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Even though there are festivities during the month (including Easter and the Peppercorn Ceremony), it's still early in the tourist season. For example, a seven-night round-trip voyage from Long Beach, California, along Mexico's Pacific coast with Carnival Cruise Line starts at $629 in June. Almost any time of year is a good time to sail to the Caribbean or Bahamas, with year-round sunny skies, warm temperatures and glistening turquoise blue waters. Start with what cruise line you ideally want to book -- but have another cruise line in mind if your preferred cruise line is at capacity. If the destination doesn’t matter to you as much as the length of this date-specific cruise, flexibility will help you land an end-of-December cruise.
The Pros and Cons of Cruises
Set Sail with the Best April Cruise Deal Savings - Virgin Voyages
Set Sail with the Best April Cruise Deal Savings.
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You can usually find the best prices for an Alaska cruise during the shoulder season months of April, May, September and October. For example, starting rates are as low as $603 per person for a seven-night Inside Passage cruise sailing round-trip from Seattle with Royal Caribbean in May 2024. However, by the peak summer season in late June and July, the starting price is $921 per person.
Best time to cruise Alaska: June-August
On a seven-night Greece and Turkey cruise departing in June 2025, prices for these rooms start at $5,499 per person. Opt for the next suite level up — a 450-square-foot penthouse suite with a 93- to 103-square-foot balcony — and prices start at $9,299. That's an increase of $3,800, all for a suite you won't spend much time in on this port-intensive itinerary. To get a great price on a high-end cruise ship, you might want to reconsider your aversion to booking the cheapest rooms. Cruisers are drawn to the destinations, whether they're checking exotic ports off their bucket list or love spending time on the beach. It's no surprise, then, that longer-than-average itineraries with few to no port calls are not warmly embraced by many cruise fans (except for devoted sea-day lovers).
Cruises
But if your version of fun is a little more mature, opt for the November through January time frame. Summer into early fall is the best time to cruise Hawaii especially June and July. June through September is also the cheapest time to go to Hawaii on a cruise and coincides with some of the nicest weather in Hawaii. If you're on a ship and are suddenly struck with the inspiration to book another cruise, yes, booking onboard is a good idea. You will receive up to $600 in onboard credit and a lower deposit amount simply for booking a cruise on the ship.
Best time to cruise the Panama Canal: December-March
You may be able to score a mid-ship veranda stateroom or a top-deck stateroom because someone else has just opted out. The cruise fare may drop during this time in order to fill those staterooms before the sail date. Popular cruise itineraries and sailings during peak vacation times can sell out quickly, so you may want to book as soon as the cruise date is announced. Also, when promotional pricing and specials pop up, they tend to sell out quickly, so you’ll want to book as soon as you see these announced. The ideal time to book a cruise is between Black Friday and March 31st. That’s when you’ll see the best deals emerge, whether it’s during Cyber Monday or right in the middle of wave season.
There are definitely better days of the week to book a flight, but that's not the case with cruises. Experienced cruisers may choose to conduct research and book through third-party cruise booking sites. Many consider this a convenience, and most sites are staffed with their own advisors who can answer questions and provide guidance in selecting the right cruise. Booking with travel advisors (or travel agents as they have traditionally been called) has multiple benefits.
Comparing cruise prices across websites
While industry trends like wave season can certainly be advantageous, the ever-changing dynamics of cruise fares call for a vigilant approach. Cruisebound is your ultimate ally, providing a comprehensive platform for booking cruises online and uncovering unbeatable cruise deals. With Cruisebound's expertise at your fingertips, you can confidently navigate the intricate landscape of cruise booking, ensuring you embark on your dream voyage at the best possible value. It's hard to determine the best time to cruise the Panama Canal at the lowest prices.
During those months, it's more pleasant to engage in outdoor adventures like hiking and kayaking, which are a highlight when visiting places like Panama and Costa Rica. For example, a seven-night round-trip cruise in November or early December 2024 with Norwegian Cruise Line starts at $1,649. Fares for seven-night cruises in May 2024 are as low as $499 per person on an MSC cruise sailing round-trip from Miami and even less expensive at $399 per person come September.
Best time to cruise Northern Europe: June-August
For example, the same cruise isn’t automatically cheaper if you buy in January versus if you buy in July. There are rules and stipulations for each cruise line as to whether your fare is eligible to get refunded should the price goes down. You’ll want to make sure you read all the fine print of your fare before you buy. For instance, you can learn more about Carnival’s different fares here.
Unfortunately, fares don't rise and fall on a set schedule, and it's impossible to predict when they'll change. One 2016 study by CruiseWatch.com found that, on average, cruise fares dropped the most on Thursdays. These data points are constantly fluctuating so your best bet is to track fares throughout the week. In actuality, most cruise lines will sell available cabins through the day before sailing, but limit or deny same-day bookings.
Major ports of call like Sydney, Adelaide and Perth will be quite warm and sunny, while Cairns in the northeast -- the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef -- will be steamy and hot. Generally speaking, the best prices for a cruise are when a new sailing is put on sale and all the cabins are open to book. Inventory is at its highest, and prices only go up as rooms get booked.
Arrive in the fall, and you may find that tour operators and shops have begun to cut back hours or have closed. There are finite dates for Christmas sailings and New Year’s Eve, so plan on booking at least one year to 18 months in advance. If you sail during a less desirable time, like January after kids return to school following Christmas and New Year’s Eve, you’ll have more options closer to the sail date. For these cruises, we recommend booking two to six months in advance -- or even waiting for a good WAVE season deal to roll around. Another incredibly popular time of year for a cruise in this region is the start of autumn, when fall colors on the deciduous trees dazzle visitors.
(For example, Nassau in The Bahamas see about nine inches of rain in August.) Late winter and early spring months are drier. We’ve charted the per-person cabin prices for both a balcony and interior room. Specifically, these prices were for a 3-day cruise aboard Carnival from Miami that sailed regularly throughout the year. Meanwhile, you’ll see the highest fares during summer, Spring Break, and the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays. If that weren’t enough to convince you to buy as early as possible, you should also consider how waiting until closer to the cruise sail date doesn’t always save money.
That would lead to fewer people booking throughout the year; instead they would wait until that one time a year when cruises were cheaper. That’s why there’s not a best time of year to actually buy your cruise. If you book well in advance (usually 90+ days), you can usually get some sort of price guarantee included with your fare. Book a fare, and if you see it drop later, you can call the cruise line and get the price difference either refunded or get the difference back as onboard credit.
Travel advisors have access to the best fares and promotions and sometimes can offer additional perks that you cannot get elsewhere. They handle all the logistics and fine details of your cruise booking and can manage any additional add-ons for your travel such as flights, transportation to and from the ship, and pre- and post-cruise hotels. They can also advise the cruise line of any dietary restrictions and arrange special occasion celebrations on the ship. In short, they are your one-stop shop for booking your cruise vacation with confidence. I'd love to give you a magic date to circle in red on your calendar, so you'd know for sure that was the best time to book a cruise.
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