1. Learn what free activities are available

Indeed, “The best things in life are free.” Besides the seemingly unlimited amount of food served on cruises, they also tend to have several free activities of which you can enjoy. From movies to shuffleboard, and from gyms to concerts—cruises typically have a cornucopia of gratis activities that can make your voyage more enjoyable.

So before you select a particular ship line to travel on, learn which activities they provide for free. That will help you to get the most value when searching for cruise bargains.

2. Avoid activities with extra costs

One of the best ways to save money when on cruises is to avoid activities with extra costs. That includes the spa, casino, gift shop, and café. In particular, you should avoid dining in restaurants for the simple reason that cruises provide an ample supply of food for you to enjoy.

Why can the extra activities be so enticing? These services try to lure you using flashy advertising that gives you the impression that you can’t live without such-and-such goods or services. Your fellow travelers are also likely to give outstanding reviews for various amenities that they’ve enjoyed on the ship. Your natural reaction is to feel that you need to keep up with the Joneses. The best way to minimize your expenses is to set a daily spending limit and then stick to it!

3. Choose fully enclosed cabins

Okay, staying in such cabins may sound creepy and depressing. They lack windows and terraces, which may seem to make claustrophobics out of anyone who’s staying in them. However, you likely didn’t decide to go on a lengthy ship voyage and then remain in your cabin during the whole time.

There’s so much to do on cruises: swimming, dancing, gaming, golfing and of course—eating! Entertainment and dining tend to be free on cruises. So basically by choosing cheaper accommodations when searching for cruise bargains, you’ll be further increasing your savings.

4. Minimize island-hopping

I can attest that island-hopping can be a barrel of fun. However, when on cruises you typically have a minimum amount of time to do it. By the time you travel to the heart of a major city, you may have just a few hours left to tour it. The costs can be quite pricy and include vehicle rental, a driver, a tour guide, and so on.

So you’ll have to make a judgment call. If you have 12 hours to spend at a port and you spend half of it traveling to get to the city you’ll have to determine if it’s worth the time and cost.

When searching for cruise bargains, these tips will help you to save a fortune. Remember that you can have a ball without costing you an arm and a leg!