6 Cheap Cruise Vacations That Won’t Break the Bank
- Maria DiCicco
- Sep 10
- 8 min read
Updated: Oct 14
It's true - cruise vacations can start adding up if you aren't careful. That's why it's important to pick the right ship, the right destination, and the right timing for the perfect cruise fare to come calling your name.
Below I've shared my six suggestions based on a long tenure of cruising from my home port of Port Canaveral and around the world from South America to Japan, to Mediterranean and Caribbean adventures and beyond. I consistently troll the cruise sites for the best deals, and here are the trends that I have seen.
I hope that you can employ some of these tips and advice to build your ideal cruise vacation!
Note: Always Pack Tissues represents many tried and tested travel sites as what is called an 'affiliate' partner. That means if you click on my ads I may get a commission from a resulting sale. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For information on how this may impact your privacy rights, please consult my privacy policy.
In this article I will review cheap cruise vacation ideas including:
Overnight Ferries (Think of it as a ‘Mini-Cruise’)
Some of my favorite boat trips have been on ferries - they’re short enough to feel the sea spray, and long enough to unwind in the dining room before the waves rock you like a lullaby to bed.
These ‘mini-cruises’ can be as little as one night, and sometimes up to several nights in length.
Typical routes can be found throughout Europe, like from Oslo to Copenhagen, from Barcelona to just about everywhere the big ships go, and same with Rome’s Civitavecchia port.
For these overnight ferries you will pay a general ‘riding fee’ and then you can select to have a seat (like a bus or airplane) or a private room. The private rooms are very reasonable, often around $100-200 per night, and they can accommodate a family.
Expect en suite amenities, bunk style beds that pull down from the ceiling (or two twins if there are only two passengers), and even windows or balconies like a regular cruise ship. It's nothing grandiose, but it is comfortable, clean and fun.
The halls and passageways even feel like a cruise - not like a typical day ferry that is stark or all metal. No industrial interiors here, just nice amenities like restaurants, a kids club, and even Duty Free Shops. Some ferries even have a pool and spa.
Don’t go for an interior room ever - it’s dark and dreary and you’re bound to feel the motion of the ocean more than you’d like. Read about other common mistakes to avoid when booking sailing voyages here.
For more information on some great overnight ferries, consider routes like:
This type of cruise option operates as fun-filled mini-cruises, relaxing transportation after a day of flying, AND lodging for the night. It’s the best way to truly unwind from a travel day and it keeps you moving.
I love to do this by flying into a cheap airport (maybe Oslo or Gatwick in these examples) and then I use the ferry as part of the adventure of getting to the next location. Why race through airport lines and crowded train terminals when you can let someone else do the work?
I always use Direct Ferries to browse for and book my overnight ferries - it's an easy to use platform that aggregates all the ferry companies into one search.
Cruises to the Bahamas
Cruises to the Bahamas run several times a week from just about every major cruise line. These ships range from Carnival to Celebrity, from party-hardy ships built for fun to more adult cruises that allow for relaxation and sightseeing in port.
Typical ports offering sailings to the Bahamas include Florida ports like Port Canaveral, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and occasionally Tampa, although from Tampa they sail mostly to ports in Mexico like Progreso and Cancun, along with the Western Caribbean.
If a cruise from Florida is sailing to Nassau, you can almost guarantee it is a bargain cruise. The reason being, it is located only about 185 miles from Miami - they don't need to use much gas to get there!
For a truly good deal, I’ve seen 7-day cruises from New York on MSC’s Meraviglia for around $313 a person - and it’s a steady deal. The only kicker is that the voyage sails through some rougher open water, meaning longer sea days and potential sickness.
Typical cruises to the Bahamas from Florida average 3-5 nights, costing about $100 per night. If the base fare is $300 for 3 nights, $400 for 4 nights, $500 for 5 nights, etc then this is generally a good deal.
Just remember that on top of that you will also be paying out alcohol fees (or beverage packages, which I don’t recommend), port fees, incidentals in port, and of course the added tips that you must pay daily (these are taken out automatically and charged to your account as you cruise). You can read more about these fees at my common cruising mistakes link, again here.
Mediterranean Cruises from Barcelona
Barcelona is an obvious draw for a lot of people - it’s exotic enough to feel like you’re putting yourself ‘out there’, but comfortable enough to know you can manage it on your own.
Flying into Barcelona you’ll want to spend one night acclimating to the time zone change, perhaps in nearby Sitges (a favorite beachfront town of mine), and then board your ship the following day. Always allow a day buffer between your arrival day and your sailing day!
From Barcelona, ships sail east to ports like Marseille, Genoa, Livorno (Pisa), Civitavecchia (Rome), Malta, and even islands like Sardinia and Mallorca.
Going west, the ports get more exotic and include Gibraltar, Tangier, Canary Islands, Portugal and more.
Typical sailings cost about $150 per night and ships go out regularly. Expect a lot of 7-10 day cruises from Barcelona.
