Six ways to get great deals on cruising

I went on my first cruise in September 2022 and absolutely loved it. There’s something special about waking up each morning in a new destination.

Going on a cruise can be expensive depending on various factors such as location, ship, time of the year etc. But there are plenty of ways you can get great deals on cruising and save money while you are there.

Keep your eye out for last minute deals

Cruise ships don’t want to have empty rooms, or sail away at lower than full capacity. So if you’re able to make last minute decisions you can pick up a great deal. Most people have to fully pay off their cruises a month or two before the sail date so keep checking availability after that.

Booking something close to the sail date can save you a lot of money, and you may even be able to get a better room for your money.

I’m always looking on websites and seeing great deals to sail off in a few weeks time. There's a page of cruise offers on Travelscoop, but you can also try Logitravel and Iglu Cruises, as well as the cruise operator websites. One day I'll be tempted enough to book!

If you simply can't book last minute, then booking early is the next best thing. It's something Andy has covered in his own top tips for saving on a cruise, and he suggests booking up to 18 months in advance for the best rates.

Opt for an inside cabin

There are lots of different cabin options and the difference in price between the cheapest and most expensive can be thousands of pounds a night.

An inside cabin is exactly that, on the inside of a ship without a window out to sea. And they’re always the cheapest cabins because of this so you can save loads of money picking this option. When you’re on a cruise ship it’s unlikely you’re going to be spending too much time in your cabin as there’s loads to do, even when you’re not docked.

We could have saved quite a bit of money moving from a balcony room to an inside cabin on the next cruise we booked, but this time we opted not to.

Stick to main dining only

On most cruise ships there will be speciality or a la carte dining options and these are great if you’ve budgeted for them. But to save a bit of money stick to the main dining spaces which are included within your cruise price.

Depending on the ship you’re on will depend on how many options you have. When we went on the Norwegian Star there was a buffet dining room open for all three meals, plus five other dining spots that were all included within the cost.

Yes the speciality dining can be extra special, but we had some of our best meals in the main dining areas.

Eat before heading off the ship

If you’re planning to head off the boat onto shore make sure you eat before leaving. When you pay lots of money for a cruise and your dining you don’t always want to spend loads on food off the ship.

That isn’t to say you shouldn’t buy local food, or have a nice lunch out. But minimise spending but stocking up on the all included cruise ship cuisine.

Do your own excursions

On our last cruise, we almost exclusively did excursions planned by the cruise line. And while we had some fantastic trips, some of them were quite pricey for what they were.

It can be quite easy to find your own tour or excursion, especially in busy or popular ports. And generally there will be buses or public transport close to the port into the local towns and villages.

For our next cruise booked I am going to compare prices of doing things ourselves vs what the organised tours cost. Some might be worth it, but others may not.

Work out what you might want to do before you go to prevent paying more than you need to for shore excursions and trips.

Look into packages available

All cruise liners will want to upsell you on packages for alcohol or speciality drinks, wifi or additional dining.

Take a look into the packages available to see whether any of them could actually save you money in the long run.

For example, if you like a few glasses of wine with dinner and fizzy drinks during the day it might be cheaper to buy the drinks package than paying for them as you go.

Keep an eye out for upgrade offers

Some cruise liners will offer you the option to bid for an upgrade if the ship isn’t fully booked. So you can bid on the room types that are better than what you booked, and if accepted this can work out much cheaper than if you’d booked that to begin with.

On our last cruise we paid for a sea-view without a balcony. But because we were sailing in November so totally out of season the ship wasn’t at capacity. We put in the minimum bid of $100 each for a balcony room and won our upgrade.

If we’d paid for a balcony room to begin with it, would have been much more than $200 more. So we got a great deal!

But don’t rely on bids if you want a specific room or room type.