Cruises are not often all-inclusive and become increasingly less so each year. Chris states, "the g

Cruises can be expensive affairs. First, ships reel you in with a cheap room and an onboard credit but then smack you around with high-priced drinks, non-included restaurants, and dollar-a-minute Internet. A couple of years ago, I went on the Oasis of the Seas (one of the largest boats in the world) on a seven-day cruise around the Caribbean . The listed price of this cruise?
Note: Where did I get that price? That s the cheapest listed price on Cruise Sheet, a website I explain below. I ve been tracking prices for months and that is generally the consistent cheapest figure.
Booking a cheap cruise is actually quite easy and requires only one thing: flexibility.  See, cruise pricing is similar to tour pricing. The closer you get to the departure date, the lower the price becomes. Why? Because cruise ships don’t want to depart with half-empty boats, so they drop prices steadily until that boat is leaving port, since for them empty cabins mean less money. Cruises make the majority of their money from what people purchase on board, so they want bodies on those ships. (Plus, most of the crew earns their money from tips, so they need to keep the crew happy – and besides, who is going to think highly of a cruise that is only half full?)
You can also book early but I find last minute bookings to be the best. And since you are booking close to departure, you need to be flexible with where you are willing to go or O.K. with not booking the actual cruise even if you booked your flights.
Another tip comes Doug Parker of Cruise Radio , “When the kids are in school, the rates are the best.”  This holds true in all travel but especially cruising because it is such a family activity. Don’t travel when everyone else is traveling! If you do that or travel during the shoulder season, you can find the best rates.  Chris from Orlando Chris also reiterates my recommendation and says, “Book far in advance or last minute luxury sydney hotels bondi for the best fares.”
Doug advises that you start with a travel agent, as they have relationships with the cruise companies and can often get better rates and last minute deals. And my experience has me agreeing. While there are many “do it yourself” options, travel agents often can find much lower prices luxury sydney hotels bondi and can act as liaison to cruise luxury sydney hotels bondi companies when something goes wrong.
Both of these websites do a detailed job of scouring the web for cruise luxury sydney hotels bondi deals. Vacations luxury sydney hotels bondi to Go is more of a travel agent/operator and thus often has better deals since they can negotiate with the cruise lines directly; keep in mind they add a lot of fees. Cruise Sheet is simply a website aggregator that crawls the web and then displays cheap last-minute fares. This is my favorite cruise site as it seems to find all the deals and makes finding a cheap cruise easy. Cruise Deals has a weekly luxury sydney hotels bondi deals newsletter worth subscribing luxury sydney hotels bondi to .
In terms of timing, don’t book early. As Doug states, “the only benefit to booking early is to secure luxury sydney hotels bondi the room you want.” If you want a specific cabin, book early. Otherwise, luxury sydney hotels bondi wait until the last minute. As I said in the beginning, cruise companies don’t want to sail empty ships and so do heavy last-minute discounting – be sure to sign up for cruise company newsletters to stay informed!
Take a repositioning cruise – Repositioning cruises are when cruise lines move ships from one part of the world to the next in anticipation of the upcoming season. These “cruises” luxury sydney hotels bondi are a great way to cross an ocean or sail down a continent’s coast on the cheap and can be found on any cruise booking website.
Cruises are not often all-inclusive and become increasingly less so each year.  Chris states, luxury sydney hotels bondi “the gravy is what people spend on board.” Cruise ships want you spending, since that’s luxury sydney hotels bondi where they have the best margins. However, if you are smart and disciplined, cruises don’t have to cost much more than the price of the cabin itself.  Here’s how to save money while on board:
Skip the soda – A long time ago, soda was free. Now, you have to pay around luxury sydney hotels bondi $3 USD for a tiny glass, or you can pay between $45-60 USD for a soda card that gives you unlimited soda for the duration of the cruise.  You’d have to drink a lot of soda to make that worth it. Instead, stick to the free water, iced teas, and juices on the ship. Your wallet and insulin levels will thank you.
Say no to photos – Do you really need some cheesy “professional” photos of your family? I didn’t think so. Get them done back home for less or take a digital camera and have someone take them for you on the ship.
Avoid the restaurants – On most cruise ships these days, there are specialty restaurants that you can book for an added cost. Some are à la carte, some charge a set fee. (The sushi restaurant I tried on the Oasis of the Seas was à la carte.) The food in the dining areas, the buffets, and the other shops – they are just as good and less costly. Avoid these specialty restaurants. (If you do decide luxury sydney hotels bondi to book, doing so before luxury sydney hotels bondi you board can generally save you 25%. Doug also suggests looking for dining packages as they work out cheaper, too.)
