- Cruising can be expensive, but it doesn’t always have to blow your budget.
- Allie Hubers said passengers can save money by choosing the cheapest room and upgrading later.
- Passengers should also be intentional when paying for excursions and activities, she said.
Cruising can be expensive. On Royal Caribbean, one of the biggest cruise lines in the world, a seven-night cruise in the eastern Caribbean starts from $3,137 per person.
And when it comes to a suite — the most luxurious room category — passengers can expect to pay around $2,000 more for the same cruise.
But there are several ways passengers can save money on cruises and still have a great experience on board, Allie Hubers told Business Insider. Hubers, 29, is a freelance travel writer who’s been to 59 countries and sailed on over 40 cruises.
Hubers, who’s been cruising since she was three years old, said passengers should think about what they want out of the cruise — and that will help them make better budgeting decisions.
“You can splurge on virtually everything when traveling or cruising. It’s important to determine what you’re willing to splurge on and areas you want to make sacrifices,” she said.
Here are three ways passengers can save money while cruising.
1. Book the cheapest cabin and wait to upgrade.
Hubers and her husband recently went on a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Canary Islands and booked an interior cabin, the cheapest room category. The couple ended up upgrading to an obstructed balcony room a few days before sailing, which saved them thousands of dollars.
“I have used this tactic many times, and it’s always saved me money,” Hubers said.
And if you want a guaranteed cabin upgrade, you can often still purchase it a week from the cruise, and it’s likely to be cheaper than paying for the more premium room category upfront, she said.
2. Prioritize what’s important to you when it comes to cruising.
While cruises come with complimentary food and activities, not everything is free. For example, passengers might need to pay to dine at some restaurants on board. Excursions to onshore destinations may cost money, too.
Hubers said travelers should pick what they want to do the most in advance and allocate a bigger budget to those activities instead of splurging randomly.
“For example, we chose to only book two excursions during our cruise so we could spend money elsewhere,” she added, referring to the recent cruise to the Canary Islands.
3. Traveling to the cruise’s departure destination can be pricey, so use credit card points.
Many have to travel to another destination to board their cruise. This means that there are additional hotel and airfare expenses to the all-inclusive cruise price.
Hubers said that she can offset these costs by using credit card points.
“My husband has also accrued many hotel points with how much he travels for work, so we are able to pay for most of our flights, rental cars, and hotels with credit card points in this way,” Hubers said, adding that credit cards also offer other perks like lounge access and travel insurance coverage.
