Need help to find last minute cruises out of Florida

C

clslkock

Confused about dryer sheets
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Moving to Florida in 9 days after RE yesterday. :)Wondering if anyone knows how to get those last minute 4 to 7 day cruises out of Florida. We are going to be living near Tampa/St. Pete area so would prefer to cruise out of Tampa, but would take trip out of anywhere in Florida. Is there a certain website to find these last minute deals. Looking to go late Jan or Feb. 2016:)
 
Check out vacationstogo.com. You'll need to register to see their deals but they have a 90 day ticker that is perfect for what you're looking for.

We've used them for lots of cruises and they're great to work with.
 
cathy63 said:
Also some of the cruise lines have email lists you can subscribe to for last minute local deals. I'm on Princess' list for CA residents. Their sign up page is here: Last Minute Cruise Deals - Drop & Go - Princess Cruises

You could try googling [cruise line name] last minute deals to find others.
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The problem we have on the West Coast is there no destinations similar to the islands in the Caribbean or Central America. We only have coastal cruises that go north to Seattle/Vancouver or south to the Mexican Riviera.
The deals we get for Florida cruises are wiped out by the airfare from the West Coast.
 
Royal Caribbean has stopped offering special last minute deals for their cruises. Not sure if the others are going to follow in their footsteps.


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Lisa99 said:
Check out vacationstogo.com. You'll need to register to see their deals but they have a 90 day ticker that is perfect for what you're looking for.

We've used them for lots of cruises and they're great to work with.
Click to expand...

+1


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
 
Every week Celebrity and RCI publish what they call Tuesday specials. You can access this list on the weekend prior. Some very good prices from time to time.

You can go to the Princess web site and sign up for last minute specials. They will email you.

I suspect that some of your new neighbours in Florida may be able to assist you or perhaps drop into a local travel stores and ask.

We use vacationstogo as a yardstick however we typically book with our on line TA who often provides us with lower prices in the form of on board credits.
 
I would just echo the suggestions above - vacationstogo and the cruise line web sites. My wife and I took a 7 day cruise out of Ft Lauderdale early last March after spending all of February as snowbirds in Punta Gorda. I kept watching these sites for 6 to 8 weeks out. I thought maybe I could get a rock bottom price about 2 weeks before sailing but actually found the prices to rise slightly at that time. I found the lowest prices about 6 weeks out. If you are flexible on cruise line and destination you can get some very low prices at that time.
 
Vacationstogo is okay. I also like the travelocity/expedia site since you can sort by price per night and find the absolute cheapest deals that way and it's easy to click through a few screens to get the total price including tax (unlike vacationstogo IIRC).

We've been checking almost every day and haven't seen many good deals like we have in past years (like every year since 2008!). Guess the economy is too on fire and demand is high (so says the Carnival conglomerate with their excellent earnings). We did snag a $42/nt + tax 5 night cruise out of Charleston for January (booked about 8 weeks prior to sail date). Otherwise, everything seems to be $42-45+ from Florida. There are a couple sailings from Miami in that price range right now.
 
Souschef said:
The problem we have on the West Coast is there no destinations similar to the islands in the Caribbean or Central America. We only have coastal cruises that go north to Seattle/Vancouver or south to the Mexican Riviera.
Click to expand...

We're kind of jealous of your California deals here on the east coast. :D Every time I search I see those $40-42/nt cruises from Los Angeles/Long Beach to Mexico. That's slightly cheaper than the cheap cruises from FL right now.

And most of the cheap short cruises from FL tend to go to the same few destinations - Nassau and Freeport, Bahamas being 2 common destinations (but a bad day in Nassau is still better than a good day at work!).
 
We have enjoyed several great last minute offers on FLL/MIA cruises. Two were, oddly enough, Christmas cruises 10 and 14 days . The third was booked while we were vacationing in Daytona Beach. Saw the deal on a 7 day cruise. Booked on Tuesday, sailed on Sunday.
 
clslkock,

Congratulations on your retirement and move to FL.

