What Are The Cheapest Cruise Lines?

Discover the top cruise lines offering the best value for your money, including MSC, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean. Explore wave season, off-season, last-minute deals, and more to save on cruises. Virgin Voyages ranks 130 Best Affordable Cruises based on reviews and health ratings. Celebrity Beyond is the top-ranked ship overall. To find the cheapest cruise lines, filter your search based on price, and consider itineraries with low total or per-night prices.

For the cheapest cruises, find deals, exclusive offers, and affordable sailings from bigger cruise lines. Carnival Conquest is the top budget-friendly cruise line, offering an incredible price of 99 per person for a 3-day Bahamas cruise onboard Carnival Conquest. Carnival markets offer trips that cost as little as 106 per person.

Top cruise lines include Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Princess Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International. Cruise destinations include Alaska, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, Private Islands, and more. Carnival and MSC are generally the best for bargains, nice ships, and all-around experiences.

Be aware that you get what you pay for, including port fees, taxes, WiFi, and other amenities. For example, Maarten, San Juan, and Nassau are just under 2050, including port fees and taxes. Find the best cruise deals and vacation sales by exploring travel packages, last-minute savings, and limited-time offers on discount cruises to over 300 destinations.

Which cruise line has the highest customer satisfaction?

Disney Cruise Lines Despite highly publicized problems, cruising remains a popular way to vacation. Disney Cruise Lines ranked highest in customer satisfaction among other cruise lines.

Despite highly publicized problems, cruising remains a popular way to vacation.

Disney Cruise Lines ranked highest in customer satisfaction among other cruise lines.

July 1, 2013— Despite this year’s highly publicized problems on the high seas, cruising remains a popular way to vacation. And most cruisers four out of five report overall satisfaction with their cruise vacation, according to the JD Powers 2013 Cruise Line Satisfaction Report.

What is the best cruise line for adults?

Adults-only Cruise LinesExplora Journeys. … Silversea Cruises. Courtesy of Silver Sea Cruises. … Windstar Cruises. Courtesy of Windstar. … Seabourn. Courtesy of Seabourn Venture Cruises. … Ponant. Olivier Blaud. … Regent Seven Seas. Courtesy of Regent Seven Seas Cruises. … Azamara. Courtesy of Azamara. … Uniworld. Courtesy of Uniworld Cruises.

If you’re planning a kid-free trip, consider embarking on a cruise — yes, really. Sure, there are plenty of cruise ships teeming with waterslides and over-the-top offerings like laser tag, go-karts, and escape rooms, but they aren’t the only option. While only a few cruise lines are exclusively adults-only, there are a handful of others that are geared toward grown-ups — and only grown-ups — thanks to a lack of kids clubs, activities, and other programming that would typically attract families.

Ultimately, when it comes to selecting your adults-only cruise, options abound. “A question often asked is, ‘What is the best cruise line for only adults?’” explains T+L A-list travel advisor Eric Goldring. “But, alas, the question is much simpler than the answer!” Moreover, he explains, “Adults, like cruise lines, come in all different varieties.” With that in mind, we’ve rounded up 14 of our favorite cruise lines for adults — from high-energy, party-centric Virgin Voyages to more traditional small-ship luxury options like Seabourn and Silversea — plus several hand-picked expert recommendations.

Eric Goldring is a T+L A-list travel advisor specializing in expedition, small-ship, and medium-ship cruising.

What dates are cheapest to cruise?

What is the cheapest time to book a cruise? Prospective cruisers can usually find “a lot of good deals at the beginning of the year” during wave season, Goldberg-Glazer said. That period typically lasts from January until March.

What is the most affordable cruise line?

