Cheap Cruises Review: Cruise Vacation Sites

Like several cruise vacation booking websites in this review, Cheap Cruises' parent company is World Travel Holdings. At the time of this review, Cheap Cruises offered nearly 5,500 sailings from 10 popular cruise lines.

Website is easy to use

Searching for a cheap cruise is simple. Start by entering your desired vacation destination, then filter by departure date, cruise length, departure port, or cruise line. You can sort your results by price or by Cheap Cruises' recommended options.

Small cash bonuses for booking certain sailings

When you visit Cheap Cruises' website, you'll see pop-up advertisements and banners offering you the chance to "unlock" a $50 to $3,000 bonus if you give them your email address - but don't rush to sign up for spam mail just yet. We read the fine print, so we can tell you that they're referring to their "Double Bonus Offer", where you can choose between Onboard Spending or a Visa Prepaid Card when you book certain sailings from select cruise lines through their website. If you spent $1,000 on a Norwegian cruise, for example, you unlock a $50 bonus. To reach the upper limit of $3,000 in bonuses, you'd need to spend at least $30,000 on a cruise booked through Cheap Cruises.

Earn loyalty rewards

Cheap Cruises has a loyalty program. Booking 3 vacations through them takes you from Silver to Gold and wins you nice bonuses like $50 vouchers for shore excursions, resorts, and onboard spending. When you reach the Diamond tier after 10 vacations, these vouchers are worth $100.

Price-match guarantee ensures lowest price

In some cases, you may save more by booking directly than through Cheap Cruises. We compared the cost of a 4-night Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas. While Cheap Cruises priced it at $480 ($120 a night), it was only $386 ($96 a night) through Royal Caribbean because they were running a seasonal deal and one for 60% off a second guest. That said, Cheap Cruises has a Best Price Guarantee, and they promise to match any competitor's price on the same cruise (and to give you back 10% of the difference).

Nonrefundable fees for booking and cancellation

Sometimes life gets in the way, and you have to postpone your vacation. It's a tough decision to make, but sometimes you even need to cancel it altogether. Unfortunately, you might be in for further disappointment here when you start the cancellation process: Cheap Cruises charges a $100 cancellation fee per reservation, and you won't get back the $24.99 processing fee you paid to book the cruise in the first place. If the cruise line charges their own cancellation fee, you will be responsible for this as well.

You may be intentionally mislead by agents

Cheap Cruises has a 3.8-star rating average on Trustpilot from under 100 reviews. A discomfiting 26% of these reviews are rated with only 1 star. A common pattern we noticed among these is where customers are given false reassurance when booking over the phone that certain parts of their vacation packages are refundable, only to be told later that "the agent misspoke" and no refund is possible.

Online booking process isn't much better

If you think you can save yourself a headache by booking online instead of through an agent (so you have everything in writing), not so fast. When browsing at Cheap Cruises, you may encounter exciting, time-sensitive deals. As you go through the booking process for these, you'll have the option to lower your price by choosing less expensive accommodations or opting out of certain packages. However, what you might not realize is that these choices may negate the deals that initially drew you in. There may not even be fine print on the page that explains this. It seems the old adage is true for Cheap Cruises: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Not much better or worse than its siblings

When you compare Cheap Cruises to its World Travel Holdings siblings (Vacation Outlet, Cruises, and Cruises Only), you'll won't find much of a difference in their core offerings - most list around 11,000 sailings, have a price guarantee, charge identical booking fees ($24.99) and cancellation fees ($100), and advertise similar bonuses. Cheap Cruises lists fewer sailings, and is in second-to-last place when it comes to customer ratings. All four companies face similar complaints about undelivered bonuses and misleading pricing practices.

Mid-range cruise booking website

In comparison to some major online travel agencies that have dismal customer ratings and unclear policies around fees and refunds, this mid-sized cruise booking site is a bit more transparent and has better perks. However, when compared to our highest-rated booking platforms, it falls short due to its nonrefundable fees, misleading pricing practices, and concerning patterns of customer complaints about denied refunds and unfulfilled bonuses. If you're seeking the most reliable and cost-effective way to book a cruise vacation, we recommend choosing one of our top-rated companies instead of this one.

On the Cheap Cruises website