Nine times out of ten, the earlier you book a cruise, the more money you’ll save. No one wants to waste money, but unfortunately, booking a cruise just a few months later than another passenger onboard could see you spending hundreds of dollars more for the same cabin, sail date, and cruise ship.

I recently sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas for a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise. I booked my February cruise in early September—162 days before the sail date—and spent $1,656.

Just a few months later, my fellow Royal Caribbean staff member Elizabeth decided to book a separate cabin on the same sailing of Symphony of the Seas. She booked her room in mid December—59 days before the sail date—and spent $1986.

Both of our cruise rates reflect the total price for two adults in an interior cabin including taxes, fees, and gratuities. My cabin was only $828 per person, whereas Elizabeth’s was $993 per person.

Suffice to say, when Elizabeth found out she spent hundreds of dollars more than me for the same exact cruise experience, it was a bit of a letdown.

Money wasted is never ideal, especially when you could have saved money by just booking a few months earlier. Saving money on your cruise fare means stretching your budget further, freeing extra funds for that amazing shore excursion, spa treatment, or drink package.

Let’s dive in to share how you should approach the cruise booking process to avoid paying more than other passengers on the same sailing.

Booking your cruise early to save money

In general, the cheapest cruise fares are found as soon as Royal Caribbean releases new itineraries. Cruise itineraries are released around two or three years prior to the sail date.

Keeping an eye on when new cruise itineraries will be announced will help you snag the best deals. Two easy ways to do this are to sign up for Royal Caribbean’s newsletter or follow our newsletter here at RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com.

Related: Pros and Cons of booking a cruise early vs last-minute

As more and more people book a cruise, the price of that cruise is likely to increase over time. Not only that, but certain cabin categories can sell out, which might force you to either book a more expensive stateroom or downgrade to a cabin you would rather avoid.

What about last-minute cruise deals?

Some people prefer waiting to book a cruise with the hope of finding a last-minute cruise deal. In the case of Elizabeth’s sailing on Symphony of the Seas, this strategy would not have worked.

She booked within the cruise’s final payment date, which is after all passengers had paid the cruise in full. If there was a last-minute deal offered, it almost certainly would have been offered around the same time Elizabeth booked the cruise.

Related: Ultimate Guide to last-minute cruise deals

Royal Caribbean only offers last-minute deals if a certain cruise has low demand, but this did not appear to be the case with Symphony of the Seas.

If you do want to find a last-minute cruise deal you definitely can, but you’ll have to remain flexible on ship, sail date, and destination. Finding a cheap last-minute cruise is not something you can necessarily plan for; it’s more about the luck of finding a deal than anything else!

Book with a travel agent

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve saved money simply by booking my cruise with a travel agent. As someone who always preferred booking vacations on my own, I’ve been blown away by the service and convenience a travel agent provides.

Whenever I find a cruise I’m interested in booking, I send the cruise information to my travel agent. More often than not, she either responds back with a lower price than I found on Royal Caribbean’s website, or the cruise fare includes a generous amount of onboard credit.

By booking with a travel agent, I often save more money than other passengers who booked a cruise on their own. Whether $50 or $200, any dollar saved is another dollar to put toward cruise add-ons like shore excursions and specialty dining!

Related: Top 5 things to look for in a good travel agent for your cruise vacation

Not only can using a travel agent save me money on cruise fare, but it saves time. Whenever I have a question or concern, all I need to do is email my travel agent, and she will be the one who contacts Royal Caribbean instead of having to do it myself! Time is money, after all, and I’ve saved hours upon hours of time by using a travel agent instead of booking on my own.

If I’m being honest, when I first started cruising I didn’t even know people still used travel agents to book vacations. After seeing the amazing service they provide, though, I can’t imagine not using one for my cruise, especially if I’m looking to find the best cruise deals!

Check frequently for a drop in the price of your cruise

One of the best Royal Caribbean hacks to save money on cruise fare is to reprice your cruise. Royal Caribbean allows you to reprice your cruise until final payment date if you notice a lower fare.