“Carnival Cruise Line is known for its competitive pricing without cutting back on the onboard activities or various dining options, thus making them an attractive option to budget-conscious cruisers,” explains Travis. For example, many itineraries, including a four-night Bahamas cruise from Miami, clock in at just over $150 per person. Additionally, says the travel advisor, “Carnival sails to a wide variety of destinations from so many local ports that you almost do not need to fly to your cruise ship anymore, which is another huge savings given the cost (and stress) flights can add to any vacation.” Keep an eye out for frequent flash sales for even more savings.

How to Find the Best Cruise Deals. Booking early is an easy way to save on your next cruise vacation. “Typically,” says Travis, “the best pricing on a cruise is when the schedule is first released.” And, while you could wait for a last-minute deal, “you may not get the room category that you want.” Similarly, Clabbers says that flexibility is key when it comes to finding — and scoring — the best cruise deals. For example, he previously told T+L that if you are “very flexible and are looking for a standard room on a large ship on an itinerary that repeats week after week, you are more likely to find a promotional fare.”

Conversely, giving up some of that flexibility sometimes pays off. According to Clabbers, select cruise lines will offer lower fares to those who opt for a nonrefundable deposit instead of a refundable one. Finally, you may also consider cruising in shoulder season or even low season. Sure, the weather won’t be perfect, but the fewer crowds and cheaper fares more than make up for that, especially if you’re on a budget.

What day of the week is cheapest to book a cruise?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but everyone we spoke with said there’s no one day of the week that’s better than any other for getting that rock-bottom rate. Cruise lines generally release their lowest fares when itinerary schedules are first published, and then run sales every so often to encourage bookings. As cabins fill up, the prices go up. If a certain sailing is not selling out as quickly as the line would like, it might drop prices or offer additional incentives. But, they don’t make these pricing changes on a set schedule, and certainly no one can predict when a price class will sell out, bumping fares up.

Think about it: If a cruise line always had the lowest fares on a specific day of the week, savvy cruisers and travel agents would figure that out and only book on those days. That wouldn’t be good for the cruise line’s bottom line, and they’d start to change up their pricing patterns.

There Are Trends to When People Plan and Book Cruises. “Mondays are very busy,” says Karen Malone, a Minnesota-based travel agent for Travel Leaders. “It’s harder to keep up with the volume of calls.” During the middle of the week, inquiries slow down. Comfort agrees, saying that most people discuss vacation plans over the weekend and then call or visit their travel agent or research online at the beginning of the week. He finds that Wednesdays and Fridays are the busiest days for bookings (i.e., people paying the deposit on their cruise and locking in the cabin and sail date).

What is the cheapest month to go on a cruise?

The Cheapest Months to Go on a Caribbean Cruise. The cheapest months to cruise to the Caribbean are May, September and October.

The most popular months for the Caribbean are December to April when the weather is best and it is at its driest.

If the cruise line is struggling to fill the cabins, they may well reduce the prices. I got an amazing deal on MSC’s Seaview in February 2021 to the Caribbean! They seemed unable to fill the cabins, and I was able to get a week’s fly cruise to the Caribbean from the UK for £580/$720 – incredible value!

MSC Seaview is a large ship, with a capacity of over 5000 guests! Although they were still sailing at reduced capacity after the Covid pandemic, they still were struggling to sell the cabins they needed to break even!

Hear all about that wonderful trip in the video below:

If you sail in the cheaper months you run the risk of more rain and possibly even the risk of hurricanes.

This may cause changes to itineraries as the ships avoid the worst of the weather.

When sailing, it is essential to take out cruise-specific travel insurance!

If you have an accident or a health emergency, it will cover the costs incurred.

What is less well known is that most cruise-specific travel insurance policies also will cover missed ports! If you have one or two missed ports and make a claim, you may find that it covers the initial cost of the policy!

To find out more about the missed port cover in insurance policies, click here:

To research and take out good cruise insurance cover, look at my step-by-step guide below:

Cruise Travel Insurance – Why You Need it and How to Get It: (Step by Step Illustrated Guide)

The Cheapest Months to Go on a Norwegian Fjords Cruise. The best time to cruise to Norway is in July or August. It is cheaper to sail in April, May, and September. This is out of the school summer holidays, so there are cheaper deals to be had.

