Diplomacy

Just about every cruise line is once again offering Black Friday Cruise Deals this year that range from discounted cruises to free perks like drink packages and WiFi.

Here is a rundown of what each cruise line is offering for Black Friday. Note: This list will continually be updated as we get closer to Black Friday.

2024 Black Friday Cruise Deals

MSC Cruises – MSC, a cruise line with a growing presence in the U.S., is offering deals on all 23 cruise ships in their fleet. Their deals include up to 40% off cruises, free drinks and WiFi, and up to $500 to spend once you are on the ship. The value ranges from $800 to $1,100 in freebies depending on the length of the cruise. See Deals

Princess Cruises – Princess, the Love Boat cruise line, is offering up to 50% off cruise fares, 50% off deposits, and up to $500 to spend once you are on the ship. The cruise line’s Best Price Guarantee is included ensuring that you will get the best possible price on your cruise. See Deals

Norwegian Cruise Line – NCL is offering 50% off all cruises that are currently open for bookings. This offer is combinable with the cruise line’s More at Sea that includes free drink packages, free WiFi, free shore excursions, free specialty dining, and more. See Deals

Royal Caribbean – Royal Caribbean, the world’s largest cruise line, is offering their Biggest Sale Ever for Black Friday. They have up to $800 in savings on cruises, the second guest in a cabin is 60% off, and kids sail for free. See Deals

Carnival Cruise Line – Carnival is currently offering a pre-Black Friday “Thankful for Bonus Onboard Credit” that includes spending money on their Fun Ships. We will update this when Carnival released their Black Friday deals in a day or two. See Deals

Celebrity Cruises – Deals will be announced on Friday, November 29, 2024.

Virgin Voyages – Adults only cruise line Virgin is offering 80% off the second guest in a cabin and up to $300 in free drinks depending on the length of the voyage. See Deals

Holland America Line – Over 800 cruises on Holland America Line ships are on sale for Black Friday. This includes up to 25% off cruise fares, free daily gratuities, 50% cruise deposits, and third and fourth guests in a cabin cruise for free. See Deals

Costa Cruises – Costa is offering their lowest fares of the year with cruises starting at $499 per person that visit Europe, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean. See Deals

Margaritaville at Sea – Margaritaville at Sea is offering their best sale of the year with cruises for two starting at just $99. This includes free guests and up to $300 in credit to spend once you are on the ship.

Silversea – Ultra-luxury cruise line Silversea is offering it’s most generous offer ever for Black Friday. They are offering savings up to $6,000 per suite and cruises departing from 2024 through 2026. See Deals

Seabourn – Seabourn, another ultra-luxury cruise line, is offering a Black Friday sale that includes a free two-category veranda suite upgrade and deposits reduced to 15% of cruise fares.  See Deals

Azamara – Azamara, one of the world’s leading destination focused cruise lines, is offering discounts up to $4,000 on select cruises in 2025. This deal is combinable with the cruise line’s current $750 onboard credit per cabin. See Deals

Oceania Cruises – Oceania is offering their Best Ever Black Friday Sale. It features up to $5,500 in value with options like free premium drink packages, shipboard credit, and free or reduced airfare. To take advantage of this offer, use promo code: UGBF. See Deals

Windstar Cruises – Small ship cruise line Windstar is offering a Pick Your Perk offer for Black Friday. The perks that you can pick from include free hotel stays and up to $1,000 in shipboard credit to spend on your cruise. Deposits have also been reduced to just $300 per person. See Deals 

Regent Seven Seas Cruises – One of the finest ultra-luxury cruise lines in the world, Regent is offering up to 40% savings on cruises to Africa, Asia, Australia & New Zealand, the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, South America and more. A Black Friday bonus includes up to $1,000 in shipboard credit per suite to spend on the cruise. See Deals

Hurtigruten – The world’s leading expedition cruise line is offering up to 50% off select cruises to Antarctica, Galapagos, Alaska, Greenland, Svalbard, and South America.

Celestyal Cruises – Celestyal is offering savings up to $1,680 per person on cruises in the Adriatic and the Persian Gulf.

Scenic Group – Scenic Group is offering their biggest sale of the year on river and superyacht cruises. River cruises on Emerald start at just $1,999 per person and up to $6,000 in savings on superyacht cruises.

Explora Journeys – One of the world’s newest luxury cruise lines, Explora Journeys is offering up to 50% off select cruises and deposits reduced to just 5% of the cruise fare.

