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The Best Ways to Book a Cruise

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Not all cruise sites are created equal. While you may find comparable prices on different sites, each site has its own benefits, offers and cancellation policies. 

Before you book, though, have a look at these credit cards that come with cruise benefits to sweeten the pot even more.

What is the best way to book a cruise?

The best place to book a cruise will vary depending on what you're looking for out of the experience. We've broken out cruise booking sites based on common booking goals.

From our findings, here are the top cruise booking sites for your next vacation, plus the pros and cons they offer travelers.

For sailings across the Caribbean, Mexico or Central America: CheapCaribbean

CheapCaribbean.com is the best cruise website for the Caribbean, Mexico or Central America. It offers a best-price guarantee plus limited-time offers and discounts.

If you find a better deal within 24 hours of booking, CheapCaribbean will price match and beat it by $25. The company's customer service is available seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET.

Best-price guarantee.

Customer service is available seven days a week.

Charges a $24.99 processing fee on reservations.

Must provide an email address to receive the best deals and promos.

» Learn more: The best cruise lines

For consulting reviews from other cruisers: Cruise Critic

Cruise Critic is an independent website that encourages community members to post reviews and share tips.

Its message boards offer ways for website visitors to ask questions and share feedback with others based on their personal experiences and opinions. The site also acts as a metasearch for cruise deals, pulling in prices from multiple cruise websites.

Read cruise reviews from travelers who've been on that itinerary before.

"Deal Score" ranks deals to find the best value.

Price tracker shows 90-day trends for cruise prices.

Must click through the deal to book your cruise on other websites.

Prices are not guaranteed and can change before booking due to fees and restrictions on the sites where the cruises are being sold.

To review several cruise prices at once: CruiseDirect

CruiseDirect is the best cruise website when all you want are cruise prices. It doesn't offer hotels, flights, rental cars or other reservations you may want for your next vacation. CruiseDirect does, however, offer bonuses for travelers booking through its site.

Travelers can filter search results by destination, cruise line or departure port on various ships. This site offers cruises for every type of traveler, from budget to luxury, and every type of ship, from riverboats to mega-ships.

Bonus offers on every reservation provide extra value.

Best-price guarantee and free reservation holds.

Buy now, pay later financing options.

Promos offered by cruise lines aren't exclusive to CruiseDirect.

Customer service can be unfriendly.

» Learn more: Should you insure your cruise?

For budget-friendly options: Priceline

Priceline was originally known for its "Name Your Own Price" promotions, but has grown into a full-service online travel agency offering flights, hotels, rental cars and cruises, saving consumers more than $1 billion dollars per year.

Travelers who book a cruise with Priceline receive up to $2,000 to spend at sea, plus waived deposits on their reservations.

Up to $2,000 to spend on board.

Waived deposits of up to $500 when booking your cruise.

110% best-price guarantee within 48 hours of booking.

Ability to book flights, hotels, rental cars and more from the same site.

Must call Priceline to get exclusive offers and unpublished fares.

Restrictions make the best-price guarantee harder to benefit from.

» Learn more: Tips for getting the best cruise deals

For booking travel experiences beyond the cruise: TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor is an online reviewer community where travelers share their experiences, pictures and ratings of hotels, suggested activities and more. This honest feedback and travel inspiration also make it one of the best websites to book a cruise.

Search over 70,000 cruise deals from more than 60 sites at once.

Dedicated ship pages share details, reviews, photos and itineraries.

Too many search results make it harder to narrow down your choices.

» Learn more: Are cruises all-inclusive?

To match with a vacation planner: Avoya Travel

Avoya Travel is a family-owned website that matches travelers with a vacation planner based on their preferences. It's the best way to book a cruise using a travel planner because it offers a low-price guarantee without charging extra fees for the planner.

The downside is that online pricing is not "live." Therefore, you must speak with a travel planner to get the latest prices and book your cruise.

Match with cruise planners according to your needs.

Does not charge Avoya fees for booking, changes or cancellations.

Get a low-price guarantee and the expertise of a vacation planner without extra fees.

Must become a member to unlock the best deals.

Pricing on the website is not "live" pricing, so actual cost may vary.

Cannot book a cruise online. You must speak with an independent vacation planner.

» Learn more: The best cruise insurance right now

To book a vacation package with an airline or hotel

American airlines cruises.

American Airlines AAdvantage members can earn airline miles when booking cruises at BookAACruises.com . All members earn one mile for every dollar they spend on cruise reservations, up to 10,000 miles. Some cruise specials offer up to 100,000 miles based on your selected cruise.

If you have an American Airlines credit card, you'll earn 2x miles, up to 20,000 miles. These miles and Loyalty Points count toward airline elite status. Additionally, trips booked through this site are eligible for promotions offered by the cruise lines.

Earn miles and Loyalty Points toward travel and elite status.

Cardholders earn 2x miles, up to 20,000 miles on cruises.

Cruise experts are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Cruise reservations are offered by a third party, so customer service issues can be a challenge.

» Learn more: The best travel credit cards right now

Delta SkyMiles Cruises

Delta Air Lines is another airline that allows members to earn airline miles when booking cruises through its portal. Booking through SkyMilesCruises.com helps you earn Delta SkyMiles on your purchase.

Members get up to 10,000 miles on most cruises and up to 100,000 miles on luxury cruises. Plus, the site waives deposits on eligible cruise reservations.

Can earn up to 100,000 miles when booking a cruise.

Waives deposits when booking eligible cruises.

110% price guarantee within 48 hours of booking.

Most cruise awards are capped at 10,000 miles.

Miles earned are based on the length of the cruise, not the amount spent.

United Airlines Cruises

United Airlines MileagePlus members can earn up to 25,000 miles when booking a cruise through United at Cruises.United.com .

When you have a United Airlines credit card, you'll earn up to 45,000 miles. By offering up to 4x miles per dollar spent (or 7x as a cardholder), this site is the best way to book a cruise and earn airline miles on your purchase. If you have Premier status, you receive additional perks on select cruise lines, like wine and onboard credits.

Earn up to 7x miles on cruises.

United MileagePlus Premier members receive additional perks.

Can redeem miles to pay for some or all of your trip.

Not all cruises can be booked online.

Prices do not include a nonrefundable $24.99 processing fee.

Marriott Bonvoy Cruises

If you want to earn hotel points on your cruise, Marriott Cruise with Points is the best cruise website for you. You'll earn up to 6x points on your cruise purchase, or you can redeem Marriott Bonvoy points to pay for your trip.

Plus, Marriott cardholders can earn an extra 2x points when they use that card for their purchase. While most cruises max out at 25,000 Bonvoy points earned, some luxury cruise lines offer up to 250,000 Marriott points.

Earn up to 6x points on your cruise, up to 250,000 Marriott points.

Marriott cardholders receive an extra 2x points when paying with their cards.

Can use Bonvoy points to pay for your cruise.

Redemption value of Bonvoy points is only 0.4 cent.

Must call to book cruises using points.

Processing fee of $24.99 per reservation.

» Learn more: Airline credit cards vs. hotel credit cards

For cruise package deals: Costco Travel

Costco is a retailer that offers exclusive products and pricing to its members. Through its Costco Travel website , members receive exclusive prices and benefits when booking hotels, rental cars, cruises and travel packages.

Executive Members earn 2% back on Costco Travel purchases and receive additional benefits on select packages. Plus, Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi cardholders earn 3% cash back rewards on Costco Travel purchases.

Earn 2% rewards and extra perks with Executive Membership.

Some cruises offer Costco gift cards or onboard credit.

Must be a member to book reservations with Costco Travel.

Directly with the Cruise Line

In some cases, booking directly with the cruise line can be best because it eliminates a third party. If there's a problem with your reservation or you need to make a change, you don't have to worry about the booking site and the cruise line pointing fingers at each other.

This may be the best approach if you know which cruise line you want to book and which cities you want to visit. However, you may miss out on promotions offered by third-party sites.

Simple search functions.

No hassles with third parties for problems, changes or cancellations.

Less likely to get scammed by fraudulent sites.

Miss out on deals offered by third-party sites.

Harder to compare prices, benefits and routes from multiple cruise lines.

Comparing cruise prices across websites

Without being able to compare prices, it can be a challenge to determine the best site for booking a cruise. To make it easier to compare, we priced out a 7-night Caribbean cruise for two adults. 

We selected the lowest-priced balcony room on Royal Caribbean departing from Miami in August 2023. Here are the results:

Mitigate cancellation policy risks with travel insurance

If you're worried your trip plans being disrupted by bad weather or a change of plans, travel insurance might help. This optional standalone insurance can be purchased separately from your cruise bookings.

But you might not even need to pay out-of-pocket for trip insurance because many credit cards offer travel insurance as a built-in benefit to customers who pay for travel expenses on that card.

» Learn more: The best credit cards for cruises

Travel cards with cruise benefits

You can get even more perks by booking your cruise with the right card.

on Chase's website

on Bank of America's website

on American Express' website

Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

Receive 60,000 online bonus points - a $600 value - after you make at least $4,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.

Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

Get 25% more value out of your points when you book cruises through Chase.

Book with your card to get automatic travel protections for your cruise.

Redeem miles as a statement credit to cover spending on cruises.

Book with your card to get automatic travel insurance coverage for your cruise.

Earn 2x points on travel spending, including cruises and some ship excursions.

Book with your card to get trip delay reimbursement, trip cancellation coverage and other travel assistance services.

Get American Express Cruise Privileges Program benefits when you book at least five nights with eligible cruise lines. Terms apply.

Cruise program benefits include $300 credit redeemable toward dining and spa services plus amenities like wine, chocolates and champagne. Terms apply.

Booking a cruise recapped

When looking for the best way to book a cruise, the price is virtually the same on every website. The difference lies in how each seller sweetens the deal.

Several cruise booking sites set themselves apart from the competition by offering additional benefits to encourage booking through them. Additionally, being able to book other parts of your trip — like flight and excursions — on the same site, or offering access to a travel agent, distinguishes some of the best cruise websites. 

When prices are the same, we recommend cruise bookers compare the perks being offered, then book on the site with the most appealing bonuses, like onboard credits, airline miles, hotel points or cash back.

If you're searching for cruises on a third-party website, you may question the legitimacy of that site. This is especially true if the site doesn't look professional or some of the information is outdated.

For this reason, you should stick with one of the best cruise booking sites on this list because they've been vetted for legitimacy and have a good track record with travelers.

Yes, last-minute deals can be the best way to book a cruise. If your travel plans are flexible, these deals can save you a lot of money. Keep in mind that you may not be able to book your preferred destination or routing if it is sold out.

Unfortunately, most cruise lines do not offer free cancellations or changes to take advantage of price drops after you book. Passengers can always negotiate with a booking site or cruise line, but they aren't obligated to refund the difference. Instead, they may offer you onboard credit, complimentary excursions or credit toward another cruise booking.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

75,000 Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1.5x-2x Earn unlimited 2 points for every $1 spent on travel and dining purchases and unlimited 1.5 points for every $1 spent on all other purchases.

60,000 Receive 60,000 online bonus points - a $600 value - after you make at least $4,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.

Expedia Rewards is now One Key™

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The 9 Best Sites to Book a Cruise

Avital Andrews

Avital Andrews, SmarterTravel's editor-at-large, is a travel and lifestyle journalist who is also a contributing editor for AAA's Via magazine. Her stories have been among the 10 most emailed or viewed on the Los Angeles Times, Outside, Sierra, and SmarterTravel websites, and have also appeared in USA Today, HuffPost, Apple News, Business Insider, and many other nationwide outlets. Her travel book , sold at bookstores and on Amazon, is in its fourth edition, and her journalism gets national media attention, including from The New York Times , The Atlantic , Time , NPR, and MTV. She's currently working on her first children's book. Follow her on Twitter @avitalb .

The Handy Item I Always Pack: My laptop—the lightweight and stylish HP Spectre x360—since I'm almost always on deadline.

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: A round-the-world cruise that makes stops to experience Aurora Borealis, the Olympics opening ceremony, Borneo, Madagascar, the Jerusalem Festival of Light, the Bolivian salt flats, Kenya's Giraffe Manor, the Galapagos, the Maldives, Bora Bora, the Seychelles, and every Disney park. (That itinerary definitely exists, right?)

Travel Motto: I'll steal Saint Augustine's: "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: Window, always. For the views and also the naps.

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Booking a cruise isn’t always simple. It can be a complicated, time-consuming process that involves dozens of open tabs and maybe a spreadsheet or two. But knowing the best site to book a cruise can help a lot.

And while would-be travelers are accustomed to clicking around on travel search engines to find the best deals on flights , hotels , and rental cars , many people don’t realize that they can use these same types of sites to book cruises, too.

But is there one best site to book a cruise? That depends on what you’re looking for. Sometimes the best cruise website is actually a cruise line’s own site—since technically, cruise booking websites aren’t allowed to undercut the prices that the cruise lines set.

Often, though, the best cruise search engines are indispensable for locating incredible deals, including ones that throw in booking incentives worth hundreds of dollars—in Amazon gift cards, complimentary shore excursions, onboard freebies, and so on.

To save you the hassle, SmarterTravel investigated the glutted space of cheap cruise sites to determine which are worthy of listing as the best cruise websites; below are a few that come highly recommended.

The Best Sites to Book a Cruise

• Expedia (including Travelocity and Orbitz )
• TripAdvisor

Avoya Travel

Cheapcaribbean.com, cruisedirect, cruise critic, costco travel, cruisewatch.

Expedia is an obvious first mention in a list of the best cruise booking sites, in part because it’s an absolute juggernaut (Expedia also owns Travelocity and Orbitz ). Its cruise-booking interface is simple and straightforward, only requiring you to enter your preferred sailing destination and date range, as well as how many passengers you’ll be bringing along. Then Expedia does the heavy lifting for you, with comprehensive results that make it one of the best cruise search engines.

On Expedia, it’s common to find bookable cruises for 70 percent off face value, with the ability to sort by price so the best cruise deals come up at the top of the list, saving you the scrolling. A sample search for a mid-June cruise to Alaska, for example, quickly came up with a seven-night itinerary starting at $389 per person—that’s less than $56 per person, per night for a mostly inclusive weeklong vacation.

Expedia’s cruise deals tend to come paired with other enticing offers, including steep discounts on pre-departure hotels when you book both your cruise and hotel through Expedia. There’s also a dedicated 800 number that lets you speak to Expedia’s cruise experts and, often but not always, a generous amount of onboard credit thrown in for good measure.

Best feature: Sheer search power. Expedia’s easy-to-use cruise search engine generates a useful and well-ordered list of the best cruise deals, without much effort required from the user. Also, Expedia’s prices frequently match what the cruise lines themselves offer.

Check out Expedia

Priceline is another powerhouse among cheap cruise websites. The initial interface comes off a bit clunkier than, say, Expedia’s or Kayak’s, but the tradeoff is that you can quickly search by cruise line, both standard and luxury, as well as by cruise length and departure port.

Using the seven-night Alaska example, Priceline brought up an itinerary aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Radiance of the Seas that starts at just $374 for the full week—roughly $53 per night. Hard-to-believe cruise deals like this show up on Priceline with regularity, which is part of what solidifies it as one of the best cruise websites.

Also adding to the appeal: deals exclusive to Priceline, plenty of bonus amenities (examples include $50 in onboard credit, third and fourth guests sailing free, and free specialty dinners for two), no money down to book certain sailings, frequent onboard credit sales, an 800 number to call should you need assistance while booking, and a loyalty club that’s ties in with every cruise line’s loyalty program. Priceline also lets you click a “senior discount” box if that applies to you.

Best feature: Priceline’s “ 110% Best Price Guarantee ” promises that if you find your cruise listed at a lower price on another website within 48 hours of booking, then Priceline will refund you 110 percent of the cost difference, including port charges.

Check out Priceline

Tripadvisor

Many people think of Tripadvisor mainly as a travel review site, where you go to get real talk on hotels and attractions, and to see non-glamorized photos of places as seen through actual travelers’ eyes. But Tripadvisor is also an excellent site for travel deals, including on cruises.

Tripadvisor Cruise , which launched in April 2019, is among the best websites for cruise deals—it lets you nab the lowest price by comparing more than 70,000 ocean and river cruises from some 60 of the best cruise websites. It’s got an attractive, inspiring landing page, and its newest function, “Explore Ship-tinerary pages,” lets you browse full ship profiles, details, photos, and itineraries.

Though Tripadvisor is technically a meta-search site for cruises, which means that it will send you elsewhere to actually book, its search engine lets users sort by destination, length, cruise line, and month of travel. The default search results are ordered by “best value”, unless you specifically click that you’d rather see the results organized by price, cruise length, departure date, or cruise ship. Even when you click on “price,” the lowest-priced offering doesn’t always come up first, though it only takes a few seconds of scanning to determine which itinerary has the lowest price—that seven-night Royal Caribbean International trip to Alaska came up on Tripadvisor starting at $365.

Best feature: What makes Tripadvisor one of the best sites to book a cruise? In addition to having one of the best cruise search engines, Tripadvisor lets you read other cruisers’ candid reviews of the cruise that you’re considering, so that you get the non-sugarcoated truth about each sailing.

Check out Tripadvisor

7 Things You Should Never Do on a Cruise Ship

A rarity on the internet, Avoya Travel is a family-owned company that has been dealing in travel for more than 55 years. Avoya is one of the best sites to book a cruise in part because of its patented technology that lets travelers search cruises by destination, date range, cruise line, and last-minute status—and then get matched up, in real time, with one of Avoya’s expert vacation planners, who use that algorithm to customize a cruise booking to your specific preferences. (From Avoya’s website: “…we combine the ease of online search, with the expertise and personalized service of Independent Vacation Planners, plus secure exclusive deals and extras so you get more out of every vacation.”)

Avoya’s team of staffers and wide network of independent agencies make for a cruise booking website that’s a bit different from the rest. Its front page shows the “Best Travel Deals,” which might include half-off cruise fares, onboard credit, prepaid gratuities, and free or reduced airfare.

Like several of the other best cruise websites, Avoya offers a low-price guarantee; if you book a cruise with Avoya and then find a lower rate on another website within 24 hours of booking, Avoya will refund the difference.

Best feature: Avoya offers free membership, and members get exclusive deals and discounts, access to unpublished fares, first dibs on promotions, the ability to save favorite searches, and the right to book, change, or cancel travel without incurring any Avoya fees.

Check out Avoya Travel

When looking for the best site to book a cruise, don’t be put off by CheapCaribbean.com ’s overly specific moniker. Despite the site’s name, it offers cruises all over the world. The site’s vibe is beach-oriented and a bit cheeky, with a front page that can overwhelm—but click on the “Cruises” tab, and a cleaner interface appears. There you can search by cruise line, ship, destination, departure date, and departure port.

CheapCaribbean.com offers refunds on 24-hour cancellations (within certain parameters) and a “ 110 percent best price guarantee, ” a promise that if you find a lower price on the same cruise within 48 hours of booking, the company will refund you 110 percent of the difference. The site also lists traveler reviews about each cruise ship (as supplied by Cruiseline), though the reviews often include comments about the ship’s destinations other than the one you’re considering, which isn’t entirely helpful. There’s also a live chat widget if questions come up while booking.

Best feature: Helping to make CheapCaribbean.com one of the best cruise search engines is the fact that it lets you check boxes for additional discounts, including a senior discount, discounts by state (just enter your ZIP code), and past guest discounts if you’ve previously sailed with, say, Princess, Norwegian, or Disney.

Check out CheapCaribbean.com

Its front page is clunky and sort of in your face, but CruiseDirect is still one of the best cruise sites for a variety of reasons. As a cruise-only company, CruiseDirect doesn’t deal in flights, hotels, or rental cars, allowing it to focus its full capacity on helping you find the best cruise deal possible. On the site, you can search by destination, departure port, month, length of cruise, and cruise line. There’s real-time online chat and a contact number for support from a cruise expert. If you aren’t quite ready to buy, you can “heart” cruises to save them as favorites to refer back to later.

CruiseDirect offers perks on most sailings, like onboard credit, free drinks, free Wi-Fi, free gratuities, free travel insurance, or a free specialty dining experience—check out the “Bonus” box on the cruise listing you’re considering to see what extras it comes with.

Best feature: Like some of the other cruise websites on this list, CruiseDirect offers a “ best price guarantee ,” which means that if you find a lower price on another cruise booking website within 24 hours of your initial booking, you’ll get refunded the difference. But one key difference between CruiseDirect and the other cruise sites is that you don’t have to pay the cost of your cruise up front, just a deposit—and then if your cruise fare drops before you’ve made your final payment, CruiseDirect will readjust your rate accordingly.

Check out CruiseDirect

5 Crazy Themed Cruises You Can Take in 2022 and 2023

A subsidiary of Tripadvisor, Cruise Critic has similar search results to that site, but it offers a bit more comprehensive information for seasoned cruisers who want more details before they book. Cruise Critic has tons of filters and sort options to help you find what you want, including everything from cruise line to cruise style (family cruises, luxury cruises, cruises for the disabled). Each itinerary clearly lists what is and isn’t included in the fare; Wi-Fi, alcoholic drinks, gratuities, and port taxes and fees are among the common exclusions.

Certain itineraries are marked with graphics declaring that the ship has won one of the site’s “Cruisers’ Choice” awards, denoting vessels that Cruise Critic members declare to be the among the best in categories such as cabins, entertainment, and family-friendly features.

You can sign up for price alerts, which will notify you by email when the fare on your selected itinerary drops.

Once you’re ready to book, Cruise Critic shows you a variety of offers from some of the best cruise booking sites, including bonuses such as onboard credit and prepaid gratuities. Then you click off to the site of your choice to make your purchase. Prices generally match what’s advertised on Cruise Critic.

Best feature: Under each search result is a tab for “reviews” where you can read reviews from Cruise Critic members who’ve previously traveled on the ship. On certain cruises you can click over to a full-length write-up of the ship by one of the experts on the Cruise Critic editorial team, including detailed information on dining options, cabins, entertainment, dress code, and more.

Check out Cruise Critic

When you think of Costco, you probably think of bulk food and toilet paper. But the next time you’re booking a cruise, it’ll be worthwhile to pull up Costco Travel , which is, unexpectedly, one of the best cruise websites.

The site doesn’t look fancy—it’s pretty bare-bones, visually—but the upside of going with a no-frills cruise-booking website is that Costco Travel offers extremely competitive prices, as well as some of the most attractive incentives, usually in the form of Costco Cash delivered to you after you get home from your cruise.

Though there’s no single point of contact if you need to call and discuss your cruise booking, Costco Travel’s call center is staffed with helpful agents from early morning until evening, seven days a week, and passengers can rest assured that Costco won’t go out of business before they set sail. Note that a Costco membership (starting at $60 per year) is required to book with Costco Travel, and that Costco doesn’t accept American Express.

Best feature: Rock-bottom prices—plus lots of cash back if you play your cards right: Costco Citi cardholders earn 3 percent cash back on cruise purchases, which can combine with the 2 percent Costco Reward for Costco Executive Members for a total of 5 percent back on Costco Travel’s already super low cruise rates.

Check out Costco Travel

Pondering which is the best site to book a cruise? Keep Cruisewatch in strong consideration—more than a typical cruise booking website, Cruisewatch bills itself as a “digital cruise advisor” that couples data power with personalization.

As an artificial intelligence cruise advisor, Crusewatch created technology that makes searching and booking a cruise more efficient—the first, it calls “Cruise Price Prediction.” In short, Cruisewatch collected and stored the daily price for each ship and cabin over a span of five years, resulting in millions of data points—and a massive database that informs exactly when cruise prices are lowest, and when the greatest saving potential exists.

Thanks to this comprehensive price history, Cruisewatch can predict cruise prices and drops with an accuracy rate of around 80 percent. Using the site’s cruise price prediction alerts, travelers can save up to 71 percent just by booking at the right time.

In addition to being able to predict prices, Cruisewatch tailors user search results to match their established preferences through customizable profiles and other similar features. This means you won’t waste time wading through cruises that may be cheap but don’t align with your vacation goals.

Best feature: Cruisewatch’s easy-to-set price alerts, based on tons of data, allow users to be notified in real time of the best new cruise deals the minute they come online.

Check out Cruisewatch

Book a Stay With SmarterTravel Hotels

Need a place to stay the night before you set sail? Search SmarterTravel Hotels for great accommodations in your port of call.

Some of the links featured in this story are affiliate links, and SmarterTravel may collect a commission (at no cost to you) if you shop through them.

Follow Avital Andrews on Twitter  @avitalb  or on  Facebook .

Editor’s note: Sarah Schlichter contributed to this story.

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Everything to Know Before Booking Your First Cruise

By Mark Ellwood and Ramsey Qubein

Approaching how to book a cruise for the first time has always been somewhat daunting, with a dizzying assortment of itineraries, companies, destinations, and ships to choose from. How can first-timers  book a cruise without going wrong? We asked three  Traveler -approved experts for their seasoned advice: Gene Sloan is cruise editor for  The Points Guy ; Jason Leppert is cruise editor for  TravelAge West ; Carolyn Spencer Brown is  Cruise Media’s chief content officer. All three are industry experts that have decades of experience across various types of cruises.

What’s the ideal cruise length for a first-timer?

A week or so is the  sweet spot for most first-time cruisers , which will offer three to six ports. Three-day sampler itineraries won’t allow you to explore more than one or two destinations, and you can’t decompress as thoroughly, either. Still, Leppert suggests a weekend trip could be enough for those that just want to try out cruising for the first time to see if you like it. 

While that’s  a good idea for some, Sloan also points out that cruise lines don’t always put their best ships on shorter runs. The ships on these itineraries can sometimes be older and have fewer of the bells and whistles that draw people to cruising in the first place. He says it is not exactly representative of the latest cruising has to offer, and the destinations on super-short cruises are not always the most unique offerings.

