Search:

Home | Baccarat | Casino Baccarat


Cruising on a Poor Man's Budget!

By: Monica Expilla

In these tough times, do not be discouraged in planning a soothing vacation by sailing on a cruise. Don't forget that others are thinking the same while bigger and bigger cruise ships are built !. So what does it mean? It means you have the edge since the cruise companies are really eager to get your business. Keep this in mind as you review the following cost saving suggestions.

Before You Get on Board:
Here's how to find the lowest fare at the best time.
•Look for bulk buyers
Get a list of cruise consolidators. Consolidators purchase groups of cabins from the cruise lines and re-sell them at big savings to you. The majority of the deals don't include plane tickets, but the savings are considerable, and companies such as Cruiseone dot com, CruiseBrothers dot com, and Cruise dot com feature dozens of discounted cruises around the world every week.

•Do not ignore the 'shoulder season'
The 'shoulder season' is that time in between a destination's high and low seasons. The rates are lower during these periods, since less people are escaping the winters. For example, try sailing to Alaska in mid-May or early September, to the Caribbean in late April or September-October, to Hawaii in late August or late November, or to the Mediterranean in March or November. The advantage does not stop at lower prices. Cruise lines also offer special packages to get you to sign up during these slow time periods.

•Check the school calendar
Avoid any time kids are on vacation, such as spring or summer break. That's when the quantity of unfilled cabins is usually the lowest, and prices for them are highest. Cruises are wildly reasonably priced right after Labor Day and during the week after Thanksgiving, for example.

•Ready .. Set .. Now book it!
If you don't have a specific cruise date in mind, try waiting until the last minute to book online. The closer you get to the actual departure date, the lower the pricing gets as most cruise lines begin to quietly unload unfilled cabins to maximize their returns. Note: 'Last minute' is a relative term. After 9/11, security policy now require cruise lines to close the list of passengers as much as 96 hours before sailing.

Post Boarding Considerations:
Cruise lines don't make a profit on your cabin, so they try to separate you from your cash as soon as they pull up the gangplank. That means you have to keep in mind a few simple things to minimize the impact to your wallet.

Plan for Tipping
Make sure you know if the cruise lines have already factored in the gratuities or if they will leave it up to the passengers. To help you figure out how much to give or not to give, go to cruisetip dot tpkeller dot com, and you will get a very good breakdown on how much to give by services (i.e. waiters, head waiter, chambermaids and so on).

Stick with the Main Dining Room:
More and more cruise ships have specialty-restaurants to give passengers options beyond the cost-included main dining room and midnight buffet. On some cruise lines, for instance, dinner at one of their designer restaurants can run you a minimum of $50 per guest!

Alcohol is Extra:
Do not expect to bring your own. Crusie lines do not like it when you bring your own stuff, so they employ the 'liquor police' to politely get your booze as you come on board. The bottles are returned to you at the end of the cruise.

Abide by these simple guidelines and you are on your way to getting the best value for your money while enjoying that well deserved cruise vacation!

Article Source: http://www.gambling-articles.org

Monica is a student who is trying to make make a little pocket money promoting a random collection of sites, such as providing info on how to set up a wireless security camera system or advise on finding a good kreepy krauly automatic pool cleaner.

Please Rate this Article

 

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Casino Baccarat Articles Via RSS!

Powered by Article Dashboard