Summer cruise...sooo expensive!

[P.A.]

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess Oct '04. Had a blast and are ready to go back. But checked the prices for this summer and they are literally double what they were in Oct. I know Oct is low season, but man what a difference. And we are wanting to take our 20 yr old daughter. It would cost us $5000 by the time we added everything....taxes, ins. gratuties. We can't go in the fall because she is in school.

 

Anyone know of a cheaper way for the summer months?

[Toto2Kansas]

Nope, summer is a 'high demand' season for all of those that have to cruise during summer vacation times for school. I wouldn't think there are going to be too many deals out there for this summer. Sorry!

Only deal you might find is on last minute cruises if you can go that route. If you have to fly to the port though, it can sometimes be very costly for plane fares last minute, which defeats the purpose entirely.

[spongerob]

Pam - we are definitely in the wrong place in the world to get any breaks on airfare. You might keep an eye on Carnival and RCI out of Galveston. It's only a day's drive, or a short flight to Hobby.

[jcike1980]

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess Oct '04. Had a blast and are ready to go back. But checked the prices for this summer and they are literally double what they were in Oct. I know Oct is low season, but man what a difference. And we are wanting to take our 20 yr old daughter. It would cost us $5000 by the time we added everything....taxes, ins. gratuties. We can't go in the fall because she is in school.

 

Anyone know of a cheaper way for the summer months?

 

P.A. We had to bite the bullet the summer of 2003 when I took My son and his DW on a cruise to celebrate His MBA.

This September will be our 40th Anniversary and my DW and I are taking our 3 sons and there DW's. Plus 8 Grandchildren on the Car. princess But the Grandchildren will be out of school for at least one week. I will not pay the summer prices. My Grandchildren Bless their hearts, they don't mind being out of school one week to go on a cruise. Good Luck P.A. Jcike

[cruisingfreak]

We sailed the Caribbean Princess last summer & will be doing it again this July. The prices are somewhat higher than last year. Last year we got a decrease in price around April. I'm hoping we get another one this time around, but the way prices have been, I doubt it.

 

 

Minette

[Mona Lisa]

We encountered a similar dilemma. We wanted a family cruise for this coming summer. When we totalled up the cost, it was way more than our budget. Instead, we opted to book a December cruise during their Christmas break. They may miss one or two days of school (we haven't received next years school calendar yet). However, the price was right. Our family of 5 will fly and cruise for a total of $4200. Not bad considering we fly direct out of Cincinnati and we have a balcony and an inside cabin on the Caribe deck. You may want to look into this option. It will be great to escape the winter weather to the warm Caribbean!

[sunluva7]

We too can only cruise in the summer. In fact, because of our schedules the 6 of us could only come up with one week in August which happens to be THE most expensive week of the season. However, you can save a few bucks if you go early June or even the last week in Aug. I look forward to the day when I can cruise anytime and save a bundle. :)

[kryos]

Anyone know of a cheaper way for the summer months?

Unfortunately, high demand = high prices.

 

The only suggestion I can make is if you can cruise with a week or so notice ... and avoid the high cost of last-minute airfare booking by driving to the port ... you may be able to get some deals. However, with a group of any size, your odds of getting several cabins, let alone ones in good locations and reasonably close to each other, are slim to none.

 

Sounds to me like the only way around this is to cruise with the family in the off-season and either let the kids miss a week or so of school or leave them home with relatives.

 

The problem you're running up against is that everyone wants to cruise in the summer months. Most people do not like pulling their kids out of school, and most school systems highly discourage the practice. Therefore, the higher demand for the summer months drives up the cost.

 

I made the mistake of cruising in the summer months once myself. Never again. I paid top dollar and had to deal with a ton of kids (I'm a single woman). Now I cruise at times when the kids are in school, pay less, have less children onboard, and generally have a much better time.

 

Hope you figure something out that won't bust the budget too bad.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita