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The year’s biggest cruise sale is almost here, but is it really possible to both save money and be eco-conscious?
ADVERTISEMENTWave Season is famous in the cruising industry for being the busiest booking period of the year. 2025 is set to be no different, thanks to the post-pandemic boom in cruising.From January until the end of March, bookings flood in, with some of them made years in advance of the voyage.I’ve previously worked for a cruise line and have been a travel writer for 24 years, so I guarantee Wave Season is the best time to save money and score perks like free room upgrades or credit to use onboard.Thanks to the Friends of the Earth US’s (FOE) Cruise Ship Report Card, you can now easily make more environmentally responsible decisions, too. Here, I give you my tips and tricks for finding the best bargain while avoiding the most common mistakes.How to save money on a cruise – and why a bargain might not be all it seemsThere’s little point in shunning the fireworks to leap onto booking sites at 00:01 on 1 January. Bargains can be found throughout the three-month sale period, with additional discounted cruises often added right up until the end. How far in advance should you book a cruise? The industry is unusual in that bookings can open well over two years in advance, a long time before flights are even bookable. Such advance bookings are, however, unlikely to attract large discounts, so during Wave Season, you may want to focus on departures within 12 months. It’s possible to find heavily discounted last-minute deals, but they usually mean you have to go when there are still plenty of available cabins on a particular sailing rather than having a choice of dates. I have, however, seen excellent deals (such as an MSC Cruises holiday departing Southampton for just £50 (€60) per person per night in a balcony cabin) up to two months before departure. Further savings can be made if you’re not fussed about cruising during a destination’s low season. Be warned: cheaper cruises will often get you the bare minimum for your bargain holiday. You’ll pay extra for access to the spa and some restaurants, and for any drinks apart from teas, coffees and juices. I equate the cheaper end of the cruise market with the Ryanair model of offering incredible up-front prices, then pestering you for those optional extras. Whereas before, you could choose where your cabin is, now, when you pay less, you don’t necessarily get that choice. Apart from the cons of cruising on a minimal budget, there are also positives. Having been on an astonishingly cheap MSC cruise, I can safely say that you’ll still have a great time. You’ll be going to the same destinations as those who have paid considerably more, mostly eating the same food and enjoying the same on-board entertainment. There won’t be any hidden charges, like taxes and tips, either.There’s a lot to be said for paying more too. Paying upfront for drinks packages and access to speciality restaurants means you won’t be worrying about your spending once on board. If you think you’ll be wanting spa time then it’s often cheaper to include this in your package before you sail. My personal preference is to go as cheap as possible. I know that if I want additional drinks, I can purchase them individually without a huge on-board cost. For example, a beer on Royal Caribbean’s ships will set you back about US$8 (€7.62), and there are often daily promotions on certain drinks. Because I’m not interested in having more than two or three paid-for drinks every day I know that drinks packages are not for me. Is it better to book a cruise directly or via a travel agent?I’m a keen independent traveller, I like creating my own holidays and saving money along the way. But when it comes to booking a cruise, a travel agent can be of enormous value. I’ve seen cruise lines provide agents with prices you may not find elsewhere, plus agents have the expertise of pulling in various other discounts to get you the very best deal going. Found a better price elsewhere? It’s possible that an agent can beat it, so don’t be afraid to ask.ADVERTISEMENTAirlines like to hide some of their most discounted rates by combining them in package holidays. So if you’re booking a cruise that necessitates flights, having an agent package them together could save you money, especially during the main airline sale season (which overlaps with Wave Season in January).You can cut your carbon footprint by looking into arriving at your cruise’s departure point by land or sea rather than flying. Long-distance and overnight trains are booming right now, with journey times ever shorter and trains more comfortable than ever. You also only need to arrive at the train station an hour before your train leaves – instead of waiting in an airport for hours. Websites like Omio and Trainline are great for figuring out routes and prices.Being loyal to a cruise company rewards them – and youIf you’ve been on a cruise before and you still have access to your previous booking details, you can enjoy that cruise line’s loyalty programme. Cruise companies love loyalty – they’re willing to offer generous discounts and perks to repeat bookers. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by choice, I recommend starting your Wave Season sale search with a cruise line you’ve enjoyed sailing on before. That amazing sale price you found? It can be made even more amazing by adding the loyalty discount on top.ADVERTISEMENTAfter a slow start, the cruise industry has now caught on to more advanced online booking technology. I still find it worthwhile shopping around different cruise agencies, but, in my experience, the difference in price can be negligible. Where the real differences between these websites lie are in how search results are presented and the filters you can select when searching.Combining cruise deals with environmental responsibilityAnother benefit of the advances in booking cruises online is that you can search for less polluting cruises. I love that online agency Iglu Cruise has researched each line’s sustainability goals, using criteria such as shoreside power and advanced wastewater systems to create an ‘Eco-Friendly’ filter on its search page.The FOE’s Cruise Ship Report Card ranks lines and ships from A to F based on four key environmental factors: Sewage treatment, air pollution reduction, water quality/scrubber use, and transparency. It’s rare to see such a complicated issue presented so clearly. All you do is compare cruise lines in the left-hand column with the grade they received in the right-hand column. Look out for the tabs at the top of the table to see the scores for individual ships. ADVERTISEMENTI’m impressed at how this report card cuts through the usual greenwashing. For example, many lines boast about how some of their ships can now run on liquified natural gas (LNG), but it’s not as clean as they claim it is. “Lately many cruise ships have been outfitted with LNG technology,” says Marcie Keever, author of the Cruise Ship Report Card, “but this is a polluting fuel producing harmful amounts of methane.” It’s thanks to this level of research and detail that the report card is the best tool for any cruise booker wanting to easily make more responsible decisions.How to be environmentally friendly while onboard a cruiseThere are plenty of things you can do once onboard a cruise to contribute to reducing the voyage’s carbon footprint. Firstly, don’t bring more luggage than you need – as that makes the ship heavier. Act as you would in your own home – don’t waste water (an especially precious resource on a ship), turn off the lights, and unplug devices when you leave your cabin. ADVERTISEMENTMany ships now have advanced recycling centres, so take the time to throw away your rubbish in the correct bin. It’s always best to reuse towels and bedlinen to reduce ocean pollution. For example, the ship Norwegian Bliss gets through 5,000 kg of laundry every day, with the resultant wastewater pumped into the sea. When you first see those buffets laden with delicious food or learn that you can, in fact, order as many dishes from the menu as you want, you may be tempted to pile up your table with as many plates as it can carry. I get it: food is a big part of any cruise. On Royal Caribbean’s largest ships, an incredible 3,200 slices of pizza are served every hour. My advice is to pace yourself, not least because, by doing so, you will help to reduce the vast amounts of food waste generated by cruises. ADVERTISEMENTI’ve never noticed a difference in price between cruises that spend more time in ports than they do at sea. But cruises that involve more sea days will, of course, be burning more fuel. In addition to choosing cruises with less travel time, it’s also worth seeing if your cruise stops at ports that offer cleaner shoreside power. Cruise Lines International Association has produced this handy map to help your search.
