Budget Seasons

If you're looking for a specific destination and want to save the most money on a particular cruise, look for seasonal discounts. As a general rule of thumb, shoulder-season sailings (those that take place at the beginning or end of a cruising season) tend to be the most budget-friendly. While the tradeoff for your cheap cruise fare may be less-than-ideal weather, you can often benefit from less crowded destinations and possibly more affordable airfare.

Alaska in May and September: To cruise Alaska at budget rates, choose a sailing in May or September right after the ship has arrived in the region or right before it's set to leave for warmer climes. For example, Holland America's seven-night Alaskan Explorer cruise on Zaandam shows fares from $599 or $649 on most May and September sailings, but starting rates as high as $949 in July. Because the weather is typically cooler, and fish, animals and flowers are less abundant at these times, these sailings are less popular than June-through-August departures, meaning the rates drop. On the plus side, May is typically less rainy than the summer months, and September offers a chance to catch the Aurora Borealis.

Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexico in Fall: Autumn is a bargain time for cruising in almost any region, but the lowest prices are for Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexico getaways. If you're looking for last-minute, seven-night cruises under $350 per person, this is where you'll find them (shorter three- to five-night cruises are equally affordable). These low prices are partly caused by the general lack of travel happening between Labor Day and Christmas but also are a result of hurricane season in both the Pacific and Atlantic/Caribbean. (The majority of hurricanes occur between August and October.) If you choose to take advantage of these cut-rate prices, it's worth paying for travel insurance to protect yourself against canceled cruises or delayed sailings, due to stormy weather.

Mediterranean in Winter: It used to be that most ships fled the Mediterranean in fall and returned only in the spring. Now more ships than ever are staying through November and returning in March or even sticking out the winter in European waters. Although cruise lines might think it trendy to base ships in the Mediterranean year-round, the fad has not caught on in quite the same way with the cruising public. Therefore, prices for winter cruises are extremely low. A 12-night roundtrip Barcelona cruise on deluxe line Azamara went for $799 on a November sailing ($66 a night, and you get your own butler), while an upcoming, 12-night, Eastern Mediterranean cruise in January on Norwegian Jade has starting prices of $549 per person (a mere $46 a night).