Booking an ocean liner cruise can be overwhelming! Some deals seem too good to be true, right? Here are five things you should know before you book your next cruise.

Prices Fluctuate

Cruise companies tend have sales throughout the year. The biggest promotions are during the “wave season” that starts in January, sort of the Black Friday of cruise deals. The companies always want you to book early, and are now trying to acquire booking more than two years out. If you have flexibility and the steel nerves – wait it out. Cancellation windows will approach and prices can plummet. As a general rule, if the cruise does not sell out, it will get cheaper and cheaper as it gets closer to the 72-hour time when the passenger manifest closes and ticket sales stop.

Port Times & Location

Even though some ships run similar itineraries, they are not identical. Before pressing the purchase button on a cruise, be sure you feel good about the times in port based on the stuff you want to do.

For example, some Alaska itineraries include only half days in Ketchikan while others dock for a full day.

Also know that some places are quite far from the port they say it is (Rome, Berlin, Paris, etc). Unless you’re booking a river cruise, those cities are not accessible to the cruise ship and include long bus or train rides to the city. One time we were sailing on Carnival in Europe and the itinerary listed Bordeaux as the port. The actual port was La Rochelle which is more than 2 hours away by car!

A quick Google search can give you information about the port and its distance to the city listed by the cruise company. Whatsinport.com is also a great research tool, although some of their information can be outdated.

Alcohol and Soda Policy

Know the policies and prepare accordingly. When Googling the information make sure you’re on the actual company site and not a forum like Cruise Critic. Policies are frequently updated and the most current and correct policy will be directly from the company.

Be honest with yourself on how much you plan to drink and what you want your vacation to be like. The drink package may be worth it if there’s a lot of sea days and it’s a booze cruise with pals. If there’s many early morning ports and you only want wine with dinner, then you might overspend on a package. Look up drink prices in advance and guesstimate how much and how often you are likely to imbibe. Then compare the cost of buying a package or not.

The policy will also list what you’re allowed to bring onboard for free or for a nominal fee. Some companies allow a small amount of wine or soda and others say nothing can be brought onboard.

One time we went on an Norwegian Cruise Lines ship and brought a case of wine with us. We simply drove down the road to board the ship, so we thought – why not? We paid a $15 corkage fee per bottle during the boarding process and we had nice wines from our cellar at dinner. The highlight was sipping champagne on the back deck while scenic cruising through Glacier Bay, Alaska. We did not consume all of our wine and on the day of disembarkation we received a refund from the purser for the unused bottles.

Fees, Taxes, & Gratuities

The cost of a cruise can look stellar until you click through all the options and then bam! The grand total is double what you are expecting. Yes, the dreaded “port fees and taxes” can really sneak up on you. Port fees vary greatly by destination. Alaska is known to have high port fees whereas the Caribbean tends to have lower fees. When we’re browsing cruise options, we estimate $30 per day per person for port fees. Some cruise lines will list the port fees with the sticker price and others bury it in the booking process. Instead of clicking through multiple screens to figure it out, we estimate the costs. Then we write it down! For a particular cruise, base rates can fluctuate greatly but port fees tend to remain constant. Writing it down helps since we tend to search with Vacationstogo.com and port fees are not listed with the price on that search tool.

The other sneaky thing that you won’t see until later is cruise gratuity. These also vary greatly by company but it’s usually around $12-17 per day per person. It may be referred to as “crew appreciation” or a “hotel service charge” depending on the company. Plus an additional gratuity is added to any food or drink purchases onboard.

So if you’re trying to keep to a budget, keep these extras in mind! Crew work hard and deserve the allocations, but you will need to expect that added cost on your cruise account folio.

Some packages bundle gratuities with WiFi and beverages, so if you’re purchasing a package, be sure you’re certain of what’s included and what is not. This can also be true for cruises in the Australia market, where gratuities are often bundled into the price of the cruise.

Rooms

Stateroom size, style and shape vary greatly around the ship. Selecting a guaranteed cabin in your preferred zone can save you money. But if you’re picky, a light sleeper, prone to sea sickness, etc., then selecting a cabin may be a better decision. Look at reviews online, find the deck layout for the floor above and below that stateroom. I’ve heard plenty of complaints from fellow cruisers about sounds from the nightclub, lounges, showroom, or laundromats.

We recently had a cabin just under the gym and we could absolutely hear when a sprinter was getting in a good workout on the treadmill above us.

Summary

I hope these tips will help you book a dream vacation onboard one of the hundreds of amazing ships that sail the oceans. We love cruising! If you would like to read more about what it’s like to cruise onboard, check out our other posts:

• TransPacific crossing
• Transatlantic crossing
• Holidays onboard cruises
• Carnival Pride in Europe