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The Cheapest Time to Cruise (And When Prices Actually Drop)

Two people can pay wildly different prices for the same cabin on the same ship. The difference is almost never luck - it is the week you sail, the month you book, and whether you counted the extras before you compared fares. Here is when cruise prices actually fall, and what the fare does not include.

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By James8 min readPublished
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A cruise ship at sea under a burning orange sunset sky
Photo: Aah-Yeah · CC BY 2.0

In Brief

When is the cheapest time to cruise?

The cheapest time to cruise is late September through the first half of December, after the school holidays and before Christmas, with early May and late January also cheap. In every region the shoulder weeks at the start and end of the season cost least. Book during wave season, January to March, for the best perks, or inside 60 days for last-minute cabins - but factor in that flights are usually dearer by then.

Key takeaways

  • Cheapest weeks: late September to early December, plus early May and late January to early February.
  • Avoid: Christmas and New Year, Thanksgiving, spring break and all school holidays - these carry the year's highest fares.
  • Wave season, January to March, brings the biggest promotions and perks like onboard credit and drinks packages.
  • Repositioning cruises are the cheapest per night of any sailing, but you fly home from a different continent.
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When cruise prices drop, month by month

Cruise pricing follows school holidays almost exactly. The weeks nobody can travel are the weeks that cost least, and that pattern holds across every region.

PeriodPrice levelWhat's going on
Late Sept - early DecCheapestBack-to-school through to the holiday rush. The best value window of the year in the Caribbean, and the tail of the Mediterranean season.
Late Jan - early FebCheapAfter the New Year sailings and before spring break. Cold at home, warm in the Caribbean, and fares reflect it.
Early MayCheapAfter spring break, before Memorial Day. Also the opening of the Alaska season, when fares are at their lowest.
June and SeptemberMiddleShoulder weeks of the summer season. Good weather, moderate prices, noticeably fewer families than July.
July - AugustExpensiveSchool holidays everywhere. Peak fares, peak crowds, several ships per port. Book excursions early or miss them.
Christmas, New Year, ThanksgivingMost expensiveThe highest fares of the year, often double a shoulder week for the same cabin. Book a year ahead if you must sail then.

How to save money on a cruise beyond the fare

The headline fare is the smaller half of the decision. Gratuities are charged automatically by most lines at a set amount per person per night, and on a seven-night sailing for two that alone can run to a few hundred. Drinks packages, speciality restaurants, wifi and shore excursions stack on top. A fare that looks cheaper can end up dearer once those are counted, so compare the total, not the advert.

The biggest single saving after timing is how you book shore excursions. Independent local operators generally charge less than the ship's version of the same trip and run smaller groups. The catch is the guarantee - only ship-sold excursions mean the ship waits for you if the tour runs late. Book independently where the port is straightforward and you can be back with a comfortable buffer, and use the ship in tender ports or when the schedule is tight.

Then there is the flight. Getting to the embarkation port is often the difference between a cheap cruise and an expensive holiday, and it is worth choosing your departure port around flight prices rather than the other way round. Always fly in the day before. A missed ship costs vastly more than a hotel night, and no cruise line refunds you for a delayed flight.

  • Add gratuities, drinks, wifi and excursions to every fare before you compare - the cheapest headline is often not the cheapest trip.
  • Book excursions with independent operators where the port is easy, and leave 90 minutes before all-aboard.
  • Pick the embarkation port partly on flight prices, and always fly in a day early.
  • Interior cabins on a port-heavy itinerary are the best value in cruising - you are barely in the room.

How much to tip on a cruise

Most cruise lines add gratuities automatically to your onboard account at a fixed rate per person per night, and the rate is higher for suites than for standard cabins. It is charged for every night of the sailing including sea days, and it applies to children on most lines too, which people routinely forget when budgeting for a family.

You can usually prepay gratuities when you book, which locks the rate in and takes it off the final bill. Some fares include them outright, and that is worth checking when comparing prices - an included-gratuity fare that looks higher can be the cheaper one. Bar bills normally carry their own service charge on top, typically added to each drink.

Extra cash tipping is optional and not expected on top of the automatic charge, though many people hand something to a cabin steward or a waiter who has looked after them all week. Budget a modest amount in small notes for that, plus tips for porters at the terminal and for tour guides ashore.

