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Therefore, we recommend looking for last-minute cruise deals closer to your home port than ports across the country (or world). If you live in the northeast, look for deals out of Cape Liberty rather than Los Angeles or Miami. A 7-night cruise is the “standard” length of a cruise vacation, offering just the right amount of time for a mix of sea and port days.
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Last-minute cruise cabins
Select groups of people may be eligible for special rates on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Knowing if you qualify for a special rate is helpful before you book in order to ensure you find the best cruise deal for your sailing. As the name implies, a Kids Sail Free promotion is an offer in which kids can sail “free” on a Royal Caribbean cruise. In reality, this means that any third guest and higher in a cabin who is 12 years old or younger can sail free on a cruise longer than four nights.
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Those who booked cruises to northern Europe far in advance with the hope of visiting St. Petersburg, for example, faced itinerary changes in light of current political events. While being able to snag the greatest deals is more likely when booking a cruise far in advance, this isn’t always possible for all guests. We also started noticing that there were a lot of bachelorette parties, groups of young friends celebrating birthdays, and large multi-generational families cruising with us. This made sense as it is less of a time commitment than a longer cruise, making it easier for people’s schedules to align, and get away together for a weekend.
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Despite this, we’ve noticed a pricing trend for the past two years on select Alaska itineraries. One-way Alaska itineraries tend to offer fantastic cruise deals, often as low as just $550 per person including taxes and fees. Booking a cruise at the last minute might seem counterintuitive to our advice about booking a cruise early. And although we usually recommend booking early as opposed to later, you can often snag a cheap cruise deal by booking at the last minute. The cost of a cruise can be a deterrent for many travelers, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re flexible during the cruise planning process, you can find cheap deals that will save you hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars on a Royal Caribbean cruise.
If you’re booking a cruise just a few weeks (or days) before the cruise departs, some cabins may be sold out. Whether a balcony, interior, or oceanview stateroom, there’s no guarantee a particular cabin will be available on a last-minute cruise. Royal Caribbean markets their newest and biggest cruise ships more than the fleet’s older vessels, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid smaller cruise ships. By searching for cruises on older ships, you’re almost guaranteed to find cheap cruise deals. Popular travel websites like Expedia, Priceline, and Costco Travel all have extensive lists of last-minute cruise deals.
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Booking a last-minute cruise means you are late to the game when it comes to booking cruise addons like shore excursions and dining packages. By the time you book your cruise, you may find much less availability on excursions and dining packages may be sold out. The biggest benefit is the lower price available, meaning you can save more of your cruise budget for things like drinks, shore excursions, and specialty dining.
Find perfect last minute cruises and cruise deals for your spontaneous getaway
When I search for last minute deals, it's not as difficult to find a good price as it is to find a good price on a sailing that you want to go on. By doing this, you can see a list of the cheapest cruises departing in the next few months. Royal Caribbean regularly sends information to travel agents about deals on upcoming cruises. Therefore, travel agents may have a better understanding of what ships and sailings are offering last-minute deals.
Some of the longest itineraries—such as repositioning cruises and transatlantic itineraries—see the lowest price per day of any cruise itinerary. Being open to more unique, longer itineraries can be a good way to stretch your vacation budget further and have more time onboard. The second caveat is that you still have to pay taxes, fees, and gratuities for all kids—the “free” deal is for the base cruise fare only. Likewise, booking a Caribbean cruise during hurricane season is typically much more affordable than during Thanksgiving. While there’s a slight chance of a hurricane affecting your cruise, most itineraries will sail smoothly with no itinerary changes or cancellations.
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Let’s go over everything you need to know about last-minute cruise deals to help you make the right decision before booking. The advantage of booking a guarantee room, of course, is to save money—depending on the offer, you may be able to save over a hundred dollars by not choosing your cabin location. If you’re picky on cabin location, it’s best to pay extra to select the location yourself.
If you’re looking for the absolute cheapest, best cruise fares, keep your destination availability open. All of Royal Caribbean’s cruise ports have something to offer, from the coral reefs of Australia to the cruise line’s private island of Perfect Day at CocoCay. If you’re set on visiting a particular port—whether Bermuda or Santorini—you’ll be more limited in cruise options. Having more limitations means you have fewer options available, meaning you’ll miss out on some of the best cruise deals.
Royal Caribbean’s website has a Last Minute Cruises page where they list the best deals on cruises. Booking at the last minute comes with far fewer stateroom categories than booking in advance, which could leave you disappointed. One of the biggest cons of a last-minute cruise is that fewer stateroom choices are available. How much this matters to you depends on your cruising style, as some passengers spend a lot of time in their cabin and others view the cabin as just a place to shower and sleep. Booking in advance can actually offer a cheaper (and more flexible) cruising experience due to Royal Caribbean's repricing policy.
Keeping an eye on when Royal Caribbean releases new cruise itineraries is a good idea for those hoping to book a cruise at a lower price. Now that I live in Florida, it is a lot easier to get to many of the ports, and I’ve found that my cruising options have grown. I can easily take a weekend cruise, without the hassle of multiple travel days, taking up my PTO. This is most important for shore excursions, as some excursions are more prone to selling out than others.
At the top of the ticker, you can click on each column name (Nights, Sailing Date, Cruise Line, etc.) to filter the results in alphabetical order. Booking a last-minute cruise may mean spending more on transportation to and from the cruise departure port. Airfare, rental cars, train tickets, and hotels tend to only increase in price over time. While you can still have an excellent cruise vacation in a different room category, it might not be the experience you were hoping for in a suite. Plus, if a travel agent knows you are looking for a last-minute cruise, they’ll be able to contact you whenever a deal appears to see if you would like to book the cruise.
The further in advance you book, the more flexibility you have to book the exact stateroom you want. Repricing is not done automatically and requires periodically checking Royal Caribbean’s website to see if your cruise fare has dropped. Originally being from the Midwest, whenever I would plan to go on a cruise, I wanted to maximize my vacation. I figured if I had to pay to fly down to the cruise port, I may as well book for at least 7 nights to make the travel time worth it. The term “last-minute cruise” can make some cruisers think they are getting the best deal out there, but this is not always the case. Just because a cruise is departing in a few weeks does not always mean the price will be cheaper than what you could have reserved several months in advance.
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