Repricing a Royal Caribbean cruise means checking if the price of your cruise has lowered since you booked the sailing. If you booked a cruise for $3000 and notice a few months later that the price has dropped to $2500, the lower price will be honored on your reservation.

You can find out if a price dropped by searching for your sailing on Royal Caribbean’s website or contacting your travel agent for an updated quote.

You should know that Royal Caribbean’s website does not specifically mention this repricing policy. In fact, the Royal Caribbean website states that you can take advantage of a lower fare within 48 hours of booking your cruise.

That being said, we have had no problem repricing our cruises until final payment date. If you notice a price drop, simply contact your travel agent or call Royal Caribbean directly to take advantage of the lower fare.

Related: 45 ways to save money on a Royal Caribbean cruise

Let’s take a look at a common scenario to highlight why it’s important to reprice your cruise and save money.

Two passengers—let’s call them John and Peter—book a Royal Caribbean cruise at the same time. Both book a balcony cabin on the same Oasis of the Seas cruise and pay $1500 each.

Four months before the cruise, however, John notices the price has changed to $1350 for a balcony cabin on his sailing. Noticing this change, he contacts Royal Caribbean (or his travel agent) and has the price readjusted, saving $150 total.

Unfortunately, Peter never checked the price of his cruise again after he made the initial booking, so he paid $150 more than John for the same cabin on the same cruise!

As you can see, taking advantage of repricing your cruise can make the difference between paying more or less for a cruise than another passenger. No one wants to pay hundreds more than someone else for the same experience, so checking the price of your cruise every so often is recommended.

Why saving money matters on a cruise

For my 7-night sailing on Symphony of the Seas, I spent $330 less than what Elizabeth paid for her cabin. With that money saved, I was able to spend extra on specialty dining and shore excursions without breaking the bank.

On my cruise, I spent a total of $60 on specialty restaurants and $150 in port—and that’s before I accounted for the onboard credit I received by booking with a travel agent.

At $210 total, the amount of money I paid extra on top of my cruise fare was still less than the amount Elizabeth paid for just her cruise fare. Booking just three months earlier than she did allowed me to spend that money on additional ways to enhance my cruise experience.

Related: I’m a budget cruiser. Here are 8 strategies I used on my recent Royal Caribbean cruise to save money

If Elizabeth had booked her cruise earlier, she could have put the $330 extra she spent toward her flight, travel insurance, or a pre-cruise hotel stay. Essentially, she "wasted" hundreds of dollars just because she booked a few months later than me!

If there’s anything I learned from this experience, it is to always book my cruises as early as possible. Although snagging a last-minute cruise deal is always a possibility, it’s best to plan further in advance to ensure you get the lowest possible price.

I’m always looking for ways to save money on a Royal Caribbean cruise, from booking interior cabins to skipping shore excursions. So when I booked a cruise on Symphony of the Seas, one of the biggest cruise ship in the world, I knew my budgeting skills would be put to the test.

My goal was to spend as little extra money as possible while still making the most of my vacation. I wanted to experience not only everything the ship had to offer, but the ports as well, and I knew this would be challenging when cruising on a budget.

Needless to say, I ended my cruise with only $28 spent onboard and $150 spent in port. Here are the 8 easy strategies I used to save money on my Royal Caribbean cruise that you can use too.

I booked my cruise earlier than others

I booked my cruise five months early. The total cost of my cruise for two guests, including gratuities, taxes, and fees, was $1656.

My fellow staff member Elizabeth also sailed on Symphony of the Seas with me in a separate cabin. Like me, she booked an interior room, but she didn’t book her cruise until late December, just two months before the sail date.

Despite sailing on the exact same ship and in the same cabin category, the total price of Elizabeth’s cruise was $1986!

She paid $330 more than I did for the same cruise just because she booked three months later than I did. I always knew it was better to book a cruise early, but seeing how much more Elizabeth paid for the same experience made me grateful I had booked several months earlier.

I relied on a Priceline hotel deal

My flight arrived in Miami the night before my cruise on Symphony of the Seas, so I had to book a hotel for one night. Hotels in Miami aren’t necessarily the most budget-friendly, so I decided to use one of my favorite hotel “hacks” to save money.

