Cruise Critic is a cruise-focused website that features reviews, tips, and advice to a huge community of cruisers. The Cruise Critic forums provide a place to ask questions, give advice, and get help booking your next cruise.
Best Place To Buy A Cruise
Cruisewatch is another metasearch engine and OTA that focuses solely on cruises. It monitors over 25,000 cruises and combines that information with price history and reviews to help you choose the best cruise at the best price. You can see price predictions for your selected itinerary and set up alerts that will email you whenever the cruise you selected drops in price.
Hot Tip: When booking a cruise through an OTA, be sure to use one of the best travel credit cards such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve because it earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points on cruises purchased from any website or travel agency.
Bottom Line: When you choose to book your cruise through United Cruises, you can either earn United MileagePlus miles on your purchase, or you can pay for your cruise using your United MileagePlus miles.
Bottom Line: When you book a cruise through Marriott Bonvoy, you can pay for your cruise with points or you can choose to pay cash (I mean, credit card!) and earn Marriott Bonvoy points on your purchase.
Travelocity is a website that many travelers use to book flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruises. The simple interface and the fact that there are no booking fees will make this a good choice for many travelers.
Another option I have found is to start with through befrugal, then link through to Expedia. befrugal will provide cash back of 6% (only on the cruise, not on the taxes) after the cruise is complete. I have also done it with priceline this way, but they are currently only paying 4%.
I am surprised you did not mention CruiseCompete.com. Although not a booking site, it does provide an opportunity for travel agents to obtain your business. It is a great site for getting the best deal for a specific cruise.
Ultimate Bucket List Experience: A round-the-world cruise that makes stops to experience Aurora Borealis, the Olympics opening ceremony, Borneo, Madagascar, the Jerusalem Festival of Light, the Bolivian salt flats, Kenya's Giraffe Manor, the Galapagos, the Maldives, Bora Bora, the Seychelles, and every Disney park. (That itinerary definitely exists, right?)
To save you the hassle, SmarterTravel investigated the glutted space of cheap cruise sites to determine which are worthy of listing as the best cruise websites; below are a few that come highly recommended.
Like several of the other best cruise websites, Avoya offers a low-price guarantee; if you book a cruise with Avoya and then find a lower rate on another website within 24 hours of booking, Avoya will refund the difference.
CruiseDirect is a leading online cruise travel company dedicated to providing customers with better deals than any other cruise website and access to great deals on cruise vacations. Offering special rates and savings on cruise bookings with some of the most popular cruise lines in the world, we are so confident in our cruise packages that each and every deal is backed by a price guarantee. You won't find these prices on other cruise booking sites.
Since 2001, we've helped our customers find the perfect cruise packages and book dream cruise vacations for less. We are a cruise finder and booking website committed to helping you research all your cruise travel options to find a cruise that fits what you're looking for. After you find the perfect cruise, make your reservation with our cutting-edge booking engine. We are the best site to book a cruise with because we are driven by our passion for cruise ship travel. Book a cruise today and enjoy the excitement of cruising the world with us!
Similarly, Priceline is another well-known travel booking platform, with just as much clout as Expedia. However, where Expedia fails in allowing for in-depth searches, Priceline shines. You can search for a range of cruising experiences, whether you want a balcony cabin, a luxury cruise, or even a cruise with a certain theme. You can also search for cruises with particular discounts, such as a senior discount. This makes Priceline quite competitive with CheapCaribbean when it comes to search features.
Next up, Avoya Travel is a unique option, as it combines online search features and travel agent know-how to give you what it calls a superior cruise-booking experience. You enter some info about what kind of cruise you want, and then a planner uses your information to show you the best cruises for you. Better yet, a website membership gets you access to unpublished deals, as well as free cruise booking changes and cancellations.
Likewise, you can earn United MileagePlus miles if you book your cruise through United Cruises. Rather than base the number of miles you earn on nights cruised or cruise line, though, United Cruises bases your miles earning on the type of stateroom you book. You can earn up to 100,000 bonus miles on select cruises.
