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As one of the leading suppliers of low-cost holidays in the UK, we at The Co-operative Travel are able to bring you the very latest cruise deals on the market.
Luxury cruises are no longer the domain of the elite. The big modern liners run by cruise lines like P&O, Princess and RCI are regularly filled to capacity, with many of the berths taken by passengers booking special departures and other exclusives. Often, those exclusives took some hard tracking down – luckily, if you book with us, all the hard work is done for you.
Finding special deals on luxury cruises isn’t always about finding the cheapest prices. For example, Holland America and Thomson offer good value family cruises to Europe and the Med, which are made even better by the fact that on some, kids can travel for free – all parents pay is air fares and taxes. Celebrity Cruises has an exclusive collection of special departures, which include free onboard credit, free car parking at the departure port and free cabin upgrades. By careful planning, families can enjoy luxury Caribbean cruises on a shoestring budget – but what does the term “special departure” mean? Basically, these are extra cruises that the company has added to its portfolio at short notice. This can be for a variety of reasons. For example, if Carnival Cruises are dramatically expanding their presence in a certain area, they may offer exclusive departures there from a number of ports as a marketing strategy.
Another reason is a ship’s inaugural voyage, or a new port-of-call. Just like any new brand, word of mouth is the best way to advertise – and the best advertisement comes from those who’ve tried the product out. In the parlance of luxury cruises, this means passengers who were tempted on board by exclusive offers, and will hopefully go away and talk positively about it – or put something favourable in the questionnaire.
Cruises never leave the port half full if they can help it. However, quite often the economy and budget state rooms will be filled to capacity, while the more expensive cabins will remain empty. This is especially true of big cruise lines like Princess or Celebrity. The answer is to sell those empty rooms at the budget rate – a free upgrade. These pop up regularly, but are snapped up just as quickly – usually from sites like ours.
We at The Co-operative Travel have a range of exclusive offers and special departures on luxury cruises across the world.