What are the basic components of cheap cruises? What really makes cruises “cheap?” Many of us know that cruising is an expensive holiday because cruise is means spending so much money. But fortunately it is not absolutely true. There are many cheap cruises offered by some cruise companies with great fun-filled activities and great food.
We will try to find the answer, how some cruise companies can offer cheap cruises and what should the customer expect to pay on this kind of deal and what should they get in return for their payment? Because every beautiful things like this comes with its own pros and cons. Here are several factors that make cheap cruise and what you should aware about cheap cruises:
Several Factors that Make Cheap Cruises
Price of cruises is affected by several forms of components. To make up cheap cruises, cruise companies should focus on decreasing some components of cruise cost. Here are the following factors that affect the price of cruises:
1. Cabin Room Cost Rate
One of the fundamental factors that affect price of the cruises is cabin rate. No matter how much you pay for your cabin room, you get the same buffet, the same entertainment, the same access to amenities. When you book a cruise, you have access to all the same amenities as the people who are paying thousands more for a suite. Cheap Cruise usually offers no room or small cabin room to reduce the cost.
What you should aware:
Availing a cheap cost of cruise does not mean that it must have low-class type of service. The ship must give the customer extra space for suites and rooms. It would be great if the sleeping area and sitting room were located on the separate area. There are some cheap cruises ships were the rooms are only on standard cabins and have no balcony. Choose the cruise liner that has larger bedrooms and bathrooms. In other words, inspecting the boat prior to a trip would be the best thing to do.
2. Insurance Cost
Insurance cost is effective for your protection. Some cruise companies cancel this insurance cost to reduce price of the cruise tickets.
What you should aware:
Beware of the cheap cruises that cancel the effectiveness of insurance. Remember, by canceling the insurance the customer is not covered by its benefits in case of illness and accidents during the cruise.
3. Cost of Entertainment and Recreation Activities
Most of the cheap cruises only offer cheaper entertainment and recreation activities on the ship. The other option is some cruising companies offer a minimum amount of on-board entertainment and recreation activities.
4. Port Tax and Toll Fee
The parking fee of the ship goes to the implementing officials of the port. The funds collected will be used to maintain and improve the ports’ infrastructures, services and other activities. Normally, the fees and other charges of different ports are affecting the prices of the cheap cruises. The cheap cruises basically have a line on these fees in regards to the payments passengers makes.
What you should aware:
There are also some cheap cruises that do not cover the passenger fare with these fees. On the other hand, most of the cheap cruises collect the parking fees from their passengers beforehand. For example, if there 20 passengers inside the ship, the authority of the shipping line will impose a head tax procedure.
5. Airfare cost
There are some cheap cruises shipping line that offers an Air and Sea Program. This program will allocate the passenger from the home city of the passenger to the port area.
In many ways, the passenger who avail this kind of program will be given extra services. The cruises will offer the customer the handling of baggage and free transportation from the airport to the seaport.
Aside from that, cheap cruises that have Air and Sea Programs will assist the customer in finding discounted hotels and meals.
Other Factors You Should Aware in Selecting Cheap Cruise
Now, there are many cheap cruises out there just waiting for you to come aboard. Most of them say that even if they are cheap they still offer world-class services. Choosing the appropriate cheap cruises is hard to do. Here are some basic things to be considered in selecting the best cheap cruises.
Do your homework. Many cruises are often pretty well discounted in the first place. By going the ultra-discount route, you might even lose perks — upgrades, free air, a bottle of wine or bouquet of flowers from your travel agent, etc.
Read and understand the cheap cruise advertisement, pamphlets and flyers carefully. There are some advertisements that are only persuading the customers with so many juicy details and copy writing and yet are not true. The actual price must not be hidden.
Avoid the lead-in prices. Most of the cheap prices are only intended to catch the attention of the potential customers. Consider the prices and the accommodation. A low priced cruise vacation must not have disgusting rooms and cabins. The price must not only be offered to the chosen residents or only for senior citizens.
Find last minute rates. One of the best times to find last minute rates on a particular sailing is 60 – 90 days prior to departure. The reason? This is the last call (for most cruise lines; for some it’s up to 120 days) for travelers to cancel existing reservations without penalty. At this point, the cruise line will know exactly how many cabins are left — and if there is more space available than the cruise line would like, they will quickly (and often heavily) reduce the fare so that they can sell out the ship.
Don’t expect “peak” travel. There’s a reason why a cruise is being unloaded with little time to spare — and it’s not because it’s a hot seller. Calendar-wise, you probably won’t find a last minute bargain on Christmas or New Year’s sailings, Easter week, or even Thanksgiving. You might — but don’t hold out if you have your heart set on traveling during those times. On the flip side, you’re very likely to find plenty of variety in the Caribbean during peak hurricane season (September through early November), or during the pre-holiday travel lull (first week or two of December) and the post-holiday travel lull (first two weeks of January).
Defining value is key. How much of a bargain is a cheap cruise that requires you to spend twice as much on airfare? For instance, you’ll more often see more Anchorage – Vancouver voyages on last minute lists than the more affordable Vancouver – Vancouver trip. Why? Air is typically cheaper on the latter, which goes to and from Vancouver, than the former, which has you flying in and out of different airports. Measure that cost in before committing.
Embrace repositioning cruises. Often times certain itineraries just don’t sell well, particularly when ships reposition. When vessels change “regions” for the season, they are known as repositioning cruises. These voyages are usually longer — maybe two weeks or so instead of seven to 10 days — and visit lots of ports, all at a reasonable price. There is a catch: Because these voyages begin in one port and end in another, the passenger is responsible for picking up generally expensive one-way or open-jaw airfares. Still, crunch the numbers — if you can find a good deal on airfare (check the Bargain Box on IndependentTraveler.com for the latest air bargains), you’ll save big on eleventh-hour repositioning.
Fine print alert! Read the offer very, very carefully, because it will specify exactly what your purchase entitles you to. An inside cabin is no bargain if you suffer from claustrophobia. In most cases, airfare add-ons, so useful with tricky itineraries, are not available at all. You cannot request a cabin number or type of cabin and typically, though not always, you will not get an in-demand suite or balcony cabin cause they’re usually snapped up early in the selling process. Some do, however, offer options to “buy up,” but that could cost you as much as simply buying the cruise through your regular channels.
Is the price for two people or per person? Double occupancy? Look carefully for information on service fees, government taxes and port charges, which often aren’t included in the sale price.
See Regulation of Travel Agency. Be aware of the regulations of several traveling agencies. As much as possible compare the prices of several cruising services.
Every now and then I check those sites that tell you how many people are searching for certain terms using search engines, and since I have this blog on cruises, I naturally check out things related to sea-going vacations. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that “cheap cruises” is searched fairly often (much more often than “luxury cruises” when I checked this month).
Make the cheap cruises a little more enjoyable. Make sure to bring along some extra money for some expenses. As an advice, secure your safety first. Do not just settle on any cheap cruises. Researching can be a good idea. So when all things are done, packed up all of the baggage and enjoy cruising.