SeaDream Yacht Club – SeaDream is offering up to $1,000 off cruises to the Caribbean and Mediterranean. Use promo code BF2024 to take advantage of this offer. See Deals

Cruise Fever will continue to update this article as more cruise lines release or modify their cruise deals for Black Friday.

A brand new class of cruise ships, which will debut late next year, touched water for the first time this week when the first vessel was floated-out.

The float-out for Windstar Cruises’ new ship, Star Seeker, took place at the WestSEA Shipyard in Viana do Castelo, Portugal.

A ship’s float-out marks a significant construction milestone as the exterior of the vessel is completed. The interior will now be completed on the 112 suite cruise ship.

Star Seeker is the first Star class ship and will enter service in December 2025. A second ship, Star Explorer, is expected to enter service a year later in late 2026.

Star Seeker will start off by sailing from Spain to Miami where the vessel will be christened. The ship will spend some time offering cruises to the Caribbean before heading to Alaska for the summer season.

Star Seeker and Star Explorer will both have ice-strengthened hulls allowing the ships to sail to more remote destinations.

The ships are equipped with the latest technology in safety, propulsion, and navigation, including pump jet thrusters and forward-facing Sonar.

To minimize their environmental footprint and uphold the cruise line’s commitment to sustainability, the ships have tier III Nox rated Rolls Royce engines and can connect to shore power minimizing port emissions.

In addition, the ships will have advanced wastewater treatment systems that meet all global standards.

Windstar’s Vice President of Expansion Projects, John Gunne, gave the following statement:

“Seeing a ship come together and be at the point where she leaves dry dock for the sea is a memorable milestone in the life of a new build project.

“I am very grateful for this opportunity to be involved in creating a new ship for Windstar and thankful for Mario’s passion and vision for ships which helped guide us to this momentous event today – the float out of a new, beautiful ship for Windstar.”

Windstar Cruises is a small ship cruise line with vessels that carry between 148 to 342 guests. They were recently voted the #1 boutique cruise line.

Embarkation day on a cruise ship is a busy time for everyone.  The crew have just successfully disembarked thousands of passengers and must get ready for the next set of cruisers to set sail.

One of the biggest jobs for the crew to tackle is making sure each stateroom is ready.  Bedding, towels, and the entire cabin are thoroughly cleaned as soon as passengers leave. 

But getting that room ready takes some time. 

One of the perks cruise lines give loyal passengers is the ability to get on the ship faster and get to their staterooms faster as well.  However, this doesn’t mean a stateroom attendant is given superpowers to clean a cabin with extra speed.

John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador, recently replied to a disgruntled passenger that complained about a stateroom not being ready, even though they were Platinum-level members of the VIFP Club.

The passenger’s message read as follows:

“If we are platinum you said we can go straight to our room. That is a LIE John Heald. We took our bags to our room. We had a 14 hour drive from Mechanicsville to Miam. My husband needed to sleep. —–is our steward. He had no sympathy and bluntly told us to leave. This is another perk pulled from under our feet. Our stewards name is———. Some person in authority needs to tell her!”

While Platinum and Diamond members of the VIFP Club are given priority check-in and boarding on embarkation day, this does not mean staterooms are ready for passenger use right away.

Heald responded to the message on Facebook, clarifying Carnival’s boarding policy with his usual wit and charm:

“Thank you and of course I understand that your husband was tired after a long drive like that. However, as others have been agreeing with you and to make sure that I once again clarify this please allow me to be as clear as possible,” Heald stated.

“Diamond, Platinum, Faster to the Fun Guests, those in suites and anyone from Cleveland, Ohio ( kidding FFS [For Fun’s Sake]) can go to their cabins as soon as they go on board. They can drop off their luggage but, please, leave straight away. The cabins will not be ready to the high standard you will all expect until approx. 1:30pm. Please then leave. No shower, no unpacking, no napping, no rumpy pumpy and this is all to support the brilliant hard work of your state room steward. Thanks so much again for your understanding.”

The main perk of these loyalty levels and Faster to the Fun is that passengers can drop off their luggage and go about the ship.  They can enjoy the pools, restaurants, and amenities of the ship without having to drag a few bags all over the vessel.

But passengers expecting to go to their stateroom right away and take a long snooze before lunch will be disappointed.

Some cruise lines will not allow guests access to their cabins at all unless they are suite guests, and typically only premium cruise lines allow for cruisers to drop off their bags as soon as they board the ship.