How much cash to bring on a cruise

Onboard, almost nothing. A cruise ship runs cashless - you link a card to your cabin account and everything from drinks to the spa goes on it. The exceptions are the casino, and small extra tips if you choose to give them, so a modest amount in small notes covers the whole sailing.

Ashore is where you need real money. Budget for taxis, market stalls, small cafes, beach chairs and tips for guides, in the local currency where possible. US dollars are widely accepted across the Caribbean and in Alaska, but in the Mediterranean you want euros, and small denominations matter far more than large ones - nobody in a market wants to break a big note.

Use the ATMs ashore rather than the one on the ship, which charges a heavy fee, and tell your bank your travel dates so the card is not blocked mid-trip. Bring a second card kept separately from the first. Card acceptance in port towns is broad but not universal, and it thins out fast at the small vendors that make a port day good.

  • The ship itself is cashless - a small amount in notes covers casino and extra tips.
  • Carry local currency ashore in small denominations, especially in Mediterranean ports.
  • Withdraw ashore, not from the ship's ATM, and carry a backup card stored separately.

Are repositioning cruises worth it?

When a ship moves between regions at the end of a season - the Caribbean to the Mediterranean in spring, the reverse in autumn - it sails a one-way crossing that has to be filled, and those sailings are the cheapest per night in cruising. You get a lot of nights, a lot of sea days and a fare that can undercut a standard week.

The catch is the flight home from the far end, which can wipe out the saving if you do not plan it, and the sea-day-heavy rhythm, which suits some people and bores others rigid. If you like long days at sea with a book, a repositioning crossing is the best value on the water. If you cruise for the ports, it is the wrong trip at any price.

Frequently asked questions

September and early October are usually the cheapest, closely followed by the first two weeks of December and late January. The pattern is the same everywhere: fares collapse in the weeks when schools are in session and no holiday is close. In the Caribbean that means the autumn window after hurricane season peaks; in Alaska it means May and September at either end of the short season; in the Mediterranean it means the shoulder weeks in May and October. Sail the week before or after a school holiday and you often pay a fraction of the peak fare for the same cabin.

In two windows. The first is wave season, January to March, when lines launch the year's biggest promotions - the fare itself may not fall much, but the perks are at their best, with onboard credit, free drinks packages or included gratuities thrown in. The second is inside about 60 days of sailing, when unsold cabins get discounted to fill the ship. Last-minute works if you are flexible and live near a departure port, but flights that close to the date are usually expensive enough to cancel out the saving, and the cabin choice is whatever is left.

Early for anything specific, last minute only if you are genuinely flexible. Book six to twelve months out when you want a particular ship, cabin category or a high-demand season like Alaska in July - waiting there means paying more or missing out entirely. Last-minute deals inside 60 days do exist and can be excellent value on the fare, but you take the cabins nobody wanted, flights are dearer, and popular excursions ashore will already be sold out. Booking early during wave season tends to be the best of both, because you get the choice and the promotion.

Normally your cabin, main dining room and buffet meals, basic drinks like tea, coffee, water and juice at breakfast, entertainment, the pools and gym, and transport between the ports. What is normally extra: alcohol and speciality coffee, speciality restaurants, shore excursions, wifi, spa treatments, laundry, the casino and gratuities. Gratuities are the one people miss most often, because they are charged automatically per person per night and add up quickly on a longer sailing. Always add the extras you will realistically use before comparing two fares.

Plan on the extras adding a substantial amount to the fare rather than a rounding error. The fixed part is gratuities, charged per person per night for every night including sea days. The variable part is what you choose: drinks, wifi, speciality dining and above all shore excursions, which are the biggest single line for most people. A cruise where you do a paid tour in every port can easily cost more ashore than the cabin did. Decide in advance which two or three ports deserve a real excursion and enjoy the rest on foot.

It can be, because your accommodation, meals, entertainment and transport between places are bundled into one price, and you unpack once. That bundle is genuinely good value on a port-heavy itinerary in shoulder season. Where it stops being cheaper is the extras - drinks, wifi, excursions and gratuities are all priced as add-ons, and a cruise where you buy all of them costs more than an equivalent land trip. The honest comparison is total cost against total cost, not fare against hotel rate.

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