Best Cruise Line Websites For Researching And Booking
Logistically, choosing a cruise is more complicated than, say, choosing a hotel or a rental car. There’s a lot to consider before booking: when you want to go, where you want to go, which cruise line and ship, how much you want to spend and whether there are any special considerations .
When you’re researching and booking, some cruise lines’ websites offer a better, more user-friendly experience than others. Below, we’ve chosen some of the best cruise websites, which we think are tops in terms of navigation and ease of use.
Note: This article is based solely upon our experience with cruise line website functionality. Deals and discounts did not factor into our choices. To find great bargains, check out Cruise Critic’s
offers a welcoming design and, arguably, the industry’s most user-friendly layout. It’s a virtual treasure trove of information, offering easy-to-find details on destinations and ports onboard activities, entertainment, bars and restaurants cabins and shore excursions .
When it comes to finding the sailing that’s right for you, it’s as easy as choosing where you want to go, where you’d like to depart and when, and for how long you want to be gone. You can also choose to drill down further by employing filters like price, ship and number of people in your party.
Carnival’s website makes it easy to figure out exactly which ships have which amenities and activities so you can pick a vessel that’s right for you and your travel companions.
Disney Cruise Discounts For Military
Members of the US military and their families qualify for special cruise rates.
New!As of December 7, 2022, the following cruises had availability in the Military category. Prices given are lowest available fares for a single stateroom, in US dollars, including taxes, fees and port expenses, rounded to the nearest dollar. All sailings are from Port Canaveral unless noted otherwise. The room category available at that fare is in parentheses.
General Notes:
- A single guest gets charged essentially the same price as two guests.
- 5-passenger rooms are rarely discounted for military members, but they do show up occasionally.
- These discounts come and go as room inventory for a cruise changes. If you check for one and it doesnt come up, it may come back. Its worth checking back a few times over the next day or two to see if the discount becomes available again.
- If a price isnt listed, that doesnt mean the category is completely sold out, just that it isnt available with this discount.
Select number of guests to see total sailing price :
The Vacationers Final Thoughts
Cruise-specific booking websites are great resources to find your next trip at sea. However, OTAs can often have cheaper prices and worthy reward programs. Also, consider booking through a specific airline or hotel brand. This can help you maintain or gain status on an airline or with a hotel brand you use regularly. Additionally, booking with a cash back credit card such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited® can put 1.5% or more back in your wallet. Lastly, stacking these savings with another cash back program such as BeFrugal or Rakuten will further increase your savings.
By Holly Riddle
Holly Riddle is a freelance travel, food, and lifestyle journalist who also dabbles in ghostwriting and fiction. Her work appears in publications ranging from Global Traveler to Golf Magazine, Mashed to Forbes, and Bloomberg. When shes not writing, you can find her exploring the mountains near her home in the Adirondacks. Her favorite travel destinations include Chicago and New Orleans.
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Why Take A Cruise Vacation
A cruise vacation is vital since it offers excellent value for a holiday. For instance, the cruise fare covers almost 90% of everything while onboard.
Some even cover 100% of everything, including drinks. Additionally, cruise vacations let you visit plenty of destinations quickly, which is ideal for families who want to enjoy nature and beautiful scenery.
Finally, cruise vacations are simple to plan, and the booking process is easy.
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Understanding When And Why Cruise Prices Drop
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Wave season may be a popular time to find cruise deals, but not every company releases their best deals and promotions during that period. Sales are often based on what is and isnât selling. If a cruise is filling up quickly, the company has no reason to release a sale to entice customers. But if a cruiseâs departure date is fast approaching and the ship is only partially booked, prices will drop and free add-ons will increase, resulting in some happy customers.
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The Best Websites For Booking Cheap Cruises In 2022
Think that the only place to go for booking a cruise is directly via the cruise lines website? Or through a travel agent? Think again. You can also find cheap cruises through a bevy of affordable travel booking websites. Here are 20 of our favorites, as well as the pros and cons of each option, so you can book your next cruise for the best price possible.
Expedias Sister Sites: Travelocity Orbitz And Cheaptickets
Many travelers dont realize that Travelocity, Orbitz, and CheapTickets are all owned by Expedia Group, and typically have very similar inventory and pricing to Expedia. Each of these sites has similar layouts and filter options, too. Like Expedia, these three sites offer every possible vacation package combination involving a flight, hotel, and/or rental car.
