Tightwad Approach to Going on a Cruise!

During hard economic times, most folks do not even think of taking a cruise when it comes to vacation planning. Do not forget that others are thinking the same while bigger and bigger cruise ships are built !. These ships are badly in need of passengers, so this means you are in a buyer's market when it comes time to reserve that cruise vacation. Use this to your benefit and review the following tips.

Before You Get on Board:
Here's how to find the lowest fare at the best time.
•Checking the bulk buyers
Get a list of cruise consolidators. They buy large blocks of cabins from the cruise lines at a deep discount. Although most of these deals do not include your plane fare, the cost savings are so significant, you will still come out ahead. On the web, you can find them at such sites as cruisebrothers dot com or cruiseone dot com, all of them showing discounted cruises on a regular basis.

•Don't ignore the 'shoulder season'
The 'shoulder season' is that time in between a destination's high and low seasons. Because of the timing, shoulder season rates are much lower. 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
Steer clear of any time kids are on vacation, such as spring or summer break. If the kids are all on vacation, cabin prices are at their peak. Cruises are wildly reasonably priced right after Labor Day and during the week following Thanksgiving, for example.

•All set ? .. 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 real departure date, the lower the pricing gets as most cruise lines start to quietly unload unfilled cabins to maximize their returns. Note: 'Last minute' doesn't mean what it used to. After 9/11, security regulations now require cruise lines to close the list of passengers as much as 96 hours before sailing.

Post Boarding Considerations:
Since cruise lines almost try to give away the cabins just to get you on board, they try to make it up later during the cruise. Here's how to keep your budget afloat.

Factor in 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 alternatives 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!

You Need to Plan for Booze:
Remember that BYOB does not apply to cruise lines. Most cruise lines frown on this, and some actually employ a 'liquor retention team' to seize alcohol not purchased on board. The bottles are returned to you at the end of the cruise.

Follow 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.gamblingarticlessite.net

Cyrill is a retired teacher living in the middle of the Las Vegas desert. In an effort to relieve boredom, while at the same time make some money on the side, he has gotten into promoting a varied collection of sites such as this one for the aquabot pool cleaner to the equally pricey 'bots like the polaris pool cleaners.

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