Updated January 2009 Strategy File Booking a Family Cruise Affordable cruising with kids Courtesy, Carnival Cruise Line In the cruise industry, early January through mid-February is known as “wave season” because it’s the heaviest cruise booking period of the year. It’s also when cruise lines and agents float some of the most attractive promotions, so look sharp. Before you reach for your credit card, it pays to learn the basics about how cruise pricing works. Cruises are like all-inclusive resorts. Your cabin and all of your meals are included in the price, as are most of the activities your family will enjoy. But how prices are determined depend on many factors, including how far ahead you book, which cruise line you choose, your level of stateroom, the ship's itinerary, and the port of departure. Figure that each child will cost an additional 50% to 70% of the adult price. Still, it’s a rather well-known truism in travel that nothing is ever completely free or all-inclusive. The bad news is that you’ll receive a bill at the end of the cruise. How many zeros are on it will depend on how smart you are about dodging those pesky hidden costs of cruising. Here’s how to get the best stateroom for the lowest price: Book early. And we mean a year in advance if possible. According to a 2004 survey by Cruise Line International Association, the official industry organization, 70% of cruisers plan their trips at least four months in advance. Yet the early bird gets the juiciest worm. Cruise lines offer some of their deepest discounts—sometimes including free airfare and two-for-one tickets—more than a year ahead of departures. Booking this early is particularly important for larger families, because the most spacious staterooms, family rooms, interconnecting rooms, and suites sell out first. Don’t worry about a better deal popping up five months from now. If prices fall later, most cruise operators will match their latest pricing offer as long as you haven’t made your final payment (usually some 90 days before departure). The catch: You have to ask for it. Cruise off-peak. Unsurprisingly, the most expensive—and the most crowded—time to go on a family cruise is during a school holiday. For cruises to the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Bahamas, you’ll pay premium during the February and Easter school breaks. If you want Alaska, summer is the priciest time to go. You can save a bundle, and enjoy a less crowded ship, if you’re willing to let your kids miss even a few days of class time. One of the most affordable times to cruise is in the autumn, after the kids return to school. Look for rock-bottom rates, free room upgrades, and/or discounted airfares for post-September sailings. Think about extending one of long weekends (Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, or a couple of parent-teacher conference half days) into a week away for a cruise, and you’ll see significant savings. Choosing a stateroom. The most expensive staterooms tend to be oceanview suites on upper decks. The least pricey are inside staterooms in inconvenient or noisy locations on lower decks. For families, space is definitely an issue, and many families opt for a balcony or interconnecting room. This is especially important with little kids who go to bed before you do, because a balcony can double as an extra room where you can hang out and enjoy moonlit nights while the kids sleep inside. Before you book, take time to get to know the ship’s layout. Many cruise lines post the deck plans of their ships on their websites. One of our favorite resources, Cruise Deckplans, delivers detailed floorplans, color-coded stateroom categories, and descriptions of in-cabin amenities for every ship on major cruise lines. Often there are a small number of inside cabins that are nearly as large as an oceanview stateroom. If you book early enough, you can nab one and get more space for less cash. Shop around. We don’t know of a single source that will always deliver the lowest price on a cruise. Naturally, the more time you’re willing to invest in researching prices, the better you’ll know a good deal when you see one. But if you’re short on time, any comparison shopping is better than none. Here are some of our favorite online resources: Cruise lines. Use brochure rates only as the starting point. You can almost always do better. The “Big Three”. No surprises here: Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz are all very competitive in the cruise biz. For instance, during last year’s “wave season,” Orbitz ran a cruise promotion that offered discounted fares, cash-back incentives, and lots of shipboard and spa credits across many cruise lines. Orbitz also offered American Express cardholders who booked an oceanview stateroom, balcony stateroom or suite on most lines an Amex gift card worth up to $300. Cruise consolidators. High-volume firms like Cruise411, icruise, WorldwideCruises.com, CruisesOnly, and Cruise Value Center enjoy special relationships with cruise lines. Because they buy in blocks at a wholesale rate, they are able to pass on substantial savings to you. We’ve seen deals for 73% below brochure prices. If you’re flexible about dates, it’s possible to save more than $1,000 per person on an inside cabin and even more on a deluxe cabin. And they occasionally throw in a little something to sweeten the pot—an upgrade, cash back, a free shore excursion, or shipboard credit. Travel agents. You don’t have to contact every agent out there. CruiseCompete lets you to reach over 100 large agencies simultaneously via email to see if they can beat your best quote for a specific cruise. If an agency can beat it, they'll respond via email. The best part: It’s free with no obligation to buy. Deal finders. If you’re trying for a last-minute deal—and in cruising, that means within 2 months of your departure—Travelzoo and Kayak are reliable go-to guys. Both sites are smorgasbords of last-minute offers for all kinds of travel, including cruises. The downside: A take-it-or-leave-it approach to departure dates, itineraries, and available staterooms. Book excursions independently. It’s unbelievably easy to blow your vacation wad when the ship is in port. Your cruise line will offer an array of shore excursions, but probably not at bargain rates. The easiest way to beat down your off-ship costs is to look outside the ship’s program. Check out independent tour operators that offer similar, but lower-priced, excursions in your ports of call. For example, ShoreTrips offers a huge array of options from 400 local tour operators on 22 Caribbean islands. Another company, Port Promotions, offers off-ship excursions in Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and Europe. More on cruising with kids: Kid-friendly Cruising Planning the Perfect Family Cruise Hidden Costs of Cruising Top Cruise Destinations for Families Hottest Trends in Cruising Review: Disney Cruise Line 3-night Bahamas Cruising with Kids: Readers’ Comments & Tips Have you taken a family cruise? Tell us about your experience.