It was rare for any of these sites to beat out Expedias prices in my tests in general, the rates were identical or a little bit higher. However, Orbitz and CheapTickets did offer slightly cheaper packages on one flight/car itinerary.
Because the pricing is so similar, its probably not worth searching all three of these sites in addition to Expedia unless a difference of a few dollars will make or break your travel budget.
Best Feature: Travelocity, Orbitz, and CheapTickets all offer a checkbox on their main booking page to specify direct flights onlya feature that isnt currently available on Expedia. This saves you a step when filtering your flight options on later screens.
Note: Expedia Group also owns Hotwire, which I didnt find quite as reliable as the other three in my tests. For one itinerary, a nonstop flight that the other sites offered was not available when booking a Hotwire package , and the pricing on some searches was a little higher than on the other sites.
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Booking Direct Through Cruise Line Websites
It used to be that if you wanted to book a cruise, youd visit a travel agent or call up the cruise line. You can still take those routes, but the cruise line websites make it simple to book your trip.
Every major cruise line allows you to book online and do everything from find a cruise to make upgrades, to pay for the trip. In other words, you can book your spot on the ship completely online at any time of the day.
Specific cruise line websites include:
Each of these cruise line websites will allow you to be as narrow or as broad with your search as you wish. You can search all cruises, or search for trips on a specific ship, leaving a specific date, and from a specific port.
Advantages: The good thing about booking directly through the cruise line then there is no third-party company to deal with should there be an issue with your trip. Want to make a change or get a refund? You dont have to worry about any sort of mix-up between the cruise line and another website. While this is rarely an issue, it could happen.
Disadvantages:The main drawback of using a cruise line website? Its like going to a buffet and restricting yourself to only the salad bar.
Cruise line websites only have cruises from that line, so you are limiting your options of prices, ships, dates, and itineraries. In other words, if youre looking for the absolute best deal or the most flexible schedule, you arent likely to find it searching only one cruise line website.
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Book Directly Through The Cruise Line
Every major cruise line allows you to book your cruise vacation through their website. And are good reasons to book directly through the cruise line.
Cruise lines offer advanced booking platforms that allow you to search through thousands of itineraries in a couple easy steps. Once youve selected a cruise itinerary cruise itinerary, you can pay for the trip, make upgrades, and purchase drink packages and shore excursions straight from their website.
Advantages: Although we hope it never happens, issues can pop up on any vacation. When you book through the cruise line youll speak directly to their support team who can offer you the best service. Unlike booking through a travel agent or thrid party platform, theres no middle man. Weve always received top-notch customer service from the cruise lines support team, despite long hold times during busy times of the year.
Disadvantages: When you book through the cruise line, you are limited in your search. If you arent sure which cruise line to travel with, youll have to search through each cruise lines website until you find the right cruise.
Tip: If you havent decided which cruise line to travel with, but want to book directly through the cruise line, use a site like Expedia, Priceline, or CruiseDirect to narrow your search.
Once you decide on a cruise line and itinerary, you can book directly through the cruise line. This trick eliminates the back and forth of checking each cruise lines website.
The 5 Most Desirable Cabin Locations On Any Cruise Ship
What is the best location for a cabin on a cruise ship?
As a cruise writer for more than 20 years, Ive heard that question a lot, and its not an easy one to answer. Thats because on any given ship, the best cabin location for one person might not be the best choice for another.
The ideal cabin for a light sleeper on a particular ship, for instance, might be a room tucked away in the quietest corner of the vessel. But another passenger on the same ship who cares more about the view might be happiest with a completely different spot.
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On a typical cruise ship, cabins are spread out all over the place high and low, and to the front, middle and back. Not that thats always the case.
Some cruise vessels particularly river ships have cabins clustered at their backs with public areas at their fronts. Other vessels, such as those operated by Seabourn and Silversea Cruises, have cabins clustered at their fronts with public areas at their backs.
Cruise cabins also come in all shapes and sizes, and with a variety of amenities and benefits. Some lines such as Royal Caribbean offer a huge range of room options, from tiny, windowless inside cabins to palatial suites, in all sorts of locations on their vessels.
As it happens, weve already done that here at TPG in our guide to 8 cabin locations you definitely should avoid.
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What Are The Best Types Of Cruises For First
Opt for a winter sun trip in the Caribbean. Its easy and affordable to reach the boarding port, and shuttling between the clusters of islands offers a compact, convenient way to experience a multitude of cultures. Think of a cruise as a tapas menu, says Spencer Brownit allows you to sample destinations to which you might later return for a longer visit. Even handier, when on a Caribbean cruise almost every island accepts payment in dollars, so theres no need to juggle currencies. The waters also are largely calm, keeping seasickness to a minimum.
