It's smack dab winter and if you're like me you're dreaming of a beachy relief. If you are looking for a way to escape the winter blues consider taking a cruise. A quick price check on Princess.com shows today's price on a 4 cruise to Mexico as low as $299. With prices like that, it makes Cruising is a great way to get a taste of a culture, enjoy some good food and have some summer fun year round.
When booking a cruise I recommend you start by heading to the ship's website (we like Princess.com) and browse around the different destinations. Make sure to sign up for their emails, they send out special offers.
Once you decide on a destination, do some price checking from 3 different sources, a travel agent (Wasatch Travel is my personal favorite), on the ship's website, and on a discount cruise planning website like CruiseDirect.
Keeping your purchasing options open allows you to find the lowest price. You wouldn't buy a boat from just one dealership with pricing first. Think of cruising as your boat and do your homework.
Also, before and during your cruise, make sure to watch for the cruise line to send you re-booking specials. This is called re-faring and can literally save you $1000's and bag you a tidy amount of shipboard credit on your next cruise. The offers are typically pre and during the cruise and usually require only $100 deposit and you typically have up to 2 years to decide where you'll go.
Last for your airfare and room make sure to ask your agent and you'll also want to check for small packages deals on both with companies like Funjet or JetBlue.
Before you head off on that winter excape, make sure to check out 50Roads.com where I'm posting some of my favorite cruising tips, ideas for shore excursions and our genral wackiness.
Margo says
January 26, 2017 at 11:57 amFor first timers it should be noted that $299 for a 4 night cruise is just the BASE price. You will have add-ons like port and tax fees. Plus gratuities of about $13 pp per day are also added to your ship board account. Then you have to figure out if you are a drinker how much you’re bar bill will be at the end of the day. Now the $299 doesn’t sound so great right? Don’t get my wrong I’ve been on 10 cruises and have had a great time, just wanted everyone to be informed of all the extras.