Royal Caribbean will kick off a five-day WOW sale starting August 16, 2014 that will run through August 20.  The sale offers up to $200 onboard credit and 50% off deposits.

The WOW sale is valid on all sailings except Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas.

The onboard credit breakdown is as follows

• 5 nights or less
  • $50 onboard credit (per stateroom) & 50% reduced deposit
• 6-9 nights
  • $100 onboard credit (per stateroom) & 50% reduced deposit
• 10 nights or longer
  • $200 onboard credit (per stateroom) & 50% reduced deposit

LISTEN TO OUR ADVICE ON WOW SALES AND IF THEY ARE A GOOD DEAL

Offer is combinable with standard/full fare rates and restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO, Kids Sail Free, ChoiceAir Specials, etc.)

Offer is not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, weekly Sales Events, Net Rates, Crown & Anchor Discount programs or rates, Shareholder Benefits or Next Cruise offers, promotions, or benefits.

What is a WOW Sale? Are WOW Sales good deals?  Read our Cruise 101: WOW Sale post to get information on what this deal is all about.

Royal Caribbean is bringing back two very popular sales starting August 1, 2014: Buy One, Get One 50% off or Third and Fourth passengers sail free.

Guests will have the choice of

• Buy one guest, get one guest for 50% off
• Kids sail free (third and fourth passengers, regardless of age will sail for free)

Guests who book a balcony or suite may also choose to get up to $1,000 off your stateroom when also booking ChoiceAir.

The new sales are good for bookings made between August 1 and September 15, 2014 on all ships excluding Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas.  The deal applies to all sailings departing on or after October 15, 2014, excluding all sailings between December 15-31, 2014

Royal Caribbean is offering a new deal for those looking to getaway on a cruise during Christmas or New Years this year.  

Book any Caribbean or Bahamas holiday cruise departing from December 15-31, 2014, and Royal Caribbean will give you up to $400 onboard credit and 10% off your cruise fare.

The onboard credit deals is as follows

• 3-5 night cruises
  • Interior & Ocean View staterooms
    • $100 per stateroom
  • Balcony & Suite Staterooms
    • $200 per stateroom
• 6 night or longer cruises
  • Interior & Ocean View staterooms
    • $200 per stateroom
  • Balcony & Suite Staterooms
    • $400 per stateroom

This sale runs through July 31, 2014 and excludes Explorer of the Seas and QUantum of the Seas departures as well as Grandeur of the Seas December 27, 2014 sailing. 10% offer is applied per guest, for 1st and 2nd guests in the stateroom.

Offer available in the United States and Canada.

Royal Caribbean is offering up to $50 in onboard credit for last-minute summer cruises booked this weekend.

Sailings booked from July 13 through August 31 are eligible but you must book the cruise by Sunday, July 13 at midnight to qualify.

Onboard credit for bookings made this weekend are $25 for interior and ocean view, and $50 for balcony and suite. 

Offer is combinable with current standard/full fare rates and restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO).

Offer available in the United States and Canada. 

Royal Caribbean has begun its week long Independence Day sale that extends its usual two-day Going Going Gone sale to seven days.

The sale runs through July 6, 2014 and offers up to 20% off select Royal Caribbean cruises.

All cruises on sale can be found on Royal Caribbean's web site.

Royal Caribbean is offering two new sales in one. Book any Royal Caribbean cruise (excluding Quantum of the Seas) departing from September 1, 2014 and December 15, 2014, and choose one of two offers:

• Buy One, Get One 50% Off deal
  • 50% off cruise fare of second guest booked in the same stateroom as a first guest who books at full fare
• Buy Two Get 3rd & 4th Guest Free deal
  • Free cruise fare of third and fourth passengers booked in a triple or quad occupancy stateroom

Both deals run between June 9 and 30, 2014.

Offer available to residents of the United States or Canada.

Royal Caribbean is offering its first summer sale with up to $400 in onboard credit when you book a cruise between May 7 and 31.

Cruises of six-nights or longer departing to the Caribbean and Bahamas between July 1 and December 31, 2014 are eligible for the sale. 

The offer applies for all new U.S. and Canadian bookings made from May 7 - 31, 2014, for sailings departing from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2014. Vacationers will receive $50 onboard credit per interior or oceanview stateroom; $100 onboard credit per Jr. suite or stateroom with balcony; and $200 onboard credit per Grand Suite or higher category stateroom.  As an added incentive, the cruise line is also doubling onboard credits up to $400 for all eligible sailings between Dec. 15 and Dec. 31, 2014. The offer is valid fleetwide, excluding Quantum of the Seas. 

Details on this promotion are available at www.RoyalCaribbean.com/MayWow.

Royal Caribbean unveiled a new promotion today, “Buy One, Get One 50 Percent Off" on 2015-2016 cruises.

