Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Begin searching about a year before the date you hope to depart on your cruise. An early cruise search will almost guarantee that the cruise you choose will not be booked heavily enough to prevent you from securing your cabin choice and cruise length. You will also have time to adjust your exact vacation dates to fit the cruise schedule.
Be flexible. Have at least a few days of flexibility in your sailing date before you start to look for the cruise. You need this because certain cruises tend to depart only on specific days of the week. Cruises that last seven nights, for example, often begin and end on a Sunday. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are popular departure days for five-night cruises.
Look into several cruise lines and try not to be locked into only one. The same is true for a certain cruise ship. Cruise lines need to relocate ships from one port to another. These shorter trips are usually priced less per night because they do not return to the same port where you departed. Also, the next cruise for the ship may be shorter than normal because of the days used during the relocation. This can lead to more affordable fares, too. Both options can add extra choices to your cruise selections.
Visit a travel or cruise line website (see Resources for a couple of examples). In the cruise finder field, enter your date, destination, cruise length and departure month. This should yield you a list of cruises that are available on or around your desired vacation date. Consider the options offered with each cruise until you find the one that most closely fits your needs.