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strategic development with
Cruise Planners.Plan way ahead. You are
likely to be rewarded with
the lowest cruise prices if
you lock in your purchase
when fares go on sale. That
could be as far ahead as
three years for high-end
ships and two years for
other ships. Meanwhile,
last-minute deals have dried
up over the past few years.
“Cruise lines don’t want
someone talking at dinner
about how much they paid
and find out the person at
the next table bought their
fare two weeks ago and paid
half,” says Colleen McDan-
iel, senior executive editor
of CruiseCritic.com.which means the cruise line
will assign you a room in the
category you choose (inside,
outside, balcony or suite).
Depending on the line, you
may save money over choos-
ing a specific cabin. And
if the cruise line oversells
in your chosen category,
there is a chance of getting
bumped up to a higher level
at no additional charge.Track price drops. A travel
adviser can monitor mark-
downs for you and shoot
you an e-mail when a new
offer or upgrade pops up.
It’s not as easy to compare
cruise fares as airfares
and hotel rates, but you
can shop around on Cruise
Critic.com, Kayak and
TripAdvisor, and sign up
for free price drop alerts
through CruiseCritic. De-
cide in advance what price
you’re comfortable paying
and how inclusive you’d like
the ship to be, then pull the
trigger when it hits your
price point.See through sneaky tactics.
While browsing listings on
a hotel search site, ignore
the urgent messages warn-
ing you that you risk miss-
ing out on the few rooms
left if you don’t book now.
These claims are often mis-
leading. Research by Con-
sumers’ Checkbook found
that when booking sites
warn about low inventory,
they’re typically referring
to a specific room type with
low availability—say, a hand-
icapped-accessible room
with a king bed—while
rooms in other categories
are often still available at
similar rates.Alaska. As competition to cruise
Alaska heats up, you have plenty
of options, whether you want to
stick to a budget or bask in luxury.
On the higher end, CruiseCritic
.com recommends Regent’s
Seven Seas Mariner 13-night
Alaska cruise, which starts at
$8,199 per person on June 4 but
folds in food and drinks (includ-
ing wine and spirits), gratuities,
shore excursions and more.The Caribbean. All major cruise
lines own private islands in the
Caribbean and many are revamp-
ing their amenities, which range
from snorkeling excursions to zip
lines to overwater cabanas, with
only fellow cruise guests as com-
pany. For example, you can visit
Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at
CocoCay in the Bahamas on Maj-
esty of the Seas, which departs
from New Orleans and starts at
$501 for a seven-night cruise on
June 13.Norway. A budget cruise is one
way to explore a swath of this
expensive country. Holland Amer-
ica’s 14-day Norse Legends &
Viking Sagas starts at $1,669 per
person on May 24, and weaves
in and out of the fjords carved
into the southwestern coast.DEALS:
Book a Cruise
Sail a refurbished ship. Cruise
lines freshen up their ships
every few years. But a more
substantial renovation can
make you feel as if you’re
sailing on a brand-new ship
without the new-ship price
tag, says McDaniel. For ex-
ample, Royal Caribbean has
kitted out the Oasis of the
Seas; the remodeled ship de-
buted at the end of 2019 and
sets sail from New York in
2020, with a 10-story slide,
escape room and karaoke
booths.Book a guaranteed cabin. If
you’re not picky about the
exact location of your cabin,
you can gamble on a long
hike to the elevator and re-
serve a cabin “guarantee,”