Cruises for as low as $40/day?! on clarkhoward.com

MONEY-SAVING MOMENT: Clark is not a fan of cruises, but right now there are great deals for those who do enjoy them.

USA Today recently reported that NCL has been offering 3-night and 4-night cruises for $99/person! That rate is so low it may seem like a scam, but it's completely legitimate. Other NCL deals include $40/day for a Mediterranean excursion, according to the article.

It's not just NCL that has the sweet deals. There are deals from many of the ultra-luxury cruises that traditionally catered to high-end customers who historically weren't price sensitive. But right now, the people feeling the most pinched are precisely these "aspirational" wealthy clients.

What's in it for a cruise line to offer these kinds of deals? A cheap cabin and cheap meals are loss leaders; the real money comes not from cabin fare, but from what you spend in onshore excursion packages and onboard extras like gambling and liquor.

So if your finances are ship shape, find a ship and go! There are 2 ways to do this, Clark says. If you are an experienced cruiser, you can shop on the web and use sites like CruiseCritic.com for guidance. For the rest of us, however, it's best to book with a real person at a cruise-only agency or an experienced cruise agent at a regular agency. A good cruise agent will ask questions about your lifestyle and what activities you enjoy to gauge which ships and cruise lines will best suit you.

What others are saying

Carnival Cruise Lines
We had a very positive cruise on the Carnival ship Miracle. Everything was great, food, entertainment, staff, etc. We were so pleased we've already booked another cruise.
By Judy Saunders @ 01/15/10 12:15:17 PMreport abuse
carnival cuise line
the worst trip i have ever taken was this last november on carnival cruise line. My wife and I have been on cruses before with a different line and have had wonderful trips. This last one was a trip from heck . They the cruse people through out the photos before we docked the next day and said too bad so sad for you meaning us. I had just returned from Afghanistan and this was a special trip fro me and my wife. I was treated better in Afghanistan by the Afghans than the workers on the cruise line. i posted at crusecritic they not only took my post off but told me that it isnt the place to bad mouth cruise lines..... i was made fun of by the crew of the ship i was belittled by the crew and I WILL NEVER SAIL WITH CARNIVAL AGIAN
By james rader @ 02/17/09 12:08:25 AMreport abuse
Carnival Cruise LIne Galveston Port
Now I know why Clark is not a fan of cruises. I paid 2,500 for 3 of us to go on a 4 night cruise to Cozumel. Fog caused a delay at the port which is not the fault of the cruise line but the way they handled the delay was. We paid for VIP boarding which was dis regarded as all passengers were crammed into the terminal and forced to wait 12 hours until the ship was released to sail.We were then herded like cattle with no regard for VIP boarders Carnival chose to switch the tips from 10 a day to 20 a day so the bill was the same 120.00 ! The only compensation they offered was 40 for food is what they said and we could not get out of the line to get food. All of the porters had gone home and we had to carry all of our luggage uphill onto the gangway. Not one employee helped us they acted like this was the first time they had ever had a delay. Later on the ship we find out people were going to the front and demending a refund and getting it and leaving. I wish they had annouced that so we would have made that choice. Also, we were not told until we boarded the ship at midnight that the ship was not going to Cozumel but Progreso instead which is a poor underdeveloped area that has nothing to do. We just stayed on the ship as we knew how bad Progreso was. Carival did not give us anything we paid for except the room which was nice, but that is it. Very expesive and I have sent them a letter and gotten no response. That poster is right about cruisecritic. They are all cheerleadrers are drunk one of the two. They blamed me instead of the real ripp offs here which is Carnival.
By charlee @ 01/25/09 06:59:59 PMreport abuse
Your view
SOOOOOO true. I call the NCL (CRUISE?) the getto cruise of the century!
By stormy @ 01/14/09 12:38:49 PMreport abuse
cruisecritic is biased
I was a member of cruisecritic and offered many helpful posts to people learning about cruising. After a while though they had appointed some of the more frequent posters as board police who edited and banned people for personal reasons as well as any negative comments about the industry...they are mindless cruise industry cheerleaders who will not talk about any negative aspects of cruise lines or cruising in general.....BTW Clark is right on this about the cruise lines profiting on other things besides the teaser base rate they advertise (which legally must contain port charges) the real cost is obtained (usually with a calculator) by adding fees like taxes, mandatory tips of $10 per day per person, soda card for $5-7 per day per person for anyone who drinks soda but doesnt want to pay $2 a can, bar tab (which includes a 15% tip on everything, including popping a top on a $5 beer), shore excursions (which run $30-60 bucks higher through the ship than if you book directly), casino tab, specialty resteraunts cover charges, coffee or ice creme shops charge too, wine and cigars, photos, arcade, spa, gift shops, even fresh squeezed orange juice is a premium with breakfast on some lines, plane fare, transfers to and from airport, tips for taxi and porters....it all adds up and the bottom line is never close to the teaser base rate with port charges...so think about that when you see a teaser for $40 a day...hahaha
By Dave @ 01/14/09 11:38:08 AMreport abuse

