple nights if you only want one glass (plus U can bring your own). Jack Daniels ore mixed in a coke bottle still looks like coke ;) ;). Also, ive walked on with a 6 pack of beer in my hands many times, and vodka as well (not in Australian ports though). No questions asked. Maybe because I wansnt hiding it,they assume it's not beer! That being said, our recent booking the package was $13 per day, so we got it.

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