(NewsNation) — Planning your summer vacation is getting pretty expensive. Airline tickets are surging. Hotels cost a pretty penny. Even filling up your gas tank for a road trip has been painful.
Eager travelers are shouldering the cost of record inflation.
The best and cheapest option for a summer getaway might not be in a car or airplane at all … it might be on a cruise ship.
“People want to go away,” said Stewart Chiron, president and CEO of The Cruise Guy. “Now with the summer upon us, people are making plans not only for the Caribbean and Mexican Rivera, they want to go to Europe and Alaska, and the ships are there.”
Cruise companies are doing whatever they can to get passengers on ships, offering incentives and cheap deals to entice people to soak in that relaxing getaway. Many cruise lines are setting sail for under $100 a day and vacationers have taken notice, according to Chiron.
“People that were on the fence, let’s say first timers or novice cruisers, they’re now booking in droves and we’re seeing more families getting ready to hit the high seas to various destinations as well,” Chiron said.
The online site Cruise Sheet, which aggregates cheap prices, lists 52 sailings available for less than $60 a day between now and September. That includes port fees and taxes.
Cruise Critic, an online travel company of Tripadvisor’s, showed bookings increased in June more than 60% from the same month in 2021.
The cruise industry was still trying to recover from COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns at this time last year, and travelers had to battle frequent safety restrictions. But in the last few months, with the CDC dropping its health notice for cruise travel, and as protocols have eased up, most cruise ship fleets are fully back in service.
Some companies, such as Holland America, allow guests to cancel for any reason up to 30 days before a trip and get a future cruise credit, offering some peace of mind to those who are ready to set sail again post-pandemic.
“A lot has been learned since the shutdown of 2020, and the cruise lines have worked very hard to continue to make the experience safe, but enjoyable,” Chiron said.