Priceline offers Express Deals, a service in which you can save up to 60% off a hotel for your trip. The catch? The names of the hotels are omitted from the list of deals, which means you “blindly” book a hotel and find out the exact location and name after you book.

Luckily, you can search a specific location, such as hotels near Miami’s airport, and it will populate hotels around the airport. The hotel’s rating, number of stars, amenities, and price are listed in the results, so you can feel confident with whatever “blind” booking you make.

I booked a hotel with Express Deals and stayed at the Holiday Inn Miami-Doral Area, located just 10 minutes from the airport. Normally priced at $278 per night, I only paid $215 for the room through Express Deals, saving me $63 on my pre-cruise hotel stay.

I booked the least expensive room

I almost always book inside cabins to keep my vacation costs within budget. 

Needless to say, I booked an interior stateroom for my recent cruise on Symphony of the Seas. While nothing fancy, the cabin had everything I needed for my “home away from home” for the week:

• King sized bed
• Couch
• Desk/vanity area
• 2 closets
• Wardrobe
• Mini fridge
• Private bathroom

Cruising in an interior room instead of an oceanview, balcony, or suite saved me hundreds of dollars on my cruise. And, since we were sailing on such a big cruise ship, we hardly spent any time in our stateroom anyway!

I let the cruise line pick my stateroom

Not only did I book an inside cabin on my recent cruise, but I booked a guarantee inside cabin. Guarantee cabins are when you let Royal Caribbean pick your stateroom location instead of you doing it.

While this doesn’t offer much control over where in the ship you’ll be located, it can be a great money saving hack for cruisers on a budget. In fact, there’s even a chance you can get upgraded to a better stateroom if your guarantee cabin category sells out.

Although I didn’t receive any type of upgraded cabin, I was assigned to an inside cabin on deck 11 forward, and had no complaints about the stateroom’s amenities, size, or location.

By booking a guarantee cabin over choosing my own cabin location, I saved a total of $97.

I planned my port day activities instead of through Royal Caribbean

I rarely book organized shore excursions. Not only are they often out of my budget, but I don’t love traveling with big groups and having a set itinerary for the day.

Because of this, I prefer to plan port days on my own, and it always ends up saving me money. I research each port before my cruise begins to make note of how I’d like to spend the day.

On my recent cruise, we visited Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Perfect Day at CocoCay. Here’s what I did and how much money I spent in each port:

• Roatan: Hired a private driver from Bodden Tours for $46 per person + lunch for $7 per person
• Costa Maya: Spent the day at Jaime’s at the Blue Reef for $56 per person + $8 taxi
• Cozumel: Walked around downtown Cozumel and dined at two restaurants for $25 per person + $8 taxi
• Perfect Day at CocoCay: Spent the day at the beach for free!

In total, I only spent around $150 for four memorable days in port. If I had booked shore excursions through Royal Caribbean or another tour company, I could have easily spent over $300!

I avoided spending extra on activities

It’s easier said than done, but avoiding spending extra on Royal Caribbean’s activities and services during your cruise can save you a significant chunk of change.

While most activities are included in your cruise fare, such as zip lining, entertainment productions, and live music, there are a few add-ons that can be purchased throughout the cruise.

I was tempted to reserve a time slot for the escape room, for example, but decided against the $20 fee in favor of free activities onboard. Outside of the escape room, I avoided the arcade, cupcake decorating classes, cocktail seminars, and expensive spa treatments.

Although I did make a brief trip to the casino to use my free play money, I figured it was best to leave as soon as the free play ran out!

While I’m not opposed to spending money on activities on a Royal Caribbean cruise, there are so many free activities on Symphony of the Seas that I didn’t feel I missed out on anything onboard.

Taking advantage of free drinks saved me a lot

I’ve never booked a drink package on Royal Caribbean. At around $80 per person, per day, it was always out of my budget, and I never felt like I could drink enough to justify the cost of the package anyway.

As I’m now a Diamond member in Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society, however, I get four free drink vouchers per day. These vouchers can be used anywhere onboard, from specialty coffees at Cafe Promenade to whimsical cocktails at Wonderland.

