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12 tricks to getting the most value from your cruise vacations
16.11.2024 - 16:43 / thepointsguy.com / Royal Caribbean
Whether you're talking about a mass-market cruise on a megaship or a full-on luxury experience with attentive crew members doting on you day and night, if your goal is to squeeze every bit of value out of those hard-earned vacation dollars, you need to know a few things.
A little precruise planning, coupled with onboard attention to detail, can add to the value of the cruise for you and your travel partners. Here are 12 tricks to help you heap on the value.
It can feel like you're bombarded with emails after you book a cruise, but some of them contain hidden treasure.
Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, Cunard and Virgin Voyages are among the cruise lines that use a bidding process to manage unsold cabins as the sailing date gets closer. Carnival Cruise Line offers upgrades without bidding. Pay attention to your email, and you might nab a nicer cabin for less than you'd pay by booking it outright.
Emails also alert you to discounted packages or bundles for Wi-Fi, shore excursions and spa treatments. Much of the same information can be found on the cruise planner on the cruise line's website, but unless you log in often, watch those emails for value-oriented offers.
While most lines sign you up for loyalty programs automatically after your first sailing, you might need to opt in. Some lines allow you to sign up even before your first cruise, giving you advance offers to entice you to go ahead and book that first cruise.
Status matches between cruise lines are a huge bonus. MSC offers a status match with other cruise lines, hotel brands and tour operators. You can do this before your first booking and get Voyagers Club benefits on your first cruise with the line. These could be as simple as a welcome beverage or as elaborate as a complimentary tasting menu dinner.
Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Silversea status match across the three sister brands. That means you can reap rewards on a luxury line by earning status on a mainstream brand.
Similarly, Viking's loyalty program spans its river, ocean and expedition arms. Once you've cruised with the line, you'll get benefits fleetwide, even if you try out a different kind of ship.
While not every loyalty perk holds a huge value for you, little freebies definitely add up on vacation. For example, Carnival gives you a free 1.5-liter bottle of water on your second cruise. That's one less bottle you might have to buy.
As you move up the loyalty ladder, cruise by cruise, the perks improve. For example, you may be eligible for free laundry, drinks and specialty dining the higher up you go. I once met a couple who were on a five-night Royal Caribbean cruise for the sole purpose of moving up to the top loyalty tier before going on a much longer cruise. The higher
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