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Benefits include things like shore excursion credits and onboard spending credits. Your first instinct when booking a cruise may be to go directly to the cruise line’s website, especially if you have elite status with a specific cruise line. There are definitely some benefits to this — it’s simple and there are fewer hassles if you have to make any changes. The very best cruise deals hand picked by us every week. New to cruising and want to learn about the cruise experience?
Use the tools below to find the perfect cruise

However, if you have a bundle of United miles and prefer cruising to flying, it might be a good redemption for you. Unfortunately, United Cruises charges a $24.99 processing fee on every booking.
Cruise Lines & Cabin Categories
You will also want to consider the cost of tipping which is pretty standard on any cruise line. The recommendations for tipping can vary but can range anywhere from $10 a day to $20. A lot of that depends on your room and whether you are staying in a regular stateroom or a suite. Our list of cruises that leave within the next 30 days that have attractively priced cabins. Make sure you check the color coded list - these often have a few voyages where balcony cabins are cheaper than insides.
Cruises by Length
A subsidiary of Tripadvisor, Cruise Critic has similar search results to that site, but it offers a bit more comprehensive information for seasoned cruisers who want more details before they book. Cruise Critic has tons of filters and sort options to help you find what you want, including everything from cruise line to cruise style (family cruises, luxury cruises, cruises for the disabled). Each itinerary clearly lists what is and isn’t included in the fare; Wi-Fi, alcoholic drinks, gratuities, and port taxes and fees are among the common exclusions. When looking for the best site to book a cruise, don’t be put off by CheapCaribbean.com’s overly specific moniker. Despite the site’s name, it offers cruises all over the world. The site’s vibe is beach-oriented and a bit cheeky, with a front page that can overwhelm—but click on the “Cruises” tab, and a cleaner interface appears.
TripAdvisor Launches Cruise Metasearch to Tap Into a New Revenue Stream - Skift Travel News
TripAdvisor Launches Cruise Metasearch to Tap Into a New Revenue Stream.
Posted: Tue, 09 Apr 2019 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Travel Scams I’ve Encountered After Taking Over 75 Cruises
In addition, these sites feature their phone number prominently for those who wish to talk to a person about their reservation. You don’t always find that with the large aggregation websites. Their staff are also focused on cruises, giving you someone who knows what they are talking about compared to someone with more general travel knowledge. These websites are similar to the large aggregator websites in that they can help you search through every cruise out there to find the best deal. If you’re a deal-hunter, there isn’t some magic website that has cruise fares for dramatically cheaper than everyone else (that we’ve ever found). Think of all the options you have to consider — the length of your trip, the cruise line, the ship, the date, ports of call, and more.
Celebrity Cruises Adds Pre- and Post-Cruise Hotel Program with Priceline.com - Cruise Critic
Celebrity Cruises Adds Pre- and Post-Cruise Hotel Program with Priceline.com.
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Cruises.com is another site that claims to be the best place to book your cruise. It can offer some impressive deals, but once you read the fine print, well, you realize there’s a lot of fine print. When you’re searching for a cruise, just click on the drop-down arrow that tells you how many deals there are — then you’ll be able to see that cruise’s price on many sites. Despite the name, you can book cruises to destinations other than the Caribbean through CheapCaribbean.com, including Europe, Canada, Hawaii, and Alaska.
P&O Cruises Brand New Summer 2026 Cruises
The good news is that the price is unlikely to move much (unlike airfare). For instance, one recent search promoted free gratuities on trips booked through the site, but we couldn’t find any mention of this once we actually started the booking process. Digging further, the incentive applied only to certain cruises, despite being heavily promoted. In other words, these sites are more akin to having your own travel agent to help you with the booking process compared to only a website. That means you’re going to find the same prices across these sites, along with similar search functions.
CruiseDirect and One Tree Planted have partnered to plant a tree for every cruise booking that sails with us. Keep Cruisewatch in strong consideration—more than a typical cruise booking website, Cruisewatch bills itself as a “digital cruise advisor” that couples data power with personalization. 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. That’s a big help if you’re not entirely sure about which cruise you should book.
Rules to Getting the Best Deal on a Cruise
Follow our social media and blog for the latest cruise and travel news, including our best vacation deals. We hand-pick everything we recommend and select items through testing and reviews. Some products are sent to us free of charge with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions and do not accept compensation to review products. All items are in stock and prices are accurate at the time of publication.
Expedia’s cruise deals tend to come paired with other enticing offers, including steep discounts on pre-departure hotels when you book both your cruise and hotel through Expedia. There’s also a dedicated 800 number that lets you speak to Expedia’s cruise experts and, often but not always, a generous amount of onboard credit thrown in for good measure. What about booking last-minute cruise deals on websites? It makes sense that if a cruise cabin is about to sail empty the price would drop to fill it up. In fact, cruise lines consistently have occupancy rates above 100% — meaning that more than two passengers are in some cabins.
Just relax and get an impression of what the cruise lines offer for your next cruise. Avoya’s team of staffers and wide network of independent agencies make for a cruise booking website that’s a bit different from the rest. Its front page shows the “Best Travel Deals,” which might include half-off cruise fares, onboard credit, prepaid gratuities, and free or reduced airfare.
For instance, Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, and Orbitz.com, are all part of the Expedia family. For more on getting the best deal on a cruise, see our 10 Rules to Getting the Best Deal on a Cruise here. Plus — expert strategies to maximize your points & miles by joining our (free) newsletter. Katie has been in the points and miles game since 2015 and started her own blog in 2016. She’s been freelance writing since then and her work has been featured in publications like Travel + Leisure, Forbes Advisor, and Fortune Recommends.