I find four drinks per day to be sufficient, but there were a few times I considered going over my daily limit by ordering another cocktail or two. At $14 each, though, I decided against it and stuck to complimentary beverages instead.

Lunch is cheaper for specialty restaurants

One of the most sure-fire ways to save money on a Royal Caribbean cruise is to eat primarily at complimentary dining venues. From the Windjammer to the Main Dining Room and everywhere in between, there’s more than enough food included in your cruise fare.

That being said, I love Royal Caribbean’s specialty restaurants, but they can add up quickly. I didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a dining package, but I still wanted to try several specialty restaurants on Symphony of the Seas. Here’s what I did instead:

Booked Jamie’s Italian for lunch

Lunch at Jamie’s Italian is $25 per person whereas dinner is $50 per person! The lunch menu is almost identical to the dinner menu but at half the cost. As a plus, we reserved lunch on embarkation day, meaning we could escape the busy atmosphere elsewhere onboard by dining inside the quiet restaurant.

Dinner at Izumi Sushi

Most specialty restaurant dinners cost between $45 to $60 per person, including the hibachi option at Izumi.

The sushi side, however, offers a prix fixe menu for only $35 per person. We booked dinner here on the Cruise Planner prior to our cruise for only $29 per person, which made it an excellent deal on a specialty restaurant dinner.

À la carte dining at Playmakers

Playmakers Sports Bar and Arcade is a specialty dining venue that offers à la carte options as opposed to a cover charge. This means each item on the menu comes with its own price, and the options are quite affordable, from $3 fries to $9 burgers.

Wanting to try something different without spending too much money, we dined at Playmakers one evening. We spent only $6 on nachos and $6 on the restaurant’s famous Campfire Cookie, a skillet chocolate chip cookie topped with toasted marshmallows and ice cream.

Overall, we only spent around $60 each to eat at three specialty restaurants during our sailing, and we were able to use onboard credit for both Izumi and Jamie's Italian!

There is a fine line between "so what? You're on vacation!" and "That's a lot of money" when it comes to buying things on a cruise vacation.

Part of going on vacation is splurging and treating yourself to something you might not otherwise buy back at home. Jewelry, a massage, cocktails are just a few examples of ways some people like to plus-up their trip.

Just because you are on vacation does not mean you have to waste your money either, and there a few situations where you should put your SeaPass card back in your pocket.

Here are the top things you can buy on a cruise, that I think you should hold off on buying at sea and buy them when you get home.

Art auction

I know there are some readers who really love the art auctions on a cruise ship, but art auctions are a prime example of "buyer beware".

Unfortunately, these art auctions have a really poor reputation for over the top evaluations, slow shipping times, and buyer regret.

Certainly some people buy art on a ship and love their piece.  I think the key is to be aware that valuations are opinions, not facts, and you should buy art because you think it will look good in your living room; not because you think it will be part of your retirement plan.

An alternative is to look at buying art in the ports your ship will visit. Many ports have art for sale in the stores near the ship, and you can find something that captures your vacation memories for likely less than the art onboard.

Read more: 5 Costly lessons learned on a cruise (and how to avoid them!)

Electronics

Royal Caribbean sells a decent selection of cameras, action cameras, memory cards, and other fun electronics that you can use on your vacation, but don't expect any kind of competitive price for them.

In general, you are going to pay full retail prices for cameras, camcorders, and various accessories on a ship.  If you buy them at home at a retail store or online, you will find more more competitive prices.

There is nothing wrong with picking up a spare memory card if you realize you forgot one (I have done that once), but deals for these items are not common at all.

If you realize you forgot your camera or something else important, consider buying it in your embarkation port.  Your taxi can easily bring you to WalMart or Best Buy before going to the port.  Or you could look at prices in a port you are visiting.

Baby supplies

If you are going on a cruise with a toddler or infant, Royal Caribbean does stock a limited supply of diapers and formula, but this should really be for an emergency only.

Not only is their stock low, they may not have the right size of something, or the brand your child prefers.  Never mind you are going to overpay for these items.

It is a good idea to pack many more supplies than you think you will ever need to ensure you have plenty of extra.

