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I tried to start from scratch, and nothing; Royal Caribbean’s site kept crashing. I was all ready to book the cruise at that moment, so I thought I’d try an alternative, and Costco Travel was the first that came to mind. For me, the $60 annual membership fee to Costco has been more than worth it to utilize Costco Travel. You cannot get a rate reduction once you pay in full for the cruise, usually 90 to 160 days before departure.
Hotels
The cheapest balcony cabins where I could pick a cabin were Boardwalk-facing balcony cabins (inward-facing balconies toward the back of the ship) on Deck 14. Costco's final price for the two-person cabin was $1,849.56, plus a $95 shop card and the dining and credit perks. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
Costco cruise prices
All the selections I’d made previously with Royal Caribbean (dining time, internet package, etc), stayed precisely how they should be. When I'm looking at booking a hotel stay at a brand like Hyatt or Marriott, I generally choose to book directly in order to earn elite night credits and points. However, when looking at properties not part of a major loyalty program, Costco Travel is often a go-to anytime I can find a deal. I actually got a Costco membership to book the deal since the cost of the membership was less than what we'd save by booking through Costco. When you choose to apply (and are approved) for a new credit card through our site, we may receive compensation from our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear.
Card Issuer
By booking through Costco Travel, though, I can’t change dining times, guest names, or request room changes on the Royal Caribbean website. For that, I’d have to contact Costco Travel, but that is pretty rare for me anyway. A few examples of limited-time deals for January include Hotel Wailea from the example earlier in this guide, all-inclusive resorts in Mexico's Riviera Maya, and Disney and Universal theme park packages. Costco Travel has a nice deals section, and I usually look there first if I'm not sold on a specific destination for a getaway. While deals found on Costco generally have a narrow booking window, I've found that many offer a lot of flexibility for the actual trip dates.
This time, I tried Costco Travel and ended up saving quite a bit of money. I'm often the travel planner in my friend group (which makes sense, considering what I do for a living), but not everyone is an avid points and miles user like myself. For group trips where we're splitting the cost of hotel rooms among multiple people, it often doesn't make sense to use points and miles to book. My favorite thing about booking trips through Costco Travel is the Digital Costco Shop Card I get after booking.
When is Costco Travel not worth it?
If you need to change or cancel your Costco cruise, you may be subject to fees or forfeit your deposit or portion of your cruise fare, according to each cruise line's rules. I started with a seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas, departing Sept. 9.
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"Exceptions to this policy, if any, are at the full discretion of the cruise line and are outside of the control of Costco Travel," according to the online terms and conditions. Lead-in rates were occasionally for guarantee rooms (where the cruise line picks your cabin), even when I thought I was choosing a regular cabin type. If you're not given a cabin number and you want control over your stateroom location, click the link to choose another room or cabin category. On the other hand, Norwegian listed additional Free at Sea perks – free airfare and free third and fourth guests – that Costco did not mention on its site. For my last cruise, I looked at a seven-night Hawaii cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America, departing May 27. Costco Travel has its pros and cons, but there are definitely times when it's worth it.
Digital Costco Shop Cards
Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information. Finally, Costco offers "Buyer's Choice" and "Kirkland Signature" cruise deals, which offer "exclusive savings and included extras," according to the Costco Cruises website. I searched through the cruises and found the one I was looking at previously.
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Randy Young is the founder and editor-in-chief at Cruise Spotlight. He has been in marketing for 19 years and has been cruising for just as long. Over the years, he's worked with products like TVs, copiers, light bulbs, and EV chargers, but cruising has always been his passion.
Costco members can find everything from groceries to household necessities to electronics to a pharmacy, and more. Costco offers travel deals as well, including resort packages and cruises. Something else to consider when booking hotels through Costco Travel is loyalty program rewards and elite status. There are a lot of hotels available to book through Costco Travel that are part of major loyalty programs, from Hyatt Honors to Marriott Bonvoy to IHG One Rewards and more. However, if you already have a membership and are planning a cruise, it's definitely worth seeing what the warehouse club is offering in terms of pricing and perks for the sailing you're contemplating. You might find a great deal and get a shop card to spend when you return home from vacation.
If you're curious about how to use Costco Travel to find deals, here's everything you need to know about Costco Travel — and why I love it for saving money on travel. However, comparing the prices and benefits at a few of the resorts proved my initial reaction wrong. You can spend a lot of time searching the site for the most amazing Kirkland Signature or Buyer's Choice steal, but it isn't always simple to assess the value. Still, if you're flexible, focus on these featured offers, especially ones with lots of freebies. I noticed a few things as I road-tested Costco's booking tool and compared it to the cruise lines' versions.
What are the benefits of booking a cruise through Costco, and how do Costco's cruise prices compare with cruise line pricing? To do that, I have to go to Costco Travel and complete a mock booking. I try to pick cabins nearly identical to mine, so I’m comparing apples to apples.
The card's value varies from trip to trip (generally depending on how expensive the package you book), but you can get hundreds of dollars back to use at Costco. I've found that the Costco Travel deals alone are worth paying the $60 Gold Star annual membership fee, even though I don't regularly use Costco for my grocery store runs. Ultimately, this sailing priced out the same at $6,375.28 per balcony cabin, based on double occupancy.
Some cruises will be exceptionally good deals, especially ones that come with lots of complimentary extras. Here's another example — this time for a Universal Orlando theme park trip from June 4-6 for one adult and two children from Houston. The total cost when booking each part (hotel, tickets and airfare) individually came to $2,701.35, while booking it as a package via Costco saved just over $300. Costco wasn't always clear about whether all sail dates and cabin categories were eligible for deals. The links that prompted you to click them to determine eligibility never gave me that information. Because I was not actually booking cruises, I could not see if these details became clearer just before you gave Costco your credit card information.
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