We have cruised about 5 times in the past few years. We always go in the summer when kids are out of school, so more $$$. But here are a few suggestions.
1. Carnival has been the cheapest for us. We have done a few cruises on RCCL that weren't too expensive. But Carnival has been the cheapest. And we like Carnival as much as RCCL. Disney was 2 times as much as either Carnival or RCCL, so we have never done that line.
2. Avoid the big new ships like Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, etc. Those are a lot more expensive!!! I would love to do Oasis, but can't justify the extra cost.
3. If you sail out of alternative ports (outside of Port Canaveral, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale) and on the older ships, you get a better price. We find that they keep these ships clean and freshened up. So its never been a problem for us on the older ships.
4. You don't say how many people you have in your group? If you can put 4 in a room as opposed to 2 in 2 rooms, that will be cheaper. You usually get a 3rd and 4th person discount. Although it will be a little tight in the room. There are ways to work around that (like have a couple people use the bathrooms/showers in the gym to get ready). But if the price is only a little bit more for 2 rooms, you might want to pay the little bit extra. You can get connecting rooms or adjoining rooms. But those tend to sell out kind of quickly. It depends on the age of your kids. We did connecting the first couple times. But then we did adjoining when they were a little older and I felt more comfortable.
5. Carnival's Early Saver program offers the cheapest rates. And as a previous person mentioned, you can get OBC or price reduction if the rates go down. BUT, there are restrictions that you need to be aware of. First, any changes will cost $50 per person. Plus, the deposit is NONREFUNDABLE. You can move it to another cruise to be used within 2 years, but you won't get it back if you don't cruise with carnival in 2 years. So this is a great option as long as you don't think you will need to make changes or cancel.
6. Itinerary is important because excursions can be expensive. The cheapest excursions will be the sitting by the beach type of excursion. So if you are ok with that type of excursion, pick ports that are beach oriented. The eastern caribbean itineraries are good for that. The
western itineraries seem to be a little more action oriented. Although you can find beaches usually at everything.
7. I might recommend a 4 night/5 day cruise to start with. That will be reasonable in cost. Although you might be able to get a 7 night cruise for not much more if you pick the right ship/line.
We went on the Carnival Legend out of Tampa this past summer and it was our best cruise ever!
Maggie