Another alternative is to buy baby supplies in a port you are visiting.  Look for a pharmacy or super market for reasonably priced options.

Read more: Introduction to bringing toddlers on a Royal Caribbean cruise

Personal hygiene & medicine

Got a sun burn? Need more shaving cream? Have a headache? Royal Caribbean stocks what you need, but it will not cheap.

Whether you need toothpaste, aloe, Tylenol, or any other personal care product, skip buying it on the ship.

Any port you visit likely stocks these items at better prices, so try to wait to pick it up there.

If you are flying to your cruise port and do not want to deal with the airline restrictions on liquids, consider buying them in your embarkation port before you go to the cruise terminal.

Read more: How To Avoid Getting Sick on a Cruise

Drink package

Don't worry, I think a drink package can be a great value.  However, if you are buying it onboard the ship, you are wasting money.

Royal Caribbean regularly discounts its drink packages when you purchase them online, so do yourself a favor and buy them online before your cruise.

You can buy a drink package at almost any time up until a few days before your cruise.  

No matter the price of the drink package online, it will absolutely be less online than if you buy it onboard.

Read more: How to get a get a discount on a Royal Caribbean drink package

Ship internet

Just like the drink package, your wifi package will absolutely be cheaper online if you buy it before the cruise.

There is one exception to waiting to buy the ship wifi, and that is if you are Diamond or higher in Crown and Anchor Society because you are entitled to a big discount on your wifi package. On short sailings (less than 5 nights), it actually can make sense to wait to buy it onboard.

But if you are new to Royal Caribbean, or have not cruised much, you will save money by booking a wifi package online before the cruise.

Read more: Royal Caribbean WiFi: Guide to Internet at sea

If you have credit card reward points burning a hole in your pocket, you can use them to help reduce the cost of a cruise vacation or even get it for free.

Unlike redeeming credit card points for flights, there is not as straight forward an option for getting a free cruise with your credit card.

Outside of Royal Caribbean's branded credit card (more on that later), the option to use rewards for cruises is not nearly as simple.

However, there are a few ways you can leverage your credit card points to make your cruise vacation cheaper.

Pay down the cost of the cruise

Unfortunately redeeming reward points for a cruise is not as simple as booking a flight, but you can definitely still leverage all of those points you earned.

The easiest thing you can do is use a credit card that gives you points that can be applied directly towards purchases you make on travel and/or any purchase.

Many credit cards will let you apply your points towards your credit card balance for the month, thereby offsetting the cost of the cruise. This has an additional benefit of allowing you to partially pay off the cruise if you do not have a lot of points. Other credit cards may offer cash back instead, which can also reduce the cost.

Moreover, you can use this strategy effectively by using points to pay off the deposit, and then apply more points later at regular intervals with payments or waiting for the final payment.

Example:

• $500 initial deposit to secure the fare
• $1000 payment a few months later
• $500 payment next month
• $1200 final payment 90 days before the cruise

Each of those payments could potentially be on different credit card billing cycles, and you could apply rewards points to each one.

Read more: 45 ways to save money on a Royal Caribbean cruise

Redeem your points for a cruise

There are a few credit cards that offer travel rewards that can actually be used to book a cruise.

Rewards programs, such as American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou, offer these options, but there is a small catch.  When you book them, you have to book through the credit card's travel agency. This means if you have a travel agent you regularly use, or prefer to book cruises on your own, you have no choice but to go with the credit card company.

Usually the price of the cruise is presented in cash, and at checkout there is option to apply some or all of your credit card points to cover the cost of the cruise.

Get a free cruise with Royal Caribbean's credit card

Royal Caribbean offers its own branded Visa Signature credit card, where you can earn points towards free cruises (as well as other benefits, like onboard credit).

Like all company-specific cred it cards, the rate at which you earn points is worse than general travel rewards credit cards, and you are of course limited to just Royal Caribbean cruises.

If your mission is to only earn free cruises on Royal Caribbean with credit card points, this is the simplest method of doing so.  However, you will get more bang for your buck with other rewards cards.

Read more: Is the Royal Caribbean credit card worth it?