We cruise out of TX or NOLA, but the information you are getting is helpful. (I also use vacationstogo.com to search, but usually book thru Expedia. If you go through ebates.com, there is 8-10% rebate for letting them track your purchase. I am cheap enough to allow it).

Keep us posted on your bookings.

We just booked a NCL cruise out of Houston that leaves in about a month. We have been on the same itinerary three times, but sometimes...you just feel like cruising. The price was right, with the unlimited drink package.

Thanks for posting this query.
 
IMO you get much better deals on short notice seven day cruises rather than the week-end cruises. They have some nice itineraries leaving from Tampa for seven days and even longer.
 
Moemg said:
IMO you get much better deals on short notice seven day cruises rather than the week-end cruises. They have some nice itineraries leaving from Tampa for seven days and even longer.
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What kind of good prices are you seeing from Tampa for these last minute cruises? I never see any pop up on my search after sorting by price per night.

I prefer a 7+ nt over 4-5 if I'm driving the 7-10 hours to Florida ports. :D
 
FUEGO said:
What kind of good prices are you seeing from Tampa for these last minute cruises? I never see any pop up on my search after sorting by price per night.

I prefer a 7+ nt over 4-5 if I'm driving the 7-10 hours to Florida ports. :D
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Norwegian Cruise Line doing a seven day for $76 a day & it includes a drink plan . That is not as cheap as the deals you can get from Miami or Port Everglades but Tampa is convenient and an easy port for those of us living on the west coast of Florida .
 
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Moemg said:
Norwegian Cruise Line doing a seven day for $76 a day & it includes a drink plan . That is not as cheap as the deals you can get from Miami or Port Everglades but Tampa is convenient and an easy port for those of us living on the west coast of Florida .
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. That's about $30/nt more than we're willing to pay! :D I've seen good deals (= almost the cheapest in the world) from Tampa in the past just not recently. I wouldn't mind sailing out of Tampa as it's closer to NC than Miami and Ft Lauderdale and almost as close as Pt Canaveral.

I'm hoping for another recession so we can get more sub-$30/nt cruises. :)
 
FUEGO said:
Thanks for the response. That's about $30/nt more than we're willing to pay! :D
Click to expand...

But I think you're missing the critical point:

Moemg said:
Norwegian Cruise Line doing a seven day for $76 a day & it includes a drink plan .
Click to expand...

Granted, I don't know if that means you just get rail drinks each day, or maybe just up to 3 or 4 drinks a day....but if that drink plan includes 3 cocktails and/or decent wine glasses a day per person, that's easily worth $30/day for me! :)
 
MooreBonds said:
Granted, I don't know if that means you just get rail drinks each day, or maybe just up to 3 or 4 drinks a day....but if that drink plan includes 3 cocktails and/or decent wine glasses a day per person, that's easily worth $30/day for me! :)
Click to expand...

I'd just buy 3 drinks for $20-30 each day if that's what I wanted.

But if unlimited drinks is what you want, that $30/nt upgrade is not a bad price. It's usually $49-64/nt for unlimited drinks on Norwegian.

To me, that $30/day extra cost is like taking a second cruise. I'd rather drink sparingly or not at all (I'm not much of a drinker), and take that 2nd cruise later.
 
We've used Vacations to Go for many years, and got some great deals. Just got back from Scandinavia/Russia first of Sept.--9 days for about price of 7 out of Florida on NCL.

We're leaving 4/2016 from Rome for Grecian Isles and Turkey--returning to Venice. Celebrity is offering free drink package, free tips and $100 on board credit. They're also giving us a free anniversary meal. Any more freebies and they'd be paying us to go on the cruise. This trip was booked thru Avoya Travel, and they are another giant in the cruise business.
 
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MSC is already big in Europe, and is making a big investment in North America. Looks like they're trying to buy their way in the US retail cruise market.
 
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