10.09.2008

The Cheapest Cruises Ever! Even NOT adjusted for inflation some of the cruise prices we are seeing this week are simply ridiculously low. They are truly and literally the cheapest cruise prices we have ever seen. Would you ever expect to see a 12-night cruise for $399. This comes out to about $30 per day per person including port fees, but taxes and the fuel surcharge are extra. This cruise is on Norwegian Cruise Line's NCL Jewel, sailing from New York City to the Southern Caribbean for 12 nights and ending in Miami October 28.

Not only that, but this sailing is also a Cruisemates group cruise which we have been advertising for a year. This means that if you book this cruise you can join all of your CruiseMates friends and have a great time not only cruising but meeting many of the people you have been talking to here online.

If you want to book this cruise go to our Cruisemates cruises page for the "Broadway to South Beach" Group Cruise. You sail from New York City to Samana, Aruba, Curacao, Belize City, Roatan and end up in Miami. The price for this cruise is so amazing, especially if you live close to either New York or Miami (to save on air fare) it is actually cheaper than staying home. NCL spends almost that much just to feed each person on this cruise!

Along the same lines, we saw a 7-night Caribbean cruise on the brand new Carnival Liberty for only $399 in the Cruise Bargains Newsletter we put out two days ago. There is also a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise on Norwegian Star, roundtrip Los Angeles on Norwegian Star, to Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan.

If you look at the Best of CruiseMates Cruise bargains Newsletter from last week you will see yet another CHEAPEST CRUISE I HAVE EVER SEEN. It is a 12-day trans-Atlantic cruise sailing from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale also for just $399 per person. This cruise stops in Cartegena Spain, the Azores Islands and Nassau. Once again, it is just $30 per day per person.

Why are we seeing these amazing prices now? Well let's be honest, these are last-minute bargains and obviously the ships are not sold out. This is NOT the normal situation in the cruise industry; at least it has not been for at least the last six years. We haven't seen last minute bargains like this since the travel scare of 9/11.

This is obviously a result of the current economic slowdown, and word on the street is that cruise lines have been experiencing last minute cancellations, or failures by people to make their final payments and losing their deposits. This indicates that there will be bargains for people who have the ability to sail at the last minute for as long as this situation lasts. However, if you want a specific cabin, ship or sail date it still makes sense your book your cruise early rather than wait until the last minute and hope for a last-chance bargain.

As far as price guarantees go - most cruise lines have a policy that if you have already made your final deposit you will not be reimbursed if the price of the cruise goes down. And so, don't expect to see these jaw-dropping bargains until just a few weeks before the actual saildate. In the case of the transatlantic cruise mentioned above, we watched the price drop from $599 to $499 to $399 week after week.

Grab these bargains while you can, wave season is coming soon (January 1st) as well as the cold winter season when more people want to get to the tropics. But meanwhile, if you have flexibility these cruises are inbelievable bargains and you can have that much more fun onboard by splurging on shore excursions, top restaurants and fine wine.

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