What’s the best way to book a cruise?

Many may wonder: Is it cheaper to book a cruise direct? Sure, you can  book a cruise online—but it’s a rookie mistake. Smart cruisers know the best place to book a cruise is with a  travel agent . Though agents’ roles have diminished in the mass-market travel biz, they remain crucial for cruising. Not only can specialists offer seasoned advice, but they can also wrangle deals and promos: Ask them about shipboard credit, which is the ocean equivalent of a gift card to spend onboard—$100 or so is a standard bonus. They may also have access to group rates, according to Sloan. Even if their prices are similar to those when booking direct, the volume of business agents do with cruise lines means you are more likely to score perks like a cabin upgrade or welcome bottle of Champagne when using one.

As the industry reinvents itself in the wake of the pandemic, it’s never been more important to have expert counsel, adds Spencer Brown. “At the end of the day, you’re going on this trip to relax, have fun, learn something, and get away from your everyday world. I want that support system.”

If something goes wrong, an agent can help rectify the situation faster than you may be able to if you go it alone. You won’t be paying more for their service, either. Most make their money via commissions from the cruise lines. Leppert calls it “the best of the best” advice to go with a travel advisor. 

What’s the best time to book a cruise?

If you're looking to leverage new cruise deals, the best way to  book a cruise is by starting early since prices continue to be robust. “There’s so much pent-up demand. People haven’t traveled for a year or more, so they’re spending more money on the trips they’re going on—upgrading to a nicer suite, perhaps,” says Spencer Brown. This could make it harder to secure the cabin you want on the sailing you want.

Leppert highlights  Wave Season (January through March) for booking a future cruise since this is when cruise lines typically announce their best deals although last-minute bargains always pop up. Like Spencer Brown, he says that demand is outpacing inventory so it is best to book as soon as possible.

Sloan agrees and says people  book cruises much further in advance than a hotel or flight, which means that inventory can get gobbled up quickly. Many cruise lines open up their reservation window as far as two years in advance, which means certain cabins can get snatched up. Don’t forget that many travelers are looking to use leftover credits they have from the pandemic, which further compounds the demand.

Most major cruise lines offer the equivalent of a price adjustment—if the cost of your cruise drops after you pay a deposit, but before the final payment, you’ll be protected, and refunded the difference. This means there is little penalty to reserving as early as possible.

What are the best types of cruises for first-timers?

Opt for a winter sun trip in the  Caribbean . It’s easy and affordable to reach the boarding port, and shuttling between the clusters of islands offers a compact, convenient way to experience a multitude of cultures. “Think of a cruise as a tapas menu,” says Spencer Brown—it allows you to sample destinations to which you might later return for a longer visit. Even handier, when on a Caribbean cruise almost every island accepts payment in dollars, so there’s no need to juggle currencies. The waters also are largely calm, keeping seasickness to a minimum.

River cruising is another smart first-time choice, adds Spencer Brown. “You can literally walk off the ship into town, go to a park or ride a bike, or just sit on the top deck breathing the air—it’s marvelous,” she says. 

Sloan offers another take saying that your travel budget should lead the way. If you are prepared to drop $1,000 a night on a cruise, start out on an upscale line with smaller ships like Silversea Cruises or Seabourn. These will give you a taste of cruising with fewer passengers, and often to smaller, less-frequented ports. 

If the budget leans more toward the $100 per-day price point, try one of the newer mega-ships from Norwegian Cruise Line or Royal Caribbean. These newer ships can have a bustling resort vibe that will keep you busy no matter what your cabin type.

Seasoned cruisers know that ship amenities are often less buys while at port.

Understanding cabin categories

There’s a dizzying array of options (and pricing) for staterooms, especially on larger ships. First-timers who simply want a place to crash often book the cheapest category, an interior cabin with no window or balcony. 

Matt Ortile

Kaitlin Menza

Kelsey Glennon

Lauren Burvill

If you fall for the trappings of a bargain-basement deal, that cheapie stateroom might be right across from the service area, with a door slamming shut 24/7 or underneath the kitchen, with heavy carts rolling at 6 a.m. Avoid cabins below frequently used passageways on the top decks where footsteps and the sound of deck chairs moving frequently can be annoying. Even higher category cabins can be one deck below the main deck so it is wise to ask about this when reserving.

There are several websites with exhaustive cruise deck plan maps that offer advice and user-generated feedback, almost like a sea-going counterpart to SeatGuru’s airline seat maps. These can be a lifesaver when choosing a cabin type.

The scoop on shore excursions

For a first-timer, these can be confusing. Details aren’t often added to an itinerary until six months or so before sail date; check back regularly, snap up a place on any excursions that are of interest, and book early—popular options can reach capacity long before sailing. 

Still, some travelers choose to go off-menu and arrange private excursions, using independent companies, which can often be cheaper than the line's options. Just keep in mind that when taking an independent excursion, the ship won’t wait for you if you’re late. Staying with the cruise line’s jaunts may be more expensive, but is a safer bet if you are not sure of a new destination.

Sloan says that it really depends where the ship is going. In some ports like Barcelona or Venice, it is easy to venture off on your own without an excursion. Others, however, may require longer drives or special access passes making excursions a safer bet.

Another consideration is to use port days to spend more time on the ship. Leppert notes that onboard amenities like pools, buffets and waterslides are less crowded when most people are ashore. If a particular destination doesn’t appeal to you (or perhaps you have been many times before), it’s ok to enjoy the ship instead.

What is a sea day?

Transits, when the ship is en route between ports, are known as sea days (like the term shore excursions, it's more  cruise lingo ); passengers, obviously, remain on board. Many newbies fret about wasting time at sea rather than exploring, but they’re often a fun chance to explore the ship itself, as well as decompress between ports. Some travelers actually  book cruises that have at least one or two sea days, especially if it’s a larger ship with loads of amenities like water parks, race car tracks, zip lining, and multiple shows. 

What's the best first cruise for a family?

The mega ships are always primed to be the best first choice for families, whether Norwegian’s 4,200-passenger  Escape or the newest Oasis class of ships beginning with the  new  Wonder of the Seas . Their emphasis is on activities like adrenaline-rushing water slides, surf simulators, and three-tiered race tracks.

Disney Cruise Line is an obvious place to start for families, but it has a surprising number of activities and experiences for adults, too, including adults-only areas on board. Still, this isn’t the line for an adult-only vacation unless you’re a hard-core Disney fan.

How much does it cost to book a cruise?

You may be wondering how much does a 7-day cruise usually cost? The answer is that it depends. The time of year you travel (avoid school holidays, for example), the destination, and the ports of call can affect the overall cost. 

Many travelers enjoy, for example, taking repositioning cruises. These happen typically as the seasons change and cruise lines move their ships from one region to another (between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, for example). Sometimes, these cruises visit islands that are rarely frequented making them more expensive. Many experts say that they are not ideal for first-time cruisers, however, as there may be many sea days. 

Shorter cruises that rely on drive-market travelers typically come with a lower price point than those in far-flung destinations. Special deals and repeat traveler discounts can also affect the overall cost.

What is the cheapest cruise ship to go on?

These are generally the shorter sailings from Miami or Port Canaveral, for instance, using the larger brands like Carnival, Princess Cruises, or Royal Caribbean, according to Sloan. The best deals are generally in the fall (the low season for Florida departures). Cruises to the Bahamas or the Caribbean tend to be more affordable than those to places like Europe or Alaska.

West Coast travelers can find great bargain deals on cruises to Mexico, too, adds Leppert.

What to know about cruise insurance

Don’t skimp on  cruise insurance . Cruise vacations can easily fall prey to flight disruptions or storms that can snarl plans. Check online for insurance policies from places like VisitorsCoverage and Seven Corners, which have reasonable prices for comprehensive coverage.

If you’re flying to the embarkation point, plan to arrive the day before—even the most perfect cruise won’t wait if you’re stuck in air traffic congestion all morning. Yet another reason to ensure you’re insured.

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The 17 Best Websites To Book Cruises at the Cheapest Prices [2024]

Katie Seemann

Senior Content Contributor and News Editor

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Senior Editor & Content Contributor

100 Published Articles 693 Edited Articles

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Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

35 Published Articles 3211 Edited Articles

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Table of Contents

1. cruise line’s website, 2. cheapcaribbean.com, 3. cruise critic, 4. cruisedirect, 5. priceline, 6. tripadvisor, 7. cruisesonly, 10. cruises.com, 11. american airlines cruises, 12. delta skymiles cruises, 13. united cruises, 14. marriott bonvoy cruises, 15. costco travel, 16. cruise.com, 17. travelocity, price comparisons, final thoughts.

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our  Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

So, you’ve decided you want to go on a cruise. Great news! But, do you know where to book it to get the best price?

There’s no shortage of websites out there that can help you book a cruise. There may even be more options to book cruises than hotels or flights. In addition to the traditional online travel agencies, there are a bunch of cruise-only sites that you can choose from, too.

So how do you know which site offers the best price? That’s where we come in. We combed through the most popular websites used to book cruises to look at their pros and cons and to do some head-to-head price comparisons.

If you’re only concerned about finding the cheapest price, scroll down to the price comparison section at the bottom of this post to see how all of these sites stack up against each other.

Your first instinct when booking a cruise may be to go directly to the cruise line’s website, especially if you have elite status with a specific cruise line. There are definitely some benefits to this — it’s simple and there are fewer hassles if you have to make any changes .

If you’re sure of the cruise line you want to take, it makes your search a little easier because you’re just looking at one specific line.

The big drawback when booking directly on a cruise line’s website is that you can miss out on extra deals that online travel agencies (OTAs) may offer.

Pros and Cons of Booking Directly with the Cruise Line

• Simpler search functions make it easier to locate specific cruises.
• There’s no middleman (another website) to deal with if there is a problem.
• You might miss out on extra deals offered by other sites.

Bottom Line: No matter where you choose to book your cruise, be sure to use the right credit card — refer to our list of best credit cards for cruises to get you started.

CheapCaribbean.com is an OTA that specializes in travel to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. It was founded in 2000 and prides itself on offering the best prices and great U.S.-based customer service . The site’s sales agents are available 7 days a week to help you plan your ultimate Caribbean vacation.

Despite the name, you can book cruises to destinations other than the Caribbean through CheapCaribbean.com, including Europe, Canada, Hawaii, and Alaska.

CheapCaribbean.com sometimes offers extra bonuses, like extra onboard spending credit. Plus it offers a 110% best price guarantee — if you find the exact same cruise for a cheaper price (available to the general public) on another website, CheapCaribbean.com will refund 110% of the price difference.

The not-so-great thing about CheapCaribbean.com is that it charges a $24.99 processing fee on each booking. It’s lumped into the taxes and fees, so you may not realize it unless you read the fine print.

Pros and Cons of CheapCaribbean.com

• Occasional special deals like extra onboard credit may be offered.
• 110% best price guarantee.
• There’s a $24.99 processing fee on each booking.
• You need to sign up for emails or call in to book a cruise if you want to access exclusive deals.

Hot Tip: Want to save more? CheapCaribbean.com offers exclusive deals to email subscribers and offers unpublished fares and exclusive offers if you call in to book your cruise. 

Cruise Critic is a cruise-focused website that features reviews, tips, and advice for a huge community of cruisers. The Cruise Critic forums provide a place to ask questions, give advice, and get help booking your next cruise.

The site also acts as a metasearch engine for cruises, allowing you to compare prices from lots of other websites . You can search for your perfect cruise and when it’s time to book, Cruise Critic will transfer you to another site to complete your booking.

Pros and Cons of Cruise Critic

• The site offers lots of cruise reviews, plus cruise tips and a travel forum to help you plan your trip.
• You can sign up for email alerts so you’re notified when the price of a cruise drops.
• The prices you see are not guaranteed and may be subject to other fees or restrictions depending on what website they are from.

CruiseDirect is a website that specializes only in cruises. The site allows you to quickly search cruises by destination, cruise line, departure port, or last-minute deals . You’ll find lots of different types of cruises, from budget to luxury and from mega-ships to riverboats.

With each cruise listing, you’ll see bonus details next to each sailing date — just click on each icon for details. Some of these are already reflected in the price and some are extras like onboard ship credit or discounts on shore excursions.

Pros and Cons of CruiseDirect

• Bonuses are offered with each cruise ranging from discounts, shipboard credit, or discounts on shore excursions.
• The bonuses offered are often from the cruise line and not exclusive to CruiseDirect, so you can get them regardless of where you book.
• The site is a bit cluttered and can be hard to navigate.

Kayak is a popular online travel agency but the site doesn’t support cruise searches anymore.

Priceline gained fame from its “Name Your Own Price” feature but has since transformed into a more traditional OTA. In addition to hotels, flights, and rental cars, you can use this site to book cruises, too.

Priceline often offers deals above and beyond what’s being offered through the cruise line. At the time of writing, a few different deals offered perks like $1,000 in onboard credit or 30% off every guest .

Plus, Priceline offers a 110% best price guarantee — if you find a lower, publicly available price for the exact same cruise within 48 hours of booking, you’ll be refunded 110% of the price difference.

Pros and Cons of Priceline

• Extra deals like onboard credit or room upgrades are sometimes offered.
• The site offers a 110% best-price guarantee.
• Some offers, including the one for up to $1,000 in shipboard credit can be confusing. Once you read the fine print, you’ll realize you need to spend $20,000 to get the full $1,000 credit.

Hot Tip: For more information, check out our detailed guide on booking travel with Priceline .

While you might think of Tripadvisor as just a place to get reviews and photos of hotels, restaurants, and activities, it’s actually much more than that. In addition to reviews and traveler forums, Tripadvisor acts as a metasearch engine , comparing prices on lots of other websites.

When you’re searching for a cruise, just click on the drop-down arrow that tells you how many deals there are — then you’ll be able to see that cruise’s price on many sites.

Pros and Cons of Tripadvisor

• It offers lots of great ship reviews and travel forums.
• It’s a great site to quickly compare prices on many sites at once.
• You may not be able to see all the deals being offered on each site.

Hot Tip: For more information, check out our detailed guide to booking travel on Tripadvisor .

CruisesOnly claims to be “the best” because each of its call center agents has an average of 5+ years of experience plus professional training.

While that might be helpful if you’re new to cruising or need some advice about which cruise line, ship, or destination you should choose, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting the best price (scroll down to the Price Comparison section to see how CruisesOnly stacks up against other websites).

CruisesOnly also has its own loyalty program. The V.I.P. Customer Loyalty Club is free, and you’re signed up automatically if you have booked with CruisesOnly at least once before. Benefits include things like shore excursion credits and onboard spending credits.

The V.I.P. Customer Loyalty Club only applies to cruises on these cruise lines:

• Holland America
• Royal Caribbean

CruisesOnly’s best price guarantee is similar to other sites — a refund of 110% of the price difference if you find a lower price on an identical cruise within 48 hours of booking.

Pros and Cons of CruisesOnly

• The V.I.P. Customer Loyalty Club is free and offers plenty of benefits.
• The site offers a 110% best price guarantee.
• The site, like many other OTAs, can be very busy, making it hard to narrow down the cruise you really want to take.
• The loyalty program only applies to 6 cruise lines.

When booking a cruise through an OTA, be sure to use a card that earns bonus points on travel purchases, such as the  Chase Sapphire Reserve ®  which earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points on cruises purchased from any website or travel agency.

Expedia might be one of the first websites you visit to search for flights or hotels (and it’s probably a site you have used for a long time), but did you know that you can book a cruise through Expedia as well?

The site is straightforward, easy to use, and offers cruises from all the major cruise lines . While Expedia doesn’t charge any booking fees, it also doesn’t offer any price guarantees. However, you can sometimes find additional bonuses for booking your cruise through Expedia.

It also does a nice job of showing exactly what’s included and what might cost extra.

Pros and Cons of Expedia

• The site sometimes offers extra bonuses like onboard credit.
• It’s easy to use and is very clear about what’s included in the price.
• No price guarantee is offered

Hot Tip: For more information check out our complete guide to using Expedia .

Orbitz is a typical OTA that offers flights, hotels, car rentals, vacation packages, and cruises. There are no booking fees on cruises and a price guarantee is offered . However, the price guarantee isn’t as strong as some of the other sites — you’ll need to find a lower price within 24 hours to receive the difference in price as a refund.

Like Expedia, Orbitz does a good job at displaying prices clearly so there’s no confusion.

One of the nice things about Orbitz is that it offers a rewards program, but, unfortunately, cruises are not eligible for Orbitz Rewards.

Pros and Cons of Orbitz

• It offers a best price guarantee.
• There are no booking, change, or cancellation fees.
• Cruises aren’t eligible for Orbitz Rewards

Hot Tip: For more information, check out our complete guide to using Orbitz to book travel .

Cruises.com is another site that claims to be the best place to book your cruise. It can offer some impressive deals, but once you read the fine print, well, you realize there’s a lot of fine print.

For example, a deal was offered for up to $2,000 cashback, $1,500 to spend onboard, or a Visa gift card. However, after reading the fine print you’ll notice that in order to get the full bonus you’d have to spend $20,000+ on a cruise. To top it off, the bonus is only available for select cruise lines.

So while the deals offered could be lucrative, they aren’t necessarily a slam dunk.

Cruises.com also has its own loyalty program. It’s free and you’re signed up automatically if you have booked with Cruises.com at least once before. Benefits include things like shore excursion credits, onboard spending credits, or deposit waivers. Benefits are identical to those offered through the CruisesOnly loyalty program.

Pros and Cons of Cruises.com

• A loyalty program is offered for past guests.
• There are sometimes extra bonuses beyond what’s offered by the cruise line.
• There is a lot of fine print with its offers.

Hot Tip: Cruises.com and CruisesOnly are both owned by World Travel Holdings, along with other websites, including Cruise411.com. These sites offer the same loyalty program and similar perks, however, their prices can be different.

Did you know that you can book a cruise through American Airlines ? The best part is that when you do, you’ll earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles for your purchase (in addition to any points or miles you will earn from your credit card).

• Earn 1 AAdvantage mile per $1 spent on cruises booked through American Airlines (up to 10,000 miles)
• American Airlines credit cardholders will earn 2 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent on cruises booked through American Airlines (up to 20,000 miles)
• Occasionally, additional bonus points will be offered for select cruises

Hot Tip: Base miles earned by booking a cruise through American Airlines will also count as Loyalty Points that help you earn American Airlines elite status .

American Airlines Cruises also offers a 110% best price guarantee — if you find the exact same cruise priced lower within 48 hours of booking, you’ll be refunded 110% of the price difference.

The bad news is that you’re charged a $24.99 processing fee on every booking.

Pros and Cons of American Airlines Cruises

• AAdvantage members have the ability to earn lots of American Airlines miles and Loyalty Points.
• There is a $24.99 processing fee on every booking.

Bottom Line: While you can book a cruise through American Airlines, you can’t use AAdvantage miles to pay for it.

In addition to flights, you can book cruises through Delta Air Lines’ SkyMiles Cruises and earn Delta SkyMiles at the same time.

Currently, you’ll earn 2 SkyMiles per $1 spent on a cruise , excluding the taxes, fees, and port charges.

SkyMiles Cruises also offers a 110% best price guarantee — if you find the exact same cruise priced lower within 48 hours of booking, you’ll be refunded 110% of the price difference.

Pros and Cons of Delta SkyMiles Cruises

• Earn extra Delta SkyMiles.

Bottom Line: While you can book a cruise through SkyMiles Cruises, you can’t pay for your cruise with Delta SkyMiles.

When you book a cruise with United Cruises you can choose to either earn United MileagePlus miles for your purchase or you can use MileagePlus miles to pay for your cruise !

United Cruises offers different ways to earn miles on your next cruise:

• Earn 2 MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on an interior or oceanview stateroom
• Earn 4 MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on a balcony stateroom or suite
• Any United MileagePlus credit cardholder will earn 4 MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on an interior or oceanview stateroom
• Any United MileagePlus credit cardholder will earn 7 MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on a balcony or suite stateroom

Additionally, there are sometimes opportunities to earn even more miles.

United Cruises offers a 110% best price guarantee — if you find the exact same cruise priced lower within 48 hours of booking, you’ll be refunded 110% of the price difference.

Unfortunately, United Cruises charges a $24.99 processing fee on every booking.

Bonuses for United Premier Members

If you have any Premier status with United Airlines you’ll also receive onboard extras with select cruise lines:

• A bottle of wine and chocolate-covered strawberries in your stateroom
• $100 spa credit
• $200 onboard credit
• $250 onboard credit

Use United MileagePlus Miles To Pay for Your Cruise

Paying for your cruise with miles is a great option to have. Unfortunately, you’ll lose out on some value if you do so .

When you book a cruise using United Miles, you’ll get about 0.7 to 0.8 cents per mile in value. United miles are generally worth around 1.3 cents per mile (or more if you’re booking business or first class flights), so you’re getting less value than you could get if you used your miles for a flight.

However, if you have a bundle of United miles and prefer cruising to flying, it might be a good redemption for you.

Pros and Cons of United Cruises

• MileagePlus members have the ability to earn lots of extra miles.
• United Premier members receive extra perks with Norwegian, Oceania, and Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines.

Bottom Line: When you choose to book your cruise through United Cruises, you can either earn United MileagePlus miles on your purchase, or you can pay for your cruise using your United MileagePlus miles.

Marriott Bonvoy Cruises allows you to earn Marriott Bonvoy points on your cruise or you can choose to pay for your cruise with Marriott Bonvoy points !

When you book a cruise through Marriott , you’ll earn up to 3 points per $1 spent . Chase Marriott Bonvoy credit cardholders will earn an extra 2 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 spent on a cruise booked through Marriott Bonvoy Cruises.

Marriott Bonvoy also offers a 110% best price guarantee — if you find the exact same cruise priced lower within 48 hours of booking, you’ll be refunded 110% of the price difference.

Hot Tip: If you book a cruise through Marriott Bonvoy, know that you’ll be charged a non-refundable processing fee of $24.99. That’s a pretty hefty fee considering many other sites don’t charge any fees.

Use Marriott Bonvoy Points To Pay for Your Cruise

It’s a great option to be able to pay for your cruise with points , and Marriott Bonvoy makes that possible. However, it’s not the best way to use your Marriott Bonvoy points.

When booking a cruise with Marriott Bonvoy points, you’ll only get 0.4 cents per point in value. Since Marriott Bonvoy points are generally worth about 0.7 cents each, you’ll be missing out on some value, so you might want to look into other ways to redeem your Marriott Bonvoy for hotels or flights .

Pros and Cons of Marriott Bonvoy Cruises

• Members can earn extra Marriott Bonvoy points.
• You can pay for your cruise with Marriott Bonvoy points.
• The site offers a 110% best price guarantee
• You’ll be charged a non-refundable processing fee of $24.99 per reservation.
• Marriott cruises can only be booked with Marriott Bonvoy points over the phone.

Bottom Line: When you book a cruise through Marriott Bonvoy, you can pay for your cruise with points or you can choose to pay cash (I mean, credit card!) and earn Marriott Bonvoy points on your purchase.

Costco Travel is an in-house travel agency that’s only available to Costco members . Costco offers 2 levels of membership: Gold Star for $60 per year and Executive for $120 per year. Executive membership comes with a valuable extra perk for travelers — 2% back on your purchases through Costco Travel (up to $1,000)!

Another great thing about Costco Travel is that you’ll sometimes find deals that offer extra shipboard credit or a Costco shop card as a bonus.

Costco Travel is easy to use and offers all of the search and filter functions found on any other website.

Pros and Cons of Costco Travel

• Executive members receive 2% back on purchases through Costco Travel.
• Costco shop cards or onboard credit are sometimes offered as a bonus.
• Costco Travel is for members only.

Hot Tip: For more information, check out our detailed post on using Costco Travel .

Cruise.com  is a cluttered website and can be overwhelming when you’re searching for a cruise (especially if you’re a first-time cruiser and not quite sure how everything works). It offers lots of deals and discounts, but many of those are actually offered through the cruise line, so it can be hard to tell which bonuses are actually coming from Cruise.com.

Pros and Cons of Cruise.com

• Lots of deals for a variety of cruise lines are offered.
• The website is very busy and cluttered.
• No price guarantee is offered.
• You may be contacted by cruise.com after searching for a cruise on the site.

Hot Tip: Don’t be confused — Cruise.com and Cruises.com are 2 separate websites!

Travelocity is a website that many travelers use to book flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruises. The simple interface and the fact that there are no booking fees will make this a good choice for many travelers.

While Travelocity doesn’t advertise as many deals and savings as other sites, the price still manages to come out about the same as other websites.

Pros and Cons of Travelocity

• There are no booking fees.
• It’s simple to use.
• No rewards program or extra bonus points.

Hot Tip: For more information, check out our complete guide to booking travel with Travelocity .

Let’s get to the important part — price comparisons! We priced out a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise from Miami on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas. Prices are for 2 adults in an Infinite Central Park View Balcony room.

As you can see, most websites offer the same price . The difference comes in the extras like onboard credit, free specialty dinners, free gratuities, or bonus miles.

The exception in this example was Cruise.com, which offered a savings of $50 on the price of the cruise. However, some of the extras offered by other sites could be worth more than that, so it’s always a good idea to price your cruise on multiple websites before booking.

Bottom Line: The base cost of a cruise is generally the same across most websites. The big difference comes in the extras — onboard credit, specialty dinners, cash-back, or bonus miles. 

No matter where you book your cruise, you’ll be paying the same base price 9 times out of 10. Even though a website might be offering “the best prices” or a “50% discount,” when you actually look at the numbers they’ll usually be the same as every other website.

To get a great deal, you’ll need to look for bonuses that a particular website is offering, such as onboard credit, free specialty dinners, cash-back, or bonus airline miles.

