Can you tell me the best time of year to cruise pricewise? I was interested in May/June 2007. Please advise?

Question

I am looking to cruise with my 62 year old mom, and she only wants to cruise out of or New York, Baltimore, Charleston.

Answer 1

Caribbean cruises are cheaper during september (hurricane season from august to november)

Answer 2

Pricewise, May/June is not the best time to cruise. These are very popular months for the cruise line (vacationers) and therefore, the prices don't drop. January, February and early March are less expensive, as well as the end of September, October and early November. Kids are back in school and families aren't vacationing as much.

New York and Baltimore run cruises year round. Charleston is somewhat limited, but a great place to cruise to and from. Depending on where you are located, the price of an air ticket is also a factor. If you live close enough to any of the ports, you could drive and save the added expense.

Answer 3

Late in the year such as Sept thru November are the cheapest months. NY cruises DO in fact go to the carribean and they have anywhere between 7 and 14 day cruises. They are very nice and if there is a hurricane in the area the ship does change course and itinerary. New England cruises are also very popular.

Go to this website www.vacationstogo.com which gives pretty good prices and you can also go to all the major cruise line websites to find out prices and discounts.

Answer 4

The cheapest times are probably not in the summer and not in december/january. I live in Charleston, SC and actually went on NCL's ships out of here 2 years ago. I have been on a lot of cruises and for me this one wasn't that fun. To me it was more catered to older people. I am 21....but it would probably be fun your mother.

Answer 5

The first rule in getting less expensive cruises is book early. The second rule is go with the same cruise line multiple times because they do offer repeat customer discounts of $50 to $100 per person in a cabin. The third rule is shop around for specials. Some lines will offer specials on a date that does not usually sell out, like Christmas or Thanksgiving week. So don't lock yourself in to one particular week of the year; be flexible.

If you have not cruised before and don't know the ropes it may be beneficial for you to use an agent; the agent does not charge a fee but is paid by the cruise line. But, also, do some home work on cruise line, itineraries, and ships. Use the cruise line web sites to look at what's being offered. Try to have in mind some of what you want to do when you talk to an agent. If you feel comfortable doing it, you can do your own booking online, the price is the same and you can do everything you need right on the web sites. The sites usually have cruises listed for this year and next. I booked my last two cruises completely online, including making payments and booking port tours. The format and service on all of these is about the same. I have found that the food on Celebrity, Princess and RC is a cut above what I have been told is served on Disney and Carnival. Disney has good ships but is primarily for kids, and families with kids. It does have adults only areas on ship, but the kids are still there. The will have lots of kids’ activities on the ships, but they will still be all over the hallways, elevators and dining facilities. There will be lots of kids running around and looking for Micky, Donald, Minnie, Goofie, etc all over the ship.

Carnival is the fun ship, but their accommodations are not the best. Carnival is the party cruise line that most young folks and first time cruisers take (ages 20 to 35) who want to party, party, party. If that’s what you are looking for then Carnival is the one for you.

Princess, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Celebrity, and Norwegian tend to have people who have cruised many times and are in the 40 and over age group; a more reserved crowd. All of these cruise lines may have some kids but not many. However, on these lines there are activities just for kids of different ages and staff persons assigned to supervise them most of the day.

Cruises departing from NY, Baltimore and Charleston typically go to Bermuda or the Bahamas. Some may make one stop at a CAribbean island.

I have been to Bermuda twice on cruise ships, once on Norwegian and once on Royal CAribbean. Both are great cruise lines, as is Celebrity which goes there also. Bermuda has some of the best beaches anywhere; pink sand beaches that you can easily find a deserted spot on. In my two visit it seemed to me that the majority of the people visiting the island were those on the two or three cruise ships which docked there during my stay. There are a few hotels in the town of Hamilton and about a dozen other properties/beach hotels, but they are nice. There are NO slums and ghettos in Burmuda like you may see on other islands. All of the houses are well maintained and painted in pastel colors. All of the public beaches are great. Be sure to go to Elbow Beach and Long Beach. Royal Caribbean, NCL and Holland America have cruise to Bermuda from the cities you mentioned. A five, six, or seven day cruise to Bermuda is plenty enough time to see and enjoy everything there. There is not a lot to do in Bermuda other than water sports and golf. There are two main towns Hamilton, the largest (where most cruise ships dock for at least a day) and St George (also a port stop) which is like a small town and has just a few shops. The third place ships may dock while there is The Kings Dockyard.. The Dockyard is on the far end of the 22 mile long island and has a small mall with shops and a museum. The Crystal Cave and Fantesy Caves are worth visiting as a tour, or on your own. I also visited one of the lighthouses, for lack of anything else to do. You can visit one of the many forts on the island like Fort St Catherine if you like that type activity. In the town of Hamilton we took a walking tour which took us to the Cathedral of the Most Holy, a maritime museum and a nice garden/park a few blocks from the port. There is shopping in Hamilton and restaurants, but not much else. The best way to get around in Bermuda is to buy a transportation pass (may be able to get it on ship) which will let you take the busses, and the ferry, all over the island. There is a big bus depot just a couple blocks from where ships dock in the town of Hamilton. You can take the busses to the beach, they are not very far away and easy to get to from the bus stop. You want to go to Elbow Beach and Long Beach, both open to the public. If you want to snorkel, the Tobacco Bay Beach near the town of St George is great, and its walking distance (about 3/4 mile)( from town.

If you need more info, just let me know.

Answer 6

ok may would be cheaper than june like my cruise we left may 28 and it cost us 1200 if we left in june it would of cost us 1400 so the off months are around october during hurricane season like the later part of it so yeah hope this helps