HAPPY HOUR CRUISE BOOKINGS: 
HOW TO GET A GREAT LAST MINUTE CRUISE DEAL!
By
The Savvy Old Lady ©
Joan Giorgianni

Many of you have asked me about the “Happy Hour Special” I referred to in my blog on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas (www.thesavyoldlady.com) posted June 16, 2007.

Well to be truthful, up until just this year even I hadn’t heard of this term in the cruising industry.  Yep, after cruising for many years, I just found out about this little gem; so I’m passing it on to you. 

So here is – as my kids might say “The 411” on these last minute deals.

Royal Caribbean and Carnival have the “Happy Hour Special” for all the ships in their fleets and all the ships in the companies they own.  Carnival Corporation owns Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Princess Cruise Line, Holland America, Windstar and Seabourn (I’m still waiting to see Seabourn show up...think it will be a long wait LOL). Royal Caribbean International owns Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Celebrity Cruises. Now, I must say we are very fortunate living on the west coast of Florida and being only two to three hours (driving) from four major ports.  The worry about arranging for last minute flights with expensive fares need not concern us.  However, never having heard the phrase “Happy Hour Specials” regarding the cruising industry, a wonderful agent from (www.vacationstogo.com) named Mary, patiently explained that RCI and Carnival release a list on Tuesdays and Wednesdays of all the empty cabins they have for the same week sailings, most with incredibly reduced fares.  These cabins seldom get posted on the internet since they go so fast.  So if you’re interested you must make the call to one of the Internet cruise agencies on Tuesday and Wednesday and act quickly.  After Mary explained the story with these deals they sounded great to us.  The Crabby Old Guy though thought that it sounded too good to be true (he loves old adages) but we decided in the name of research for the blog and my cruising book we should give it a whirl…after all we were in an adventuresome mood. 

Next she told us that she had an incredible deal on a Costa Cruise Line (owned by Carnival) Grand Suite (750 square inside cabin space feet which is slightly larger than the average New York City studio apartment)...situated at the back of the ship, with a wrap around deck, (I swear, it was sooo big I could have had 75 people on that balcony and still had room...who says size doesn’t matter?) and TA DA... it also came with, are you ready, Butler Service.  The price for two passengers was cheaper than some non-balcony ocean view cabins and inside cabins that we have seen on other cruise lines, who couldn’t live with that?  So of course we booked it Tuesday afternoon for a cruise to leave out of Fort Lauderdale Saturday morning...nothing like a leisurely packing day or two.  Our boarding documents were e-tickets (just like the airlines) and we filled out our pre-cruise documentation on-line.  Just one suggestion if you try and do this “Happy Hour Special”, after you book and get your booking number, go on to the ship line site and plug in your number in the appropriate spot...if all is well your name and cabin etc. will pop up.  If that doesn’t happen within a short time of the booking call the agent back and see if there’s a problem.  You don’t want to get to the pier and find a nasty surprise... stuff does happen.  At any rate, for our trip it worked beautifully.

So, Happy Hour Specials can be a real treat if you have the time to be flexible, are not too, too fussy about what cruise line or itinerary you travel or where you travel to.  Also, you really do need to be a bit (just a little) adventuresome to do this and be a bit careful making sure that the booking has been logged in by the cruise line company just as you thought it would be. 

Try it, and remember...life is just one big adventure.  Happy sailing!

STAY SAVVY!

HUGS,
THE SAVVY OLD LADY