Are you Cruising with Kids?Check out my book on Amazon called Scavenger Hunt Cruise! Full of activities and opportunities for journaling, Scavenger Hunt Cruise is a scrapbook of memories, an educational guide to cruising for kids, and something fun to do on sea days. Check it out here!  |
Cruises During Hurricane Season
I wouldn’t typically recommend this, but if you like to gamble - go for it. Florida and the Caribbean islands start seeing hurricanes from August to mid October, so ships post cheaper prices during those months. It also helps that kids are back in school, so the prices get slashed.
Cruises to/from San Juan, Puerto Rico are a toss up, but can be really cheap because of the uncertainty. Just know that if there’s a storm brewing in the east, it’s probably barreling through there.
Interior Caribbean ports like from Tampa or Galveston, Texas often have a good chance of going out and enjoying smoother seas, being protected by the Gulf of whatever we’re calling it these days.
Check the weather, check your calendar, and consider this timeframe for cruising cheaply. Check my link on how to book cruises last minute here. At a minimum, booking a cruise during hurricane season will probably call for rainy days in port, so booking last minute (once you've seen the forecast) may be a good way to go.
Christmas Market Cruises
Christmas Market Cruises are all the rage - especially along the Rhine River and Southern Germany ports. The river cruises are small, intimate, and really a new class of cruise travel. But - they can be extremely costly.
Instead, consider a Northern European cruise out of Southampton during the holiday season. Nixxing the river idea completely, these are full size ships like MSC that float from Southampton Cruise Port to ports like Le Havre (Paris), Zeebrugge (Bruges), Rotterdam, Hamburg and more.
And the great thing is - even though they aren’t advertised as “Christmas Market Cruises”, they are still stopping in colorful ports full of holiday flair. You'll be packing your reds and greens and all the jingle jangles to cruise in holiday style (here's my tips on what to pack for a Christmas Market Cruise).
I’ve taken this route and the savings were outstanding compared to what you’d pay for a river cruise. Again, my tip is to average $100-150 a night and you’ve got yourself a deal.
Why? Because you get lodging (typically $100+ a night per family) AND all day meals (averages about $100 per meal dining out for my family). Don’t forget to factor in transportation, too. A bed, some food, and transport to another country? Bingo, that’s a deal to me.
Even better that it happens at the holidays, where family comes together, you can decorate your cabin to set the mood (here's some must have cruising essentials), and each port you get to learn a new countries' traditions.
Check out some of the European Christmas market ports you can visit:
Transatlantic Cruises
Lastly, this is for the die-hard cruisers. You know who you are. You can eliminate a one-way airfare from somewhere overseas by simply taking your time getting home.
For example, fly to Spain, enjoy time in Spain and Europe, and then take the Barcelona transatlantic cruise back to Florida. For me as a Floridian, this completely removes the need for the Barcelona - Orlando leg.
And get this - this 15 day trip can cost as low as $443! That’s less than $30 a day! Dine all day, pamper yourself in the spa, go to the casino, get fit on the promenade deck, and completely unplug.
The downside of this type of journey is that most trips average 2 weeks in length, mostly being sea days. The trick is to find a route that stops in King’s Wharf Bermuda or other islands along the way. This effectively breaks your journey up so that you have no more than 4 sea days in a row, which is a bit more palatable than 7-8 sea days in a row.
Some of these trips start with amazing destinations from Barcelona first, like the western route including Morocco, Malaga and Portugal. It’s not all just sailing!
You can even pair the typical 7 day Mediterranean route with this transatlantic cruise option - starting for instance in Genoa, sailing west towards Barcelona for a week, then ending up in Port Canaveral Florida. There’s a lot of great options!
Then of course, if you want to step back in time a bit, you can always consider the Queen Mary 2 - Cunard’s luxury ship that sails from Southampton to New York weekly. It’s not as fun as some of the other cruise lines (I sailed with them maybe a decade ago), but they are a high-class fleet and you’ll have a nice straight sail from point A to B with no stops.
Last Advice for Finding Cheap Cruises
Cruise in the off season - that means the kids are school, the weather isn’t that great, but the ports are still open. You’ll find ports to be cheaper and more welcoming to tourism, too.
Cruises to Asia
Why didn't I include Asian or Pacific cruises here? Well, for a few reasons. First, most of my readers are American, meaning the easiest and cheapest ports to fly to will be in Florida or Europe. Second, airfare to Asia and the Pacific can be pricey for Americans. Airfare can really eat into the cost of a trip!
However, once you arrive in Asia there are also many wonderful deals to be found. Routes venture through Thailand, Australia, and Japanese cruises are great too. Check out this link to browse Asian cruises, or get some inspiration browsing my Japan and Asia section of the website.
Cruises to Alaska
Alaskan cruises from Whittier or Anchorage are typically a stellar deal (less than $100 a day), but I did not recommend them here for the same reasons as above. Transportation can be hard on an adventure, and your wallet.
If you are a west coaster or it's easy for you to get to Alaska, then by all means - check out the great deals to Alaska here!
Comments