Cost and value

How much do you want to spend?

There are a number of factors that affect the price of a cruise, and you can make smart trade-offs to lower your cost.

The factors that have the biggest impact on price are:

• Time of year: Summer and school holidays are always more expensive because that is when a lot of people have to cruise. January, February and early autumn have especially good deals.
• Destination: The Caribbean is almost always cheaper than any other destination (barring the cost of flights), and in general the more exotic the port, the more expensive the ticket.
• Home port cruising: If you can drive to the cruise, you will save a great deal on flights. If you live in Southern California this could make a Mexico cruise that leaves from Los Angeles or San Diego cheaper than a Caribbean cruise you would have to fly to.
• Number of days: In general, the longer the cruise, the more expensive it is. Partly for this reason, some people like to "try out" a cruise line (or cruising in general) with a short 3 or 4 day cruise.
• "Quality": Different lines provide different standards of service, along dimensions including food, ship facilities and service. Luxury lines like Seabourn and Cunard will cost more than premium lines like Holland America Line and Celebrity, which will cost more than mass-market lines like Royal Caribbean and Carnival.
• Cabin type: A suite will always cost more than a verandah (balcony) cabin, which will cost more than an outside (window) cabin, which will cost more than an inside (no-window) cabin. In general, an inside cabin is often half the price of one with a balcony.

One other factor is where you buy. If you are comfortable buying online, we recommend CruiseDirect as our travel partner. They have a low-price guarantee, a full range of cruises, and are members of the Better Business Bureau. They are a sponsor of our website, but we chose them after careful research -- several Editors use them ourselves, and when booking online we personally recommend booking through CruiseDirect.