Besides it being a hassle to carry backpacks and carry-ons all over the ship, it also makes for extra crowded cruise ship elevators on embarkation day.

For those who want to hit the pool right away or explore the ship without the extra burden, purchasing Faster to the Fun is one way to do it before reaching a higher loyalty status.

Carnival does state that suite guests will be able to access their rooms upon arrival.

Platinum and Diamond guests with Carnival also have priority debarkation.  Platinum level is reached at 75 points and Diamond level is reached at 200 points.

The question I am asked the most as a cruise journalist and blogger is, “What’s your favorite cruise you’ve ever taken?” I have never had an answer, until now.

I have cruised all around the world from the Caribbean to Southeast Asia and Europe. I have taken over 80 cruises and visited more than 40 countries over the past 10-15 years.

While I’ve never had one particular favorite cruise, I did have a list of 10 that have stood out more than the others. They are:

• 7-day Hawaii on Norwegian’s Pride of America
• 7-day Iceland with Viking
• 7-day Southern Caribbean with Royal Caribbean
• 13-day Mediterranean with Holland America Line
• 7-day Christmas markets river cruise on Viking
• 7-day Alaska with Princess Cruises
• 4-day Southeast Asia on Royal Caribbean
• 4-day Bahamas on NCL (my first cruise)
• 7-day Mediterranean with Virgin
• 3-day Bahamas on Disney

A couple weeks ago, Viking invited me to Egypt for the christening of two new river ships for the Nile River and preview cruise to get a sample of their 12-day Pharaohs & Pyramids itinerary. 

After spending six days in Egypt with Viking, here is why this cruise is now my favorite cruise I’ve ever taken.

The trip starts with three nights in Cairo so you get two full days there with an excursion included each day. On our preview trip, we stayed two nights and crammed as much as we could into the one full day we had.

The map below from Viking shows the full 12-day itinerary.

Our day in Cairo started off by visiting the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx. This was a dream come true for me as I’ve wanted to visit the pyramids every since I was a little kid.

Here’s a few photos I took as we stopped at several locations around the pyramids including an up close look at the Great Pyramid of Giza.

An optional excursion in Cairo is a trip to the outdoor Khan el-Khalili Market at night that includes a traditional dinner at a local restaurant. We did this in the evening and I loved every second of it. There’s just something about night markets that allows you to soak in local culture.

While in Cairo, you will also visit The Egyptian Museum, also known as the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. This was one of my favorite places to visit in the city. It’s filled with ancient artifacts that range from sarcophagi to statues to mummies.

After visiting Cairo, you take a one hour charter flight to Luxor to begin the cruise portion of the trip.

Our cruise was on Viking Sobek, one of six custom built Viking river ships for the Nile River. You can take a photo tour of the ship here. The ship only has 41 cabins and a maximum capacity of 82 guests. It quickly became my favorite river ship I’ve ever sailed on.

After the first day on the Nile River, I realized that this was not a trip of a lifetime, but THE trip of a lifetime.

“The Trip of a lifetime”

One of the things that blew me away is the condition of the temples that you visit along the Nile. Because of the dry climate and due to many of the temples being buried in sand over time, they are very well preserved compared to other temples around the world (Greece, Rome etc.).

The Hathor Temple at the Dendera Temple Complex in Qena the one of the best preserved temples in all of Egypt.

As you sail on the Nile, Egyptian enrichment sessions take that include the following:

• Presentation on Egypt and the Nile
• Hieroglyphics class
• Falafel making class
• Presentation on Medicine in Egypt

One of the biggest highlights of the cruise was visiting the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. We went inside King Tut’s tomb and were able to visit three other tombs of our choice.

When you visit the Valley of the Kings, make sure to visit the tomb of Ramses III.  The size of it and the etchings on the wall are just incredible.

Viking also offers privileged access to the tomb of Queen of Nefertari.

One unique feature of these cruises is that most of the crew are Egyptian.  One night, I was talking to a bartender and the piano player and they were telling me about different places in Egypt that I should visit. They seemed to know everything about where we were visiting.

I asked one of them where he lived and he said he lives less than a 10 minute walk from where we were currently docked.

Because they are from there, they have a knowledge about the area that you don’t find on cruises in other parts of the world. This greatly enhances the cruise experience.

Before I was even home from the trip, this became my favorite cruise I’ve ever taken. It’s one of those trips where you won’t be disappointed, you’ll just be amazed.

To find out more about this incredible experience that Viking offers in Egypt, you can visit their Pharaohs & Pyramids page.