Carnival Cruise Lines

We had a very positive cruise on the Carnival ship Miracle. Everything was great, food, entertainment, staff, etc. We were so pleased we've already booked another cruise.

By Judy Saunders @ 01/15/10 12:15:17 PMreport abuse

carnival cuise line

the worst trip i have ever taken was this last november on carnival cruise line. My wife and I have been on cruses before with a different line and have had wonderful trips. This last one was a trip from heck . They the cruse people through out the photos before we docked the next day and said too bad so sad for you meaning us. I had just returned from Afghanistan and this was a special trip fro me and my wife. I was treated better in Afghanistan by the Afghans than the workers on the cruise line. i posted at crusecritic they not only took my post off but told me that it isnt the place to bad mouth cruise lines..... i was made fun of by the crew of the ship i was belittled by the crew and I WILL NEVER SAIL WITH CARNIVAL AGIAN

By james rader @ 02/17/09 12:08:25 AMreport abuse

Carnival Cruise LIne Galveston Port

Now I know why Clark is not a fan of cruises. I paid 2,500 for 3 of us to go on a 4 night cruise to Cozumel. Fog caused a delay at the port which is not the fault of the cruise line but the way they handled the delay was. We paid for VIP boarding which was dis regarded as all passengers were crammed into the terminal and forced to wait 12 hours until the ship was released to sail.We were then herded like cattle with no regard for VIP boarders Carnival chose to switch the tips from 10 a day to 20 a day so the bill was the same 120.00 ! The only compensation they offered was 40 for food is what they said and we could not get out of the line to get food. All of the porters had gone home and we had to carry all of our luggage uphill onto the gangway. Not one employee helped us they acted like this was the first time they had ever had a delay. Later on the ship we find out people were going to the front and demending a refund and getting it and leaving. I wish they had annouced that so we would have made that choice. Also, we were not told until we boarded the ship at midnight that the ship was not going to Cozumel but Progreso instead which is a poor underdeveloped area that has nothing to do. We just stayed on the ship as we knew how bad Progreso was. Carival did not give us anything we paid for except the room which was nice, but that is it. Very expesive and I have sent them a letter and gotten no response. That poster is right about cruisecritic. They are all cheerleadrers are drunk one of the two. They blamed me instead of the real ripp offs here which is Carnival.

By charlee @ 01/25/09 06:59:59 PMreport abuse

Your view

SOOOOOO true. I call the NCL (CRUISE?) the getto cruise of the century!

By stormy @ 01/14/09 12:38:49 PMreport abuse

cruisecritic is biased

I was a member of cruisecritic and offered many helpful posts to people learning about cruising. After a while though they had appointed some of the more frequent posters as board police who edited and banned people for personal reasons as well as any negative comments about the industry...they are mindless cruise industry cheerleaders who will not talk about any negative aspects of cruise lines or cruising in general.....BTW Clark is right on this about the cruise lines profiting on other things besides the teaser base rate they advertise (which legally must contain port charges) the real cost is obtained (usually with a calculator) by adding fees like taxes, mandatory tips of $10 per day per person, soda card for $5-7 per day per person for anyone who drinks soda but doesnt want to pay $2 a can, bar tab (which includes a 15% tip on everything, including popping a top on a $5 beer), shore excursions (which run $30-60 bucks higher through the ship than if you book directly), casino tab, specialty resteraunts cover charges, coffee or ice creme shops charge too, wine and cigars, photos, arcade, spa, gift shops, even fresh squeezed orange juice is a premium with breakfast on some lines, plane fare, transfers to and from airport, tips for taxi and porters....it all adds up and the bottom line is never close to the teaser base rate with port charges...so think about that when you see a teaser for $40 a day...hahaha

By Dave @ 01/14/09 11:38:08 AMreport abuse

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Jan 13, 2009 -- Cruises for as low as $40/day?!

What others are saying