The higher the room category you’re booking, the more bonuses you’ll be able to get. Keep in mind that lots of the bonuses you may see advertised won’t kick in unless you book a balcony stateroom or a suite. Cashback and onboard spending bonuses are generally tied to your stateroom level as well which means you’re not going to get anywhere near the amount advertised if you’re booking an interior or ocean-view cabin.

No matter where you book your cruise, be sure to check out our post with cruise tips and a downloadable packing guide !

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you get the best deals on cruises.

To get the best deals on a cruise, it’s important to know which website is offering the most bonuses. The base price of your cruise will be the same from website to website 9 times out of 10, so you’ll need to find the website that’s offering the best bonuses like onboard credit or free specialty dinners.

Is it better to book directly with the cruise line?

Surprisingly, you’ll usually get a better deal when you book your cruise through an OTA (think Cruise.com, Expedia, or United Cruises). When you book through these types of sites you’ll get any deals that are being offered directly by the cruise line plus any extras offered by the OTA.

Is it better to book cruises last minute?

While you can find some great deals on last-minute cruises, it’s not a guarantee. If you have any preference about your cabin type or location, you’ll want to book as early as possible to make sure you get exactly what you want. If you’re traveling with a group and want to book cabins that are next door to each other, you’ll also want to book ahead of time. However, if you’re super flexible and don’t care what type of cabin you’re in, where it’s located, or even what cruise you’re on, you can often find some good deals at the last minute.

What is the best website for booking cruises?

Unfortunately, there’s no one site that always offers the best cruise deals. Most of the OTAs like CheapCaribbean.com, Cruises.com, or Priceline offer the same prices. The difference usually comes when you factor in extras like onboard credit or free gratuities.

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About Katie Seemann

Katie has been in the points and miles game since 2015 and started her own blog in 2016. She’s been freelance writing since then and her work has been featured in publications like Travel + Leisure, Forbes Advisor, and Fortune Recommends.

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How to Find Last-Minute Cruise Deals

With the rising cost of hotels and airfare, cruises are still one of the most affordable ways to travel.

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Cruising on a budget? There are many resources available for travelers looking to save money.

Cruising is back – in a big way – after all the turmoil and shutdowns in the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Cruise Lines International Association's 2023 State of the Cruise Industry report, the intent to cruise is higher now than it was in December 2019, before the pandemic. About 85% of travelers who have been on a cruise will cruise again, which is 6% higher than it was pre-COVID.

John Lovell, president of the Travel Leaders Group division of Internova Travel Group, tells us, "Cruising has roared back since the pandemic and the lifting of sailing restrictions. It's a true success story! That means that we will see (and are seeing) full ships, even more so than pre-pandemic." He adds, "While Caribbean cruises remain popular, travelers are embracing river cruises, expedition cruises, smaller ships and off-the-beaten-path ports. There really is a cruise for everyone."

CLIA's report also states that passenger volume for 2023 is projected to reach an astounding 31.5 million passengers – 106% of the volume in 2019. In addition, the cruise industry is seeing higher numbers of solo travelers and people with mobility challenges – and there are more Gen X and millennials booking cruise vacations.

Chris Gray Faust, the executive editor of Cruise Critic, says that cancellation policies have also returned to normal with cruise bookings back to pre-pandemic levels, particularly for mainstream lines like Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Cruise Line . You also probably won't find many deals on sailings in high season and on the most anticipated new ships .

With more demand for cruise travel – one of the fastest-growing sectors of tourism – how can you find a last-minute cruise deal in 2023? Read on to find out how to book your dream cruise vacation for less.

When to find the best cruise deals

Scoring a great cruise deal depends on several factors, including the type of experience you're looking for ( adults-only or family-friendly , for example), the destination, the length of the sailing, the time of year and your flexibility to travel.

Lovell recommends booking early for the best pricing. "For many cruise lines, especially the expedition products and with some luxury lines, the best time to find deals is when they open new sailings," he says. "The cruises fill up quickly, so usually the best offer is the first offering in terms of pricing. Some of the larger cruise lines will have pricing and value-added promotions on sailings that still have open space about 100 days prior to sailing."

Summer 2023

If you're planning on traveling within the next few months, you may be able to score a last-minute cruise deal to some destinations, such as Alaska . According to Bob Levinstein, CEO of CruiseCompete.com, "There are still some great deals for the summer, especially in Alaska, which is particularly soft right now."

A representative from Priceline notes that the travel agency is also offering great deals for summer cruises to Alaska, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

When you're looking at pricing for cruises, be sure to compare fares that include the same costs, Levinstein advises. Some advertised fares that seem like an incredible deal don't include the port taxes and fees, which can substantially raise the price of your vacation.

Within 90 days of sailing

Gray Faust says the window for finding last-minute cruise deals is within 90 days of a sailing. "That three-month mark is when final deposits are due on a cruise, and historically the last point you could cancel your cruise without financial penalty," she says. "At that point, cruise lines try to fill those vacant cabins, usually in the form of slashed fares to entice people to book."

Levinstein agrees. "While the market has heated up, the closer-in the sailing the more likely you will find a bargain." He adds, "But as last-minute deals are based on how full a particular sailing on a particular ship might be at a given time, shopping around is often rewarded regardless of overall market conditions."

Fall or spring

You may find cheaper cruise fares if you're able to book a last-minute cruise departing in the spring or fall when most families with children in school can't travel. As such, cruise lines typically have more availability and lower pricing during these times.

Wave season

If you're willing to book a cruise during the promotional period known as "wave season" – which spans early January through the end of March – you may be able to find a last-minute cruise deal that fits your budget.

Hurricane season

Planning a last-minute cruise during hurricane season in the Caribbean and Mexico – from June 1 to Nov. 30 – is another option. These months coincide with the shoulder season in those regions, so it can be a great time to find cruise savings. If you do book a cruise during hurricane season, consider investing in a travel insurance policy that has trip interruption and trip cancellation benefits. You'll also want to make sure that all of your prepaid and nonrefundable expenses are covered in the policy.

Read: The Best Cruise Insurance Plans

Early December

Levinstein says the first two weeks of December are also a great time to take a cruise. Early December is typically when families are preparing for the holidays at home or getting ready to travel at the end of the month for Christmas and New Year's, so it's an ideal time to go on a cruise for less.

Book a last-minute cruise deal on GoToSea , a service of U.S. News.

How to find last-minute cruise deals

Cruise line sites

If you're internet-savvy and don't mind perusing the cruise lines' websites individually, check out their advertised discounted fares, included amenities and special bonus exclusive offers. These special fares often include free upgrades, airfare and credit for onboard spending. The types and level of perks may increase depending on the stateroom category.

For example, Norwegian Cruise Line offers a number of Free at Sea offers. These deals include unlimited open bar, shore excursion credits, dining at specialty restaurants, complimentary Wi-Fi and discounted rates for the second guest. Third and fourth guests staying in the same stateroom even get to sail for free with some deals.

In addition to the Free at Sea offers, Norwegian features CruiseFirst, a special bonus offer that essentially allows cruisers to earn free money. For example, if you purchase a $150 CruiseFirst certificate today for a six-day or longer voyage, it will double in value and you'll have $300 to spend on a cruise that you can take as early as 120 days from the purchase date. The certificates expire within three years.

If you're looking for reduced fares on a luxury cruise, it'll likely be more challenging to find a last-minute deal, with even lengthy – and expensive – world cruises selling out within hours. Levinstein explains this is because there's more demand than supply, when compared with the entry-level market.

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Cruise deal aggregator sites

If you prefer to use cruise deal aggregator sites, you can find last-minute cruises across the industry all in one place. Simply sort your findings by the month you'd like to travel, the length of your intended trip and where you wish to cruise. These are some of the best resources for finding cruise discounts:

• Cruise Critic
• Tripadvisor
• Cruise Compete

"Some lines began steering away from last-minute fare drops a few years ago, so keep an eye out for value-add deals as well," Gray Faust says. "While you might not get a super cheap base fare, things like free gratuities, drink packages and/or shore excursions could actually save you even more than you'd save on a slashed price."

'Kids sail free' fares

Some cruise lines allow kids to sail free , greatly reducing the total price of and/or adding value to your cruise. MSC Cruises allows guests ages 17 and younger to cruise for free year-round when they're the third and fourth passengers in the same stateroom with their parents. If you're considering a family cruise, check out the other cruise lines that offer similar promotions where children sail free, including Holland America Line and Norwegian.

Book a family cruise on  GoToSea , a service of U.S. News.

Cruise line loyalty programs

Consider joining your preferred cruise line's loyalty and membership programs for free upgrades. These are some of the best options:

• Carnival Cruise Line's VIFP Club:  This program features up to 40% discounts off fares, up to $50 in onboard credits, access to exclusive deals and other perks. Carnival VIFP members receive a loyalty number and can watch their points and rewards accrue online.
• Viking Cruises ' Explorer Society:   Viking's program offers past cruisers travel credits to use on future voyages, as well as members-only cocktail parties on the ship. Members are also privy to new itineraries and limited-time offers.
• Princess Cruises ' Captain's Circle:  Benefits with the Captain's Circle are based on the number of cruises you've taken. Some perks include early access to new itineraries, discounts for the onboard retail shops and excursions, complimentary minibar setups, priority disembarkation, access to the Platinum and Elite lounges, complimentary wine tasting events, and more.
• Norwegian Cruise Line's Latitudes Rewards:  This tiered program allows cruisers to earn discounts on select Norwegian products and services, such as beverage packages and signature spa treatments. You also get priority check-in, an exclusive cocktail party while on board, laundry service and more.

Cruise deal aggregator loyalty programs

You can also find loyalty programs through sites such as Expedia. An Expedia Rewards membership is free and offers discounts on travel; depending on your level (Blue, Silver or Gold), there are additional perks and benefits. You also earn rewards points to use toward booking future trips.

"On the Expedia website and through nearly 300 Expedia Cruises retail locations across North America, Expedia offers Member Prices, saving travelers up to 10% on last-minute deals, along with exclusive promotions on a variety of cruises," a company spokesperson says. "Expedia also secures special rates in advance on the most popular itineraries and cruise lines through the Expedia Exclusive Staterooms program. Most of all, travelers can reach out to one of Expedia's Vacation Consultants who can help navigate the current environment, answer any questions and help find the best value on their ideal vacations."

Read:  The Best Travel Rewards Programs

Travel advisors

Enlisting the help of a knowledgeable travel advisor can make planning easier – and it's one of the best ways to find last-minute cruise deals. Advisors, especially those specializing in cruises, usually have unique access to perks and discounts for big savings with cruise lines that can further enhance the value of your vacation and/or lower the total price.

Lovell agrees with this tip. "Demand for cruising is very high. I would always recommend booking early and working with a travel advisor," he says. "While there are lots of new ships, they often fill up quickly since travelers are eager to try out the latest and greatest the cruise lines have to offer."

Some aggregator sites also have their own travel advisors to assist in your search. Head of Priceline Cruises Denise Bialek says, "We highly recommend calling one of our Priceline Cruise advisors, as they are the most knowledgeable about the best rate options, know how to combine promotions to get the best deal and will save you time navigating the plethora of cruise lines, cabin categories, pricing, port charges and more." She adds, "An advantage of booking with one of our Priceline Cruise advisors is access to all cruise line offers and loyalty perks, in addition to our many Priceline exclusive deals, all supported by 24/7 service."

Additionally, keep in mind that travel advisors have insight into additional restrictions and the condition of each cruise line.

All-inclusive cruises

Though it may seem counterintuitive, you may be able to score a better value by booking an all-inclusive (or mostly all-inclusive) voyage than a budget cruise with a cheaper base fare. While these options are primarily in the luxury cruise line category, some fares are especially attractive thanks to included airfare costs, transfers to the ship, meals at all dining venues, premium wines and spirits, Wi-Fi access, and more.

When you book one of these cruises, you'll know the total cost upfront, and there won't be any unwanted surprises when you close out your shipboard account at the end of the cruise. Some of the traditional extras on noninclusive cruise lines – like bottled water, snacks, specialty coffee, gratuities or even beach equipment rentals on the line's private island – can add up quickly, diminishing the impact of your original fare savings. These are some of the all-inclusive cruise options:

• Viking Ocean Cruises:  On  Viking Ocean Cruises , travelers enjoy veranda staterooms; all meals (including alternative dining); beer, wine and soft drinks with lunch and dinner; one complimentary excursion in every port; and more, all in the base fares.
• Silversea Cruises:  Silversea Cruises  boasts door-to-door all-inclusive fares that encompass private transfers, gourmet meals, butler service, beverages and at least one complimentary excursion in every port.
• Regent Seven Seas Cruises:  Regent Seven Seas Cruises  offers two-for-one all-inclusive fares that also feature business class airfare on international flights, free two- or three-night land programs, a one-night pre-cruise hotel stay, free unlimited beverages and open bars, complimentary dining in specialty restaurants, unlimited Wi-Fi, shore excursions, prepaid gratuities, and more.

These lines also offer other discounts, and you may be able to combine them with exclusive offers that your travel advisor can access. Book an all-inclusive cruise on  GoToSea , a service of U.S. News.

Short cruises

Three- to five-night cruises generally equate to instant savings since they have lower fares than voyages lasting a week or longer. You may also be able to drive to the port, saving on airfare and other travel expenses. If you sail from ports in Florida or Texas, you can visit destinations in the Bahamas, the Caribbean and Mexico; ports of call may include stops at private, cruise line-owned islands like Royal Caribbean International's Perfect Day at CocoCay in the Bahamas.

If you're in the northeast U.S., you can book a short sailing to Bermuda  aboard a few different lines. Bermuda sailings with Carnival Cruises depart from New York City and Norfolk, Virginia, while Royal Caribbean sails to the nearby island from New York City and Baltimore .

From Los Angeles , embark on four-night Royal Caribbean cruises to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. With Celebrity Cruises , passengers can book six-night voyages that call on select California cities and Vancouver . The line also offers six-night, round-trip sailings from Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Shorter itineraries are less expensive not only because of their length, but also because they typically don't use the cruise lines' newest, largest vessels. Still, some ships have been updated, including Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, which underwent a $116 million amplification in 2020. Its upcoming itineraries make short trips between Miami and the Bahamas.

Repositioning cruises

Repositioning cruises are another option for booking a great cruise deal. The price on these voyages is less expensive since most of the days are spent at sea as the ships move from one region of the world to another. The itineraries are longer, so you'll need to have a flexible schedule for extended travel.

One of the pros of booking these cruises is that you'll get to see incredible destinations like Hawaii, Australia, Fiji, Portugal, Spain and Italy – with considerable savings. If you enjoy spending time on board the ship and don't need a port of call to explore every day, then this may be a great cost-saving option to consider.

For example, Celebrity has a 16-night Mediterranean Passage Transatlantic sailing from Rome to Tampa, Florida , in November 2023. The sailing includes eight ports and nine sea days, with fares starting at $899 per person.

Want to plan a cruise? See the top cruises on  GoToSea , a service of U.S. News.

Email alerts

Sign up for email alerts to receive updates on discounted pricing through the cruise line websites, travel aggregators or your travel advisor. That way, you'll be the first to know about limited-time offers, last-minute deals or value-adds that may make the price just right.

Why Trust U.S. News Travel

Gwen Pratesi has been an avid cruiser since her early 20s. She has sailed to destinations around the globe on nearly every type of cruise ship built, including the newest megaships, luxury yachts and traditional masted sailing ships. Most recently, she traveled on a small expedition vessel in Antarctica and crossed the notorious Drake Passage twice. She covers the travel and culinary industries for major publications, including U.S. News & World Report.

You may also be interested in:

• The Best Cruise Lines for the Money
• Cruise Packing List: Essentials to Bring
• How Much Does a Cruise Cost?
• The Trick to Finding Cheap Flights

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• Travel Tips

How To Buy Cruise Tickets

Published: December 21, 2023

Modified: December 28, 2023

by Iolanthe Sheaffer

• Travel Guide

Introduction

Planning a cruise vacation is an exciting and rewarding experience. Whether you are a seasoned traveler or embarking on your first cruise adventure, buying cruise tickets requires careful consideration and research. With so many cruise options available, it can be overwhelming to know where to begin. But fear not! In this article, we will guide you through the process of buying cruise tickets step by step, ensuring you make an informed decision that suits your preferences and budget.

From researching different cruise lines to selecting the perfect itinerary, and ultimately making the booking, each step is crucial in ensuring a memorable and enjoyable trip. We will also cover key aspects such as reviewing the terms and conditions, making the payment, and receiving the confirmation. Additionally, we will provide tips on how to prepare for your cruise, making sure you have everything you need to make the most of your voyage.

So, whether you’re dreaming of an island-hopping adventure in the Caribbean, exploring ancient cities in Europe, or cruising along breathtaking fjords, this guide will equip you with the knowledge and tools to make your cruise ticket purchase a breeze. Let’s dive in and start planning your unforgettable cruise vacation!

Step 1: Researching Cruise Options

The first step in buying cruise tickets is to research the various options available. Start by considering the destination you want to explore. Are you looking for a tropical getaway in the Caribbean, a cultural immersion in Europe, or perhaps an adventure to Alaska? Different cruise lines specialize in different destinations, so it’s important to choose one that aligns with your preferences.

Next, consider the duration of the cruise. Do you prefer a short weekend getaway or an extended voyage? Cruises can range from a few days to several weeks, so it’s vital to choose a duration that suits your schedule and desired level of exploration.

Once you have identified your destination and duration, it’s time to research the cruise lines that operate in those areas. Pay attention to factors such as reputation, onboard amenities, dining options, entertainment, and customer reviews. Each cruise line offers a unique experience, so take the time to read about their offerings and narrow down your options.

It’s also important to consider the type of ship that suits your preferences. Some ships are designed for families, offering a wide range of activities for children and teens. Others cater to adults, providing a more serene and sophisticated atmosphere. If you’re a solo traveler, some cruise lines offer single cabins, making it easier for you to embark on your journey.

In addition to the cruise line and ship, take note of the departure ports and available dates. Choosing a departure port near your location can save you time and money on travel expenses. Furthermore, check for any special promotions or deals that may be offered during specific dates, allowing you to make the most of your budget.

Gathering all this information will help you make an informed decision about which cruise options best suit your preferences and budget. Once you have narrowed down your choices, it’s time to move on to the next step: setting a budget.

Step 2: Setting a Budget

Setting a budget is a crucial step when buying cruise tickets. It allows you to determine how much you are willing to spend on your cruise vacation and helps you make informed choices throughout the booking process.

Start by assessing your overall financial situation and determining how much you can comfortably allocate towards your cruise. Consider factors such as transportation to and from the departure port, onboard expenses such as dining, drinks, and gratuities, as well as any additional excursions or activities you may want to participate in during the cruise.

Take into account any special promotions or discounts that may be available. Cruise lines often offer early booking incentives, last-minute deals, or discounts for certain demographic groups such as seniors or military personnel. Research these options and factor them into your budget planning.

It’s important to strike a balance between your desired cruise experience and your budget constraints. While it may be tempting to splurge on a luxurious suite or exclusive amenities, be mindful of the overall cost and consider if it aligns with your priorities.

Once you have determined your budget, it will serve as a guideline when comparing different cruise options. It will help you narrow down your choices and choose a cruise that offers the best value for your money.

Remember, setting a budget doesn’t mean you have to compromise on quality or enjoyment. It simply allows you to make informed choices and allocate your funds wisely. With a well-defined budget in place, you can move on to the next step: choosing a cruise line that meets your preferences and budget.

Step 3: Choosing a Cruise Line

Choosing the right cruise line is a crucial step in buying cruise tickets as each cruise line offers a unique experience. Consider your preferences, interests, and the type of vacation you want to have to help guide your decision.

Start by evaluating the reputation and track record of various cruise lines. Look for reviews online, check customer testimonials, and seek recommendations from friends or family who have previously sailed with different cruise lines. This will give you insights into their overall service quality, onboard amenities, and customer satisfaction.

Next, consider the target audience of each cruise line. Some cater to families with children, offering a range of kid-friendly activities, while others cater to adults, providing a more serene and sophisticated atmosphere. There are also cruise lines specifically designed for couples, solo travelers, or even adventure enthusiasts. Choose a cruise line that aligns with your preferences and travel companions.

Pay attention to the onboard amenities and facilities offered by each cruise line. Are you someone who enjoys a variety of dining options? Are you looking for a spa and wellness center? Do you want access to entertainment venues like theaters, nightclubs, or casinos? Make a list of the amenities that matter most to you and compare them across different cruise lines.

Consider the size of the ship as well. Larger ships typically offer more amenities and entertainment options, while smaller ships allow for a more intimate and personalized experience. Think about which atmosphere you prefer and choose a cruise line accordingly.

Another important factor to consider is the destinations and itineraries offered by each cruise line. Some specialize in specific regions or have exclusive partnerships that allow for unique shore excursions and experiences. If you have a specific destination in mind, check which cruise lines offer it and compare their itineraries to find one that matches your desired ports of call.

Lastly, compare the cost of the cruise tickets across different cruise lines. Keep in mind that the price includes not only the accommodations but also the onboard amenities and services. Be sure to factor in any additional costs such as gratuities, specialty dining charges, or optional excursions when comparing prices.

By considering all these factors and weighing them against your preferences and budget, you will be able to choose a cruise line that best suits your needs and sets the stage for a fantastic cruise experience.

Step 4: Selecting the Cruise Itinerary

Once you have chosen a cruise line, the next step in buying cruise tickets is selecting the itinerary that suits your interests and desired destinations. The itinerary determines the ports of call and the activities available during the cruise, so it’s important to choose one that aligns with your preferences and travel goals.

Start by considering the duration of the cruise. Do you prefer a short getaway or a longer voyage? Determine how many days you are willing to spend at sea and how many destination stops you’d like to have. Keep in mind that longer cruises often offer more diverse itineraries with a greater number of ports to explore.

Think about the destinations you want to visit. Are you dreaming of crystal-clear waters in the Caribbean, historical landmarks in Europe, or wildlife encounters in Alaska? Research the itineraries offered by the cruise line and see which ones include your desired destinations. Take note of the duration of stay in each port to ensure you have enough time to explore and experience the highlights of each location.

Consider the activities and excursions available at each port of call. Some itineraries may include popular tourist attractions, while others may offer more off-the-beaten-path experiences. Think about the types of activities you enjoy, whether it’s snorkeling, hiking, sightseeing, or simply relaxing on beautiful beaches. Choose an itinerary that offers a good balance of activities that appeal to you.

It’s also essential to consider the season and weather conditions in the destinations you want to visit. Some regions may have specific peak seasons, where the weather is ideal for outdoor exploration or witnessing unique natural phenomena. Take this into account when selecting your itinerary to ensure you have the best possible experience in each destination.

Once you have identified a few potential itineraries, compare them in terms of cost, included amenities, and any exclusive experiences they may offer. Consider any special promotions or deals for specific itineraries as well. This will help you narrow down your options and choose the itinerary that provides the best value for your money.

Remember, the itinerary sets the stage for your cruise experience. By selecting the right one, you can create unforgettable memories and discover new destinations. Take your time to research and choose wisely before moving on to the next step: booking the cruise tickets.

Step 5: Booking the Cruise Tickets

After finalizing the cruise itinerary, it’s time to proceed with booking your cruise tickets. This step involves securing your spot on the chosen cruise and ensuring all necessary details are provided accurately.

First, contact the cruise line directly or visit their official website to make your booking. Many cruise lines provide a user-friendly online booking system that allows you to select your preferred cabin type, input passenger information, and choose any additional add-ons or upgrades.

When booking, be prepared to provide necessary personal information such as full names, contact details, and passport information for each passenger. Ensure that this information is accurate to avoid any complications during boarding or disembarkation.

Consider the different cabin options available on the ship. From interior cabins to ocean-view cabins and luxurious suites, choose the accommodation type that best suits your preferences and budget. Take note of the specific deck location and any additional amenities offered with each cabin category.

During the booking process, you may have the option to select dining preferences, beverage packages, and any special requests or celebrations you’d like to arrange during the cruise. Take advantage of these customization options to personalize your experience and make the most of your time on board.

Before finalizing the booking, review all details carefully. Double-check the chosen cruise dates, itinerary, cabin type, and any selected add-ons to ensure everything is accurate. Take note of any cancellation policies or refund terms provided by the cruise line.

Once you are satisfied with the details, proceed with making the payment. Most cruise lines accept major credit cards, and some may offer alternative payment methods like bank transfers or payment plans. Provide the necessary payment information securely and confirm the booking.

Upon successful payment, you will receive a confirmation email or booking reference number. Keep this information handy as it will be essential for future communications with the cruise line, as well as for any pre-cruise preparations.

It’s important to note that prices and availability of cruise tickets can vary. Booking early often provides better choices and allows you to take advantage of promotions, while last-minute bookings may offer discounted rates for unsold cabins. Balancing your budget and preferences, choose the booking option that suits you best.

Congratulations! You have successfully completed the booking process. The next step is to review the terms and conditions thoroughly to ensure a smooth and enjoyable cruise experience.

Step 6: Reviewing the Terms and Conditions

Once you have booked your cruise tickets, it’s crucial to carefully review the terms and conditions provided by the cruise line. These terms outline important details, rules, and policies that govern your cruise experience. By familiarizing yourself with the terms and conditions, you can avoid misunderstandings and ensure a smooth and enjoyable journey.

Start by accessing the cruise line’s official website or the booking confirmation email. Look for a section or link that provides access to the terms and conditions. Take your time to read through the document thoroughly, paying attention to the following key areas:

1. Cancellation and Refund Policy: Understand the terms regarding cancellations, refunds, and any associated fees. This will help you make informed decisions in case you need to modify or cancel your booking.

