How to Cruise Without Spending a Fortune

During hard economic times, most people do not even think of taking a cruise when it comes to vacation planning. Less people are booking cruise vacations these days, while at the same time, bigger and much larger cruise ships are being constructed and launched. These ships are badly in need of passengers, so this means you are in a buyer's market when it comes time to book that cruise vacation. Use this to your benefit and review the following guidelines.

Pre-Boarding Considerations:
Here's how to find the lowest fare at the best time.
•Checking the bulk buyers
Get a list of cruise consolidators. They purchase large blocks of cabins from the cruise lines at a deep discount. Although most of these deals do not include your plane fare, the cost savings are so great, you will still come out ahead. Online, you can find them at such sites as cruisebrothers dot com or cruiseone dot com, all of them showing inexpensive cruises on a frequent basis.

•Don't forget the 'shoulder season'
The 'shoulder season' is that period in between a destination's high and low seasons. The rates are lower during these periods, because fewer people are escaping the winters. For example, try sailing to Alaska in mid-May or early September, to the Caribbean in late April or September-October, to Hawaii in late August or late November, or to the Mediterranean in March or November. In addition to better rates, cruise lines tend to offer special packages throughout the shoulder season as well as low season to entice guests to book.

•Check if school is out
This is basic, you stay away from those times when the kids are off. Think spring breaks or summer vacations. That's when the quantity of unfilled cabins is usually the lowest, and prices for them are highest. This is why cruise prices are real bargains right after Labor Day or after Thanksgiving.

•Ready .. Set .. Now book it!
If your schedule is open, try to book your cruise until the last minute. The nearer you get to the actual departure date, the lower the pricing gets as most cruise lines begin to quietly unload empty cabins to maximize their returns. Note: 'Last minute' is a relative term. For example, security regulations now call for cruise lines to finalize their passenger list as early as 4 days before departure.

Post Boarding Considerations:
Since cruise lines almost try to give away the cabins just to get you on board, they try to make it up later during the cruise. That means you have to remember a few simple things to minimize the impact to your wallet.

Factor in Tipping
Make sure you know if the cruise lines have already factored in the gratuities or if they will leave it up to the passengers. To help you figure out how much to give or not to give, go to cruisetip dot tpkeller dot com, and you will get a very good breakdown on how much to give by services (i.e. waiters, head waiter, chambermaids and so on).

Maximize the Use of the Main Dining Room:
More and more cruise ships have specialty-restaurants to give passengers alternatives beyond the cost-included main dining room and midnight buffet. On some cruise lines, for example, dinner at one of their designer restaurants can run you a minimum of $50 per guest!

Budget for Booze:
Do not expect to bring your own. Crusie lines do not like it when you bring your own stuff, so they employ the 'liquor police' to politely get your booze as you come on board. The bottles are returned to you at the end of the cruise.

Abide by these basic tips and you are on your way to getting the best value for your money while enjoying that well deserved cruise holiday!

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