Last Minute Discounts
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While not everyone can take advantage of sailing at non-peak times, particularly if they have kids still in school, it can lead to great cruise deals for those with more flexibility. One-way Alaska cruises travel from Vancouver, Canada to Seward, Alaska and vice versa. These 7-night itineraries allow guests to visit more Alaska ports as well as spend time in Alaska’s interior before or after the cruise. While providing an excellent itinerary, one-way cruises see less demand compared to roundtrip sailings due to the inconvenience of starting and ending in different ports. If a cruise itinerary still has a significant number of empty cabins in the months leading up to the sailing, Royal Caribbean may drop the price in order to increase demand.
How can I get a cheap last minute cruise?
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Ranging from 25% to 100% of the total cost of your cruise, cancellation fees can easily reach thousands of dollars. Therefore, it’s important to be 100% certain you plan to cruise before you book a last-minute sailing. There’s also the slight chance of an upgrade if there are no more staterooms available in your guaranteed category. If you booked a guarantee oceanview room, for example, and those rooms are sold out, you could be upgraded to a balcony cabin at no extra cost.
Best prices
Saving money on cruise fare can mean splurging on extras like spa treatments, drink packages, or even a higher category stateroom. Cruise pricing is extremely dynamic and quite unpredictable, so just because a cruise is departing in a few days does not mean the price will always be cheaper than a cruise several months later. In fact, the cheapest cruise fares are usually found right when Royal Caribbean releases new itineraries, which is usually around two years prior to the departure date. Last-minute cruise deals are more frequently found during non-peak times of year. The peak cruise season in North America and Europe is from May to August, aligning with the school calendar.
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She loves to get active while at port, whether cycling through mountains in the Caribbean or scuba diving under the sea. Planning a last-minute cruise can be more complicated for some passengers than others, so it’s important to consider logistics before booking. Prices of cruise addons may be more expensive as well, as you don’t have the ability to book addons far in advance and later cancel and rebook if you see a cheaper price. In addition, Voyager and Freedom Class ships come with great savings in the Caribbean compared to the Oasis Class, which rarely have last-minute deals available.
Book during the off season
When booking a cruise at the last minute (i.e. after final payment date), you’ll have to pay the entire cruise fare upfront instead of paying over the course of a longer period of time. While this may not make a difference for some cruisers, others would prefer having the vacation paid for further in advance. If you have to fly to your cruise, airfare prices could sink any deal you find for a sailing. However, a last minute cruise deal is not unheard of, because there can be cancellations, itinerary changes, or simply weak demand for a sailing.
Plan your last minute cruise vacation with the most popular cruise lines and exciting cruise destinations
Instead, you can search for the cruise directly on Royal Caribbean’s website or contact your travel agent to book the cruise for you. Because these tools are free, they provide an easy way to find cheap deals, but it’s up to you how you would like to book the cheap sailing you find. Not only is this tool helpful for finding cheap last-minute cruises, but it’s a fantastic way to find cheap cruises several months and years into the future as well. Although you can find the same deals on the Find a Cruise page as you can on Royal Caribbean’s website, the search and filter tools are a little more intuitive. The flyer lists the ship name, sail date, itinerary, embarkation port, and special rates for cabins. Not every cabin category will offer a great deal on the flyer—one sailing may offer a cheap deal on a balcony cabin whereas another has a promotion on interior or oceanview cabins.
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This is most common after the final payment date for a particular sailing has passed—between 75 and 90 days before the cruise. More often than not, the best cruise deals are found on sailings one to two years in the future. In most scenarios, if you’re looking for the best deals, we recommend booking as soon as possible rather than waiting until the last minute. Finding a “cheap” cruise deal does not mean you’re sacrificing a quality vacation, either. Cruise deals are due to a combination of factors—time of year, demand, and departure port—which means a good deal doesn’t equate a bad cruise. The best cruise deals can often be found as soon as Royal Caribbean releases new itineraries, but it’s not unheard of to find fantastic last-minute cruise deals.
Time of year
This is an excellent way to quickly search for last-minute cruise deals when you’re flexible on port, stateroom choice, ship, and even cruise line. It’s never too late to look for a cruise and enjoy a spontaneous time-out on the world's seas. There won't be anything next weekend and you have to relax from your everyday life?
Royal Caribbean website
Most cruise lines require final payment to be made days before the cruise departs, and if they haven’t sold enough cabins by this point, the price may drop. The only downside to repricing a cruise is that you are unable to reprice the cruise after final payment date. Therefore if the cruise suddenly drops in price ~50 days prior to departure, you'll be stuck paying a higher fare than those booking last-minute. Knowing the ins and outs of booking a last-minute cruise fare can help save you money and avoid any mistakes along the way.
The higher your loyalty status with a particular cruise line, the better chance you have of finding cheap cruise deals. If you cruise often with Royal Caribbean, we recommend sticking to the cruise line in order to grow your loyalty status in the Crown & Anchor Society. Therefore, if you’re able to cruise outside of these peak times, you can almost always find cheaper cruise deals. Sailing to Alaska in early September, for example, can be hundreds of dollars cheaper than sailing in mid July. If you have to fly to your cruise departure port, be sure to check airfare prices before booking the cruise. Last-minute airfare prices are often significantly higher than buying a flight several weeks or months in advance.
A last-minute cruise is considered any cruise you book past the final payment date for that sailing. Royal Caribbean requires final payment to be made for a cruise at least 75 prior to departure for 1-4 night sailings and 90 days prior to departure for sailings 5 nights or longer. Cruise lines recognize the value of selling every last cabin, even at a fraction of the regular price.
One of the main drawbacks of booking a cruise at the last minute is that there will be fewer stateroom categories available compared to booking a cruise far in advance. You might come across sold out stateroom categories, leaving you with no choice but to book a cabin category you otherwise would have skipped. In looking at prices for cruises coming up in the next two months, you will certainly spot reasonable prices for a cruise. After all, it's more important for the cruise line to get people onboard since the real revenue comes in onboard spending rather than the cruise fare itself. There are plenty of strategies to get a last minute cruise deal, but the most important component is going to be how flexible you are with choosing a sailing. Booking as early as possible means you can (usually) find the lowest prices and you can take advantage of repricing the sailing if you spot a lower price before final payment date.
From shore excursions to drinks to dining, there are a few other ways you can pinch pennies while on a cruise. If your cruise is out of Fort Lauderdale, consider flying into West Palm Beach, Miami or Fort Myers. Likewise, if you are flying out of New York City, try all the city airports as well as Westchester, Philadelphia or Hartford. Another consideration is if you are booking a cruise after the final payment date, you will need to make a full payment up front, rather than a deposit and then the rest later.
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