Wave Season Is the Best Time to Score Cruise Deals—Here's How

10.01.2024 - 00:09 / cntraveler.com

Travel deals can be easy to find, if you know the right time to book. For cruises, one of the best times to lock in low fares is at the start of a new year. That’s when “wave season” begins: a stretch that continues through March when cruise lines offer up some of their best deals and discounts.

Consider this the golden time to plan cruise trips through the rest of the year and beyond. “Wave season isn't necessarily about last-minute cruise deals,” says Illana Schattauer, a cruise influencer who runs the channel ‘Life Well Cruised’ on YouTube. “It's a great time to plan ahead for holiday cruises and bookings that are several months, even a year, in advance.”

Although the deals are aplenty, narrowing down the numerous options can be a bit more challenging. After all, there are hundreds of different cruise lines around the world, all targeting different types of travelers and promoting offers with various perks. (How do you compare a stateroom upgrade to a free drinks package or an onboard food credit?)

Below, find top strategies and tips from the experts on how to get the most of this wave season’s deals.

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Before you wade into the endless list of deals, discounts, and bonus offers from cruise lines around the world, take some time to identify what your budget is and what type of cruise you actually want to take. “Travelers should know what they’re looking for before starting to do the research on the cruise they would like to book,” says Jasmine Ramnarine, a frequent cruiser who blogs about her voyages with her family on the site A Rich and Jazzy Life.

This includes narrowing down your ideal destinations and a timeline of when you’d like to travel. “Once they know the month that they would like to travel in, it’s best to compare the cruise lines’ pricing and go with what best suits your needs.” Ramnarine recommends choosing at least three cruise lines to do an overall fare comparison.

But even just keeping track of all the available offers can feel like an insurmountable task, let alone combing through for the ideal discounts. One of the easiest ways of keeping tabs on new offers is subscribing to cruise lines’ email alerts. “To make it more manageable, travelers should only sign up to email offers from the cruise lines that appeal to them, and skip ones that aren't the right fit,” Schattauer says. She recommends travelers even create a separate email account just for cruise offers to keep the potential deals sorted away from other inbox clutter. That way, travelers can open their specific wave season account and start narrowing down