Last Minute Cruises - Just in Time Bargins
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For specialist UK cruise deals see IGLU Cruises at
www.iglucruise.comLast minute cruises are basically a matter of how late you can leave it - if it's just a couple of weeks before the cruise starts, it's possible to find a good deal. This could be very suitable if you're taking a cruise on a whim - if you've booked your holiday leave but not the holiday, for example. But if you're dead set on a particular cruise and destination it's probably better not to leave it to chance, because once the cabins have gone, they have gone.
See - MQSEARCH for the latest advertised Last Minute cruises if based in the UK and here if you are based in the USA.
Assuming that you're in the 'whim' position, last minute cruises can be a very good way to find a holiday which is reasonably priced, with an air of spontaneity but also a good dose of having things done for you - no lugging suitcases to and from hotel rooms, no worries about transport, it's all done for you.
Online cruise bookers can be a good way to find a cruise at short notice because their main disadvantage, that there might be no-one to talk to if you want to change the tickets in any way, is much less likely to apply if you're booking late. And there is a strong advantage: cruise lines know that it's best to sell every cabin they can but they will balance the necessity of doing this against the possibility of selling them at full price by only advertising cut-price deals on the internet. That's to say - visit the travel agent and that cabin could be full fare; look on the web and you could have a last minute deal. That's not to say that cruise agents can't find deals at short notice too, though, and if you feel more secure dealing with someone face to face, this is a good option.
The larger lines are the most likely to offer last minute cruises, because they have the most cabins to fill. Carnival cruises, one of the largest lines, reduces some trips by 50% for booking within a month of departure. Another of the major lines, Royal Caribbean, can offer even bigger reductions on its cruises for booking only a fortnight in advance - up to 70%. It's worth hunting around: our hunt produced examples such as a 30% reduction on Discover Egypt's 4 and 7-day Viking Nile Cruises for booking within 3 weeks of departure, and Classic International Cruises' 40% reduction on its 4-night Classic Scottish Highlands and Islands tours for a 10-day advance booking.
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