2. Travel Insurance: Review the cruise line’s policy on travel insurance. Consider purchasing travel insurance to protect yourself against unforeseen circumstances such as trip cancellation, medical emergencies, or lost baggage.

3. Passport and Visa Requirements: Ensure that you have the necessary travel documents and understand the passport and visa requirements for each destination on your itinerary. Familiarize yourself with any visa application processes and timelines.

4. Age Restrictions and Traveling with Children: If you are traveling with children, review the cruise line’s policies regarding age restrictions, child supervision, and whether or not a minimum age is required for certain activities or facilities on board.

5. Onboard Policies and Prohibited Items: Take note of any specific rules or restrictions imposed by the cruise line, such as dress codes, smoking policies, and prohibited items. This will help you pack appropriately and ensure compliance with onboard regulations.

6. Health and Safety Measures: In light of recent global health concerns, familiarize yourself with the cruise line’s health and safety protocols. Understand any requirements for COVID-19 testing, vaccination certificates, or other health-related guidelines.

7. Disembarkation Procedures: Review the procedures and guidelines for disembarkation at each port of call. Understand the expected timelines, documentation requirements, and any restrictions on independent shore excursions.

It’s crucial to thoroughly understand and adhere to the terms and conditions set by the cruise line. If you have any questions or concerns, reach out to the cruise line’s customer service for clarification. By being well-informed, you can ensure a smooth and hassle-free cruise experience.

Once you have reviewed and understood the terms and conditions, it’s time to move on to the next step: making the payment for your cruise tickets.

Step 7: Making the Payment

After reviewing the terms and conditions and ensuring that all details are accurate, it’s time to make the payment for your cruise tickets. The payment process is essential to secure your booking and confirm your spot on the cruise.

First, determine the accepted payment methods offered by the cruise line. Most cruise lines accept major credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. Some may also offer alternative payment options like bank transfers or payment plans. Choose the payment method that is most convenient for you.

If you are making the payment online, navigate to the payment page provided by the cruise line’s website. Enter your payment details accurately and securely. Ensure that the website is secure by looking for the padlock symbol in the URL bar and checking that the website is using encryption to protect your personal information.

Double-check the payment amount to ensure it matches the total cost of your cruise, including any additional fees or selected add-ons. Take note of any currency conversion rates or foreign transaction fees that may apply if you are paying with a credit card issued in a different currency.

If you are making the payment over the phone or through a travel agent, provide the necessary payment information as instructed. Confirm that the payment amount and details are clearly communicated and that you receive a receipt or confirmation of the payment.

Be aware of any payment deadlines or due dates specified by the cruise line. Late payments may result in the cancellation of your booking or additional fees. Set reminders or alerts to ensure that you make the payment on time.

Keep all payment receipts, confirmation emails, or booking reference numbers as proof of payment. These documents will be important for future reference and any potential disputes or inquiries.

Remember to monitor your credit card or bank statements to ensure that the payment is processed correctly and that there are no unauthorized charges. Report any discrepancies to the cruise line immediately.

By making the payment promptly and accurately, you secure your booking and confirm your place on the cruise. With this step completed, you can move on to the next step: receiving the confirmation of your cruise booking.

Step 8: Receiving the Confirmation

After making the payment for your cruise tickets, it’s time to await the confirmation of your booking. The confirmation serves as proof that your reservation has been successfully processed and provides important information regarding your upcoming cruise.

The confirmation is typically sent via email to the address provided during the booking process. Keep an eye on your inbox and check your spam or junk folder in case the email gets filtered incorrectly.

When you receive the confirmation email, carefully review the details to ensure everything is accurate. Pay close attention to the following information:

1. Booking Reference Number: The confirmation will include a unique booking reference number. This number is essential for any future communication or inquiries with the cruise line, as well as for online check-in.

2. Itinerary and Cabin Details: Double-check the dates, duration, and ports of call to ensure they match your intended cruise itinerary. Verify the cabin type, deck location, and any special requests or upgrades you may have selected during the booking process.

3. Passenger Information: Review the names of all passengers listed on the booking. Ensure that they are spelled correctly and match the information provided during the booking process. If there are any discrepancies, immediately contact the cruise line to rectify the issue.

4. Additional Services and Add-Ons: If you opted for additional services such as specialty dining reservations, beverage packages, or spa treatments, ensure that they are correctly reflected in the confirmation. Make a note of any specific instructions or requirements provided for these services.

5. Payment Details: Confirm that the payment amount, including any taxes, fees, or add-ons, aligns with the amount you paid. Verify that the payment method you used is correctly indicated in the confirmation.

If you notice any errors or discrepancies in the confirmation, promptly contact the cruise line’s customer service to address the issue. It’s crucial to resolve any discrepancies before your cruise to avoid any complications during the embarkation process.

Print a copy of the confirmation and keep it in a safe place along with any other relevant documents, such as your passport, travel insurance, and other travel essentials. Having all the necessary paperwork organized will make your pre-cruise preparations more convenient.

With the confirmation in hand, you can proceed to the final step: preparing for your upcoming cruise adventure!

Step 9: Preparing for the Cruise

With the confirmation of your cruise booking secured, it’s time to prepare for your upcoming cruise adventure. Proper preparation ensures a smooth and enjoyable experience on board. Here are some essential steps to take:

1. Review the Pre-Cruise Checklist: Most cruise lines provide a pre-cruise checklist or guide on their website or in the confirmation email. Go through this checklist to ensure you have completed all necessary tasks, such as obtaining travel documents, arranging transportation to the port, and packing essentials.

2. Complete Online Check-In: Take advantage of the cruise line’s online check-in process, if available. This allows you to provide necessary passenger information, select dining preferences, and expedite the embarkation process when you arrive at the port.

3. Pack Smartly: Refer to the cruise line’s guidelines regarding baggage restrictions and dress codes. Pack appropriate attire for various occasions on board, including formal nights, casual dining, and recreational activities. Don’t forget essentials like toiletries, medications, swimwear, and comfortable walking shoes.

4. Purchase Travel Insurance: Consider purchasing travel insurance to protect yourself against unforeseen events such as trip cancellations, medical emergencies, or lost luggage. Review the coverage provided by the insurance policy and ensure it meets your needs.

5. Explore Excursion Options: Research the shore excursions and activities available at each port of call. Take note of any popular attractions, cultural experiences, or adventurous tours you may be interested in. Pre-booking excursions can save you time and ensure availability.

6. Familiarize Yourself with Ship Amenities: Study the ship’s deck plan and explore the various onboard amenities, including dining options, entertainment venues, fitness centers, swimming pools, and spas. This will help you navigate the ship and make the most of your time on board.

7. Stay Informed: Keep an eye on any communication from the cruise line regarding updates, safety protocols, or last-minute changes to the itinerary. Stay informed about travel advisories, weather conditions, and any necessary vaccinations or health requirements for the destinations you will be visiting.

8. Prepare Travel Documents: Gather all necessary travel documents, including your passport, visas, and any other identification or documentation required for the cruise. Ensure that these documents are valid, easily accessible, and stored securely throughout your journey.

9. Make Necessary Arrangements: Arrange transportation to the departure port and plan your arrival time accordingly. Consider hotel stays the night before or after the cruise if needed. Coordinate with family members, friends, or pet sitters for any necessary arrangements during your absence.

As you prepare for your cruise, make sure to review all relevant information provided by the cruise line, including the embarkation procedures, onboard policies, and any health and safety measures put in place. Stay organized, pack accordingly, and keep a positive mindset as you embark on your exciting cruise vacation!

Congratulations! You have successfully completed the journey of buying cruise tickets. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you have taken the necessary steps to ensure a memorable and enjoyable cruise vacation.

From researching cruise options and setting a budget to choosing a cruise line, selecting the itinerary, and booking your tickets, each step has played a vital role in shaping your cruise experience. Reviewing the terms and conditions, making the payment, and receiving the confirmation have provided the necessary assurance and documentation for your upcoming adventure.

As you prepare for your cruise, remember to take the time to familiarize yourself with the ship’s amenities, pack smartly, and make any necessary arrangements. Stay informed about any updates or changes, and keep your travel documents organized and easily accessible.

During your cruise, make the most of your time by participating in onboard activities, exploring the destinations, and indulging in the various amenities and dining options available. Take advantage of shore excursions to immerse yourself in local culture and create lasting memories.

Remember, a cruise vacation is not just about the destinations you visit, but also about the journey itself. Embrace the opportunity to relax, unwind, and connect with fellow passengers, cruise staff, and the beautiful surroundings.

Lastly, be open to new experiences, embrace spontaneity, and have a positive attitude throughout your cruise. Cherish the moments, create lifelong memories, and return home with a renewed sense of wanderlust.

Thank you for joining us on this journey of buying cruise tickets. May your cruise vacation be filled with incredible adventures, relaxation, and unforgettable moments. Bon voyage!

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There's more to booking a cruise than picking your travel dates. Here's what to know.

Cruises could be considered one-stop shopping for travelers. With accommodations, transportation, food and entertainment all in one, they can help take the complications out of vacation planning.

But there’s more to booking a cruise than first-time passengers may realize.

From the wide range of lines to add-ons like drink packages and excursions that often cost extra, guests can face numerous decisions throughout the process. “There's like a pretty huge difference in booking a hotel upfront versus a cruise line,” said Andy Knowles, a luxury travel adviser affiliated with Fora Travel.

How far in advance should I book?

Booking well in advance will generally yield better rates, but travelers may also be able to find last-minute bargains if cruise lines are looking to fill space ( click here for USA TODAY’s guide to finding cruise deals).

“I'd say most of my clients are booking at least six months out in advance, if not more,” said Knowles.

Should I use a travel agent to book a cruise?

You can book a cruise without a travel agent, but there are some advantages to using one.

Alyssa Griffin, who makes videos about cruising with her husband, Cullen, on their YouTube channel, Griff & Alyssa , said they began working with an agent about five years ago.

“I don’t know why we didn’t get a travel agent sooner,” said Griffin, who has been on “at least” 60 cruises (she also worked as a travel agent briefly from 2018 to 2019).

Initially, she enjoyed coordinating trips on her own and found it easy, but she said consulting an agent “takes the stress out of planning, and they can help offer suggestions and things that you wouldn't necessarily think about.”

They can assist clients with determining which line, ship and destination may be the best fit. And if travelers run into an issue or have a question, their agent can handle it for them – a nice benefit given potentially long customer service phone line wait times.

“They can also get some cool perks, like onboard credit or some will put a bottle of wine or chocolate-covered strawberries in your room,” she added. Most also don’t charge clients for their services as they earn commission from cruise lines.

Knowles encouraged travelers to use an adviser who is an expert in the type of trip they are planning, whether a family vacation or a romantic getaway.

Many cruise lines also have in-house vacation planners who can help prospective guests navigate the booking process. Travelers may be able to find cheap rates on third-party booking sites (though some customers using those have had to jump through hoops when problems arise).

Should I book my flights through a cruise line?

Packages that bundle flights with a cruise are sometimes “very enticing and worth it,” according to Knowles, but they can come with some limitations. “I will say for the majority of cruise lines that you're booking flights through their platform, it just adds that third-party element that sometimes removes things from your control,” he said.

If travelers need to make changes, for instance, he said they would have to go through the cruise line. And while they may be able to list their general preferences, it’s not as easy to choose the exact seat they want on the plane.

Are cruises all inclusive?

That depends. Cruise line fares do include items that are often sold a la carte on land, and you can technically go an entire sailing without paying much more than the ticket price.

But many extras are not part of base fares on mainstream brands, ranging from alcoholic drinks to laundry, so you can rack up quite a few additional charges depending on your priorities. That's where packages come in handy, and higher stateroom categories often include more perks.

Luxury and river cruise lines also tend to bundle more in their base fares, though policies vary.

Do I need restaurant reservations?

Not necessarily. Mainstream cruise lines historically offered an early or late seating in their dining rooms, but many have introduced flexible mealtimes in recent years and often have a number of casual walk-up venues open for dinner as well. Some lines don’t have traditional dining rooms at all.

But if you want to eat at specialty restaurants, which typically come at an extra charge, you’ll likely want reservations. Passengers may be able to make a last-minute booking, but it’s worth doing before the cruise.

“I always recommend booking those ahead of time just to have something locked in,” Knowles said. Reservations typically open 30 to 60 days before departure.

If guests change their mind, it’s fairly simple to make changes “so you’re not necessarily locked into one spot.” They can typically do so via the cruise line’s app.

The newer, the better: What to know about taking a cruise with a mobility device

When should I book excursions?

The same goes for excursions. “I always point folks towards, if there’s one specific tour that (clients are) like, ‘This is something that we absolutely want and need to do,’ that it's always best to book that as far out as you can, just to make sure that you have it available,” Knowles said.

That said, cruise lines typically offer “a pretty large handful of experiences in each location,” and he hasn’t had any clients board to find all the excursions sold out.

Are tips included in my cruise fare?

Mainstream cruise lines charge passengers for gratuities on a per person, per day basis. The cost is automatically added to their onboard account, and passengers can generally adjust them before disembarking.

Passengers can also pay their gratuities in advance. Many higher-end lines include tips in the fare automatically.

Should I prepay for extras?

Guests can buy add-ons like Wi-Fi or drink packages during the cruise, but they may be sold at a cheaper rate ahead of time. Knowles said there is typically “going to be some incentive to booking beforehand.”

“So, if you were booking a bar package, something that might be $250 on board, you'll pay maybe $200 up front for,” he said. If you know you want to book one at some point, he recommended pulling the trigger sooner than later.

Griffin echoed that, and said the convenience is also nice. “I am one to just want to get on the ship and not worry about how much money I’m spending once I get there,” she said. “So, if you've already established all those things ahead of time, it feels more like an all-inclusive vacation.”

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

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The Vacationer • Cruises • Cruise Guides

20 of the Best Websites for Booking Cheap Cruises in 2024

Think that the only place to go for booking a cruise is directly via the cruise line’s website? Or through a travel agent? Think again. You can also find cheap cruises through a bevy of affordable travel booking websites. Here are 20 of our favorites, as well as the pros and cons of each option, so you can book your next cruise for the best price possible.

Table of Contents

Cruise-Specific Booking Websites

While you could go to an online travel agency that offers flights, hotels, and cruises, why not try a cruise-specific booking website first? After all, these are the pros that specialize in cruising, so they know what you’re looking for and how to give it.

1. CruiseDirect

Screenshot: cruisedirect.com

Yeah, CruiseDirect’s website looks a little outdated, but that’s only because this cruise booking provider has been around for about two decades. You know they know their stuff. 

One of the coolest features on this website? As you’re searching around for a cruise, you can “heart” the cruises you like, so you can go back later and reconsider them. Additionally, the website doesn’t require you to pay the full cost of your cruise at the time of booking — just a deposit.

• Booking incentives such as free dining experiences and travel insurance
• No need to pay up-front

Cons: 

• Price matching is only available for the first 24 hours after you book
• Clunky website

Click Here to See Cheap Cruise Deals at CruiseDirect

2. Cruise Critic

Screenshot: cruisecritic.com

Cruise Critic is a great little corner of the internet for those who love all things cruising. Here, you can find tons of information about your favorite cruise lines, cruise ships, routes, and more. Get in-depth reviews, cruising tips — it’s all there. But, beyond providing all of this extra info, Cruise Critic also allows you to book cruises. Unfortunately, it’s not Cruise Critic offering those cruises for sale. Cruise Critic just aggregates all of the pricing info and then presents it to you. You have to go to another website to book your cruise.

• Tons of information about any and every cruise
• Robust forum community of cruisers
• You’ll have to go to another website to purchase your cruise fare

Click Here to See Cheap Cruise Deals at Cruise Critic

3. Cruisewatch

Screenshot: cruisewatch.com

If you love the power of data, though, Cruisewatch might be the perfect cruise-booking platform for you. The website uses a compilation of data points to predict the best time for you to book your cruise based on price — allowing you to get the best deal, not just the best deal that the website decides to push that day. Additionally, it uses a handy algorithm to better suit the website’s recommendations to your tastes. As you “like” or “dislike” certain cruise features, the website learns your preferences and makes its recommendations accordingly.

• Tech-savvy search capabilities and personalization
• Real-time price drop alerts
• Search functions don’t go as in-depth as some of the others on our list
• Doesn’t show all the prices for all of the cruises available unless you hand over your personal info

4. CruisesOnly

Screenshot: cruisesonly.com

CruisesOnly offers … you guessed it: only cruises. What makes it a little different from other cruise-booking platforms on this list is its unparalleled level of customer service, with on-demand agents available to answer any of your cruising or cruise booking questions. The website also has a loyalty program, allowing you to earn extra bonuses and perks the more you book. For example, after just two bookings, you can get vouchers for shore excursions, cash back, and/or an Amazon gift card.

• Free loyalty program
• On-call booking agents
• Doesn’t always offer the lowest prices

5. Cruise.com

Screenshot: cruise.com

Cruise.com is just about as specific and simple as you can get. It’s a website, named after exactly what you want to book — a cruise! Unfortunately, while the name is simple, the website isn’t always as simple as it could be. This is a site that’s a little more catered toward the seasoned cruiser. It gives you a lot of information and a lot of options, meaning newbie cruisers could feel a little overwhelmed. One great thing, though, that this site offers that some of the other cruise-specific booking websites don’t? The ability to bundle your cruise fare with airfare.

• Book your airfare and cruise fare in one place, for one price
• Find a lot of extra offers, packages, and rates, all in one spot
• Lots of information in what can be a confusing interface
• This site is not newbie-friendly.

6. Cruises.com

Screenshot: cruises.com

So what about Cruises.com? Yes, cruise.com and cruises.com are two separate things. While the former is known primarily as a site that offers deals you won’t necessarily find elsewhere and gives you a lot of extra info, cruises.com is known for potentially lucrative deals. The only downside to these deals is that you have to be careful to read the fine print. If not, you could feel like you didn’t get your money’s worth or you could find yourself, unfortunately, scammed. That’s not to say it happens every time, though, so just do your due diligence.

• Find lucrative cruise deals
• Sometimes those deals aren’t as good as they seem

7. Vacations To Go

Screenshot: vacationstogo.com

Okay, so Vacations To Go sounds like it would give you the option to book everything you might need for an entire vacation. But, one quick look at the website’s homepage shows that it bills itself as an online cruise agency. It boasts that it’s the largest cruise agency in the world. It also says it can save you over 80% on cruise fares, but that’s not proven. 

Vacations To Go’s website may seem a little outdated, but it does have some nice features. It allows you to search for cruises with certain port stops. You can also search for cruises with particular themes, such as a singles cruise or cruises for emergency personnel. There’s also a 90-day ticker feature that shows you last-minute available cruises. 

The big downside to this website, though, is that you have to call the brand’s number to book. The only thing you can do online is ask for a quote. You’ll have to speak with someone to reserve your cruise.

• The website offers a robust search function
• You can find last-minute cruise deals, for cruises departing in 90 days or sooner
• You can’t book your cruise directly on the website
• You have to call a Vacations to Go representative to book

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)

But if you’re a frequent traveler, you’re probably already pretty familiar with the very popular online travel agencies out there. Priceline , Expedia — it’s incredibly common that you’ll find your best hotel and flight deals with one of these websites. But many of these online travel agencies likewise offer deals on cruises.

8. CheapCaribbean.com

Screenshot: cheapcaribbean.com

CheapCaribbean.com is technically a Caribbean-specific travel booking platform, but don’t let the name fool you. Rather, you can find cruises for all around the world here, not just Caribbean cruises. The nice thing about this booking platform is that it allows you to search via a few extra categories (like cruise themes) that you won’t find on the other platforms above. Additionally, CheapCaribbean gives you plenty of incentives to book on the platform, with discounts, credits, and even a loyalty club.

• Free, 24-hour cancellations
• Lots of booking perks, from spa credits to cash back
• Lots of search functionality
• Not 100% focused on cruises
• Reviewers report poor customer service
• Not as cheap as the name would suggest

Click Here to See Cheap Cruise Deals at CheapCaribbean.com

Screenshot: expedia.com

Comparatively, Expedia is one of the larger travel booking platforms out there. From vacation rentals to flights, rental cars to cruises, Expedia offers a little bit of it all. The site is easy to use, making it a top pick for those who want a hassle-free cruise-booking experience. The only downside, though, is that the cruise-booking experience is so simple on Expedia that you don’t have the chance to get down into the nitty-gritty of what you want from your cruise when searching. That could be either a pro or a con, depending on what you’re looking for.

• Some of the best cruise-booking deals available 
• Large, reputable platform
• Simple-to-use interface
• Conversely, the site could be considered too simple, and it doesn’t include all the search features an avid cruiser might want

Click Here to See Cheap Cruise Deals at Expedia

10. Priceline

Screenshot: hopper.com

Similarly, Priceline is another well-known travel booking platform, with just as much clout as Expedia. However, where Expedia fails in allowing for in-depth searches, Priceline shines. You can search for a range of cruising experiences, whether you want a balcony cabin, a luxury cruise, or even a cruise with a certain theme. You can also search for cruises with particular discounts, such as a senior discount. This makes Priceline quite competitive with CheapCaribbean when it comes to search features.

• Lots of ways to search for your perfect cruise 
• Bonus incentives for booking through Priceline, such as credits and shore excursion savings
• Priceline’s famed “name your own price” feature doesn’t apply to cruises

Click Here to See Cheap Cruise Deals at Priceline

Screenshot: kayak.com

Kayak is more of a travel deal aggregator than a legitimate online travel agency, but that’s precisely why Kayak aficionados prefer the site. It brings together travel deals from around the web and then even compares them to the deals you’ll find with competitors like Expedia and Priceline, so there are fewer websites you’ll need to scroll through, to find your best cruise deal. Further reading: see our complete guide to using Kayak to book cheap travel .

• Find more prices in one place
• Great user experience via the Kayak app 
• Unfortunately, Kayak pushes “suggested,” higher-cost cruises over the legitimately cheaper fares

Click Here to See Cheap Cruise Deals at Kayak

12. TripAdvisor

Screenshot: tripadvisor.com

Like Cruise Critic, TripAdvisor is a great place to go to find reviews and cruising information, but did you know that you can also book cruises via this website? You can find cruise deals from a wide array of sources, for cruises all over the world. However, also like Cruise Critic, TripAdvisor won’t allow you to actively book your cruise on the site. Instead, it’ll send you elsewhere to do that. But, it’s a nice feature if you’re already frequently on the site, reading up ahead of your next cruise.

• Real reviews and info plus booking and deal recommendations all in one spot
• You’ll be redirected to a different website for booking

Click Here to See Cheap Cruise Deals at TripAdvisor

13. Avoya Travel

Screenshot: avoyatravel.com

Next up, Avoya Travel is a unique option, as it combines online search features and travel agent know-how to give you what it calls a superior cruise-booking experience. You enter some info about what kind of cruise you want, and then a planner uses your information to show you the best cruises for you. Better yet, a website membership gets you access to unpublished deals, as well as free cruise booking changes and cancellations.

• Personalized service and cruise recommendations 
• Free membership comes with exclusive deals and perks
• The low-price guarantee is only available for 24 hours after booking 
• Not ideal for those who want a hands-off, DIY booking experience

Click Here to See Cheap Cruise Deals at Avoya Travel

Screenshot: orbitz.com

Another online travel agency where you might frequently book your other travel, Orbitz also offers cruises — and there are a lot of reasons why you might want to book with Orbitz. The site offers a loyalty program for frequent travel bookers (and it’s very possible to frequently book with Orbitz since the site offers entire vacation packages, rental cars, activities, etc.). It also offers deals and savings you might not find elsewhere. And, if you do find a better price on your cruise on another site, within 24 hours, you can take advantage of Orbitz’s best price guarantee.

• If you prefer to streamline your travel booking and do it all in one place, Orbitz will allow you to do that, with its wealth of options
• You only have 24 hours to take advantage of the best price guarantee
• Cruise bookings don’t qualify for the Orbitz loyalty program rewards

Click Here to See Cheap Cruise Deals at Orbitz

15. Travelocity

Screenshot: travelocity.com

Much like Orbitz, Travelocity is another online travel agency where you’re most likely to book a cruise only if you use the site for all of your other travel bookings. If you already book your flights, hotel rooms, and car rentals on Travelocity, it’s worth checking out their cruise deals. 

However, you might find the cruise booking portion of the agency’s website a bit clunky. For this reason, some users just use the website to browse their cruise options and then they call Travelocity directly to book their chosen option.

• Cruises offered in the same spot you potentially book all your other travel, for a streamlined experience
• Users find a poor website design (at least for the cruising portion)
• It’s sometimes easier to book over the phone

Click Here to See Cheap Cruise Deals at Travelocity

Airline, Hotel, and Other Brands

But sometimes, you can also purchase cruises through providers who aren’t online travel agents, or cruise lines, or even anything close. Airlines, hotels, and other brands also offer deals on cruises for their most loyal customers.

16. Costco Travel

Screenshot: costcotravel.com

Costco members can purchase cruises, hotels, airfare, and car rental packages all online. While the cruise fares aren’t necessarily cheaper through Costco than what you might get with some of the other providers on our list, the incentives are what make booking through Costco worth it for some. The favorite incentive? Hefty Costco gift cards.

• Incentives include Costco gift cards that can really add up
• The prices aren’t always cheaper than what you’ll find elsewhere
• A Costco membership is necessary to book

Click Here to See Cheap Cruise Deals at Costco Travel

17. American Airlines Cruises

Screenshot: bookaacruises.com

If you’re an American Airlines AAdvantage member, you may want to book your cruise through your existing American Airlines loyalty membership. Doing so allows you to earn airline miles, while also taking advantage of savings. Just like many of the above booking platforms, American Airlines Cruises promises a 110% best price guarantee, meaning they’ll refund you 110% of the difference if you find your cruise offered at a lower price within 48 hours of your initial booking.

• Earn up to 10,000 AAdvantage miles per cruise 
• Earn even more miles if you have an American Airlines credit card
• You’ll be charged an extra processing fee for your booking

18. Delta SkyMiles Cruises

Screenshot: skymilescruises.com

Very similarly, if you’re a SkyMiles member versus an AAdvantage member, you can earn miles for your cruising when you book with Delta SkyMiles Cruises. Rather than receiving a certain number of miles for which cruise line you cruise with, you’ll receive miles based on how long you cruise, up to 10,000 SkyMiles. You also get extra perks if you book more luxurious rooms.

• Earn up to 10,000 SkyMiles per cruise
• Receive extra cruise amenities based on your Delta Medallion status

19. United Cruises

Screenshot: cruises.united.com

Likewise, you can earn United MileagePlus miles if you book your cruise through United Cruises. Rather than base the number of miles you earn on nights cruised or cruise line, though, United Cruises bases your miles earning on the type of stateroom you book. You can earn up to 100,000 bonus miles on select cruises.

• Earn up to 100,000 MileagePlus miles per cruise
• Receive extra cruise amenities if you have Premier status

20. Marriott Cruises

Screenshot: cruise-with-points.marriott.com

But what if you’re not a member of any frequent flyer program? You can still earn points for an existing loyalty program if you’re a member of Marriott Bonvoy . Earn points based on how much money you spend for a cruise booking, via Marriott Cruises. 

You can earn up to 8 points per $1 spent on a cruise, putting you that much closer to a free night at your favorite Marriott-owned hotel. You can also use Marriott points to pay for your cruise if you so wish.

• Earn up to 8 points per $1 spent on a cruise
• Pay for your cruise using Marriott Bonvoy points

Booking Direct

Read all of the above and still tempted to book direct? We don’t blame you. There are reasons why you might. It’s easy. You know exactly what you’re getting. All the information about the line, its routes, and the individual ships is right there at your fingertips. However, despite this, you could still be missing out on some great deals. 

So what’s your best course of action? Before booking any cruise, look around at the various prices offered in a range of places. After all, you never know where an awesome deal could be lurking!

Further Reading: Can You Bring Food, Alcohol, Water, & Snacks on a Cruise Ship? , the Best All-Inclusive Cruise Lines , and the Best Credit Cards for Booking Cruises .

It all depends on what you’re after. If you want the most affordable cruise fare possible, you can usually find great deals the closer you get to a cruise date, as the cruise line tries to fill up cabins. However, waiting until the last minute could mean you end up with fewer choices in terms of cabin and amenities.

If you’re looking at a specific cruise across a swathe of websites, you’ll usually find that the base price is the same across a handful of sites. From there, you’ll have to look at the various “extras” the site is offering — drink packages, shore excursions, room upgrades, etcetera — to see which is providing the most value for that lowest price.

It’s a good question! Many cruise booking websites, even some of those we’ve listed above, look a little sketch. But don’t let an outdated website put you off. If it’s listed above, you can trust it. Just make sure to always read the fine print before you book any sort of travel online.

It does make sense that a cruise line might drop its prices to sell out cabins right before a cruise is set to launch. However, even having empty cabins on a cruise is a lot less common than you might think. Most cruises are full when they set sail. So, if you thought you might wait around and take a last-minute cruise that’s half-off the week before sailing, you might just want to abandon that idea.

Often, cruise lines will offer sales and deals in the late winter-early spring, January through March. These months are popularly known as “wave season.”

Most cruise lines will allow you to book a cruise as much as a year and a half in advance. If you decide to book this far out, just make sure that your cruise of choice offers some sort of travel booking insurance or a cancellation policy that allows you to adjust your schedule as needed without losing the entire cost of your cruise fare.

The Vacationer’s Final Thoughts

Cruise-specific booking websites are great resources to find your next trip at sea. However, OTAs can often have cheaper prices and worthy reward programs. Also, consider booking through a specific airline or hotel brand. This can help you maintain or gain status on an airline or with a hotel brand you use regularly. Additionally, booking with a cash back credit card such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited® can put 1.5% or more back in your wallet. Lastly, stacking these savings with another cash back program such as BeFrugal or Rakuten will further increase your savings. See also our guides on the best websites for booking cheap flights , the best websites for booking cheap hotels , and the best websites for booking cheap car rentals .

By Holly Riddle

Holly Riddle is a freelance travel, food, and lifestyle journalist who also dabbles in ghostwriting and fiction. Her work appears in publications ranging from Global Traveler to Golf Magazine, Mashed to Forbes, and Bloomberg. When she’s not writing, you can find her exploring the mountains near her home in the Adirondacks. Her favorite travel destinations include Chicago and New Orleans.

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When is the best time to book a cruise?

The best time to book a cruise is when you've done your planning, picked a ship and found a cruise fare that fits your budget and offers good value. But that doesn't stop vacationers from wondering if they'd find a cheaper price if they wait to book tomorrow, next week or next month.

I'd love to give you a magic date to circle in red on your calendar, so you'd know for sure that was the best time to book a cruise. The truth is there's no one best day, but knowing a few things about how cruise lines price cabins and when they tend to run promotions will help you identify high-value deals. When you see one, you'll know it's as good a time as any to book your next cruise vacation.

For more cruise guides, news and tips, sign up for TPG's cruise newsletter .

What is the best day to book a cruise?

Everyone wants to know the cheapest day to book travel — as if fares drop like clockwork on Wednesday morning and rise with the sun on Thursday. It doesn't work that way.

It used to be that lines like Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line would offer midweek sales on select cruises every Tuesday or Wednesday. These lines still offer the occasional flash sale, but they don't always fall on the same day of the week.

Within a given cruise sale's promotional period, I've seen cabin prices fluctuate daily and I've seen them stay the same for a week. It all depends on how many cabins a cruise line has allocated for a specific fare class and whether those rooms happen to sell out or not.

I could tell you that it's cheaper to book a cruise at the beginning of a sale because availability is greatest. However, if the line sees a certain cabin category on a specific ship failing to sell as expected, it could drop rates halfway into the sale period.

The exception is world cruises (and other highly anticipated and publicized short-season sailings, like Great Lakes cruises ). World cruises have sold out within hours, even with price tags of $150,000 per couple.

Related: The best credit cards for booking cruises

What is the best month to book a cruise?

If there's no best day to book a cruise for the best deal, you might think there's a best month. While you can find cheap cruises any month you look, I can give you some pointers about which months are most likely to feature cruise sales with value-added promotions.

The best months to book a cruise are January through March, when nearly every cruise line launches some kind of "wave season" promotion , and November through December, when Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales often start well before Thanksgiving and end days or weeks after. You might find a cheap cruise deal or a fare packed with extras (like complimentary beverage packages, free kids fares or reduced deposits).

Are you guaranteed to find the cheapest, most freebie-laden pricing during these months? Of course not! Cruise lines sometimes inflate prices before a sale, so deals for 30% or 50% off may not be as good as you think. Or, the cruise line may offer its best fares in a one-off sale at another time of year.

Whether the winter months are the best time to book a cruise depends on which itinerary you're hoping to book and how popular that sailing is that year. In a year when Alaska cruises are popular, the wave season promotions in January and February might not be especially good because the lines don't need to discount to fill cabins. But if Alaska cruise bookings are soft, the wave season specials could be the best of the year as cruise lines pull out all the tricks to fill ships.

Related: How to book a cruise with points and miles

What is the best time of year to book a cruise?

I could say that winter is the best time of year to book a cruise because that would cover the late-fall Thanksgiving week sales and wave season promotions. I can guarantee that your cruise line will offer some promotions during the winter, but that doesn't mean it's the best time to book.

If you want to book a solo or family cabin on a Mediterranean cruise in July, you likely want to book much earlier than January for the most availability and the best prices. As I said earlier, great sales and deals can pop up year-round, including on other holidays such as Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

How far in advance should I book a cruise?

All this talk of the best time to book a cruise raises the question of how far in advance you should book. The key to the answer is recognizing that cruise lines adjust pricing as cabins sell out (or fail to do so) on any given ship and itinerary.

Cruise lines want you to book as early as possible. Not only do they get cash in hand sooner, in the form of your deposit, but they can rest easy when a ship sells out early, knowing they don't have to work to get people to come on board and spend more money.

Therefore, cruise lines often offer their best fares when bookings open to incentivize travelers to book early. Cruises open for bookings a year or more in advance. For example, as of March 2023, I can book a cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line through spring or fall of 2025, depending on the ship.

Related: 15 ways that cruising newbies waste money on ships

Now, it might be the itinerary I'm looking at won't be popular, and the cruise line will lower the fare closer to sailing. Or, the itinerary will sell well, and prices will only go up from the original price. I can't know for sure, though I can guess that peak-season trips to popular destinations on a newer cruise ship are more likely to sell quickly. Christmas and New Year's cruises , top suites and limited specialty cabins (such as solo and family cabins ) also tend to sell out early.

If you ask me, the answer to "How far in advance should I book a cruise?" is as early as possible for the most popular cruises and cabin categories and at least nine months before most sailings.

Can I book a cruise at the last minute?

Yes, you can book a cruise at the last minute, but that doesn't mean you should.

In the cruise industry, a last-minute booking is considered any cruise purchased after final payment is due, generally 60 to 90 days before sailing. That means you have to pay the entire cruise fare at the time of booking rather than paying a deposit and the rest at a later date.

The final payment date is a day of reckoning for cruise salespeople. It's the last date that undecided travelers can cancel without penalty. Once final payment is due, the cruise line has a more accurate picture of who is likely to sail (since once you pay, you're likely to go, barring an emergency). At that point, the line can see if the ship is comfortably full (meaning it can hold prices steady or raise them because it's not worried about filling the ship) or is too empty (meaning it better run some promotions to get more folks in cabins).

If it's the latter, that's when you get last-minute deals on cruise ships with unsold cabins. However, even if that last-minute cruise is cheap, the 11th-hour airfare or pre-cruise hotel booking could eat into your savings.

For the real procrastinators out there, the absolute last day you can book a cruise before its departure has changed over the years. Currently, a cruise line could accept a booking mere hours before sailing, as long as boarding is still open and the ship's manifest (the list of passengers and crew members on board) has not been submitted to the authorities.

In actuality, most cruise lines will sell available cabins through the day before sailing, but limit or deny same-day bookings. Depending on the line, you may only be able to book cruises within a day or two of departure directly with the cruise line's reservations department.

Booking a cruise just days before sailing should only be attempted by travelers within an easy drive of the cruise port. You should also make sure that you have time to get any necessary documentation, as well as make related travel plans.

How do I know if I'm getting a good deal when I book?

Regardless of when you're booking a cruise, you'll want to know if the fare you're paying for your vacation at sea is a cheap deal, average or overpriced. Sadly, the best way to know that is to do your research.

Tracking prices allows you to watch the rise and fall of cruise fares over time, so when the fare drops, you'll recognize the price as a deal and be able to pounce on it. This strategy is best if you plan to book early and aren't as concerned about the ship selling out immediately.

Don't forget to watch for value-added promotions, as well. For example, Norwegian's Free at Sea promotion currently includes six booking perks (free beverage package, shore excursion credit, specialty dining, Wi-Fi, extra guests and buy-one-get-one-free airfare).

If that sounds like too much math homework, I recommend that you call a travel agent . A cruise-knowledgeable travel adviser can help you plan your trip and determine if the current pricing is good or if you should hold out for a deal.

Bottom line

I'll say it again: The best time to book a cruise is when you see a price and promotion that seems like a good value to you. If you feel like you're getting your money's worth on a cruise purchase, go ahead and book that dream vacation. There's no way to be absolutely sure you're buying when the cruise fare is the lowest possible price with the maximum number of fare inclusions.

Sometimes you may be forced to choose between the cheapest possible fare and one that offers a greater total value, given the included perks. Knowing when cruise lines will likely run promotions will help you strategize, but sales can pop up anytime — and not every promotion offers the cheapest fares.

Stop trying to game the system and focus instead on planning the perfect cruise vacation you and your loved ones will reminisce about long after you've forgotten how much you paid for the trip.

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The Best Time to Book a Cruise (Save Money, Better Cabins)

When it comes to booking a cruise, everyone wants to get a good deal. And the truth is that you can get the same exact cruise for hundreds — and sometimes thousands — of dollars less just by sailing during the right part of the season.

So when is the best time to book a cruise? Below, we’ll explain exactly the best time to buy your vacation.

Before we get too far, however, you should know that the biggest factor in how much you’ll pay depends on one thing: timing. And when it comes to timing your purchase, there are two things to consider: when you actually buy the cruise and when the cruise departs .

Below, we go into detail on both fronts with some actual data to show you exactly when to time your purchase and when to set sail to save the most money.

Best Time to Buy  Your Cruise: As Far in Advance as Possible

When should you buy your cruise? While the lure of last-minute cruise deals tempt people, data actually suggests that it’s a much better idea to book as far in advance as possible.

This isn’t because you’ll get amazing deals by buying earlier. But there is a different benefit to booking early. Truth is that cruise prices will vary, but tend to hover around the same price point, whether the trip departs next month or next year. 

But what about last-minute deals?

It seems like basic logic that if a cruise were about to set sail with empty rooms, the company would slash prices to get people on the ship. After all, once a room leaves empty, it earns no money for the cruise line.

However, if every cruise line slashed prices last-minute, people would catch on and wait to book their trip. There would be no reason to book early.

This would be disastrous for the cruise lines, who want you to book as soon as possible. In fact, some lines refuse to drop prices any lower once the cruise gets within a few weeks of departure .

Where you can get burned waiting until last-minute is with cabin selection . If you wait until a couple of weeks before the cruise sails, then you’re going to be left with cabins that other passengers didn’t want. This usually means there are no or limited balcony rooms, and the locations of available rooms are often less desirable.

In other words, by waiting you can actually see fewer options for cabins and locations on the ship .

If that weren’t enough to convince you to buy as early as possible, you should also consider how waiting until closer to the cruise sail date doesn’t always save money. And even if you book farther out and the price drops, you can often be compensated for the lower price.

Prices Behind Buying a Cruise Earlier Instead of Later

The price difference between a cruise bought close to the sail date or farther out is not always clear. Sometimes it’s cheaper to book sooner. Other times it’s cheaper to book later. It really depends on the demand for that cruise. In that case, we think it makes sense to go ahead and book your cruise early if you can and lock in a better cabin location.

The table below shows the headline fare for one cruise as an example. This cruise is aboard Harmony of the Seas on a 7-day cruise departing Galveston . Since the cruise is scheduled regularly for more than a year into the future, we can compare the price of the cruise now with the price of the same cruise at the same time next year.

As you can see, the prices for this trip are similar from one year to the next, though there is some variation across weeks. 

The prices below are shown per person for an interior cabin, before taxes and fees. 

Bottom line: Yes, there are some slight price differences and it’s not set in stone that buying sooner or later will save you money one way or the other. But if you’re going to end up paying around the same price whether you book the cruise a month before it leaves or a year before it leaves, it makes more sense to book as early as possible. That way, you have the most options available for cabin types and location.

Another Reason to Book Early: Price Protection If Prices Fall

Yes, prices for trips can vary but are usually similar whether you book early or not. There is another reason to book early, however. When you book early, you can often get price protection included in your fare.

How does this work? Like airfare, cruise fares can move up and down over time (though not near as drastically). If you book a cruise and see the price drop later, you should call the cruise line and request a refund of the difference.

Many last-minute cruise fares (those sold within 30-45 days from the sail date) have their prices locked. What you pay is what you get. If the price drops after you book, then it can be more difficult to get the difference in cruise fare refunded.

If you book well in advance (usually 90+ days), you can usually get some sort of price guarantee included with your fare. Book a fare, and if you see it drop later, you can call the cruise line and get the price difference either refunded or get the difference back as onboard credit.

There are rules and stipulations for each cruise line as to whether your fare is eligible to get refunded should the price goes down. You’ll want to make sure you read all the fine print of your fare before you buy. For instance, you can learn more about Carnival’s different fares here .

You can also learn more about getting your money back after a price drop here .

Is There a Best Month/Season to Book a Cruise (Such as Wave Season)?

We mentioned earlier that we suggest booking as early as possible. This gives you the most options as far as lowest prices, most cabins available, and price protection.

What about the actual date that you book your cruise? Is there a month or time of year (e.g. “Wave Season”) when the cruise lines offer the best sales if you book?

In our experience, there isn’t much difference in the time of year that you book.  For example, the same cruise isn’t automatically cheaper if you buy in January versus if you buy in July.

This makes sense. Say there was a month or two out of the year when cruises were drastically cheaper for you to book, no matter when you sailed. If that were the case, passengers would catch on and wait until then to book.

That would lead to fewer people booking throughout the year; instead they would wait until that one time a year when cruises were cheaper. Obviously the cruise lines wouldn’t want this. That’s why there’s not a best time of year to actually buy your cruise. You can find deals throughout the entire year. 

Instead, what will have the biggest impact on what you pay for a cruise is when you sail , not when you book.

Best Time to Sail for Cheap: Go When School Is in Session

Knowing the best time to purchase your cruise is just one part of the puzzle. The other piece of that puzzle? When you actually set sail. When you sail has a much bigger impact on what you pay than when you buy.

The simple rule of thumb is that prices are lowest when school is session .

When school is back in session, it’s much more difficult for many people to set sail. That means cruise lines offer cheaper cruises in an effort to get more people on the ship during these times. So you’ll find the cheapest time to book a cruise is in the fall and winter.

Specifically, the following times of year see cheap fares:

• January and February
• April and May
• September through November
• Between Thanksgiving and Christmas

Meanwhile, you’ll see the highest fares during summer, Spring Break, and the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays.

How much can you save based on when you sail? Take a look at the chart below. We’ve charted the per-person cabin prices for both a balcony and interior room. Specifically, these prices were for a 3-day cruise aboard Carnival from Miami that sailed regularly throughout the year.

During the course of a year, the price of the cruise varied from a low of $299 for a balcony cabin (during October and November) and a high of $539 (Christmas/New Year’s) even though this is the same trip on the same ship.

In other words, if you can sail at the least expensive time, your cruise can be a sharp discount off the peak price.

Again, the best time to take a cruise if you want the cheapest price is when school is in session. If you have to sail during the summer or holidays, expect to pay a premium.

What About Sailing During the Winter or Hurricane Season?

We’ve shown you the best time to sail if you want to save money. But what if you’re wondering about the best time to sail due to weather?

For example, is it fine to sail in the middle of winter or during hurricane season?

The good news is that there is no wrong time of year to sail for most cruises, such as those heading to the Caribbean or Bahamas. 

Let’s take winter . While it might be cold in North America, the weather stays fairly consistent in the Caribbean. For instance, the average high temperature for Cozumel is about 84 degrees in January and 91 degrees during the peak of August. So temperatures are cooler during the winter, but not by much. 

Where there is a difference during winter months is with your departure port. If you are sailing from a port in the United States (outside of South Florida), then the winter months can be cold. That means the first day of your cruise during the winter can be chilly as the ship heads south.

One more thing to keep in mind is the summer months in the tropics can often mean regular afternoon thunderstorms. (For example, Nassau in The Bahamas see about nine inches of rain in August.) Late winter and early spring months are drier. Even so, it can rain any time of year in the Caribbean.

Hurricanes are always of interest to the Caribbean, and hurricane season runs from June through November. For cruise passengers, the risk of being caught in a hurricane on a ship is low. Cruise ships actively avoid storms and steer for better weather.

Even so, hurricanes can impact your cruise. They may mean adjustments to the itinerary as storms hit near ports or delay ship arrivals. That can cause headaches.

In past experience, however, it seems fruitless to worry about storms if sailing during hurricane season. Their formations are simply unpredictable more than a week in advance. Outside of avoiding sailing between July-September (the peak of the season), there simply isn’t much you can do. (See our article: Is It Crazy to Book a Cruise During Hurricane Season? )

What About Waiting For Sales to Book/Sail?

Now that you know the best time to book a cruise, there is one final thing to mention — cruise line sales. You might wondering if they have an impact on the best time to take a trip.

Frankly, cruise lines are similar to clothing stores in that they are always running sales. Sometimes it might be an incentive to book and receive onboard credit, or a sale where additional passengers sail for a discount, or a percentage off the total cruise.

Truth is, there rarely seems to be a difference in what you end up paying for a cruise based on sales. Deals run so often that cruises seem to be in a constant sale. If you are short on cash right now, cruise lines do run deals with lower deposits to book cabins from time to time. However, the overall price that you’ll pay tends to end up the same.

In other words, if you’re looking for the best time to book, then focus on buying earlier and sailing when school is in session. Those factors play a much bigger role than constant sales offered up by cruise lines.

For more tips on finding cruise deals, be sure to read our 10 Rules for Getting the Best Deal on a Cruise .

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• From here, you may print your boarding pass and luggage tags.
• You can print your boarding pass if your booking is paid in full and Online Check-in is complete.
• You may also 'Print Documents' from 'My Cruise Manager' page; here you can print luggage tags, boarding passes and general information such as the booking summary, invoice, purchased services and travel notes.

Online Check-in ends at midnight (eastern time) prior to your sailing date; after that time, you will not be able to access Online Check-in. At embarkation, you will need to provide check-in information to our staff. On embarkation day, a boarding pass will be emailed to your email address that is linked to your reservation profile, whether Online Check-in has been completed or not. At embarkation, you may show your printed boarding pass or the boarding pass on your mobile phone.  

To review Online Check-in Frequently Asked Questions, click here .  

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What You Need to Know - Costs of a Cruise Ship Ticket (2024)

W ith all of the new cruise ships (and even some cruise lines!) over the past two years, you may be considering a cruise. Taking a cruise can be an effective and affordable way to see multiple destinations – you will travel to different ports of call as you stay in one room with no need to unpack. 

However, many travelers are worried about the costs of a cruise ship ticket. They may seem to be expensive. Luckily, many cruise lines and sailings are very affordable. Because most (but definitely not all) of the costs are included, they can be an easy thing to budget for as well. 

So, how much does a cruise ship ticket cost? This post will help you understand cruise prices on some of the most popular, mainstream cruise lines, as well as what affects the price of a cruise. There are also some optional add-ons that can add to the expense (as well as the fun!). For instance, a Virgin Voyages cruise fare includes WiFi, gratuities, and dining at any of the specialty restaurants at no additional cost. 

Typically, the base cruise fare includes things like your stateroom, meals (in the buffet, main dining room, and other included venues), government taxes, port fees, and most activities on board the ship. 

Note that we are only looking at mainstream lines, not luxury cruise lines. Prices and inclusions are always subject to change. 

How Much Does a Cruise Ship Ticket Cost?

What affects the price of a cruise.

There are so many factors that go into the price of a cruise. First, you’ll want to decide which cruise line you want to sail on. There are many benefits to each line If you don’t have one in mind, you should do some research in advance to find out what activities, amenities, itineraries, and general atmosphere are on the cruise lines you are considering.

The cruise line that you sail on is probably the biggest driver of cost. Some are most expensive than others. However, the inclusions may be different, so look at the add-ons in addition to the base cost to really get a good idea of what you’ll be spending. 

The itinerary that you are sailing on is another major price driver. This includes the ports of call that you’ll be visiting and the number of days of your sailing. In general, if you want to save some money on your cruise vacation, one easy option is to decrease the length of the cruise.

The type of stateroom that you choose will also affect the price. Expect to pay more for suites and balcony staterooms. The most cost-effective option of the cabin types is typically an interior stateroom.

Some cruise lines may offer you the opportunity to bid on a higher-level stateroom. It can be a great way to try for a suite or other concierge room that may have otherwise been out of your price range. To maximize your chances of getting the bid accepted, however, you’ll want to follow the cruise line’s recommendations. That won’t necessarily give you the best deal though. 

Another option to save money on your stateroom is to book a GTY stateroom (guaranteed). In this case, you’ll book your room without knowing the exact category or location. You are guaranteed a minimum category and can save money with this option. 

Add-ons To Your Cruise Price

It’s also important to understand what things can add to the cost of your sailing. Some of these are entirely optional, while others really aren’t. Be sure to have an idea of these costs so you can budget for them accurately.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is optional, but it is a good idea, especially for an expensive trip. This is an extra charge, and you can usually either purchase it on your own or through your cruise line. Check around for coverages and don’t just automatically go for the lowest price. Often, the cruise insurance won’t include coverage for flights purchased on your own.

Port Transportation 

Whether you are driving or flying, you’ll either need to park at the port or get there somehow. Some cruise lines will offer an option airport shuttle to the cruise port, but you’ll typically have to pay extra. In some cases, this will be the cheapest option, but that’s not always the case. Regardless of what you choose, you’ll need to include this cost in your vacation budget

Drinks packages or individual alcoholic drinks

Alcoholic beverages are not included with the cost of your cruise unless you’ve purchased an unlimited beverage package. Some cruise lines, like Disney Cruise Line, include soda, but others charge extra for some non-alcoholic drinks. It’s up to you to decide whether a package is worth it but plan on spending some money for drinks if you plan to have any soft drinks, specialty coffees, or alcohol during your cruise. 

Not all cruise lines offer unlimited beverage packages. Disney offers a beer or wine package, and Virgin Voyages offers a “bar tab”. Regardless, these can be the best deal if you will take advantage of them. 

Shore excursions

Every port of call will have some fun shore excursions that you can consider booking. Cruise lines offer these, or some guests choose to book them independently. Just remember that if you book on your own, it’s entirely your responsibility to make sure you get back to the ship on time. 

Shore excursions vary in price, depending on the activity. Some, like a helicopter ride, can be quite expensive, while others, like sightseeing tours, are more affordable. European and Alaskan excursions can be costly, so you’ll want to research before booking so you aren’t surprised. 

Spa treatments

Spa services on a cruise ship can be a wonderful splurge and luxury. These are not included in the cost of your cruise ship ticket, so if you do plan to visit the onboard spa or salon, be sure to understand the costs before committing. 

Specialty restaurants

While most of the main dining rooms on cruise ships offer excellent food and service, sometimes it’s nice to visit some of the specialty restaurants on board. These often come with an upcharge, although they are complimentary on Virgin Voyages where there is no main dining room. Some cruise lines may have a package where you can prepurchase from one to unlimited signature dining.

Gratuities are typically an additional charge on top of your cruise fare. Usually, you’ll tip individually when purchasing beverages or for room service. Then, you can leave a bigger tip for your server team and stateroom host.

Some cruise lines allow you to prepay your gratuities, which can definitely make things easier to budget. You can always add on at the end for excellent service. Virgin Voyages includes gratuities in the total price, so you don’t have to worry about them unless you’d like to add on. 

Cruising can be a great way to unplug and relax. However, sometimes you do need internet access to stay in touch with the real world. While WiFi at sea isn’t always great, it definitely has improved over the years. You can sometimes purchase a full cruise package and a daily package, which is a great option if you don’t need it for the entire sailing. 

Sample Prices:

Wondering about sample prices? These are just some examples of current prices of sailings on some popular newer ships and established cruise ships. Keep in mind that these prices are always subject to change, so this information is just informational. We looked at September 2024 dates for this analysis, for one balcony room with two guests:

Carnival Cruise Line:

• 4-Day The Bahamas from Miami, FL on the Carnival Conquest – $1,181
• 6-Day Eastern Caribbean from Miami, FL on the Carnival Magic – $1,625

Virgin Voyages:

• 5-Day Mayan Sol from Miami, FL on the Valient Lady – $2,128 (inclusive of tips)

Disney Cruise Line:

• 4-Night Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral, FL on the Disney Wish – $3,091

Royal Caribbean International

• 4 Night Bahamas & Perfect Day Cruise from Miami, FL on the Allure of the Seas – $1,304
• 7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day from Port Canaveral on the Icon of the Seas – $5,741

Celebrity Cruises

• 6 Night Bimini, Grand Cayman & Mexico from Fort Lauderdale, FL on the Celebrity Beyond – $2,248

Considering a family cruise? Check out our  guide to family cruising , with posts about popular cruise terminals, cruise ships, and cruise lines, as well as tips for cruising.

The post What You Need to Know – Costs of a Cruise Ship Ticket (2024) appeared first on Family Travel Magazine .

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Exclusive details, brooke shields accepted tom cruise, katie holmes’ 2006 wedding invite on 1 condition year after public feud.

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Brooke Shields “of course” was always going to attend Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ 2006 wedding — but initially joked why she would have skipped.

“I was gonna say yes to that,” Shields, 58, told Entertainment Weekly . “I was like, ‘Yes. I will — as long as I’m not the something old!'”

The “Dawson’s Creek” alum, 45, then made a special request before walking down the aisle.

“She goes, ‘Oh, will you?’ And I said, ‘What? Bring myself as the something old?'”

“I had to, like, hunt antique places,” Shields went on, “to find the perfect, you know, gift to give her.”

Luckily, the “Mother of the Bride” actress found a Victorian present for Holmes.

“It was a little compact that you put a ring … So you’re supposed to be able to look at their reflection in it and have it around their finger,” she explained to EW. “It was really beautiful.”

In 2006, Shields and Cruise got into a public spat when Cruise shamed her for taking medication to address her postpartum depression. “It was so ridiculous to me,” Shields said in her 2023 Hulu documentary, “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields.”

“It’s not about the moral thing, or the right thing, or the good thing. It’s about who has more power.”

Cruise gave his take on Today with now-former co-host Matt Lauer. “There is no such thing as a chemical imbalance. The thing that I’m saying about Brooke is that there’s misinformation. She doesn’t understand the history of psychiatry,” he said at the time. Despite the feud, Shields ultimately got a wedding invite.

Holmes and Cruise, 61, meanwhile, welcomed daughter Suri that same year.

Last month, Suri — who is still estranged from Cruise — turned 18. Suri has mainly grown up in Manhattan and has been shielded from Cruise’s Church of Scientology since the exes split in 2012.

Last year, Holmes told Glamour magazine that she likes to “protect” Suri from the public eye “because she was so visible at a young age.”

She added: “I’m very grateful to be a parent, to be her parent. She’s an incredible person. She’s my heart.”

Cruise, for his part, is also dad to two adopted children, Bella, now 31, and Connor, now 29, with ex-wife Nicole Kidman. Earlier this month, a photograph he took with Bella and Connor in December 2023 went viral. It was the first image of the three together shown in public since 2009.

“My whole life I always wanted to be a father,” the “Top Gun: Maverick” actor told Vanity Fair in 2006.

“I always said to myself that my children would be able to depend on me and I would always be there for them and love them — that I’d never make a promise to my kids that I couldn’t keep.”

He went on: “I’m not one of those people who believe you can spoil a child with too much love. You can never give a child too much love. There’s just no way.”

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The Man in Seat 61

Europe to China or Japan by

Trans-siberian railway.

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A journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway should be on everyone's bucket list.  It's safe, comfortable & affordable.  On this page I'll explain the routes, trains, classes, prices, answer your questions, and help you plan & book your trip.  Page last updated March 2022

IMPORTANT UPDATE 2024:   All international Trans-Siberian trains between Russia & China have been suspended since February 2020, originally due to Covid-19.  They remain suspended until further notice, although a weekly Irkutsk-Ulan Bator train resumed in late 2022.  All international trains between western Europe & Russia are suspended because of the war in Ukraine and sanctions.  Russian domestic trains are running including Moscow-Vladivostok.  However, the Foreign Office advises against all travel to Russia because of the war, see www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/russia .  I have left this page as was pre-pandemic, but various companies including Real Russia may no longer be trading.

Trans-Siberian trains, fares, tickets

Connecting trains & ferries

What is the trans-siberian railway.

The Trans-Siberian Railway is just one part of the massive Russian railway network, transporting passengers and freight safely at affordable prices.  It connects the European rail network at one end with either Vladivostok or the Chinese rail network at the other.  Take a look at the route map below to see where the Trans-Siberian Railway goes.  You can use it to travel overland in either direction between London, Paris or anywhere in Europe and China, Japan, Korea or even Southeast Asia...

Interactive map : Trans-Siberian, Trans-Mongolian, Trans-Manchurian

There's also a less well-travelled route to China via Kazakhstan, sometimes known as the Silk Route, for details click here .

An overview of the 3 routes

Moscow to Vladivostok :   Every day, the Rossiya (the Russia, train number 2 eastbound, train 1 westbound) leaves Moscow on its 9,259 km (5,752 mile) journey to Vladivostok, taking 8 nights/7 days.  In addition, 3 times a week you'll also find un-named train 61 westbound & 62 eastbound which link Moscow with Vladivostok with fewer stops in just 7 nights/6 days.  This is almost the longest train ride of them all, 9,259 km or 5,752 miles.  Trains 1/2 & 61/62 have 2nd class 4-berth compartments called kupé , open-plan bunks called platskartny & a restaurant car, see the photos below .  There are no longer any 2-berth spalny vagon sleepers on these trains, at least not at the moment, but if you like you can pay for 4 tickets to get sole occupancy of a 4-berth sleeper for one, two or three people.  These trains now have dynamic pricing, one-way fares from Moscow to Vladivostok start at around 11,500 rubles ($170 or £140) in kupé with a bed in a 4-berth sleeper, more if booked through an agency.  See a brief account of the journey .  There is a weekly ferry from Vladivostok to South Korea & Japan taking 2 nights & 1 day, although this was discontinued in February 2020, it has been resurrected by another company using the same ship, and should start taking passengers when borders reopen after the pandemic.

Two routes to China :   Although the main Trans-Siberian line runs from Moscow to Vladivostok, most western travellers head for China on one of two branches, the Trans-Mongolian line (completed in the 1950s) or the Trans-Manchurian line (built around 1900), see the route map .  There are two direct trains each week between Moscow & Beijing, train 3/4 via Mongolia using Chinese coaches and train 19/20 Vostok via Manchuria using Russian coaches.

Moscow to Beijing via Mongolia :   This is arguably the most interesting Trans-Siberian route to take.  The weekly Trans-Mongolian train (train 4 eastbound, train 3 westbound) leaves Moscow for Beijing every Tuesday night.  The 7,621 km (4,735 mile) journey takes 6 nights.  This train crosses Siberia, cuts across Mongolia and the Gobi desert, then enters China.  Westbound, it leaves Beijing every Wednesday morning.  This train uses Chinese rolling stock and has deluxe 2-berth compartments (with shared shower), 1st class 4-berth compartments & 2nd class 4-berth compartments.  Booked through a local Russian agency, journey costs around $805 or £555 one-way in 2nd class 4-berth or $1130 or £780 in 1st class 2-berth.  See an illustrated account of the journey .

Moscow to Beijing via Manchuria: The weekly Trans-Manchurian train (the Vostok , train 20 eastbound, train 19 westbound, using Russian rolling stock) leaves Moscow on Saturday nights for Beijing via Manchuria, taking just over six days to cover the 8,986km (5,623 miles).  Westbound, it leaves Beijing every Saturday night.  There are 2-berth 1st class compartments (spalny vagon) and 4-berth 2nd class compartments (kupé).  Prices are similar to the Chinese train.

Other Trans-Siberian trains:   These aren't the only Trans-Siberian trains.  Far from it!  Many other trains run over parts of these routes.  There's even a slightly slower Moscow-Vladivostok train, train 100 taking 7 nights instead of 6...  See the Trans-Siberian timetable below .

Planning your trip

1.  when to go eastbound or westbound is it safe.

Yes, the Trans-Siberian is perfectly safe, even for families or solo females.  It's the way Russian families and women travel, after all.

You can go at any time of year as the Trans-Siberian Railway operates all year round.  Naturally, the summer months from May to September have the best weather and the longest daylight hours so are the most popular.  In winter it's easier to get tickets, the trains are warmly heated and the Siberian landscape beautiful in the snow, but the hours of daylight will be shorter and stretching your legs at stations or visiting the cities will be chillier.  In many ways it's the slushy thaw around April that's least attractive. 

On board the trains, Kupé 4-berth sleepers (2nd class) is the usual comfortable choice for most westerners.  2-berth Spalny Vagon (1st class) is now quite rare, but you can pay for 4 tickets in kupé to get sole occupancy or a 4-berth compartment if you like.

You can travel the Trans-Siberian Railway either eastbound or westbound, it's up to you, although eastbound tends to be more popular with westerners, perhaps because going out by rail from your local station and flying back is more romantic than starting your trip with a flight.  On this page I cover both directions, remember that any comments written from an eastbound perspective usually apply westbound too!

See the Trans-Siberian travel tips for more advice & answering all your FAQs .

2.  Decide on your route & final destination

The Trans-Siberian Railway doesn't just go to Vladivostok.  It links Europe with China, Japan, Korea, even Vietnam and South East Asia.  How about  going to Beijing?  Shanghai?  Hong Kong?  Tokyo?  Tibet?  See the Trans-Siberian route map to open your mind to all the possibilities which the Trans-Siberian Railway offers.  You can even reach Hanoi, Saigon, Bangkok or Singapore overland from London.

Vladivostok is an interesting place for a day or two if you're passing through before catching the ferry to Japan or Korea , but probably not worth a 7 day journey from Moscow just for its own sake.  Beijing is a far better choice of destination as it's an absolutely amazing city that's well worth the overland trip from Europe.

The Trans-Mongolian is easily the most interesting of the three routes, even though it means an extra visa, there are superb views of the Gobi desert and a chance to stop off in Mongolia on the way. 

But why end your trip in Beijing?  Shanghai or Xian are just a few hours high-speed train ride away.  There are trains from Beijing to Hong Kong . How about Japan?  There are ferries from Shanghai to Osaka .  There's even a twice-weekly direct train from Beijing to Hanoi in Vietnam taking 2 nights, 1 day ( see the Vietnam page ), then you can take daily trains to Saigon, a bus to Phnom Penh and on to Bangkok, then a train to Malaysia & Singapore, see the Cambodia & Thailand pages.

3.  Do you want to stop off?

You cannot buy an open ticket and hop on and off, as the Trans-Siberian is an all-reserved long-distance railway where everyone gets their own sleeping-berth and every ticket comes printed with a specific date, train number, car & berth number.  However, you can easily arrange stopovers along the way using a separate ticket for each train, easily pre-booked especially if you use the Trans-Siberian Trip Planner .

The varied scenery and camaraderie on board the direct Moscow-Beijing trains makes non-stop travel on these trains an enjoyable option and maximises your time in China.  On the other hand, travelling to Vladivostok non-stop in 7 days can be tedious (I should know) and it's better the break up the journey and see something of Siberia.  And even if you're heading for China, there's lots worth stopping off for on the way if you have time.

The obvious stopovers are Irkutsk in Siberia for Lake Baikal and Ulan Bator in Mongolia, for a side trip into the Gobi desert.  If you have more time, Ekaterinberg & Ulan Ude are also worth a stop.

To help decide where to stop off, buy a copy of Bryn Thomas' excellent Trans-Siberian Handbook , with journey planning information, town guides, the history of the line, and best of all, a mile-by-mile guide to the sights you can see from the train, which really helps you get the most from the trip. The Lonely Planet Trans-Siberian Railways guide is also good.

Most western travellers pre-book all their tickets, but if you have lots of time and are determined to stay flexible and buy tickets at stations as you go, read this section about buying tickets at the station .

4.  Plan your Trans-Siberian trains

There is no such train as the Trans-Siberian Express but a whole range of trains across Siberia, including countless Russian domestic trains plus a handful of direct international trains to Mongolia and China.  Plan your trains using the Trans-Siberian timetable below or the Trans-Siberian trip planner .  Within Russia, there are both faster quality trains & slower cheaper trains, it's your call which you take.

So for example, if you chose to travel from Moscow to Beijing straight through without stopovers, you'd obviously book one of the weekly direct Moscow-Beijing trains, trains 4 or 20.  But if, say, you wanted to go from Moscow to Beijing with stopovers at Irkutsk and Ulan Bator, you might first take any regular daily Russian domestic train from Moscow to Irkutsk, and it might be nice to ride the Moscow-Vladivostok Rossiya for this bit unless a cheaper ticket for a slower lower-quality train better suited your budget.  Then you might take train 6 from Irkutsk to Ulan Bator 4 times a week, as this is easier to get berths on and more frequent than waiting for weekly train 4.  Then you might pick up trains 4 or 24 from Ulan Bator to Beijing.  Browse the Trans-Siberian timetable or use the Trans-Siberian trip planner .

5.  How much will it cost?  How long does it take?

To give you a rough idea, the cheapest trip put together yourself would include a Moscow-Beijing 2nd class train ticket from around £442 or $590, plus a London-Moscow train ticket for around £200.  You'll also need at least 1 night in a hotel in Moscow, and of course you need to budget for visas for Russia, China and possibly Mongolia and Belarus, plus travel insurance .  But it all depends on what you want to do, and how economically or luxuriously you want to travel.

Fares are shown in the fares section below , although what you actually pay depends on how you buy your tickets as the various booking agencies add differing mark-ups.  You can use the Real Russia Trans-Siberian trip planner to get a good idea of cost including stopovers.

In terms of time, London to Beijing with a one day stopover in Moscow takes around 10 days, London to Beijing with 2-days in Irkutsk and 3 days in Ulan Bator in Mongolia would take 15 days.  London to Tokyo or Hanoi with stopovers in Moscow and Vladivostok takes about 14 days.  You could reach Bangkok in around 20 days.  But where and how long you stop off is up to you.  I suggest sketching out an itinerary and budget using the method explained on the How to plan an itinerary & budget page .

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Booking your trip

Step 1, buy your trans-siberian train tickets.

When you have planned your journey, the first thing to arrange are your Trans-Siberian train tickets.  There are several ways to buy tickets, some cheaper but more effort, others easier but more expensive.  See the how to buy tickets section below for an explanation of all the options, but I'd recommend the Real Russia Trans-Siberian trip planner as arguably the best compromise between cheapness & simplicity for arranging your tickets.

Step 2, book connecting trains, ferries & flights

After booking your Trans-Siberian train ticket, book any onward trains within China , the Beijing-Hanoi (Vietnam) train , a China-Japan ferry , the Vladivostok-Japan ferry or a ferry to South Korea .  You may also need to book a one-way flight if you are going one way by train, the other by air.

Step 3, book your hotels

To find & book hotels in Moscow, Beijing, Vladivostok or in cities along the way, I usually use www.booking.com , as you can usually book their hotels with free cancellation, so you can safely book your accommodation as soon as you decide on your travel dates without any risk of losing money, before confirming your train tickets or visas.  Any hotel with a review score over 8.0 will usually be great.

Step 4, arrange your visas

Once you have booked the Trans-Sib train, you need to arrange your visas.  You can apply for a visa for Russia 6 months or less before your date of entry, although for other countries it's usually 3 months or less.  See the visa section below for details of how to do this .

Step 5, book your train from London to Moscow

Finally, arrange travel from London to Moscow to connect with the Trans-Siberian, see the London to Russia page .  You can also travel to Moscow by direct sleeping-car from Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Helsinki and many other places, to find train times, use int.bahn.de .  Bookings for European trains typically open 3 months before departure, you can't book until reservations open, so do this bit last.

Step 6, don't forget insurance

Remember to take out travel insurance, ideally immediately after you've booked the first part of the trip, as cancellation cover starts as soon as you buy the insurance.  You might also want to get a VPN for safe browsing on public WiFi during your travels, and perhaps a Curve card to save on exchange rates & foreign transaction fees.  See the section on insurance, Curve card & VPNs .

Don't fly to Moscow!

Flying to Moscow to pick up the Trans-Siberian Railway is like entering a marathon and then accepting a lift in someone's car for the first hundred yards...  Don't cheat!  If you're going to go overland to the Far East, do it properly, starting at London St Pancras and staying firmly on the ground.  It's easy to travel from London to Moscow by train, click here for train times, fares & how to buy tickets .  How about starting your Trans-Siberian trip with Eurostar from London to Paris and then a ride on the excellent Paris-Moscow Express ?  

What are the trains like ?

The Trans-Siberian Railway is a regular railway, a means of transport vital to the people living along it.  It's not run for tourists, so you won't find bar cars with pianos or deluxe suites with en suite showers (although one or two tourist cruise trains now operate on the Trans-Siberian from time to time, details here ).  However, all passengers get a proper flat berth to sleep in, provided with all necessary bedding, convertible to a seat for day use.  There are washrooms and toilets along the corridor, and a restaurant car for meals.  Whichever train you take, the Trans-Siberian is a safe and comfortable way to reach China and the Far East.  You'll find more details about food, showers & toilets in the Travel tips & FAQ section .

A request:  If you get any good current interior or exterior photos to illustrate trains 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 56, 61/62, 305/306, 23/24, please let me know !

Trains 1 & 2, the Moscow to Vladivostok Rossiya

The famous Rossiya (the Russia) runs from Moscow to Vladivostok every day all year round, 9,259 km (5,752 miles) in 8 nights.  It has 2nd class 4-berth 2nd sleepers (called kupé ), 3rd class open-plan sleeper bunks (called platskartny ) and a restaurant car.  There are no longer any 1st class 2-berth sleepers (called SV or spalny vagon ), at least not at the moment, but you can pay for 4 tickets in kupé to get sole occupancy of a 4-berth compartment for 1, 2 or 3 people.

It's a very comfortable train, re-equipped with the latest air-conditioned sleeping-cars in July 2020 featuring power sockets & USB ports for every passenger, a mini-combination safe for valuables for each passenger and a hot shower in each car.  The bunks convert to seats for daytime use.  There are toilets & washrooms at the end of the corridor, room for luggage under the lower berths and above the door to the corridor.  Compartment doors lock securely from the inside.  The new cars are shown here:  www.tvz.ru/catalog/passenger/item_detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=1374 .

Changes in July 2020:   Train 1/2 Rossiya has always been the fastest train between Moscow & Vladivostok, taking 7 nights.  Until July 2020 it only ran every two days and there was a second slower train between Moscow & Vladivostok, train 99/100 leaving every day, making around 70 more station stops than the Rossiya and taking 8 nights.  Train 99/100 was gradually re-equipped with the very latest cars, and from 9 July 2020 this slower train 99/100 was renumbered 1/2 and became the Rossiya, whilst the former faster train 1/2 was renumbered 61/62.

So travellers now have a choice between riding the famous Rossiya , train 1 westbound & train 2 eastbound with daily departures and the latest rolling stock, but taking 8 nights, or riding nameless train 61/62 running only 3 days a week with slightly older rolling stock, but with 70 fewer stops, taking only 7 nights from Moscow to Vladivostok and saving a whole day & night.  Personally, I'd take the Rossiya , for the name as well as the hot shower in every car!

The photos below show the Rossiya pre-July 2020, courtesy of Yves Goovaerts, David Smith, Nicholas Stone & Hilary Onno.  It's possible that this rolling stock is now used on train 61/62, whilst even newer stock is used on train 1/2 Rossiya.

What's the journey to Vladivostok like ?

The Man in Seat 61 says:   "A journey from Moscow to Vladivostok on the Rossiya was a totally different experience from a previous journey from Moscow to Beijing on train 4.  Travelling to Japan via Vladivostok, my 1st class 2-berth car was comfortable, spotlessly clean and even air-conditioned.  I usually ate in the restaurant car, and by the end of the trip Mischa in the kitchen would have my ham & eggs in the frying pan for breakfast as soon as I appeared in the restaurant.  In contrast to the vibrant international community on board train 4 to Beijing, on train 2 I was the sole Westerner aboard until Irkutsk.  And also unlike the Moscow-Beijing train where almost everyone is making the complete journey, very few passengers on the Rossiya are going all the way to Vladivostok.  The Rossiya is used for all sorts of shorter intermediate journeys, with Russians getting on and off at every station.  I had a compartment all to myself on leaving Moscow, then shared it with a professional Russian ice hockey player from Yaroslavl to Perm, on his way to trial for the team there.  His place was taken by a Russian lady from Yekaterinburg to Irkutsk who said very little.  In Irkutsk two professors from Alabama joined the train and became my meal companions in the restaurant.  The train stops several times a day, usually only for 10-20 minutes, but you can stretch your legs and take photographs.  Arrival in Vladivostok was a full two minutes ahead of schedule, seven days after leaving Moscow. The ocean terminal is adjacent to the station, but you may need to spend a night in Vladivostok to be sure of a safe connection.  Vladivostok is an interesting city, and a day or two spent there will not be wasted.  Overall, the Moscow-Vladivostok route is 7 days of Siberia on a train with few fellow westerners and indeed few Russians making the whole trip.  This makes for a much less interesting journey that the Moscow-Mongolia-Beijing train, and one that it would be good to break up with stopovers rather than make in one go. "

Trains 3 & 4, the Moscow to Beijing Trans-Mongolian Express

Trains 3 (westbound) and 4 (eastbound) link Moscow & Beijing once a week all year round, taking the shorter and most interesting route via Mongolia and the Gobi desert, 4,735 miles in 6 nights.  The train is Chinese, and has Chinese carriage attendants.  Using the correct Chinese terminology it has deluxe soft sleepers (2-berth), soft sleepers (4-berth) and hard sleepers (also 4-berth).  Most westerners are content to use the fairly comfortable & economical 4-berth hard sleepers, which are essentially the equivalent of 4-berth kupé on the Russian trains.  The 4-berth soft sleepers are not worth the extra money as they are virtually identical to the 4-berth hard sleepers, just slightly larger, though not so as you'd notice without getting your tape measure out.  However, the 2-berth deluxe soft sleepers are definitely worth the extra cash if you can get one, as they have upper & lower berths and an armchair in one corner, a small table and access to a compact en suite washroom with shower head shared with the adjacent compartment, see the deluxe sleeper photo here .  Don't expect too much of the shower head though!  There are both western and squat toilets at the end of each car, along with washrooms.  A Russian restaurant car is attached whilst the train is in Russia, a Mongolian one in Mongolia and a Chinese one whilst it is in China, see food details here .

What's a journey to Beijing like?   Click here for an illustrated account...

How to avoid confusion over classes...   Remember that this train is Chinese, not Russian.  Deluxe soft sleeper , soft sleeper & hard sleeper are usually translated for westerners as 1st class 2-berth, 1st class 4-berth & 2nd class 4-berth, certainly by agencies at the Chinese end.  In my opinion that's an appropriate translation as the Chinese 4-berth hard sleepers are equivalent to 4-berth kupé sleepers on Russian trains, and so can safely be thought of as 2nd class, not 3rd.  However, some Russian agencies including the reliable Real Russia booking system translate the deluxe soft sleeper , soft sleeper & hard sleeper on this Chinese train as 1st, 2nd and 3rd class, where 2nd class means a 1st class 4-berth soft sleeper that's not worth the extra money and 3rd class means a comfortable 4-berth hard sleeper which is more accurately thought of as 2nd class and which I would recommend for most budget travellers.  I hope that's clear!  Oh, and train 4, train 004, train 004Z (or in Cyrillic, what is often mistaken for 0043) are all the same train, train 4...

Train 5 & 6 Moscow - Ulan Bator

Train 5 westbound, train 6 eastbound, uses modern air-conditioned Mongolian Railways (MTZ) sleeping-cars, newly-delivered in 2017.  It has 4-berth kupé (2nd class) compartments and spalny vagon (1st class) 2-berth compartments.  These new Mongolian cars have similar interiors to the cars on train 1 & 2 Rossiya .  A Russian restaurant car is attached whilst in Russia.

