Cruise industry pushing World's Largest Cruise Night promo on clarkhoward.com

MONEY-SAVING MOMENT: Cruises present some of the best travel opportunities right now. This is your time if you can scrounge together enough money.

Last month, Clark talked about what a deal cruises are in the fall. Demand just drops off after Labor Day. Meanwhile, so few people are focused on booking cruises into next year. That's why the industry has steadily expanded its World's Largest Cruise Night promotion.

October has become a great month to buy, even into the spring of next year if you can plan that far ahead! The industry continues to roll out the deals as it reels from the recession. USA Today has a list highlighting some of the offers.

If you want to book a cruise, Clark recommends going to a cruise-only agency or a cruise-only agent at a regular agency. Every ship and every itinerary has its own personality. Inexperienced cruisers would be wise to consult with a professional so they get the most out of their vacation.

Don't like cruises? Walt Disney is offering a buy four nights, get three night free offer at Disney accommodations that are mid-price and above. That's a big deal considering that Disney historically has not discounted their properties. And it's just another symptom of how badly the hotel business is hurting too.

What others are saying

Best Cruise Ever
If you want to get go on the best cruise of your life, check out
www.sixthman.com. These musicly themed
adventures are so much fun that I didn't
get off the ship in Mexico!!! They have
about 7 diffrent cruises. I went on the
Lynyrd Skynyrd cruise,3 years in a row!
Marshall Tucker playing (live)on the Lido deck 2:00AM I'm so glad my friend
asked me to go!!! Worth every penny, you can't buy an experience like this
any where else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By James W. @ 10/16/09 09:21:30 AMreport abuse
my other comment
please forgive my spelling, I should have previewed my comment. one major cost i forgot to mention that needs to be considered for cruise vacations is airfare to the departure port. Unless you book air at much higher rates through the cruise line, they will not reimburse you if you are delayed and miss the ship, so you might have to add in the airfare (self booked at a lower price a day in advance of departure) and a hotel room for a night. that way if your flight is delayed (happens all the time during hurricane season) you dont get stuck missing the boat!
By Dave @ 10/15/09 08:18:19 PMreport abuse
cruises are a ripoff
cruises are not the best travel oppertunity now...all inclusive resorts (expecially in Mexico) are a much better deal...cruises should be discounting the cabin prices because of al the new cabins recently brought online...Between 2007 and 2010 many new megaships are going into service and cabins have increased by 32%...so with the new cabins and failing economy you would think that cabin rates would fall below the $100 a day rate which has been average for the last 20 years...nope, instead they tease you with $50 a day rates for the lowest class inside cabin but then you have to break out a calculator to figure out the rest of the costs...add in port fees which are sometimes listed seperate, taxes which are allways added on to the advertised price....fuel surcharges of $10 per person per day, Maandatory tipping (service charge...call it what it is) of $10-12 a day per person....soda card (if you want soda at less than $2 a can) which must be purchased for the full trip at $6-7 per day per person + a mandatory bar tip of 15%....bar tab for any drinks at $5 a beer and $6-$9 a drink, extra charges if you want to eat in the specialty resturants of $20 per reservation, coffee stands and wine bars charges are added to the bill, even crappy burger joint "johnny rockets" is an extra charge on ships that have them (royal carib)...spa stuff, casino, arcade, shore excursions, transport to and from the pier, tips for cab and porters....add it all up and tell me what a deal it is....It is all tease and should be illegal...they are as bad as the airlines about teasing people with the base rate and adding fees until you don't know what the final cost really is...cruises are a ripoff and until they sail with half empty ships they won't drop prices a dime...DONT EVER TAKE A SPRING BREAK CRUISE because its cheap, unless you are a spring breaker you will be mad that you spent all that money to be on a ship full of drunk kids....DONT EVER TAKE A FALL CRUISE because its cheap unless you can deal with heavy seas in hurricane season and being rerouted to alternate destinations to avoid toilet hugging conditions...DONT EVER BOOK A CRUISE OVER A YEAR IN ADVANCE, the cruise line uses your money to build more ships it doesn't need and you usually get better deals at last minute than over a year out without having to do without that money for the next year....dont get me wrong I have cruised many times and had fun, but i knew it was not a bargain. and I believe all-inclusives are a much better deal at this time, with mexico still hurting from the H1N1 virus that is where the true bargain vacation is.
By Dave @ 10/15/09 08:09:24 PMreport abuse
Vacation Madness
My boss just took us employees to an amazing private resort north of Acapulco for 10 days, it was some type of "Kings" package that ran over $3,000 per person for 7 days and we got it for less than $1,200 for 10 days. The deals are out there, and this was in late June-early July, HOT but FUN, and even though I'm not in the best financial state currently, I believe I'll be taking another vacation to someplace warm before Xmas with the deals that are now available.