From May 1st through May 31st, 2014, residents of the United States and Canada can get 50% off the cruise fare of the second guests when booked in the same stateroom as a full-fare guest.  

The offer applies to new individual and named group bookings in all stateroom categories and sailings departing between January 1, 2015 and April 30, 2016, and excludes Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas, as well as third and additional guests. 

This new offer is combinable with Crown & Anchor discounts and benefits. 

After the the offer expires on May 31st, the offer will be removed from the booking if the guest cancels and reinstates the booking, applies a fare change, or changes the ship or sail date of the booking; certain other changes to the booking may also result in removal of the Offer. Offer applies to new individual and named group bookings only. 

Royal Caribbean is offering residents of the United Kingdom and Ireland a chance to get up to $400 in onboard credit on qualifying cruises.

Book any 2014 Royal Caribbean cruise by March 24 and Royal Caribbean will give you

• $200 per stateroom on 7-13 night sailings
• $400 per stateroom on cruises of 14 nights or more

The offer is good on any cruise leaving between April 1 and December 31, 2014. The offer excludes Quantum of the Seas.

This new onboard credit promotion is combinable with the Upgrade promotion, Ocean Voyage Benverage Package promotion, Standard Pricing, the benefits offered by booking onboard via Future Cruise Consultants (Reserved or Open Bookings) and Future Cruise Certificates only.

This special promotion expires after March 24, 2014.

As much as you may try your best to play your cruise vacations well out in advance, the reality is work, school and everything else in life seems to always get in the way.  So when you find a week to go on a Royal Caribbean cruise but it's last minute, what can you do to take advantage of this and make a cruise vacation happen?

What are last minute deals?

First and foremost, you will need to find a cruise deal on Royal Caribbean.  Last minute deals are around but you will need to dig for them and act fast.  

Last minute cruises really refers to any cruise leaving in the next 60 days or so, with cruises leaving in the next 30 days being even more lucrative.  When Royal Caribbean gets past the point of final payment, they get a good sense of how booked (or unbooked) a sailing is and responds accordingly to fill up the rest of the ship.

If there's a lot of unbooked space, often Royal Caribbean will reduce prices to encourage bookings.  The closer to sailing you get, the deeper the price cuts until they reach a good sales point.

With last minute deals, there's a fine line between good prices and the swing back up to expensive prices.  One week there may be a deep discount available while next week, prices may be back to "normal".

Where can I find last minute Royal Caribbean deals?

To find last minute Royal Caribbean cruise deals, there are a few places to look.

• Royal Caribbean's Limited-Time Offers page
• Royal Caribbean's Deals Twitter
• Contact a travel agent
  • Royal Caribbean sends travel agents deals and offers each week, so they may have knowledge of a deal out there.
• Search popular cruise booking sites
  • There's lots and lots of web sites that claim to offer the best deals on cruises.  Comparing prices on a few of them is also a good way to see what's out there.

What do I need to be aware of with last minute deals?

Last minute deals are fickle and go quickly.  The best deals may only be available for a day or two, or even just a few hours.  

Once you know you want to book a cruise, it's best to book once you find something to your liking.  Royal Caribbean prices tend to rise more than they tend to drop, so book while you can.

Booking last minute also means you will need to make full payment at the time of booking.  That may or may not be a deal-breaker for some people, but it's worth noting.

Also note that select sailings will be on sale with one sailing deeply discounted and the next regular price.  Often, the discounted rate is low because most people can't or are unwilling to take time off for a vacation then.  As an example. the two weeks after New Years Eve are often discounted last minute because a lot of people just took vacation the week earlier and don't want to dip into vacation time so soon.

The harder thing to find than last minute cruise deals? Last minute airfare

Often you will find great last minute deals on Royal Caribbean cruises only to discover the airlines are not as cheap.  In fact, last minute airfare can be prohibitively expensive, to the point it negates any savings the cruise fare had.

The easiest way around high airfare prices is to drive.  There's no question last minute cruise deals benefit those within driving distance of cruise ports, such as those living in the southeastern United States.

If driving is out of the question, look at other airports to fly out of or into.  If your cruise is out of Fort Lauderdale, consider flying into West Palm Beach, Miami or Fort Myers.   Likewise, if you are flying out of New York City, try all the city airports as well as Westchester, Philadelphia or Hartford.  A little drive can save a lot of money.

Also consider flying to or from your cruise a day or two earlier/later to see if prices change.  It's a fun way to extend your vacation while saving money too.

Hotels and rental cars

Unlike airfare, getting a last minute hotel room and rental car for your trip is usually easier to find assuming you aren't that picky. 

If you can fly into your cruise port at least a day early, take a look at last minute hotel booking sites such as TravelZoo and Priceline.

Both of those sites are also good for rental cars but you ought to be able to find rates at many popular sites.  

Like airfare, if you aren't finding much, try other pickup locations for cars or nearby cities for hotels.  Being flexible can open up a lot of other deals to you.