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Cruise lines have been floating some tremendous deals over the past month in order to fill ships in a slow economy. And in the last week alone, there have been a flood of great offers.

For example, there are free upgrades from ocean view cabins to balcony staterooms on selected summer sailings with Princess in Europe, Alaska and Bermuda; Caribbean cruises this winter starting at just $50 per day from Costa; a 31-day world cruise segment from Cunard on the QM2 beginning at just $2,995; and a flotilla of discounted cruises from Royal Caribbean, Carnival and NCL. And it’s expected the deals will continue to flow.

But how can consumers stay up to date on the best offers? And how can they decide which offers are a great deal or no deal?

Staying in the know: It’s important to find out quickly when cruise lines offer special deals because most are capacity controlled, subject to a short booking window, and have limited cabin selection. The best way to do this is to regularly check online cruise sites like www.tripharbour.ca which posts cruise specials, sign up for special alerts directly from the cruise lines, or ask your travel agent to advise you of special deals to destinations that you are interested in. When booking a cruise, it’s also a good idea to ask your cruise professional if she or he is aware of any special offers that are similar to the cruise you are interested in. If you are flexible about the cruise line, ports of call and departure dates, you stand a better chance of getting the best deal.

Different types of deals: There are a variety of special discounts and benefits being offered by cruise lines to lure people up the gangplank. Some are going for straight cash discounts off the regular brochure rate; others are offering cabin upgrades; while some are giving shipboard credits that you can spend on the vessel. In addition, most have lowered the deposit amount required to reserve a cabin, and many have made their cancellation policies more generous. So it’s important to understand the value of the non-cash benefits before doing a price comparison.  

Understanding the extra costs: The price that is quoted for a cruise usually excludes other costs such as port charges and taxes, which can add another $40 to $100 per person, per week to the overall price. In addition, some quotes do not include fuel supplements, which can run between $8 to $10 per person, per day to a maximum of around $140. So it’s important to understand what’s included in the price being quoted, and to add extra charges to the total before deciding how good a deal it is.

Comparing one deal to another: The easiest way to compare cruise fares is do calculate how much the total cost is and divide it by the length of the cruise. For example, a seven-day cruise that costs $700 would work out to $100 per day. The lower the per diem cost, the better the value. Of course, you also need to look at the standard of the cruise line and compare the “deal rate” to their regular brochure rate. A rate of $175 per day on a luxury line like Crystal or Regent would be a huge bargain, while the same rate on a contemporary line like Carnival or Royal Caribbean would be a lot less appealing. An experienced cruise agent can walk you through the best values.

Factor in the air cost: The cost of airline tickets can vary widely depending on destination, date of the cruise, and your own flexibility. For example, the increased cost of flying during holiday periods like Christmas, New Year’s, March Break and long weekends can totally offset the reduced rate of the cruise. So if you have to fly to the city where the cruise departs, check out your airfare before finalizing your cruise purchase. Also, compare the cost of cruise line’s air package and flight routing to what you can purchase directly on your own. The main advantages of buying the air package from the cruise line is that they are responsible for getting you to the ship if there are any delays, and they provide transfers from the airport. In addition, if your cruise is not roundtrip from your port of embarkation (e.g. it’s Miami to Los Angeles), it may be more expensive for you to book two one-way flights than what the cruise line charges.

Deal or no deal: No matter how good the offer appears, it’s only a deal if you get what you want for a lot less than you would normally have had to pay. The more flexible you can be around departure dates, cruise ships and air routings, the more likely you are to get the best deal. And if you can make your plans on short notice – four weeks or less – you’ll usually have a wider choice of discounted cruises to choose from.  

The bottom line is that cruise lines cannot afford to have empty ships sailing the seven seas, and will continue to offer great deals to get passengers up the gangplank. With cruise fares starting as low as $50 per day, it’s getting much tougher for landlubbers to resist the call of the sea.

I recently cancelled a Panama Canal cruise I had booked for January of 2009. I still want to go on a cruise through the Big Ditch, but I’ve had several friends ask if they could come along, so I decided to reschedule to a date that worked for everyone.

But when I advised the travel agency that I had booked the cruise with (I had booked this cruise before Tripharbour.ca/Tripharbor.com was launched in May of this year), I was told I would have to pay a $50 cancellation fee. “What?” I told them. “You’ve made money from my bookings in the past, and this is the first time I have ever cancelled a reservation. Why should I be charged a cancellation fee?”

“Well,” they told me, “we incur administrative expenses in booking your cruise, and we want to discourage people from randomly booking cruises without any serious intention to proceed with the booking.”

Needless to say, I was insulted. After all, I did all the research to find my cruise, I checked out all the prices, and I decided what level of cabin we wanted and when we would depart; all the travel agency did was take my reservation over the phone and make the booking—a five-minute task. So why do they deserve a $50 cancellation fee? Where’s the value?

In my view, they don’t deserve it.

Firstly, I put down a $903.88 deposit in January of this year, and the cruise line has had the benefit of my money until July – that’s seven months use of my money interest free. Secondly, I’ve made money for the travel agency in the past and this was the first time I have ever cancelled. So, in my book, the travel agency is still well ahead in the profit column.

To make matters worse, the travel agency charged my $50 cancellation fee to me in U.S. dollars through my VISA card. So the cancellation fee actually cost me $51.39 CDN. In addition, while the cruise line refunded my full deposit amount without any extra fees, I ended up getting only $880 back due to the differing exchange rates charged in buying and selling Canadian and US currency. So I’m out approximately $71.39 just for reserving a cruise and cancelling well within the cruise line’s allowable policy.

With this kind of customer service, it’s easy to understand why the majority of people in North America are now booking travel directly online as opposed to through travel agents. In fact, more than 60 per cent of leisure travel in the U.S. and 40 per cent in Canada is now booked online. And it’s expected this trend will continue as online booking sites become more consumer friendly and helpful.

These statistics and future trend are not surprising. Online sites like Tripharbour.ca and Tripharbor.com provide huge inventories of cruise sailings for travel consumers to look at and choose from – in Tripharbour/Tripharbor’s case, more than 10,000 cruises per week. In addition, they provide a community forum so that people can exchange information and share views about individual ships, ports of calls, food at sea, shore excursions, and more. And there are no cancellation fees outside of the cruise line’s policy.

So when it comes time to re-book my Panama Canal cruise, it won’t be with my old travel agency. Frankly, I’m tired of being taken for granted.