The day we arrived they asked each of us our preference on booze for the times we were not at one of the three different resort bars or main club, certain drinks at their bars and the club were free and the rest was heavily discounted compared to US prices, but the second day there we came back from being out in the Pacific fishing and I got to my room and there was almost an endless supply of my favorite beer, Heineken. The fridge was stuffed, the coolers were stuffed and there was four 12-packs against the wall. everyone else had their favorite booze waiting for them as well. FREE. I haven't drank since.
By Chris @ 10/15/09 12:47:08 PMreport abuse

Best Cruise Ever

If you want to get go on the best cruise of your life, check out
www.sixthman.com. These musicly themed
adventures are so much fun that I didn't
get off the ship in Mexico!!! They have
about 7 diffrent cruises. I went on the
Lynyrd Skynyrd cruise,3 years in a row!
Marshall Tucker playing (live)on the Lido deck 2:00AM I'm so glad my friend
asked me to go!!! Worth every penny, you can't buy an experience like this
any where else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By James W. @ 10/16/09 09:21:30 AMreport abuse

my other comment

please forgive my spelling, I should have previewed my comment. one major cost i forgot to mention that needs to be considered for cruise vacations is airfare to the departure port. Unless you book air at much higher rates through the cruise line, they will not reimburse you if you are delayed and miss the ship, so you might have to add in the airfare (self booked at a lower price a day in advance of departure) and a hotel room for a night. that way if your flight is delayed (happens all the time during hurricane season) you dont get stuck missing the boat!

By Dave @ 10/15/09 08:18:19 PMreport abuse

cruises are a ripoff

cruises are not the best travel oppertunity now...all inclusive resorts (expecially in Mexico) are a much better deal...cruises should be discounting the cabin prices because of al the new cabins recently brought online...Between 2007 and 2010 many new megaships are going into service and cabins have increased by 32%...so with the new cabins and failing economy you would think that cabin rates would fall below the $100 a day rate which has been average for the last 20 years...nope, instead they tease you with $50 a day rates for the lowest class inside cabin but then you have to break out a calculator to figure out the rest of the costs...add in port fees which are sometimes listed seperate, taxes which are allways added on to the advertised price....fuel surcharges of $10 per person per day, Maandatory tipping (service charge...call it what it is) of $10-12 a day per person....soda card (if you want soda at less than $2 a can) which must be purchased for the full trip at $6-7 per day per person + a mandatory bar tip of 15%....bar tab for any drinks at $5 a beer and $6-$9 a drink, extra charges if you want to eat in the specialty resturants of $20 per reservation, coffee stands and wine bars charges are added to the bill, even crappy burger joint "johnny rockets" is an extra charge on ships that have them (royal carib)...spa stuff, casino, arcade, shore excursions, transport to and from the pier, tips for cab and porters....add it all up and tell me what a deal it is....It is all tease and should be illegal...they are as bad as the airlines about teasing people with the base rate and adding fees until you don't know what the final cost really is...cruises are a ripoff and until they sail with half empty ships they won't drop prices a dime...DONT EVER TAKE A SPRING BREAK CRUISE because its cheap, unless you are a spring breaker you will be mad that you spent all that money to be on a ship full of drunk kids....DONT EVER TAKE A FALL CRUISE because its cheap unless you can deal with heavy seas in hurricane season and being rerouted to alternate destinations to avoid toilet hugging conditions...DONT EVER BOOK A CRUISE OVER A YEAR IN ADVANCE, the cruise line uses your money to build more ships it doesn't need and you usually get better deals at last minute than over a year out without having to do without that money for the next year....dont get me wrong I have cruised many times and had fun, but i knew it was not a bargain. and I believe all-inclusives are a much better deal at this time, with mexico still hurting from the H1N1 virus that is where the true bargain vacation is.

By Dave @ 10/15/09 08:09:24 PMreport abuse

Vacation Madness

My boss just took us employees to an amazing private resort north of Acapulco for 10 days, it was some type of "Kings" package that ran over $3,000 per person for 7 days and we got it for less than $1,200 for 10 days. The deals are out there, and this was in late June-early July, HOT but FUN, and even though I'm not in the best financial state currently, I believe I'll be taking another vacation to someplace warm before Xmas with the deals that are now available.

The day we arrived they asked each of us our preference on booze for the times we were not at one of the three different resort bars or main club, certain drinks at their bars and the club were free and the rest was heavily discounted compared to US prices, but the second day there we came back from being out in the Pacific fishing and I got to my room and there was almost an endless supply of my favorite beer, Heineken. The fridge was stuffed, the coolers were stuffed and there was four 12-packs against the wall. everyone else had their favorite booze waiting for them as well. FREE. I haven't drank since.

By Chris @ 10/15/09 12:47:08 PMreport abuse

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Oct 14, 2009 -- Cruise industry pushing World's Largest Cruise Night promo

What others are saying