Limit your drinking – 6 dollar beers and 10 dollar mixed drinks can really add up. Enjoy fun in the sun while sober and skip spending a ridiculous amount of money on booze. I was amazed at how quickly my alcohol bill added up after just a few days of wine with dinner and a couple of piña coladas while sitting by the pool.
Bring extra booze – If you do want to drink hard liquor while on board, get Rum Runners . These handy little bags allow you to pour alcohol into them and, because there are no air bubbles, escape the x-ray machine. You need to be sneaky but if you’re smart, you can smuggle your own alcohol on board and avoid paying for high priced drinks.
Plan your own shore excursions – Cruise-run shore excursions are overpriced and crowded. Instead, do some research online and plan your own activities with local operators who will get to keep all the money. You’ll save money, luxury sydney hotels bondi support the local economy even more directly, and avoid the hordes that will clutter your photos.
Just remember that the boat will leave without you so give yourself enough time to get back. Doug Parker recommends the company Shore Excursions Group whose activities are 30% cheaper and offers a guarantee that it will get you back to the boat in time.
Clean your own clothes – Having laundry done on a ship costs crazy money. Instead of sending luxury sydney hotels bondi a bag of clothes off to be cleaned, you pay per article like in really nice hotels. Frankly, my socks aren’t worth $2 USD each. Instead, buy some Woolite and clean your own clothes luxury sydney hotels bondi in the bathtub or sink.
Skip anything that costs money – This is obvious, but I like to cover all the bases. The spa, the shopping, the Internet, the cell phone access, etc. They all cost money. Don’t do it! Save the money for something cheaper back on dry land.
I think a cruise is a great vacation because it is a chance to get away from everything and have a place where you can just relax. luxury sydney hotels bondi The ancillary costs of cruises are what really add up and make a cruise expensive. But if you avoid all the additional costs and take advantage of your onboard credit, you can cruise for just the base rate of your cabin. It takes discipline to avoid that next piña colada, but you can do it. You can easily enjoy an entire luxury sydney hotels bondi cruise without spending a penny!
I like cruises. To me, it’s a good vacation. Sitting on a boat by the pool, drink in hand, without a care in the world. I eat well (all day salad buffet), sleep well, head to the gym, and relax. I don’t think of it as “travel” but more of a relaxing break.
Love this! We have been thinking about going on an Alaska cruise because we ve been hearing luxury sydney hotels bondi about how awesome it is. However, I didn t really know how everything worked (such as with food and drinks). This article helped a lot!
What is the point of taking a cruise if you are avoiding anything that costs money don t drink alcohol, avoid the casino, luxury sydney hotels bondi avoid the spa, avoid the restaurant the article is pretty much saying You can take a cruise but don t expect to have any fun unless luxury sydney hotels bondi you can do it sober laying on a chair quietly
Now I m not saying that to experience a cruise is about partying, getting drunk, eating expensive meals and spending $200 a day but I feel if you are taking luxury sydney hotels bondi a cruise and you want to have a memorable time you HAVE to be prepared to spend a little money. I d be furious if I booked a cruise and it was full of people luxury sydney hotels bondi not doing anything just to save money. You may as well go to Thailand for a month and sit in the sun there like you suggested!
The other tips about bringing your own supplies, washing your own clothes are good tips though and I enjoyed the first part of the article about waiting to book tours/cruises late, I never would have thought of that for some reason I always assumed the later you book the more expensive it would be but it makes sense that they would want a full cruise
I disagree. We ve been on 4 different cruises and only spend money on tips (except for a disney cruise we purchased a photo package cause our little boy loves meeting characters and on that same cruise we did a spa package, but we had enough onboard credit to pay for all that and since we had prepaid the tips it was use it or lose it). Seriously, there s so much free stuff to do that there s no reason to spend money of you don t want to.
We don t really drink alcohol. Soda isn t our thing nor is gambling or shopping for China made merchandise with a cruise line logo on it. At ports we explore on our own and have never paid for an excursion. There s plenty of fun to be had on a cruise without spending any extra. Obviously that s different than Vegas which is a vacation centered around gambling and drinking, so going to Vegas without alcohol or gambling money is a waste.
This is great advice for those of us who don t drink or gamble. Some of us people do have fun just sitting in the sun, eating, reading, doing yoga and using the free amenities offered on a ship. I don t understand why