Trains 19 & 20 Vostok , the Trans-Manchurian train between Moscow & Beijing

Train 19 westbound, train 20 eastbound, the Vostok is the Russian train linking Moscow and Beijing once a week.  It by-passes Mongolia, crossing directly from Russia into China via the older and slightly longer route through Manchuria, 8,986km (5,623 miles) in 7 nights.  The name Vostok simply means 'East'.  The Vostok was given a makeover in 2012-2013, and the photos below show the new red and grey colour scheme and smart refurbished interior.  The train has Russian-style 2-berth & 4-berth sleepers, and a restaurant car - a Russian restaurant when in Russia and a Chinese one when in China.  There are power sockets for laptops, cameras or mobiles in every compartment.  Unlike the Chinese 2-berth sleepers on train 3/4, the Russian 1st class 2-berths on this train are of the Russian spalny vagon type with two lower berths, think of it as a 4-berth with the upper berths removed, but no washbasin or adjacent washroom, as in the 4-berth sleepers there are toilets and washrooms at the end of the corridor.  For an account of this journey, see Angie Bradshaw's blog here .

Trans-Siberian train times

Here is a summary of all the most important trains on the Trans-Siberian Railway.  Make sure you read the notes!  The times shown are departure times unless it says otherwise, at most stations you can assume the arrival time will be 5 to 15 minutes before departure.  There are other slower trains not shown here, simply use the Real Russia online system here to find train times for all possible trains, or to confirm these times.

All times shown below are local time...  Russian trains used to run to Moscow time whilst in Russia, even if local time was 7 hours ahead of Moscow.  However, but RZD Russian Railways ended this century-old practice from August 2018 and now use local time in all their timetables and booking systems.

Fun with time zones...   Russia made Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent in 2011 making Moscow GMT+4 all year round but in 2014 they changed their minds and abolished it altogether, so Moscow is now GMT+3 all year round.  So China is now permanently 5 hours ahead of Moscow as they too have no DST.  Mongolia was also permanently 5 hours ahead of Moscow and on the same time as Beijing, until the Mongolians changed their minds and reintroduced DST in March 2015 making them GMT+8 (Moscow +5, Beijing+0) in winter but GMT+9 (Moscow+6, Beijing+1) in summer.  But in 2017 they've changed their minds again and have once more abolished DST so Mongolia is now GMT+8 or Moscow time +5 all year round.  Until someone changes their mind again, of course.

IMPORTANT UPDATE 2024:  The timetable below is the pre-pandemic, pre-war-in-Ukraine timetable, for information only.

Eastbound timetable

* Mongolia reintroduced Daylight Saving Time in March 2015.  The times with an asterisk will therefore be approx one hour later from late March to late September.

** Moscow-Beijing is 7,622 km (4,735 miles) via Ulan Bator or 8,986 km (5,623 miles) via Harbin.    Map of Moscow showing Yaroslavsky station

Time zones:   Moscow time is GMT+3 all year.  Mongolia is GMT+8 from late September to late March or GMT+9 from late March to late September.  China is GMT+8 all year.  Mongolia re-introduced daylight saving time in 2015, whilst Russia made DST permanent in 2011 then abolished it in 2014.  Do keep up!

Trains stop for only 1 or 2 minutes at small stations, but 15-50 minutes at major stations, long enough to stretch your legs.

Note A:   Rossiya .  High-quality train, see here for photos & more information .  Runs daily (increased from running every 2 days from 9 July 2020).  Uses the latest air-conditioned cars with a hot shower in every car, 2nd class 4-berth kupé sleepers, 3rd class platskartny berths & restaurant car.  There are now no 1st class 2-berth spalny vagon sleepers, but you can pay for 4 tickets to have sole occupancy of a 4-berth compartment for 1-3 passengers.

Note B:   Moscow-Beijing Trans-Mongolian express , see here for photos & information & see here for an illustrated account of the journey .  Leaves Moscow every Tuesday eastbound, leaves Beijing every Wednesday westbound.  Operated with Chinese coaches & staff.  1st class 2-berth, 1st class 4-berth, 2nd class 4-berth.  Russian restaurant car whilst in Russia, Mongolian restaurant in Mongolia, Chinese restaurant in China.  Note that if you're trying to buy a ticket from Ulan Bator to Beijing, berths on train 4 can only be booked within 24h of departure from Ulan Bator, so you'll find it much easier to use train 24 instead.  Train 4 can be shown online variously as train 4, train 004, train 004Z or with a Russian letter Z as a suffix so it looks like train 0043.  They all mean train 4.  And similarly for train 3.

Note C:   Train 6 runs from Moscow on most Wednesdays, train 5 runs from Ulan Bator on most Fridays.  It has modern Mongolian Railways spalny vagon (1st class) 2-berth   sleepers and kupé (2nd class) 4-berth sleepers.  A restaurant car is attached in Mongolia & in Russia.  It runs every week between late May & late September, but only on alternate weeks off-season, check departure dates using the Real Russia online system .  See here for photos & more information

Note D:   Vostok .  Moscow-Beijing trans-Manchurian express.  Leaves Moscow every Saturday.  Westbound, leaves Beijing every Saturday.  Operates with Russian coaches & staff.  2-berth spalny vagon, 4-berth kupé.  There is a Russian restaurant car whilst in Russia and a Chinese restaurant car in China.  From December 2017 it runs in the similar timings to the Rossiya between Moscow & Ulan Ude and when running days of both trains coincide it will be coupled to the Rossiya .

Note E:   Runs daily.  Fast high-quality train with spalny vagon 2-berth sleepers, kupé  4-berth sleepers, platskartny (open-plan bunks) between St Petersburg & Ekaterinberg.  The St Petersburg-Irkutsk Baikal was discontinued in 2013.  Train 71/72 is now the principal direct link between St Petersburg & Siberia unless you go via Moscow.

Note F:   Train 61/62 is a faster, but un-named alternative to the Rossiya , taking 7 nights rather than the Rossiya's 8, but only running 3 times a week and using slightly older rolling sock, probably that formerly used by the Rossiya pre-2020.  The carriages are still modern and air-conditioned, but without a shower in every car, for example.  Train 61/62 has 2-berth spalny vagon , 4-berth kupé, open-plan platskartny bunks and a restaurant car.

Note G:   Train 305/306 runs 3 times a week, check dates using the online system .  It has 4-berth kupé sleepers on all departures, but only the Monday & Friday departures from Irkutsk have 2-berth spalny vagon sleepers.  The Mongolians claim all 3 departures per week have spalny vagon in the other direction, but I suspect the Monday departure from UB may not have 2-berth spalny vagon if the Wednesday departure in the other direction doesn't.  The Mon & Fri departures from Irkutsk and the Tues & Sat departures from UB use older non-air-con Russian cars, the Wednesday departure from Irkutsk & the Monday departure from UB use Mongolian cars.  All together, trains 3/4, 5/6 & 305/306 link Irkutsk & Ulan Bator 4 or 5 times a week.  There's no restaurant car so bring your own provisions.

Note H:   Runs once a week all year, twice a week in summer.  This train is operated by the Mongolian Railways one year and Chinese Railways the next year, switching over each year at the end of May when the days of operation also change.  Assuming the pattern continues, this is how it should work...

From May 2017 to May 2018 and from May 2019 to May 2020 , Chinese Railways run the main all-year-round service with train 23 from Beijing to Ulan Bator running every Tuesday, train 24 from Ulan Bator to Beijing running every Thursday.  The Mongolians then run an additional weekly departure in summer from late June to early September, train 24 Ulan Bator to Beijing also running on Saturdays, train 23 Beijing to Ulan Bator also running on Mondays. 

From May 2018 to May 2019 , Mongolian Railways run the main all-year-round service with train 23 from Beijing to Ulan Bator running every Saturday, train 24 from Ulan Bator to Beijing running every Thursday.  The Chinese then run an additional weekly departure in summer from late June to early September, train 24 Ulan Bator to Beijing running additionally on Fridays, train 23 Beijing to Ulan Bator running additionally on Tuesdays.

The Chinese train has deluxe soft sleeper (2-berth), soft sleeper (4-berth) & hard sleeper (4-berth).  The Mongolian train has spalny vagon (1st class 2-berth) & kupé (2nd class 4-berth). 

Note that's it's much easier to buy a ticket from Ulan Bator to Beijing on train 24 than to get a berth on train 4 coming through from Moscow.  There are alternative, less convenient but more frequent ways to get from Ulan Bator to Beijing, with changes of train, click here for details .

Trains 3/4, 5/6 & 19/20 between Moscow, Ulan Bator & Beijing are mainly for passengers making international journeys e.g. Moscow to Beijing, Irkutsk to Beijing or Moscow to Ulan Bator) although they may offer berths for domestic Russian journeys.  But if you want to stop off at Ekaterinberg or Irkutsk for example, you would normally take a Russian internal train between Moscow, Ekaterinberg & Irkutsk such as the Rossiya or train 100 as these run more frequently.

Westbound timetable

For trains between Moscow and London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin or Warsaw, see the London to Russia page .

For trains within China between Beijing and Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tibet, Xian or the Great wall at Badaling, see the Train travel in China page .

For the trains between Beijing and Hanoi in Vietnam, see the Vietnam page .

For the weekly ferry linking Vladivostok with South Korea & Japan, see the information below .

For ferries between China and Japan, see the ferries section on the China page .

For ferries between China and Korea, see the South Korea page .

Alternative transport between Ulan Bator & Beijing, if you can't get a berth on trains 3/4 or 23/24

If you're trying to do the Trans-Mongolian route flexibly, buying tickets as you go, this is relatively easy between Moscow & Ulan Bator as there are a whole range of domestic trains every day between Moscow, Irkutsk & Ulan Ude and you'll usually find places available even on the day of travel, even if not always on your first choice of class or train.  There's then a daily train between Irkutsk or Ulan Ude and Ulan Bator, although only one carriage of this train goes through to/from Ulan Bator, but there's often places available at short notice.

The real pinch-point is between Ulan Bator and Beijing where there are just two or three direct trains per week.  And one of those is train 4 coming through from Moscow on which only limited berths are available for passengers joining at UB and these are only released for sale 24 hours before departure from UB.  However, there are alternative Mongolian domestic trains between Ulan Bator and the Chinese border, so you're very unlikely to be stranded.  Here are the alternative trains, which are not shown in the timetable above:

Southbound:  Ulan Bator to the Chinese border & onwards to Beijing:   (1)  There is a daily overnight sleeper train (number 276) from Ulan Bator to Zamin Uud on the Mongolian side of the Chinese border, just 10km from the Chinese border post at Erlian.  It leaves Ulan Bator at 17:20 and arrives Dzamin Uud at 07:07 next morning, the fare in a soft sleeper is around 40,000 Mongolian Tugrik ($22).  (2) Local buses or taxis are available to Erlian - a taxi will cost around 40-50 RMB, about $7.  (3) There is then at least one daily train from Erlian to Jining South (Jining Nan) taking 6h50, fare for a hard seat around $7.  (4) There are then various daily trains from Jining South to Beijing, journey between 5h00 and 9h30 depending on the train, fare about $12 for a hard seat.  You can check train times for China using the planner at www.chinahighlights.com .

Northbound:  Beijing to the Chinese border for a train to Ulan Bator:   (1) Take one of the various daily trains from Beijing to Jining South (= Jining Nan), journey 5h00-9h30 depending on the train, fare in a hard seat around $12, you can find train times using the planner at www.chinahighlights.com .  (2) Then use www.chinahighlights.com again to find a train between Jining South and Erlian, there's at least one per day taking 6h50, fare for a hard seat around $7.  (3) Erlian is the Chinese border post, so you'll need to take local transport such as a local taxi the 10km or so across the border to Dzamin Uud on the Mongolian side.  (4) From Dzamin Uud, train 275 runs to UB daily leaving Dzamin Uud at 18:20 and arriving Ulan Bator at 08:55 next morning.  The fare in a soft sleeper is around 40,000 Mongolian Tugrik ($22).

Alternatively, on Mondays & Fridays, a hard class sleeper train (train 34) leaves Ulan Bator at 20:50 arriving Jining South (Jining Nan) around 19:00 next day - the train's final destination is Hohhot.  There are then several daily trains from Jining Nan to Beijing, journey 9 hours, fare about $7 with soft class seat.  www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains will confirm train times for any journey within China, just be aware that trains 3, 4, 23, 24 aren't daily.

On Thursdays & Sundays, a hard class sleeper train (train 22) leaves Ulan Bator at 20:50 for Erlian, just on the Chinese side of the border, arriving next morning.  There are daily trains from Erlian to Jining Nan (Jining South) then a number of daily trains from Jining Nan to Beijing.  Use www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains to find trains within China.

You can check current times for all these Mongolian trains - international and domestic - using the Mongolian Railways website ubtz.mn - English button top right.  If you have more information on these alternative UB-Beijing journey, please e-mail me !

How much does it cost?

In a nutshell....

As little as £492 or $686 buys you a one-way train ticket from Moscow to Beijing on train 4 including a bed in a 4-berth sleeper, pre-booked through a reliable agency such as Real Russia .  For almost 5,000 miles of travel, a bed for 6 nights and a memorable world-class travel experience, that's a bargain!  If you want a bed in a 2-bed sleeper, make that around £787 or $1,097.

Moscow-Vladivostok is an even greater bargain, 7 or 8 nights and 9,000km from as little as 14,500 rubles, about $210 or £170 with a bed in a shared 4-berth sleeper.  You can buy 4 tickets to get sole occupancy of a whole 4-berth compartment for 1, 2 or 3 of you.

If you want to stop off at places on the way, that increases the ticket price a bit, but not hugely.

Add train tickets from London to Moscow for around £250 and you're all set for an epic journey from the UK to China.

You should budget for at least one night in a hotel in Moscow, £40 upwards depending on how classy a hotel you want.

Don't forget visas.  This could add £140-£240 depending on which visas you need.  Russia, China, possibly Mongolia & Belarus.

The full story...

First, a reality check.  People expect me to tell them 'the fare' between Moscow and Vladivostok or Beijing.  It ain't like that!  True, the Russian have a set international tariff for trains to China, which may or may not be the same as the Chinese Railways international tariff for journeys westbound to Russia.  But the direct international trains often leave fully-booked, at least in summer, so you usually have to buy through an agency, and these agencies know that demand exceeds supply and resell tickets with whatever mark-up or added fees the market will bear.  So you have to shop around for quotes, rather than expecting to pay the official price.  And then there are both international and domestic tariffs.  So if you're stopping off in Russia, the fare for a domestic train will be different from the international rate, and will vary significantly by time of year and how high-quality the train in question is.  It's a bit of a black art, but I'll guide you through the jungle...

The good news is that a Trans-Siberian journey needn't be expensive if you travel independently rather than with an inclusive tour.  It's a real railway with regular fares, not an expensive tourist attraction.  But what you pay varies significantly depending on:

Which class you choose .  Most western travellers go 2nd class 4-berth (kupé).  1st class 2-berth (spalny vagon ) is nice if you can afford it, but twice the price of kupé so only worth it if money is no object.  3rd class (platskartny open-plan bunks) is a bit basic for most western travellers and not available on every train, but some adventurous low-budget travellers go for it.

Which train quality you choose :  For journeys wholly within Russia, you can travel on a firmeny fast quality train (recommended) such as train 2 Rossiya or a slow unnamed lower-quality train such as trains 240, 340 or 100 which have cheaper fares.  As a general rule, low train numbers are quality trains, slower low-quality trains have three-digit train numbers.  When you contact an agency, make sure you know what specific train number you're being quoted a fare for so you compare like with like.

Whether you travel independently (cheaper) or book an all-inclusive tour (more expensive).

How you buy :  If travelling independently, you can buy your ticket through a Russian travel agency like Real Russia (cheaper, recommended, easy to use with English language after-sales service), or a western travel agency (more expensive), or book direct with Russian Railways at rzd.ru (fiddly, but works and accepts most people's credit cards) or at the ticket office (cheapest, but not always practical if you need to be sure of being on a certain train on a certain date).

If booking through an agency, which agency you use .  Demand for the two weekly Moscow-Beijing trains exceeds supply, Russian Railways sells off tickets to travel agencies before bookings open to the public, and these agencies sell tickets to tourists for whatever price they can get for them.  So you need to shop around!

Some quality trains such as the Rossiya offer tickets with or without 'services'.  'With services' just means that one or more cooked meals is included in the price, either served in your compartment or eaten in the restaurant car, like the meal shown in these photos .  A number shows the number of meals you get on the whole trip.  It might just be one meal, even on a 7-day journey!  Other meals you'll need to pay for in the restaurant, or bring your own supplies.

Prices if you buy tickets at the ticket office in Moscow

Here are typical fares charged by Russian Railways, taken from the Russian Railways website www.rzd.ru .  In the search results, 2-cl sleeping compt. = kupé 4-berth.  3-cl sleeping = platskartny .  Russian fares for key trains now dynamic, so vary according to demand like air fares.  www.rzd.ru also lets you buy Russian domestic train tickets online, but not tickets for the international trains to Mongolia or China, and it may struggle with some overseas credit cards.

With or without services?   On the best trains you can buy tickets without services meaning without any meals, or with services meaning with some meals included, either served in the restaurant or in your compartment.   On the Real Russia booking system , a knife & fork logo with a number against that class (with a У1, У4, and so on appearing if you hover over it) in the class column indicates a 'with services' price where the number shows the number of meals provided.  On www.rzd.ru a 'with services' carriage is shown with a У1, У4 and so on against it in the category column - no 'У' and no number means without services .  Don't get too excited:  On the Moscow-Vladivostok Rossiya a 'with services' ticket means you get just one meal, even on a 7 day trip!

Prices if you buy tickets from Real Russia or other Russian agency

Unless you have lots of time and can afford to take pot luck when you get to Moscow, you should book your trains in advance.  Most westerners buy tickets through a travel agency, either a local Russian one such as the excellent Real Russia or other reputable Russian agencies (recommended) or a specialist western agency (sometimes less hassle, but significantly more expensive).  Different agencies charge completely different prices for the same journey, so shop around for the best deal.  However, to give you a rough idea, here are the prices charged by Real Russia, including their agency mark-up.  'Shopping around' means emailing each agency for a specific quote, not just looking at their website, as some agencies don't update their sites when prices rise - and Russian & Chinese railways have imposed some big fare rises in recent years.  When emailing an agency, be specific about which train you want, and remember to ask about their delivery charges & credit card fees.  I've seen websites quote very competitive prices for (say) Moscow-Irkutsk which turn out to be for a low-quality slow train, and the price they charge for a quality train such as the Rossiya is much higher and less competitive.  When you get quotes, make sure you compare like with like!  And some agencies charge credit card fees of up to 12% on top of their advertised fares (Real Russia charge 2.5%), so make sure the quote explains these.  How to buy tickets from Russian travel agencies .

Where did I get these fares?  How can you check current fares & fares for other journeys?  See the Real Russia Trans-Siberian trip planner .

Prices if you buy tickets from a western travel agency

There are various western agencies who specialise in Trans-Siberian travel.  They can sell you a package tour or arrange a tailor-made tour for you, but they can also sell just a train ticket if you like.  Their prices vary enormously, so shop around.  With higher overheads to support, a western agency will charge much more than a local Russian agency.  More about arranging your trip through a western tour agency .

Prices if you buy at the ticket office in Ulan Bator

Ulan Bator to Irkutsk costs around 109,500 togrog ($54) in 4-berth soft sleeper on train 263 or 137,500 togrog in 4-berth soft sleeper on train 5.

Ulan Bator to Beijing costs around 178,050 togrog (about $90) in a 4-bed sleeper on train 24.

More about buying tickets in Ulan Bator

Prices if you buy tickets in Beijing or from www.chinahighlights.com

You can buy tickets in person at Beijing main station or via the Chinese state tourist agency CITS, or arguably most easily online from reliable China-based agency www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains with ticket delivery to any hotel or address in China, Hong Kong or Macau.  see the full story below about how to buy westbound tickets from Beijing .

Check Trans-Siberian train times & prices online

Use www.realrussia.co.uk/Trains to check train times & prices and buy tickets for any individual train on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

How to buy tickets

There are several ways to book a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway, each with advantages & disadvantages:

Option 1 : Buy tickets at the station

Is buying tickets at the station a practical proposition.

If you have a definite itinerary and limited time, and want to be sure of confirmed reservations, you should go straight to option 2 below to pre-book your tickets in advance through a reputable agency.  However, if you have lots of time, want to stay free and flexible, and are willing to take pot luck on what places you find available, it is indeed possible to buy your tickets at stations as you go along, at least for journeys wholly within Russia.  It's not usually difficult to get a ticket for a Russian internal journey a day or two before departure, for example Moscow-Ekaterinberg, Moscow-Irkutsk or even Moscow-Vladivostok, assuming you can be flexible about your exact departure date, time and class of travel.  The daily Irkutsk-Ulan Bator train is not too difficult to book at the ticket office, either.

But for travel between Russia and Mongolia or China, here's a reality check:  Demand exceeds supply for the two weekly Moscow-Beijing Trans-Mongolian & Trans-Manchurian trains (trains 4 & 20), also the weekly Moscow-Ulan Bator train (train 6), at least in the busy May-September peak summer season.  Russian Railways opens bookings 60 days before departure, and Russian travel agencies buy up all the tickets to resell them at a mark-up.  Station staff might tell you that these trains are all sold out even if you went to the station soon after bookings opened to the public, although you may be able to buy tickets if you called one of the agencies.  If you want to use these trains, you should pre-book through an agency as shown in option 2 or 3 below .  Ulan Bator to Beijing is also a pinch-point, as there are only 2 trains a week, so this too is best booked in advance through an agency.

How to buy tickets in Moscow & Russia

How to buy tickets in ulan bator.

You can buy tickets in Ulan Bator at the international booking office which is now located on the 2nd floor of the building next to the station, see station & ticket office location map .

The office is open 08:00-20:00 Monday-Friday.  At weekends use the normal booking windows.  Credit cards are not accepted, but there is an ATM on the first floor of the building.

International trains to Irkutsk, Moscow and Beijing can be booked up to 30 days in advance, except for berths on the Moscow-Beijing and Beijing-Moscow trains 3/4, on which berths for passengers joining at UB are only sold 24 hours before departure. 

If you are travelling to Beijing and find trains 4 & 24 fully-booked, don't worry, there are alternative trains from Ulan Bator to northern China, where you can change trains for Beijing, and indeed a daily overnight train from Ulan Bator to Dzamin Uud on the Chinese border from where you can easily reach Beijing any day of the week, see here for details of these alternatives .

How to buy tickets in Beijing

You can buy westbound Trans-Siberian tickets in Beijing at one of the designated reservation offices, although not at any of Beijing's stations.  The two weekly Beijing-Moscow trains often get booked up well in advance, so buy tickets as far ahead as you can.  However, don't despair if you need to travel in the near future, as it's not impossible to get tickets from Beijing to Moscow a week or two ahead, certainly outside peak season.  Westbound trains are generally easier to get berths on than eastbound trains, and it's easier finding a place in winter than in the May-September peak season.  Train 3 to Moscow via Mongolia is often fully booked a couple of weeks in advance especially in summer, although it can be easier to get a berth on train 19 via Manchuria, which occasionally has berths available even a few days before departure, but obviously not always!  So the basic message is this:  If you positively have to be on a specific train on a specific date, forget booking at the ticket office, you should pre-book via CITS or some other agency and pay their extra fee.  But if you're living in Beijing, or plan to be there for some time before leaving, and can be a bit flexible about exactly what date you leave, booking in person can be an option.  You can buy Trans-Siberian train tickets in Beijing at:

The CITS international train booking office on the ground floor of the Beijing International Hotel .  This is about 5 minutes walk north of Beijing railway station on Jianguo Men Nei Dajie, see location map .  It's open 09:00-12:00 & 13:30-17:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-12:00 on weekends and holidays.  It's not well-signed, but simply go through the hotel's main entrance and turn left, looking for a passageway at the far left side if the reception desks.  It's unlikely to be crowded.  The staff speak basic English and leaflets are available with international train times & fares in English.  See the section above for fares. 

Alternatively, try BTG Travel & Tours who have various agency offices around the city.

You cannot buy Trans-Siberian tickets at Beijing stations.

Option 2: Buy tickets using the Real Russia Trans-Siberian planner

Most western travellers want their Trans-Siberian reservations confirmed in advance before they leave home.  The best option is to buy tickets over the internet through a reputable local agency such as Real Russia, www.realrussia.co.uk .  Real Russia have developed an online trip planner that makes planning a Trans-Siberian journey & ordering tickets easy, eastbound or westbound, with or without stopovers.  In terms of price, simplicity & a sound reputation for customer care, they're one of the best agencies.  The company was started by a Brit with links to Russia, hence the .co.uk.  The prices shown on the Real Russia system are the Russian railways price plus a mark-up (all agencies mark up the base price).  Their system is linked to the actual Russian Railways database for train times, prices & availability, orders are fulfilled manually when made online, with good English-language after-sales service if you need it.

Option 3:  Other agencies who can arrange Trans-Siberian tickets

For journeys within or starting in russia, use a russian agency.

Real Russia is one of several reputable Russian agencies who can arrange Trans-Siberian train tickets, here are the best of the rest... 

Svezhy Veter ( www.svezhyveter.ru )

Way to russia ( www.waytorussia.net ), ost west ( www.ostwest.com ).

These agencies may keep their own waiting lists and will take Trans-Siberian bookings months ahead, well before the 60 day point when they can buy up the actual ticket, so contact a booking agency as far ahead as you can. 

