Free and Worth Every Penny

Savvy cruisers know that freebies can be had—you just need to know where to look. Here are the two I’ve found to be the best for scoring freebies and extra fun on your next trip: loyalty clubs and cruisecritic.com’s “Meet and Mingle.”
 
Loyalty Clubs
These are the clubs that reward you for taking the same cruise line more than once. And that throw more rewards your way the more you sail with them.
 
When you take your first cruise, you immediately start racking up points with the cruise line’s loyalty club. Each club is structured differently—some award points based on the number of cruises you take, others on the number of cruise days.
 
And there’s huge variation in the benefits. Here’s just a sample of what you can get—all at no cost:
 
Discounts on cruises. We’ve saved hundreds of dollars on trips when we’ve checked the box that asked, “Have you sailed with us before?”
 
Parties with free drinks. These can feature live music and dancing, and drinks or drink tickets.
 
Special entertainment. We’ve been to events that range from an exclusive diving performance on Allure of the Seas to special appearances of the ship's singers.

Behind-the-scenes tours. These allow you to get a peek behind the curtain of the workings of the ship, and can include the galley, theater, engine room or bridge.
 
Meet the senior crew. Loyalty club members often get invited to cocktail parties to hobnob with senior officers.
 
Other free or discounted benefits. Benefits can range from free dry cleaning to price breaks on wi-fi, to special lounges for disembarkation.
 
For specifics on each program, such as Celebrity’s Captain’s Club, Royal Caribbean’s Crown and Anchor, and Princess’ Captain’s Circle, check the cruise line’s website.
 
Meet and Mingle
Sponsored by cruisecritic.com, Meet and Mingles are free get-togethers onboard that are co-organized by cruiser volunteers and the major cruise lines. They’re not available on every trip, so you’ll need to do a tad of research to find out if there’s one on your trip. And the cruise lines each handle sign up differently.
 
Celebrity, for example, requires a minimum advance sign up of 25 people before hosting an event. When you sign up, you’ll get a confirmation email, and once onboard, a special invitation. Princess has Meet and Mingle events on every sailing; simply check the Princess Patter onboard for when and where. See the Meet and Mingles page on cruisecritic.com for info on how to sign up for an event on your ship.
 
The Meet and Mingles are great opportunities to talk cruising with like-minded folks, and always include some light refreshments. The best we’ve been to have featured:
 
Cabin crawl—As a group, you tour a range of cabin types in different locations throughout the ship. This might even include a suite.
 
Crew members up close and personal—Recently on the Allure, in a small and intimate setting, a panel of divers and skaters took our questions about onboard life and work.
 
Giveaways and raffle prize drawings—With some luck, you might go home with more than great memories!

Cruising’s Biggest Secret

You can find plenty of advice on the web on how to get the best price for your cruise. And some of it is on my own blog.

But what I recently uncovered is cruising’s biggest secret. The key to saving bucks—big bucks— is to hold off final payment and keep a watchful eye on the pricing. Here’s my story: 

December 2013: Booked a nine-day trip on Celebrity’s Constellation for December 2014. Put down a deposit (reduced deposit during promotion) and delayed full payment.

September 2014: Brought up same trip in travelocity.com; found there were still a lot of empty cabins. Did as if we were booking a new cruise, selecting the same room type and category. A senior discount (55 and over) is suddenly available where there previously was none.

Celebrity—like other cruise lines—will match the new lower price if it’s not in the penalty period. We call our travel agent, who calls Celebrity.
 
Result? A savings of $500!
 
Now this won’t always work. The Constellation is an older ship, the itinerary is longer than usual (nine days) and the trip sits right smack in the middle of the Christmas season, coming back just shy of the holiday, which is not too desirable for many people.
 
Another caveat: the cruise lines may not allow you to use more than one promotion. So if you booked with promotion, you may have to choose between the new discount or the old one.
 
But here are my suggestions on how to get a really great deal:
 
Book early to get the initial best price and best cabin (middle of the deck always goes first). You can always get your deposit back if you cancel before the penalty phase.
 
Put off final payment until just before the penalty period begins (this varies by cruise line and can sometimes be different over a holiday, so check its website).
 
As you near the penalty period, check out the pricing. Go to a website like travelocity.com or the cruise line’s site. Simulate booking a new cruise, pick a room with the same category and deck location as your current booking and check out the pricing.

If the prices have gone down, call your travel agent to have her/him match the price.

Consider checking other room categories as well. The prices might go down in some categories and not others. And you might even be able to upgrade for the same price or even less than your original booking.

 
Important note: you must do all this before the penalty period begins. If you try it during the penalty period, your travel agent will have to cancel your trip and rebook it, which means you may lose the cabin you selected. You’ll also have to pay a penalty, but you may still come out ahead.
 
So, with a bit of luck and a little extra work on your part, you may see some steep savings. And in the process, dig up the deposit for your next trip!
 
Musing’s Top Tip: Herein lies one of the values of a travel agent: someone who knows how to make these cost savings happen for you. But you must be proactive; most travel agents won’t be watching the ups and downs of your cruise pricing once you’ve laid down the deposit.