Norwegian Fjords cruises do happen year-round although the choice of cruise lines is dramatically less outside of the summer season.

Winter “Northern Lights” itineraries that take place in the winter months are far more expensive than summer sailings.

The weather in the Norwegian Fjords can be unpredictable, no matter when you sail.

If you are considering a cruise to Norway, check out the Norwegian Season Price Guide below. This gives fuller details of what to expect during the different months of the year.

When is The Best Time to Cruise to Norway? – Season Price Guide.

The Cheapest Months to Go to Alaska on a Cruise. The cheapest months to cruise are at the beginning of the season in April, or at the end of the season in September.

Children are still at school, and the weather is usually colder and may be more unpredictable than during the peak season.

Alaska has a relatively short summer cruising season compared to other destinations.

Alaska is a place you visit for outstanding natural beauty – not to sit in the sun! If you want a cruise with guaranteed sunshine and warm weather, Alaska is probably not for you!

What day do cruise prices drop?

Beyond holiday periods such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Labor Day when there may be some flash sales, January and February are particularly good times to book a cruise, as the first two months of the year are considered “wave season” in the cruising industry. It’s when companies are looking to base load their ships for the year.

“Wave season is when cruise lines announce incredible promotions in an effort to sell as much unsold space for the year as possible,” explains Jeremy Hall, a travel advisor at Cruise Vacations International.

Those promotions could include free stateroom upgrades, highly reduced cruise fares, discounts on deposits, free sailings for children, complimentary airfare, and discounted beverage packages, among other offers.

What cruise line has the least problems?

The 15 cruise ships with perfect scores of 100Cruise shipCruise lineScoreCarnival PanoramaCarnival Cruise Lines, Inc.100Carnival SunshineCarnival Cruise Lines, Inc.100Celebrity EdgeCelebrity Cruises100Celebrity MillenniumCelebrity Cruises100.

There’s nothing like a stomach virus to ruin your vacation, as hundreds of cruise ship passengers have unfortunately learned this year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 13 norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships so far in 2023. The last time the industry’s yearly gastrointestinal illness outbreak total was that high was back in 2016 — and it’s only July.

For the agency to report a cruise-ship outbreak, 3% or more of passengers or crew members must report symptoms of gastrointestinal illness, such as vomiting and diarrhea, to the ship’s medical staff. During the most recent outbreak, a 14-day cruise aboard the Viking Neptune in June, slightly over 13% of passengers (110 of 838) reported being ill with predominant symptoms of abdominal cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea, according to the CDC.

How far in advance should I book a cruise to get the best price?

5.Book last-minute to get a deal.. If price is the most important factor to you, booking 45 to 90 days before a sailing can get you deeply discounted fares. Cruise lines will be looking to fill empty cabins once early bookers have paid their full fares and they have an idea of how many cabins have been filled. However, even these fares may not be as low as the initial early booking price.

The downside is that you may not be able to choose your cabin class or location, as many rock-bottom fares are linked to so-called “guaranteed” cabins, which are not specified when you book. “Our ‘price is king’ customer looks for great tactical last-minute bargains,” says Brian Clement, general manager of Travelocity Cruise. “Cabin category and location are not important to them; it’s all about the price.”

If you do decide to go on a cruise last-minute, check for cancellations. Sometimes it’s possible to get a stellar deal that way. But note that the money you save might be lost when you book your last-minute flight. “Many guests who wait until the last minute to book discounted cruises,” says Clement, “will lose all those savings in increased airfare.”

What’s the cheapest way to go on a cruise?

“Early bookings usually get you the best price because cruise lines want to start filling up cabins, while late bookings — like the month before the cruise sets sail — can be heavily discounted because the cruise lines don’t want to sail with empty cabins.

• Smart Travels
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