I fulfilled my old dream and made a sea voyage across the ocean from Europe to America. Cruising is awesome! Find out how to buy a cheap cruise and avoid additional expenses while sailing.
1. Compare prices
Compare prices of dozens of cruise lines and conditions on aggregator sites. So you will find the best option for yourself in terms of price and quality. I recommend two reliable and convenient services: Mcruises.ru and Dreamlines - both allow you to find sea cruises of any price. I bought my tour on the first site. The support team works well, my questions were answered very quickly.
Go to any of these sites. Set the desired search parameters: dates, region of navigation, port of departure and arrival, duration, and so on. Sort the options found by price. Now the cheapest cruises will appear first - you can choose!
Advice: play with departure dates and cruise duration - it happens that a long cruise is cheaper than a shorter one. For example, my 16 night cruise cost significantly less than the 14 night cruise. That is, I paid a lot less and got two extra nights as a bonus. So check all the options by date and time.
2. Buy a cruise out of season
For example, cruises in the Baltic in the fall are much cheaper. In the image above, you can see that a Baltic cruise in March costs only 1800 rubles per person per night. Cruise for the price of an average hotel!
Other seasonal factors should also be considered. For example, I bought a cheap transatlantic cruise at the time of the "migration" of cruise ships from Europe, where winter comes, to the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea and South America. Cruise lines need to get their liners across the ocean and they cut prices to fill the liner with passengers on a less popular route. In November-December, the liners "migrate" from Europe to America, and in March-April they return back. These are long-term cruises, tickets for which can be purchased very inexpensively. Our cruise across the ocean with all fees and gratuities was worth only 40 € per person per day.
3. Choose a budget cruise line
Do not worry about the quality of rest: you will not be forced to row the oars and eat bread crumbs and corned beef. Even on an economy cruise, you will relax like a baron. Tested on Costa cruises: great service, wonderful atmosphere on board, total comfort, great food, especially in restaurants. I am delighted with the level!
4. Think over the logistics of your trip from A to Z
In addition to the cruise, you will have to buy air tickets to the departure port of the liner and from the final destination home - sometimes they are expensive.
For example, instead of my Italy-Dominican Republic cruise for 67,000 rubles, I could buy an Italy-Guadeloupe cruise for 37,000 rubles. However, I did not do this, because tickets from Guadeloupe to the Dominican Republic, where I wanted to go anyway, cost the same 30,000 rubles for two, but I still had to spend money on a hotel for two nights and a taxi. But from Guadeloupe there are cheap flights to France (from only 8,000 rubles) - convenient and profitable if you need to return home after a cruise. So check the ticket prices from different end and start points of all cruises that suit you.
Buy the cruise that requires the least additional spending.
5. Book the inner cabin
The liners have four types of cabins: internal, with a window, with a balcony, suites. The first ones are the cheapest, the second - about one and a half times more, the third - twice, and the latter will only be affordable for you if you are a deputy or at least the crown prince.
The most pointless choice is a cabin with a window: they are taken only by the neophytes of cruise voyages, who are eager to take the internal one, and have not yet saved up for a room with a balcony. There is no need to strive - take a cabin without a window, like us: it will not cause any discomfort. A window is a completely meaningless option: it does not open, and the glasses are cloudy due to salt. Believe me, it is better to admire the view from open decks. Feel free to book your inner cabin and enjoy an inexpensive cruise! And some other time it will be possible to think about the presence of a balcony.
Attention! There are exceptions to this rule: sometimes the cost of cabins without a window, with a window and with a balcony is almost the same, as in the example below. In this case, you can buy an inexpensive cruise ticket for an advanced cabin.
6. Discard add. services in a travel agency
Buy insurance, tickets and make visas yourself: the travel agency adds a surcharge for these services. Read my tips if you are new to travel - millions of tourists have already studied them:
7. Do not buy too much on the liner
Do not buy excursions, internet and alcohol on board - all this comes with a surcharge. Read my tips for saving on board at the link below.
