Travel plan idea blog

Book early, do your research

One of the most popular travel ideas around is to take a cruise. It's getting more and more popular and as demand increases, so does the price.

Cruise prices are climbing. It seems that people are as comfortable traveling as they were before 9/11 and cruise lines are cashing in on higher demand:

Passengers are inching closer to spending as much on tickets and extras on board as they did during the boom times of 1999 and 2000, analysts said. Carnival, the world's largest cruise company, had its most profitable year ever in 2004 and expects to do better this year. No. 2 Royal Caribbean Cruises and smaller players also report strong demand.

It seems that the best way to get a bargain these days is to book early:

"In February 2005," Funk continues, "the cruise industry is stronger and it's absolutely necessary to book as much as twelve months in advance if you want a particular ship, date and cabin during peak cruise travel periods."

Just make sure to research more than price when you choose a cruise. For example after reading about this nightmare cruise, I wouldn't try Princess cruises to Alaska.

Posted by James Trotta at February 25, 2005 12:13 AM