Cruising Basics

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You can book a cruise last minute (to travel this weekend!) or you can book far in advance, 2 years or more depending on the cruise line. 

Typically if your cruise is more than 90days out you put down a deposit to hold your cruise which may or may not be refundable depending on the cruise line. Typically 90days from the sail date is when total payment is due.

Cruises can be as short as 2 days or as long as...well..months! 7 night cruises are some of the most common. In general you'll see cruise lengths from 5 to 14 nights. 

You can book directly with the cruise line or through a travel agent. The travel agent could specialize in cruising or it could be a general travel agent that books all types of travel.

Cruises can be as cheap or as expensive as you want them to be. Some cruise lines will have deals for $299 for 5 nights while others will charge you $7,000 for 7 nights. It all depends what you want, but always remember you get what you pay for! 

We learned most of what we know about cruising by actually going on the cruises, but before we went we visited CruiseCritic.com religiously and asked questions. We think it is a FANTASTIC resource to ask questions and meet other cruisers.