You can earn up to 8 points per $1 spent on a cruise, putting you that much closer to a free night at your favorite Marriott-owned hotel. You can also use Marriott points to pay for your cruise if you so wish.
Cruise-specific booking websites are great resources to find your next trip at sea. However, OTAs can often have cheaper prices and worthy reward programs. Also, consider booking through a specific airline or hotel brand. This can help you maintain or gain status on an airline or with a hotel brand you use regularly. Additionally, booking with a cash back credit card such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited can put 1.5% or more back in your wallet. Lastly, stacking these savings with another cash back program such as BeFrugal or Rakuten will further increase your savings. See also our guides on the best websites for booking cheap flights, the best websites for booking cheap hotels, and the best websites for booking cheap car rentals.
Cheap cruise deals are fairly easy to find in most cases, and you can begin by considering what kind of features and itinerary you want. The more simplistic the experience is, the cheaper it is in general. On Expedia.com, you can filter for specific features and sort your results by price. By mixing and matching certain features, unforgettable experiences may be available with discount cruises. For example, booking a cruise with stunning restaurants and live performances while opting for an inside cabin without an ocean view window or balcony could be ideal for a traveler who doesn't plan on spending much time in their cabin anyways.
The cheapest month to take a cruise varies based on your destination and the cruise line company that runs the ship. A Caribbean cruise, for example, is generally cheapest in the late summer and early fall since it's the local hurricane season.
River cruises are quite relaxing, with much more varied scenery than you'd experience on an ocean cruise. These ships often also feature several stops along the river, so passengers can enjoy a greater variety of destinations to explore. Viking river cruises are especially adept at providing this unforgettable experience.
The best family cruises in 2023 / 2024 tend to be Disney cruises with plenty of offerings for kids and adults alike, though MSC cruises are known for their iconic Children Cruise Free promotion. Disney cruises, specifically, are essentially a Disney theme park on a boat with live shows, rides, and attractions with your kids' favorite characters.
Cruise prices can vary quite a bit, with cheap cruises and especially luxurious all-inclusive cruises available. Budget lines can offer cruise tickets as low as $50 per night in some cases, while the more high-end experiences can reach up to $1,000 per night and more.
Several different cruise lines have a lot to offer, such as Viking cruises, which are known for traversing oceans and rivers with a style that blends outdoor and indoor splendor. Celebrity cruise line is more upscale with luxurious features like WiFi, included beverages, champagne, and suites with panoramic views. Other top cruise lines include Royal Caribbean International, Carnival Cruise, Disney Cruise, and Norwegian Cruise.
It's generally best to book a cruise about 6 to 12 months before your cruise departure. That's the safest way to balance availability and affordability. Technically, you can book earlier or later than that, with some last-minute cruise deals occasionally available up to a weekbefore cruise departure.
They can be, and it's especially simple to search for more affordable cruises with Expedia.com. Not only can you filter by cruise length, cruise line, and cabin experience, but you may also sort your results by price to put the more affordable options first on your search results page.
A cruise is generally designed to offer the most relaxing experience possible. Despite the size of the ship, it's possible to feel the wave. Many passengers report that the movements help them sleep. Additionally, many fun cruises offer live stage performances, several restaurants, and shopping opportunities. When the ship is in international waters, you may even be able to enjoy a bit of tax-free shopping.
Cruise travel is great if you're looking for some varied fun. Compared to a plane or a train, cruises have their own attractions and can be considered an integral part of cruise vacations. Plus, a cruise can hit several different destinations as well, with plenty of time to enjoy the cruise and scenic locales. It's certainly worth it for a unique experience no other method of travel can match.
The actual cheapest cruise available depends on a variety of different factors. Still, Carnival Cruise tends to be very affordable overall, most of the time with great options like the Carnival Sunrise and Carnival Horizon. Royal Caribbean is also another fantastic cruise line offering great deals if you are watching your budget.
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