Cruise pricing is very fluid and changes constantly from day to day. One of the best feelings in the world is when you check the price of your cruise and notice it has dropped! We call that a price drop.

If the price of your cruise does drop, you can get onboard credit, stateroom upgrade, or even cash back – depending on the cruise line and the form of payment you used to book your cruise.

Before you try to redeem your price drop, make sure to check that you’re eligible.

1. Double check the fare code

Each cruise line has a fare code assigned to the price of the stateroom you purchased.

For example, Carnival’s Early Saver Program says if you find a lower rate after booking your cruise, they will honor it and adjust your cruise rate.

All you do is have to fill out a form.

2. Ask a travel agent 

A travel agent can be your best friend. The cruise line wants the travel agent to keep booking their cruises – so a travel agent can sometimes have more leeway than calling them directly, or could even do it on your behalf (if you booked the cruise through them). Keep in mind that the ultimate decision is still up to the cruise line.

3. Check final payment window

Cruise lines will be more resistant on honoring your price drop if you’ve already paid final payment. This goes back to checking the fare code that you booked and reading the fine print. If you haven’t made final payment yet, you’re more apt to get your price drop honored.

4. Use an app

There are a lot of programs out there showing price drops. ShipMate is a popular app that just launched a price drop feature. But if tracking on an app isn’t your thing, you can go to Cruiseline.com and set price drop alerts for your next sailing. The cool thing about the mentioned price drop features is you don’t have to be booked to monitor the fare.

5. Call the cruise line

This one is a bit obvious but it will knock out any doubt you may have of a price drop. Before you call, make sure you are armed with the fare code, the sailing date, your reservation number, and basically everything about your reservation. Sometimes you may know more than the reservations agent – it’s happened.

Remember that the cruise lines are in the business to make money and they aren’t going to alert you on price drops.

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