High Season, Low Fares for Caribbean Cruises

You might think cruising in the Caribbean’s winter high season would inevitably be a budget buster, but there are bargains to be had--especially if you book them through the discounters we list below. Here are a few of the best offers, although most do not include air fares, except where noted:

Mediterranean Shipping Cruises: The M/V Melody (formerly the Home Lines’ Atlantic) has 11-night sailings from January through April, departing from Fort Lauderdale and covering San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, Grenada, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe and Port Lucaya on Grand Bahama. The brokers (see below) will sell you this itinerary for as little as $749 per person for cabins with upper and lower berths (for cabins with two lower beds it’s $849) on all winter sailings, even during that February peak period. Incidentally, it might not be too late to book one of the winter’s very best deals, a 17-night (Dec. 27 to Jan. 13) extravaganza on the M/V Melody as it repositions from one region to another to accommodate the line’s seasonal changes. Leaving from Genoa, Italy, and ending in Fort Lauderdale, it covers Spain’s Costa del Sol; the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira; and Caribbean ports of call, including Barbados, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe and Port Lucaya. Rates are as low as $1,069 per person for cabins with upper and lower beds and $1,369 with two lower beds.

Norwegian Cruise Line: Except for one sailing, on Feb. 14, you can book a seven-night cruise on the recently refurbished Norwegian Wind (formerly the Windward, it holds up to 1,750 passengers) for $739, $769 or $839 per person (depending on the date) that sets sail weekly from Miami to the Western Caribbean, including Mexico’s islands of Cozumel and Cancun, and Great Stirrup Cay (Norwegian’s private island in the Bahamas).

First European Cruises: From January through March, 11-nighters to Spain’s Canary Islands as well as the coasts of Spain and Morocco are available for $1,599 per person in January (which includes air fare from New York); in February and March they’re slightly higher.

Holland America Cruises: Based in Fort Lauderdale, the Westerdam sails weekly from Jan. 2 through March 27 to Nassau, San Juan, St. John and St. Thomas. Rates through the discounters listed below start at $870 per person.

Premier Cruises: I’ve written before about “golden oldies” cruise ships, ones that are decades old, as a consistent source of bargains. The older, more traditional ships, I find, often have more open decks and larger staterooms than are found on new, mega-size cruise ships. And this company is a “premier” example. Seven-night Canary Island cruises on Premier’s Island Breeze run as little as $678 per person, while you can make a seven-night traverse of the Panama Canal on the Ocean Breeze for $779. Meanwhile, the Sea Breeze spends seven nights in the western Caribbean for rates starting at just $599, and the 768-passenger Seawind Crown sets sail from Aruba on a deep Caribbean itinerary for $678.

The prices I’ve quoted are offered not by the cruise lines themselves, but by discount cruise brokers scattered across the country. The following is a partial list: The Cruise Line, Inc., telephone (800) 777-0707, Cruises Only, tel. (800) 683-7447, Spur of the Moment Cruises, tel. (800) 343-1991, Cruises of Distinction, tel. (800) 634-3445, and White Travel Service, tel. (800) 547-4790.