While luxury sea voyages are often not an option for families traveling on a budget, finding cheap all inclusive cruises is definitely not as hard as many think it is. Cruises are an excellent option for an exciting family vacation and they offer you not only the opportunity to spend a relaxing week at sea but also to learn about other cultures and explore islands and countries that you may otherwise never have seen.
If your family is considering a cruise for your next vacation, several money saving tips can help you cut hundreds if not thousands of dollars off of the total cost of your next trip– and help you keep those extra dollars in your pocket to either save or spend on more exciting things during your vacation.
Tip #1 — Do Not Travel During Peak Seasons
No matter where in the world you decide to take your cruise, do your research to find out when the popular travel seasons are and when the off season is. This will be a great help in finding cheap all inclusive cruises as luxury cruise packages are almost always higher during busy tourist seasons. While these are typically the months with the most pleasant weather, numerous benefits are available to those willing to travel during the off season.
Traveling during cooler months gives you a definite advantage when you are on the hunt for cheap all inclusive cruises . This is mainly because less people are interested in traveling during this time, so cruise lines are often willing to offer discounted luxury packages in order to fill their winter itineraries. Traveling during the off season also gives you the opportunity to enjoy the amusements on your cruise boat — as well as on shore sights at various ports without having to fight large crowds of tourists.
Tip #2 — Don’t Be Afraid to Haggle
The old saying ‘ask and you shall receive’ is definitely a principle that can be applied to finding cheap all inclusive cruises . There is no rule that says you cannot haggle down cruise package prices and it goes without saying that you will not reap the benefits if you do not try.
In order to haggle down package prices and find cheap all inclusive cruises , you will need to do some primary research to find out what types of cruises and packages are being offered for the location that you wish to travel to. Once you have found this information, try contacting the different cruise lines directly and finding out whether those online price rates can get any lower. Speak to a booking agent about what type of cruise vacation you are looking to have, what your vacation budget is and what you are looking to have included in that cost. Don’t be afraid to ask them if they can match competitor pricing or to tell them that a package is simply to expensive for you to handle. In many cases, the cruise line will try to accommodate you to prevent losing your business and their loss is always your gain.
Tip #3 — Plan Your Vacation Far in Advance
Another tip for finding cheap all inclusive cruises is to try and plan your vacation as far in advance as possible. Most major cruise lines plan and send out itineraries for their cruises more than a year in advance to give travelers an ample amount of time to plan and book their trip. It is important that you are aware that during these early months when the cruise rosters are low on guests is the best time for you to purchase a package. The best discount cruise packages are often found by early birds due to the fact that prices rise dramatically as the departure date nears. Plan as far in advance as possible to take advantage of these discounts.
Tip #4 — Using Discount Travel Sites
Everyone has seen the ads online and on tv for discount travel sites that claim they can save you hundreds of dollars on flights, cruises, hotel accommodations and rental cars. While we often ignore these ads and go about our day, the truth is that these sites are offering huge discounts and are an excellent opportunity for finding discount cruise packages.
Certain down sides to come with purchasing travel arrangements on these sites, however they are incredibly minute in comparison to the money you will save when purchasing with them. A number of these sites have the option for you to name your price on your package and while you may have to give up some of the creative control when it comes to planning the exact stops and location of your trip, the discounts that will be offered to you are amazing and the packages come straight from the cruise lines themselves. If you are not a worry wort — this is definitely an excellent way to travel
Finding cheap all inclusive cruises can seem daunting at times, especially for those who have never planned this type of vacation before. It is therefore important to remember that you have the opportunity as the consumer to control exactly how much you are spending on your sea voyage and avoid being sucked in by high rates.