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Booking a last-minute cruise deal may come with cheap prices, but stateroom categories will often be limited. If you’re booking a cruise just a few weeks (or days) before the cruise departs, some cabins may be sold out. Whether a balcony, interior, or oceanview stateroom, there’s no guarantee a particular cabin will be available on a last-minute cruise. Longer cruises, including repositioning sailings, also tend to have more deals available. A long cruise, especially one that is 10 nights or longer, has less demand due to vacation time required for the cruise. Because of this, it's possible to find last-minute cruise deals on long itineraries if your schedule permits.
Deals on Cruises Near You
While providing an excellent itinerary, one-way cruises see less demand compared to roundtrip sailings due to the inconvenience of starting and ending in different ports. If a cruise itinerary still has a significant number of empty cabins in the months leading up to the sailing, Royal Caribbean may drop the price in order to increase demand. This is most common after the final payment date for a particular sailing has passed—between 75 and 90 days before the cruise. More often than not, the best cruise deals are found on sailings one to two years in the future. In most scenarios, if you’re looking for the best deals, we recommend booking as soon as possible rather than waiting until the last minute. Finding a “cheap” cruise deal does not mean you’re sacrificing a quality vacation, either.
Repricing add-ons and excursions
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Royal Caribbean monitors the demand for a particular sailing date and may lower the cruise fare as the sailing date approaches. While last-minute deals do not happen on every cruise itinerary, they can make for some amazing savings on a cruise vacation. Although most passengers “Loyal to Royal” won’t reach Pinnacle Club status, they can still receive the benefits of discounted cabins and onboard offers.
Are last-minute cruises always cheaper?
A limited number of dining packages are sold for each cruise, and sometimes certain packages may disappear from the Cruise Planner closer to the sail date. Booking a cruise early brings far more stateroom options than booking a cruise close to the sail date. The further in advance you book, the more flexibility you have to book the exact stateroom you want. Repricing is not done automatically and requires periodically checking Royal Caribbean’s website to see if your cruise fare has dropped. Originally being from the Midwest, whenever I would plan to go on a cruise, I wanted to maximize my vacation.
Booking a cruise closer to the sail date offers fewer options overall, from stateroom choices to excursions, ship choices, itineraries, and cruise add-ons. Royal Caribbean can also change itineraries and cruise departure dates without warning. Earlier this year, the cruise line announced that several sailings on Mariner of the Seas would be canceled and modified due to “itinerary planning”. While refunds and alternate sailings were offered to guests, there’s always the chance of an unexpected change when booking so far in advance. Unexpected events, scheduling changes, ship charters, and other unpredictable scenarios can cause your cruise vacation to change.
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If you live in the northeast, look for deals out of Cape Liberty rather than Los Angeles or Miami. A 7-night cruise is the “standard” length of a cruise vacation, offering just the right amount of time for a mix of sea and port days. Let’s go over everything you need to know about last-minute cruise deals to help you make the right decision before booking.
Repricing non last-minute cruise deals
Both sites are good jumping off points to start your search, and then circle back with your own travel agent to figure out the best possible price. If you live in the area, or don't mind flying (more on that later), prices tend to be lower for cruises leaving from here and a last minute deal is more commonly found. Cruise prices will almost always be cheaper on a Vision, Radiance, or Voyager Class ship than an Oasis or Quantum Class ship. If you can cruise during the times of year everyone else isn't going, you can usually find better prices. Instead, you’ll typically find the best last-minute deals on Royal Caribbean’s older ships (Vision, Radiance, Voyager, and Freedom Class ships).
More Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean will list their best last-minute cruise deals on this page, so be sure to check periodically for any new sailings that pop up. If you’re planning a cruise on a budget, then you’ll want to find a cheap cruise deal. No one wants to pay more than they have to for a cruise vacation, and luckily there are several easy tips you can use to find the best cruise deals available. If you’re lucky enough to find a cheap last-minute cruise deal, you can have a truly amazing cruise experience on a budget. Saving money on cruise fare can mean splurging on extras like spa treatments, drink packages, or even a higher category stateroom. Cruise pricing is extremely dynamic and quite unpredictable, so just because a cruise is departing in a few days does not mean the price will always be cheaper than a cruise several months later.
I book every single cruise with a travel agent, whether a short weekend cruise to the Bahamas or a two week trip to Greenland. Doing so has saved me hundreds of dollars over the past few years, and that’s not even mentioning the added service and resources my travel agent provides before, during, and after the sailing. Despite this, we’ve noticed a pricing trend for the past two years on select Alaska itineraries.
Itineraries on Navigator of the Seas out of Los Angeles, for example, tend to have regular deals available on both the 3-night and 4-night cruises. Instead, take a look at Royal Caribbean’s older and smaller ships when searching for a last-minute cruise. Radiance Class ships, for example, may have better last-minute deals to Alaska compared to Quantum Class ships. If you're wondering how to get a last minute cruise deal, there's a few good considerations. If you’re planning a cruise with kids, the best time to book is during one of Royal Caribbean’s Kids Sail Free promotions. When you book a guarantee cabin, you give Royal Caribbean the power to select where on the ship your room will be located.
While last-minute cruises can be tempting, they aren’t always the best choice available for all passengers, and they require much more flexibility than booking a cruise ahead of time. Despite the lack of flexibility, booking a guarantee cabin is one of the best ways to make a great cruise deal even cheaper. The advantage of booking a guarantee room, of course, is to save money—depending on the offer, you may be able to save over a hundred dollars by not choosing your cabin location. If you’re picky on cabin location, it’s best to pay extra to select the location yourself.
While last-minute cruise fares can lead to some amazing savings, these savings can sometimes be negated by last-minute airfare prices. A plane ticket that would otherwise cost $200 when booked months in advance can increase dramatically when booking at the last minute. Last-minute cruise deals are often unpredictable, with deals appearing one day and disappearing the next! If you’re truly looking for the best last-minute deal you can find, you won’t have much choice over itinerary, ship, cruise length, or stateroom options.
