There are a number of ways to find a cheap cruise but they break down to two basic systems: shopping around for good deals or choosing discount cruise lines like EasyCruise. The latter route is straightforward – expect no frills and you’ll know what you’re getting, but remember that the costs can really mount on a discount cruise if you have to pay for every meal and every drink, and the services can be basic to say the least. It’s not much fun to find you’re putting your hand in your pocket every ten minutes and it can be easy to fail to keep a check on spending when you’re relaxed, leading to a nasty shock when you realise how much you’ve spent.
The other way is to watch the mass market cruise lines carefully and find cruises that they’ve discounted to fill the berths. One way to do this is to use a good travel agent, our own dedicated cruise booking line can help you with this. If you prefer to book your own cruise look out for:
- Those that are sixty days or less from departure – this is the last chance for passengers to cancel without penalty and suddenly a few cabins often become available at very advantageous rates.
- Repositioning cruises. This is when a ship is being moved from one region to another it will often spend several days or weeks at sea, but remember you’ll have to include the cost of the airfare home from the port the ship sails to. And remember that you’ll have a lot of sea days and not many port calls.
Norwegian Cruise Line - Norwegian Cruise Line offers "Freestyle Cruising" concept. Its ships now feature up to 10 different restaurants, with no set dining times or assigned tables. Guests are free to dine when they want, with whom they whom they want, and in any of the restaurants. Food can be a little bland to many tastes and the ships can look garish if you’re used to a more upmarket traditional style.
Carnival Cruise Lines - The Fun Ship story continues although it’s not to everybody’s taste – it can be a bit like ‘Benidorm at Sea’ as one critic notably put it, with knobbly knee contests and other low cost, high noise activities. On the plus side, planned activities run day and night and there are a wide range of children's facilities. Waiters sing and dance nightly, and sections in the dining room are divided into team cheering sections – if that appeals, this is a line to watch for last minute or repositioning deals.
Royal Caribbean - RCI offers rock climbing walls, indoor ice skating rinks and surf riding machines on its ships and is probably the first choice of the mass market lines families because nearly all shipboard activities are aimed at them. Food quality can vary massively from ship to ship so do your homework before you travel.