A big factor in finding cheap cruises is when the ship sails. Holiday sailings are in high demand as well as pretty much any time school is out and kids can sail. That leaves the rest of the year wide open for some of the best values around. But some are better than others.
Hurricane Season is sometimes a good buy, sometimes not. Officially, hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th. In there is Summer and Thanksgiving, both popular times to sail but also times in hurricane season. Millions of families take a Summer vacation because that’s when they can go, hurricane season or not. So don’t let hurricane season scare you off. Some excellent values occur the first weeks of October, November and even December as thoughts turn to holiday plans and a cruise is not an option.
Other good times to go include January through May with the exception of Valentines Day week and Spring Break which pretty much wipes out March and most of April too.
But other than calendar times to sail, economic factors can affect when a good time to sail would be. In 2008 and 2009 when the world-wide economy was at it’s lowest, some of the best cruise values could be found at pretty much any time of the year.
If your schedule is flexible and you have the ability to move when you can sail around a bit, huge gains can be had by booking special offers either way in advance or at the last-minute. Don’t count on last-minute sales though. Cruise lines hate practically giving away cabins at the last minute and have taken steps recently to avoid that happening.
Photo: Cunard Line