Use points to bring vacation cost down

If none of these options seem to be a great fit, you can always fall back on using your credit card points to help bring down the overall cost of your cruise vacation.

If you have to fly to your cruise, you can redeem your points for flights and reduce another significant cost.  

You could use credit card points towards individual purchases, such as cruise add-ons, like shore excursions or drink packages.

These add-ons can be purchased through Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner website before the cruise begins.

Read more: Should you buy pre-cruise purchases now or wait to buy it onboard?

The Royal Caribbean Visa Signature credit card offers no annual fee and bonus points that can be earned towards free cruises and other cruise-related benefits, but is it a good credit card for you?

Just like an airline branded credit card, Royal Caribbean's credit card is aimed at cruise line loyalists who want to earn rewards for a cruise vacation.

The Royal Caribbean credit card is popular with people who do not want to pay an annual fee, in addition to the benefits.

There is usually a one-time bonus for signing up for the credit card, along with earning 2 points per $1 spent on qualifying purchases with Royal Caribbean and sister brands.  Other purchases will earn 1 point per $1 spent.

The sign up bonus is pretty easy to earn: you will get 10,000 one-time new cardholder Bonus Points if you use your new credit card account to make at least one transaction that posts to your account within 90 days of the account open date.

Those 10,000 points equal $100 onboard credit that you could turn around and apply to your next sailing, or save it towards a higher-tier reward, including a free cruise.

All of those points can be redeemed towards onboard credit, cruise discounts and vacations, and more.

To earn a free cruise, you would need to save at least 50,000 points for a 3-4 night Royal Caribbean cruise. You get a minimum of a oceanview stateroom, and the cost of the cruise cannot exceed $1,000.

Being a Visa Signature card, it comes with the standard travel benefits like lost luggage protection, emergency cash worldwide, Visa Signature Concierge service, and more.

Royal Caribbean card benefits

The appeal of this card are simple: it costs nothing to keep the card (no annual fee), and you will earn more points on your Royal Caribbean purchases than with some other cards.

Moreover, this is a credit card for Royal Caribbean fans who love to cruise, and being able to get credit rewards that you can directly apply to your cruise is easy.

While there are plenty of other travel credit cards, being able to earn cruise onboard credit or free cruises is quite rare a reward.

In addition, the card has no foreign transaction fees, which is useful when visiting ports of call on a cruise.

Drawbacks

Other cruise line credit cards offer more lucrative sign up bonuses.  The Carnival World Mastercard offers 0% APR for the first 6 months, and enough bonus points for a $200 credit. The Norwegian Cruise Line World Mastercard also offers a $200 signup bonus and triple points on NCL purchases.

Of course, the chief benefit of the Royal Caribbean Visa credit card is all about Royal Caribbean Group rewards, which means there is less flexibility if you change your mind later on what you want to redeem your points towards.

This card is only avaialble for United States residents.

Should you get the Royal Caribbean Visa credit card?

This card is a good choice for cruise fans who mostly cruise with Royal Caribbean (and its sister brands) but are strongly against paying an annual fee.

If you want to get the most lucrative credit card rewards program out there, there are better cards that can offer more value for what you spend compared to this card. A few even have no annual fee, while most others do have an annual fee but with signficantly higher rewards and more varied choices in how to redeem them.

The Royal Caribbean Visa card offers exactly what it advertises: a way to earn discounts or even a free cruise from everyday purchases. The question is how important Royal Caribbean specific rewards are to you.

Are you waiting to get that price drop or perfect sale in order to book a Royal Caribbean cruise? Believe it or not, that is a big mistake.

Here is why trying to time a sale is a mistake, and what you ought to be doing instead.

And if you love this video, we have lots of other great cruise videos to watch on our Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel!

By the way, have you subscribed yet? Be sure to subscribe to our channel and never miss a single video!

So check out the video and then let us know: How far in advance do you typically book a cruise?

A Royal Caribbean cruise is a top choice for many families that want to enjoy a great vacation, but there are some important strategies for saving (a lot of) money off the total cost of the cruise.

Bargain hunters should be aware there are some definite ways to bring that total cruise cost down.  Here are five ways we have found to consistently save hundreds of dollars on cruise vacations.