River cruising is another smart first-time choice, adds Spencer Brown. You can literally walk off the ship into town, go to a park or ride a bike, or just sit on the top deck breathing the airits marvelous, she says.
Sloan offers another take saying that your travel budget should lead the way. If you are prepared to drop $1,000 a night on a cruise, start out on an upscale line with smaller ships like Silversea Cruises or Seabourn. These will give you a taste of cruising with fewer passengers, and often to smaller, less-frequented ports.
If the budget leans more toward the $100 per-day price point, try one of the newer mega-ships from Norwegian Cruise Line or Royal Caribbean. These newer ships can have a bustling resort vibe that will keep you busy no matter what your cabin type.
Seasoned cruisers know that ship amenities are often less buys while at port.
Best Reasons To Choose Cruises
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If you have yet to plan a vacation or a dreamy cruise, you must do it sooner. If you are still unsure, here are the best reasons why you should not give a second thought to cruising:
- Even if the tickets are expensive, everything is included in the price, including your meals, accommodations, and even onboard activities. So, you have no worries relating to extra expenses.
- A cruise ride is not all about peace and relaxation you enjoy various onboard activities to make the most of your precious time with your family and loved ones.
- Cruises are the perfect example of luxury and a high standard of living hence, you can witness luxury at its best.
- The best part about cruise vacations is their friendly and welcoming aura. They are both family and pet-friendly.
- When you travel to different countries, in the hustle, you may get little of an opportunity to meet strangers and make them your friends. On cruises, you can meet people from diverse cultures and enjoy your time with them.
- Cruises trips are easy to book you can get the tickets online and plan your vacation accordingly.
- Fed up with your busy schedule where you hardly have time to look yourself in the mirror, cruise trips give you an endless relaxing time to either spend in solitude or enjoy it with family.
- Your vacation will be more adventurous than you imagine, and your mind will be brimming with poetries and plots.
- If you are an artist, the sea is all yours to explore.
- You make the best memories of your lifetime.
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Whats The Best Time To Book A Cruise
If you’re looking to leverage new cruise deals, the best way to book a cruise is by starting early since prices continue to be robust. Theres so much pent-up demand. People havent traveled for a year or more, so theyre spending more money on the trips theyre going onupgrading to a nicer suite, perhaps, says Spencer Brown. This could make it harder to secure the cabin you want on the sailing you want.
Leppert highlights Wave Season for booking a future cruise since this is when cruise lines typically announce their best deals although last-minute bargains always pop up. Like Spencer Brown, he says that demand is outpacing inventory so it is best to book as soon as possible.
Sloan agrees and says people book cruises much further in advance than a hotel or flight, which means that inventory can get gobbled up quickly. Many cruise lines open up their reservation window as far as two years in advance, which means certain cabins can get snatched up. Dont forget that many travelers are looking to use leftover credits they have from the pandemic, which further compounds the demand.
Most major cruise lines offer the equivalent of a price adjustmentif the cost of your cruise drops after you pay a deposit, but before the final payment, youll be protected, and refunded the difference. This means there is little penalty to reserving as early as possible.
The Best Time Of Year To Book A Cruise
The best time of year to book a cruise is often January through March. During this period also known as wave season industry-wide sales occur and the price of that cruise you’ve been dreaming of may drop significantly. It’s also a good time to find booking promotions, like free upgrades, prepaid gratuities, or onboard spending money.
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Disney Cruise Discounts For Canadian Residents
Canadian residents sometimes qualify for special rates on select sailings on Disney Cruise Line.
New!As of December 7, 2022, the following cruises had availability in the Canadian Resident category. Prices given are lowest available fares for a single stateroom, in US dollars, including taxes, fees and port expenses, rounded to the nearest dollar. All sailings are from Port Canaveral unless noted otherwise. The room category available at that fare is in parentheses.
General Notes:
- A single guest gets charged essentially the same price as two guests.
- 5-passenger rooms are rarely discounted for Canadian residents, but they do show up occasionally.
- These discounts come and go as room inventory for a cruise changes. If you check for one and it doesnt come up, it may come back. Its worth checking back a few times over the next day or two to see if the discount becomes available again.
- If a price isnt listed, that doesnt mean the category is completely sold out, just that it isnt available with this discount.
Select number of guests to see total sailing price:
Proof of Canadian residency will be required at time of check-in .