How It Used to Be: Cruise lines used to offer great discounts on cruises within 30 days of the departure date. It was a great way for regular cruisers (mostly retirees) who lived near a major port to get great deals, and cruise lines were able to fill up their unused cabins.
How It Is Now: In an effort to encourage earlier bookings, Royal Caribbean announced they would no longer offer last-minute discounts on cruises 30 days in an effort to get cruisers to book early (at full price). Other lines quickly followed suit.
Where It’s Going: The strategy seems to be working. Cruise prices have been rising slowly but steadily, and while we used to see deals as low as $30 per night on our deals page, the lowest deal now is usually around $45/night.