Book your cruise early

If there is one tried-and-true strategy for getting the lowest price on a Royal Caribbean cruise, it is to book the sailing as early as possible.  If you can book your sailing 12, 18 or even 24 months in advance, you will very likely pay much less than someone that waits to book their sailing just a few months before the cruise.

The simple reason why booking early gets you the lowest price is that when a sailing is put on sale, all the staterooms are available to book, and thus, demand is at its lowest.  As guests start to book rooms, supply goes down, which inversely drives prices up.  Over time, we typically see prices for a sailing go up.

Moreover, if you live in a country that allows re-booking prior to final payment date (United States, Canada, Australia, etc), you can always take advantage of price drops, if they were to occur, and get the new lowest price.  If you book early enough, you may find regardless of the deal or promotion Royal Caribbean publicizes, the rate you had booked early on is still a better deal.

Cruise close to home

If you can manage to go on a cruise without having to fly, or take another expensive means of transportation, you will reap a ton of savings.

In addition to the traditional cruise homeports in Florida, Royal Caribbean also offers year-round and seasonal cruises from New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, Galveston and San Juan.  This means a great deal of convenient embarkation ports that can be driveable. 

By not having to include an airline ticket in your vacation budget, you will save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Of course, there still will be a transportation cost to get to the port, but very likely the savings in not buying an airline ticket will outweigh gas, tolls and even a hotel stay.

Buy a dining or drink package

If you are the sort of person that will indulge in specialty dining or alcoholic beverages onboard your Royal Caribbean cruise, a dining or drink package can save you a lot of money.

Royal Caribbean's dining packages allow guests to enjoy meals at a variety of specialty restaurants for one low price.  There are many packages available, but taking advantage of these dining packages will save money compared to eating at those same restaurants, but paying the walk-up price without a package. When you figure multiple people investing in a dining package, the savings stack up quickly.

Likewise, a Royal Caribbean drink package can save you money, provided you drink enough every day of your cruise to make it worthwhile. Guests pay a flat cost to enjoy unlimited beverages that are included in the package they select.  Be sure to get a discount on a Royal Caribbean drink package prior to your cruise to increase your total savings.

It is worth noting that a drink or dining package may not inherently save everyone money.  The cost savings depend on how much you will actually consume on a cruise.  It is important to sit down before your cruise and think about how many drinks you might have, factor in time off the ship in foreign ports of call, and determine if a drink package is right for you.  Dining packages are a bit easier to figure out if they are a worthwhile investment, because you can look at your Cruise Planner and determine what looks of interest and plan accordingly.

Book your next cruise onboard

Royal Caribbean will reward you if you book another Royal Caribbean cruise, while still onboard your current sailing.  These rewards come in the form of onboard credit, which can stack up into the hundreds of dollars quite quickly.

Dubbed NextCruise, Royal Caribbean has changed up some of the rules lately for how the program works, especially if deposits are refundable or not.  It is important to be aware of all the rules on canceling or changing sailings prior to booking. 

However, if you are certain of the sailing you want to take, booking onboard will garner significant savings, especially on longer sailings (7 nights or more) and/or balcony and suite staterooms. The NextCruise program is one of the easiest ways to earn money towards your next sailing.

Be flexible with your cruise dates

If the dates you can take a Royal Caribbean cruise are somewhat open, you can shave off hundreds of dollars from your cruise fare. 

Just like the entire travel industry, cruises have peak and off-peak seasons.  Booking a cruise over Christmas week will see a much higher cost than if you opt for that same cruise two weeks earlier or later. Those that can cruise when many families are stuck following a school or work holiday calendar, will find rock bottom prices for cruise fares.

Finding the lowest fares typically has more to do with when you are actually going on your cruise. In general, you will find lower fares if you are willing to cruise during the "shoulder seasons" and/or when school is usually in session.

This includes

• January (minus New Years holiday)
• Most of February
• May
• September
• October
• First two weeks of November
• First two weeks of December

Picking Royal Caribbean cruises that sail during these times of year often net the lowest fares because it is when less people have the opportunity or inclination to cruise.