The temperature isn’t the only thing that heats up during the hot summer months! Believe it or not, the hottest time to cruise does offer some hot deals on cruise lines – if you know how to bargain hunt.
Hot deals on cruise lines are plentiful off-season and some year round destinations do actually consider summer an off-season and just before summers end (or the beginning) as well. For example, slow or “shoulder� seasons for say Alaska, may differ from the Mexican Riviera. Here is a list of destinations and their slow seasons: Alaska, May and September; Bermuda, April-May and September-October; Canada/New England, July-August; the Caribbean, late April-May, September-early January; Hawaii, late August, late November, and February; Mexican Riviera, early January and May, October-November; Eastern and Western Mediterranean, March-April and September-November.
Hot deals on cruise lines aren’t just for shoulder seasons either. Seniors, for instance, can enjoy hot deals on cruise lines just about anytime. A senior is typically defined as a person who is 55 years of age or older. If you want to lock in senior rates, however, you can’t book online. You must call a cruise travel specialist or book directly with the cruise line. Keep in mind that proof of age is required.
Another way to enjoy hot deals on cruise lines is to book in advance. Cruise lines will do anything to fill their rooms way in advance, so you may enjoy hot deals such as special incentives, credits, and cash back just for booking far in advance. If you’re one to procrastinate – you too may be rewarded! If a cruise isn’t booked to capacity several weeks or so before the sail date, prices are slashed. So, if you book last minute, you may enjoy savings up to 75%. How’s that for hot deals on cruise lines?
Other ways to score a hot deals on cruise lines include: booking with a group, taking advantage of package deals, booking online, and booking with popular cruise lines. Some of the world’s most popular cruise lines include: Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas, SilverSea Cruises, and Windstar Cruises.
For more hot deals on cruise lines visit any of the following popular discount booking search engines and websites to check out the lowest prices on cruises, to shop and compare, and you can book your cruise!
Kayak.com
Expedia.com
Orbitz.com
Travelocity.com
CheapTickets.com
VacationsToGo.com
Want to find out what others are saying about a cruise line before you make your decision to book? If so, there are several excellent websites for passenger cruise reviews. These include: Cruisecritic.com, Cruisereviewsonline.com, Cruisereport.com, Cruisedirectonline.com, and Cruisemates.com.
Cruisecritic.com offers more than just passenger reviews, this site has several search functions to help you find everything from bargains and discounts to theme cruises, and exotic itineraries. The site also includes features, news, planning tools, and a variety of cruise message boards where fellow cruisers can exchange stories and information.
Cruisemates.com offers short passenger reviews and ratings. The two types of ratings include: star ratings and value ratings. Star ratings are based on one question — “how good is this ship?� One star is the worst, five stars is the best. Cruisemates.com takes everything from age and accommodations to food, service, and entertainment into account when rating the worlds cruise ships. Value ratings or “thumbs up� ratings are all about the “Bang for your Buck.� Five thumbs up means the ship is an excellent value while one thumb up means you won’t find much of anything that resembles a value here.
Passenger reviews, ratings, rankings, and popularity contests — at Cruisereviewsonline.com find out which cruise ships are at the top and which ones are not. Get other information on cruise lines, as well as information, ratings and rankings on embarkation ports, and ports-of-call.
Cruisereport.com offers the lowdown on cruise lines from A to Z. Unbiased passenger reviews, cruise searches, quotes, and feature articles are just a few of the sites extras. You can also search for “the perfect cruise,� and browse through news pieces about cruising. After checking out their ratings and reviews, you can also search for discounts and deals. With more than 50,000 visitors per month, Cruisereport.com has information on roughly 8,500 current sailings.
Cruisedirectonline.com relies on reader surveys to help keeps reviews & ratings in check. In addition to cruise ship reviews and ratings, visitors to the site will find top ten and top thirty lists, as well as feature articles about the best of the best in the world of cruises. The site has other information about discounts, as well as information on roughly 12,000 sailings. Cruise Direct Online has been featured in Frommer’s Budget Travel Magazine, and on MSNBC, CNBC, MSN Money, and more.