All these agencies have been recommended by Seat61 correspondents and are all reputable, although further feedback is always welcome.  Booking through one of these Russian agencies is much cheaper than booking through a western travel agency , but prices vary enormously from agency to agency, so shop around.  Make sure that you compare like with like, so any quote you get is inclusive of credit card fees, and you know whether it's for a slow low-quality train (3-digit train numbers) or one of the fast quality trains such as the Rossiya (one or two-digit train numbers & usually a name).

Tickets can be picked up at their offices in Moscow or sent to you for a courier fee.  Some agencies (but not Real Russia) may ask you to fax them a photocopy of your credit card and/or passport, which sounds dodgy, but is not unusual when dealing with Russian companies.  Be prepared for a 7%-12% credit card fee (Real Russia charge only 2.5%), but using a credit card is still a safer way to buy tickets than using a money transfer.  These Russian agencies can also book hotels in Moscow and other Russian cities, and they can arrange a visa support letter for Russia (or use the recommended visa service at www.realrussia.co.uk ).

For booking trains 3/4, 5/6 & 19/20 on the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Manchurian routes, it helps to know how the system works:  Russian Railways open up bookings for these trains 60 days before departure.  Knowing that demand for these trains exceeds supply, Russian agencies buy up blocks of tickets, leaving few or none for sale at the ticket office.  The agencies then re-sell these tickets for whatever price they can get, which may bear no relation to the face value of the ticket.  Trans-Mongolian train number 4 is particularly popular, and 1st class deluxe 2-berth on this train can sell out very quickly indeed, with more travel agencies trying to fulfil orders from rich privacy-loving westerners for deluxe berths than there are deluxe berths on the train.  So these particular trains should be booked well in advance.  You'll sometimes be told by one agency says the train is full, but another agency has speculatively bought a block of tickets and has some left, or knows a rival agency that it can buy tickets from.  So once again, the message is shop around !

Most of these agencies can also book journeys starting in China or Ulan Bator through their contacts in those countries, but as these contacts also take a 'cut' you'll usually find it cheaper to book journeys starting in Beijing direct with CITS as described below.

Remember that an agency cannot 100% confirm your reservation until Russian Railways opens reservations, 60 days ahead.  However, travel agencies will take your booking (and money) several months ahead as they keep their own internal waiting lists for the most popular trains such as the Moscow-Beijing Trans-Mongolian & Trans-Manchurian trains.  They will make your reservation with Russian Railways the moment bookings open, 60 days ahead.  99.9% of the time there's no problem, but very occasionally there are more tourists wanting berths than there are berths, especially for the deluxe 2-berth 1st class on Trans-Mongolian trains 3/4 as this is very popular with rich shower-loving westerners.  If you're trying for the deluxe 1st class, tell your agency in advance that you'll accept a 1st or 2nd class 4-berth ticket (or that you're willing to pay for dual occupancy of a 4-berth compartment) if the deluxe 2-berth is sold out.

For journeys starting in Beijing , use www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains

To book Trans-Siberian trains which start in Beijing, whether you want a ticket all the way to Moscow or only as far as Ulan Bator or Irkutsk, one of the best agencies to use is  is www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains .  Their online system makes booking easier than with most other agencies including CITS, especially if there's any doubt about what days your train runs, you can pay by credit card, they are reliable and get good reports.  They charge in US$ with a $20-$60 service fee and will deliver tickets to any hotel or private address in mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau.  By all means shop around, but their prices are usually pretty competitive even compared to CITS, for example Beijing to Moscow on train 3 for $569 in a 2nd class (hard class) 4-bed sleeper.  Chinahighlights can only arrange tickets starting in China, so if you wanted to stop off in Irkutsk for example, you'd need to buy the onward Irkutsk to Moscow ticket from Real Russia or a Russian agency .  Feedback is always appreciated.

...or China International Travel Service (CITS)

CITS are the official Chinese state tourist agency, and they're usually one of the cheapest ways to buy westbound Trans-Sib tickets from Beijing.  You can book trains from Beijing to Moscow, Irkutsk or Ulan Bator by emailing [email protected] or by calling CITS on + 86 10 6522 2991, lines open Monday-Friday 09:00-17:00 GMT+8.  The CITS website is www.cits.net , direct link www.cits.net/china-tour/trans-siberian-trains .  Expect to pay by bank transfer rather than credit card.  Reports suggest they can't book Beijing-Irkutsk tickets on train 3, only Beijing-Krasnoyarsk and beyond, so by all means ask for Beijing-Irkutsk, but be prepared to accept an offer of a Beijing-Krasnoyarsk ticket and simply get off in Irkutsk (though their website shows Beijing-Irkutsk fares!).  As with most other Chinese agencies CITS can only arrange tickets starting in China, so if for example you wanted to stop off in Irkutsk, you'd need to buy the onward Irkutsk to Moscow ticket from Real Russia or a Russian agency .  Further feedback on the CITS booking situation would be welcome.

...or Monkeyshrine

Monkey Shrine ( www.monkeyshrine.com ) is an experienced China-based tour agency who can arrange a tailor-made itinerary with stop-overs and hotels along the way, plus help with visas.  Monkeyshrine offer a good service, but are naturally more expensive than booking it all yourself via CITS or Chinatripadvisor.  A key advantage is being able to arrange onward tickets, not just tickets starting in Beijing, and to arrange hotels or tours along the way.  They charge €649 (about $850) for a one-way Beijing to Moscow ticket in 4-berth on train 3.

For journeys starting in Ulan Bator, use a Mongolian agency...

To reserve tickets starting in Ulan Bator from outside Mongolia, try www.traintomongolia.com or www.mongoliatraintickets.com , two competing Mongolian train travel agencies that have both been recommended by seat61 correspondents. 

Alternatively, contact a local hotel, guesthouse or travel agency in Ulan Bator for example, www.discovermongolia.mn or www.legendtour.ru .  If these approaches fail you can use the Real Russia online system or contact one of the Russian agencies as most have contacts in Mongolia who can arrange tickets starting in Ulan Bator.

Option 4:  Buy online at www.rzd .ru

You can now buy Russian train tickets online using the RZD (Russian Railways) website www.rzd.ru , with no fees or mark-up.  You usually print your own ticket.  It now has an English version.  It's a bit fiddly and not as user-friendly as Real Russia, but it does work if you persevere.  It accepts some overseas credit cards, but can struggle with others.  It sells all Russian domestic tickets including Russian domestic Trans-Siberian trains, also some international trains, but it cannot sell eastbound tickets from Ulan Bator to Beijing or westbound tickets from Beijing or Ulan Bator into Russia.  Rzd.ru may reject some US-issued cards.

Option 5:  Let a specialist western agency arrange your whole trip

The most hassle-free way of arranging a Trans-Siberian trip, but the most expensive, is to arrange a tailor-made itinerary through one of the western travel agencies who specialise in independent travel to Russia.  There are various agencies in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and so on.  They can arrange your Russian visa, your hotel in Moscow, your Trans-Siberian train reservation, stop-overs and tours if you want them in places like Irkutsk or Mongolia, connecting trains in China and even the ship to Japan.  You can go in either direction, as they can make all the necessary arrangements through contacts in each country.  Here are some top agencies to contact for a quote...

How to arrange tickets for connecting trains & ferries

Train tickets london - moscow.

Alternatively, you can book westbound train tickets from Moscow to many European cities from a Russian agency such as the four agencies listed in option 4 above, though the final Eurostar leg to London will need to be booked separately online.  See the London to Russia page for train information from Moscow to London.

T rain tickets Beijing - Shanghai, Xian, Hong Kong, Vietnam

Ferry tickets vladivostok - korea - japan, ferry tickets between china & korea or japan, if you want a one-way flight.

How to arrange visas

After sorting out your Trans-Siberian tickets, you need to get your visas.

How to arrange a Russian visa

How to arrange a belarus transit visa, how to arrange a mongolian visa, how to arrange a chinese visa, travel tips & faq, when should you go.

The Trans-Siberian Railway runs all year round, so you can go at any time of year.  May to September are the peak months for foreign tourists, with the warmest weather and the longest hours of daylight.  This makes booking a specific date more difficult (you need to book well ahead) but you might like the party atmosphere amongst like-minded travellers on Moscow-Beijing trains 4 and 20.  On the other hand, Siberia in winter is a sight to see - the trains are well heated, warm and cosy, you'll just need to wrap up well when you get off for a stroll at station stops!  Traveller Rebecca Day reports from a February trip from Ulan Bator to Moscow:  "The train was really warm and comfortable.  For the outside I had snow boots, a jumper and a long wool coat, and this was fine most of the time. The temperature drops significantly once the sun goes down, but as long as I was wearing a hat and gloves I felt warm. I also brought a North Face down filled body warmer which was like a heater in itself! I ended up not wearing this most of the time, but it packs up really small and I'd probably bring it again if I were travelling in winter."

Should you travel 1st or 2nd class?

On the Russian internal trains there are normally 3 classes:  Spalny vagon 2-berth compartments, often described as 1st class (and sometimes called myagky or lyux );  kupé 4-berth compartments, usually described as 2nd class;  and platskartny open-plan dormitory cars, sometimes described as 3rd class.  The Russian Trans-Manchurian train (trains 19 & 20) only has spalny vagon 2-berth and kupé 4-berth, there's no platskartny.  Kupé is the way most travellers go, and can be considered the normal class of travel.  Spalny vagon gives you much more privacy, with 2 people instead of 4 in the same size compartment, but it costs twice as much.  The choice is yours.  Platskartny is a bit rough for most western travellers, but some budget-minded backpackers enjoy it.  The Chinese Trans-Mongolian train (trains 3 & 4) has 1st class deluxe 2-berth, 1st class 4-berth and 2nd class 4-berth.  1st class deluxe 2-berth is expensive but worth the extra if you can afford it as it has two beds, an armchair, and a private washroom with showerhead shared with the next door compartment.  It gets booked out very quickly!  However, 1st class 4-berth on train 3/4 is virtually identical to 2nd class 4-berth (see for yourself in the photo gallery !) and is probably not worth the extra.

What do you do on a train for 6 or 7 days?

This is the question most people ask.  Well, you put your feet up and relax.  You read, watch the scenery, look out for the sights listed on your Trans-Siberian Handbook, go to meals in the restaurant car, sleep in your own comfortable bed at night, meet people, talk, play chess, drink tea, drink vodka, get off at station stops and take photographs....  The Moscow-Mongolia-Beijing route is arguably the most interesting because of both the people on board and the sights and scenery on the way.  You are unlikely to be bored - the time just goes!

Is not speaking Russian a problem?

What about food .

All the main Trans-Siberian trains have a restaurant car, a Russian one when in Russia, a Mongolian one in Mongolia and a Chinese one in China.  Few people go to Russia for the cuisine, but contrary to what you might have heard, Russian restaurant car food is quite edible and not expensive.  The prices shown here are from 2013, further feedback is always appreciated.

Russian restaurant cars:   A soup (chicken or meat borsht) costs around 350 rubles (£7.50 or $12), a main course of steak or fish with rice or potatoes costs around 480 roubles (£11 or $17).  Don't expect an extensive menu or everything shown on the menu to be available!  Typical meals include ham and fried eggs for breakfast, schnitzel and potatoes for lunch or dinner, with soups and salads for starters.  The restaurant car also sells beer, Russian champagne and (of course) vodka, chocolate and snacks.  You can pay in rubles, although they may also accept euro or dollar notes.  See sample menu .

Mongolian dining-cars usually offer rice and mutton, and they accept euros, US dollars, Russian Rubles & Chinese RMB as well as Mongolian currency.  Fried rice costs RMB 40  (£4 or $6), a beer RMB 10 (£1 or $1.50).  See sample menu .

Chinese dining cars have a selection of excellent Chinese dishes, each for around RMB 15-20 (£1.50-£2 or $2-$3), but check if your ticket includes meals on the Chinese section of route, as it's reported that some tickets do.  A beer costs around RMB 10 (£1 or $1.50).

If you don't want to buy food & drink from the restaurant car, you can also buy food from the many vendors or kiosks on station platforms when the train stops.  But don't venture far from the train, as stops aren't long.

What about security?  Is it safe for families or women travelling alone?

Do the trains have power sockets & wifi.

Suddenly, no westerner can travel anywhere without a whole array of electrical gadgets, cameras, PDAs, iPods and mobile phones that need charging.  The situation varies by train.  All Russian, Mongolian & Chinese trains have shaver sockets in the corridor and washrooms which can be used to recharge things with the right adaptor.  Some trains have one or two similar sockets in the corridor that can be used to recharge things if you keep an eye on them.  The very latest Russian trains including train 1/2 Rossiya and Trans-Manchurian train 19/20 have a power socket in each compartment for charging laptops, mobile phones or digital cameras, although train 3/4 doesn't.  Your carriage attendant may be willing to charge items using the socket in their own compartment, for a small tip.

Your default assumption should be that there's no WiFi on Trans-Siberian trains, although you'll find WiFi in hotels and other public places along the route.  If you plan to use WiFi, consider getting a VPN .  There's data reception along much of the route, so contact your mobile network provider about data packages for Russia, Mongolia and China.

Toilets & showers

Do trans-siberian trains run on time, can you stop off on the way, can you take a car, bike or motorcycle, is this the longest train ride in the world  no.  well...  sort of..., a brief history of the trans-siberian railway.

In the late 19th century, Japan, Britain and America all managed to gain footholds on the Chinese coast as bases for their trade with China and the Orient.  Russia too needed to secure her foothold on the east as well as securing the vast expanses of Siberia, so in 1891 Tsar Alexander III approved a plan for a trans-continental line linking Moscow and St Petersburg with Vladivostok on the Pacific coast, as this was the only year-round ice-free port on Russian territory.  

A railway had been built as far as Ekaterinberg as early as 1878, and this was steadily extended Eastwards.  Omsk was reached in 1894, Irkutsk and Lake Baikal in 1898.  The Trans-Siberian Railway finally reached Vladivostok in 1901, but for several years passengers had to cross Lake Baikal by ice-breaking ferry to connect with a second train on the other side - only in 1904 was the line around Lake Baikal completed and the whole journey from Moscow to Vladivostok possible on a single train.  Until 1916, the eastern end of the journey involved cutting across China, over part of what is now the Trans-Manchurian route - you can see how the Trans-Manchurian line initially heads towards Vladivostok on the Trans-Siberian route map above.  The Russians secured the right to build and maintain this route across China thanks to a treaty signed after they made a generous loan to China to help them pay off their debts to Japan.  From 1916, the complete journey could be made from Moscow to Vladivostok within Russia, taking the route followed by today's 'Rossiya' and skirting the Chinese border to the north via Khabarovsk.  The Trans-Mongolian line is a relatively recent addition to the Trans-Siberian network - construction started in 1940, it reached Ulan Bator in 1949, and it was completed into China by 1956.

The Trans-Siberian Railway today...

The best resource for further information about the Trans-Siberian Railway is www.transsib.ru/Eng/ .

Trans-Siberian web resources

These sites are very useful in planning a Trans-Siberian train journey:

www.transsib.ru/Eng/   - the Trans-Siberian web encyclopaedia.

www.trans-siberia.com - an independent site, based on a traveller's experiences.

www.myazcomputerguy.com/everbrite/Page9   - excellent advice from Ruth Imershein, an experienced and regular traveller to Russia.

http://trans-siberian-railway-encyclopedia.com

Across Siberia by luxury train

If cost isn't an issue, you can ride the Trans-Siberian Railway in luxury with deluxe accommodation and 3-course meals with stopovers & tours included, using one of these two of privately-run deluxe cruise trains.  Expect fares of quite a few thousand pounds per person!

Golden Eagle cruise train:  Moscow - Mongolia - Vladivostok in 15 days

The luxurious Golden Eagle links Moscow with Vladivostok roughly once a month May to August, with a side trip to Mongolia. 

The Golden Eagle is sold by a number of travel agencies who can put together accommodation and travel to and from Moscow by train or air.  Here are two reliable agencies well worth contacting:

Railbookers - for trips on the Golden Eagle

Railbookers is a train travel specialist who can arrange train travel from the UK to Moscow, a trip on the luxury Golden Eagle train from Moscow to Vladivostok or Moscow to Beijing, and flights back to the UK.  A 15-night trips costs from around £5,300 from Moscow to Beijing or £9,700 from Moscow to Vladivostok, excluding flights, visas and travel to Moscow.

  UK call 0207 864 4600, www.railbookers.co.uk .

  us call free 1-888-829-4775, www.railbookers.com .,   canada call free 1-855-882-2910, www.railbookers.com .,   australia call toll-free 1300 971 526, www.railbookers.com.au .,   new zealand call toll-free 0800 000 554 or see website ., great rail journeys - for escorted tours on the golden eagle.

UK-based company Great Rail Journeys ( www.greatrail.com ) offers 5-star escorted tours, leaving London overland by Eurostar via Brussels, Cologne & Warsaw to Moscow using scheduled trains, then across Siberia on a deluxe charter train to Vladivostok with private en suite sleepers, lounge and restaurant with stops and tours along the way at places like Irkutsk, Lake Baikal, Ulan Ude and even Ulan Bator in Mongolia.  Expect it to cost over £6,500, though this does include all transport, accommodation, meals and even wine in the restaurant car.  Great Rail Journeys also offer rail-based holidays to other countries in Europe and worldwide.  Check the holiday details online, then call 01904 527120 to book or use their online booking form .  Seat61 gets some commission to help support the site if you book your holiday through this link and phone number, please mention seat 61 when booking.

Lernidee cruise train:  Moscow - Mongolia - Beijing in 15/16 days

Roughly once a month May to September, this luxury train links Moscow with China in either direction, with stopover & tours included on a 15 or 16 day itinerary.  It can also be used for shorter sections.  You can book this train direct with the operator at www.transsiberian-travel.com or through Railbookers (UK 0207 864 4600, US/Canada toll-free 1-888-829-4775, Australia toll-free 1300 971 526 .

Vladivostok to Korea & Japan by ferry

Ferry m/v eastern dream.

Update late 2022:   The time-honoured weekly ferry run by Russia's Far East Shipping Company (FESCO) fell victim to the recession in late 2009.  A new company called DBS started a year-round weekly ferry from Vladivostok to South Korea & Japan that same year using a modern ship called the Eastern Dream .  Unfortunately, DBS suspended this ferry in November 2019 and discontinued it in February 2020.  A new company called Duwon Shipping then chartered the Eastern Dream and it started sailing again between Vladivostok, South Korea & Japan, although only carrying freight due to the pandemic.  The service was suspended again in February 2021, but in 2022 it's operating again, only between Vladivostok and South Korea, not Japan.  Please contact them to check the latest situation.

If you find you are unable to travel to Korea or Japan using this ferry from Vladivostok, you can of course take the Trans-Siberian Railway to Beijing and take a ferry from China to Japan or South Korea .

Eastbound : Vladivostok ► Pohang (South Korea) ► Maizuru (Japan)

If & when running, the ferry sails from Vladivostok on Tuesdays, arriving Pohang Port (South Korea, just north of Busan) on Wednesdays, and Maizuru Port (in Japan, on the north coast opposite Kyoto) on Thursdays.  Exact sailing times are not known.

When DBS ran this service there was a departure tax to pay from Vladivostok, around 560 roubles, which wasn't mentioned anywhere on their website, so don't let this come as a surprise.

Westbound : Maizuru (Japan) ► Pohang (South Korea) ► Vladivostok

If & when running, the ferry sails from Maizuru Port (in Japan, on the north coast opposite Kyoto) on Thursdays, sailing from Pohang Port (in South Korea, just north of Busan) Saturdays, arriving Vladivostok on Sundays.

When DBS ran this service, the cheapest fare from Vladivostok to Japan or vice versa is US$235 one-way or $435 return, that's in economy class with a berth in a shared open-plan sleeping area.   Sharing a 2-berth cabin the fare rises to $485 one-way or $825.  Deluxe suites also available.  New fares under Duwon Shipping are not yet known.

How to buy ferry tickets

Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the ferry is not currently taking passengers.  However, their website is www.dwship.co.kr   and their email [email protected] .

On board the m/v Eastern Dream

There are a range of comfortable cabins on board, a restaurant, shop and bar.  You can spend Yen, Won, or US$ on board, but definitely not roubles .  The ship remains on Vladivostok time until 22:00, then the clocks are put back 2 hours to Korean/Japanese time.

Traveller's reports

Traveller Matthew Woodward reports (from when the ferry was run by DBS):   "I travelled on the ship in December 2014, and at this time of the year the published timetable was quite different from normal. There was no crossing at all the week before (owing to Christmas), and on my dates the ship stopped overnight in Donghae, allowing a night to be spent in South Korea. The cabins on board are quite expensive for what they are. I would recommend the third class dormitories which seemed more comfortable than the more expensive but rather claustrophobic second class 8 berth cabins (very hot). The ship has a good bar which serves snack food and a restaurant that serves a Korean buffet (buy tickets from the Purser's office). Do try the Korean "pizza" and the local rice wine drink called "Makgeolli" served in the bar. The ferry terminals in Vladivostok and Donghae are good and have shops selling food, hard currency and souvenirs. Rules were enforced when leaving Donghae that prohibited carrying even pocket penknives onto the ship. The gangplank is a narrow and steep climb, but the ship's crew will happily carry your luggage up for you if you ask."  See Mathew's illustrated blog about the Eastern Dream at www.matthew-woodward.com/2014/12/kings-of-the-wild-frontier.html .

Recommended guidebooks

Trans-siberian railway guides - buy at amazon.co.uk.

Bryn Thomas' excellent Trans-Siberian Handbook has journey planning information, town guides, train information, the history of the line, and most importantly, a mile-by-mile guide to the sights you can see from the train, to help you get the most from your trip.  The Lonely Planet guide to the Trans-Siberian Railway is also highly recommended.  Buying one or both of these Trans-Siberian guidebooks is well worth it, both for planning your trip and on the go.

Or buy from Amazon.com in the USA .

General country guidebooks - click the images to buy online

You should also take a good general guidebook for the countries you are visiting, and perhaps a Russian phrasebook, too.  I think the Lonely Planets and Rough Guides are about the best ones out there for the serious independent traveller, with plenty of historical and cultural background as well as stacks of practical information on accommodation, places to eat, things to see, visas, transport, dangers and annoyances.  You won't regret buying any of these..!  If you buy anything at Amazon through these links, Seat61 gets a small commission which helps support the site.

Hotels & accommodation

Book a hotel in moscow, siberian cities or beijing..., tripadvisor hotel reviews....

www.tripadvisor.com is a good place to find independent travellers' reviews of the main hotels.  It also has the low-down on all the sights & attractions too.

Backpacker hostels...

www.hostelworld.com :  If you're on a budget, don't forget the backpacker hostels.  Hostelworld has online booking of cheap private rooms or dorm beds in backpacker hostels in most Indian cities at rock-bottom prices.

Travel insurance & other tips

Always take out travel insurance.

Never travel overseas without travel insurance from a reliable insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover.  It should also cover cancellation and loss of cash and belongings, up to a sensible limit.  An annual multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip policies even for just 2 or 3 trips a year, I have an annual policy with Staysure.co.uk myself.  Here are some suggested insurers.  Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these links.

Get an eSIM with mobile data package

Don't rely on WiFi, download an eSIM with a mobile data package for the country you're visiting and stay connected.  Most newer mobile phones can download a virtual SIM card so you don't need to buy a physical SIM, including iPhone 11 & later, see device compatibility list .  Maya.net is a reliable eSIM data retailer with a 4.5 out of 5 Trustpilot rating and a range of packages including unlimited data .

Get a Curve card for foreign travel

Most banks give you a poor exchange rate, then add a foreign transaction fee on top.  A Curve MasterCard means no foreign transaction fees and gives you the mid-market exchange rate, at least up to a certain limit, £500 per month at time of writing.  The money you spend on your Curve card goes straight onto one of your existing debit or credit cards.

How it works:   1. Download the Curve app for iPhone or Android .  2. Enter your details & they'll send you a Curve MasterCard - they send to the UK and most European addresses.  3. Link your existing credit & debit cards to the app, you can link up to two cards with the free version of Curve, I link my normal debit card and my normal credit card.  4. Now use the Curve MasterCard to buy things online or in person or take cash from ATMs, exactly like a normal MasterCard. Curve does the currency conversion and puts the balance in your own currency onto whichever debit or credit card is currently selected in the Curve app.  You can even change your mind about which card it goes onto, within 14 days of the transaction.

I have a Curve Blue card myself, it means I can buy a coffee on a foreign station on a card without being stung by fees and lousy exchange rates, just by tapping the Curve card on their card reader.  The money goes through Curve to my normal debit card and is taken directly from my account (in fact I have the Curve card set up as payment card on Apple Pay on my iPhone, so can double-click my phone, let it do Face ID then tap the reader with the phone - even easier than digging a card out).  I get a little commission if you sign up to Curve, but I recommend it here because I think it's great.  See details, download the app and get a Curve card , they'll give you £5 cashback through that link.

Get a VPN for safe browsing.  W hy you need a VPN

When you're travelling you often use free WiFi in public places which may not be secure.  A VPN encrypts your connection so it's always secure, even on unsecured WiFi.  It also means you can select the geographic location of the IP address you browse with, to get around geoblocking which a surprising number of websites apply.  See VPNs & why you need one explained .  ExpressVPN is a best buy with a 4.7 out of 5 Trustpilot ranking which I use myself - I've signed up as an ExpressVPN affiliate, and if you go with expressvpn.com using the links on this page, you should see a special deal, 3 months free with an annual subscription.  I get a small commission to help support this site.

Carry an Anker powerbank

Tickets, reservations, vaccination records and Interrail or Eurail passes are often held digitally on your mobile phone, so it's vital to keep it charged.  I always carry an Anker powerbank which can recharge my phone several times over if I can't get to a power outlet.  Buy from Amazon.co.uk or from Buy from Amazon.com .