NCL "Hot Deals" include cabins under $200, best available cabins

Norwegian Cruise Line's "Hot Deals" for this week include inside cabins starting at $149 per person and oceanview cabins starting at $199 for a four-day Pacific Coast cruise from Vancouver to Los Angeles departing September 24, 2008.

As part of this "Pity the Procrastinator" sales event, NCL is promising the best available inside, oceanview, and balcony cabins (the latter starting at $299) at time of booking. If you book today, you could receive up to an 11-category upgrade.

Two other deals: A seven-day Boston-Bermuda roundtrip departing this September 16 (hurry!) starting at $349 per person and a five-day western Caribbean cruise roundtrip from Miami October 14, 2007, also starting at $349.

A number of other cruises are on sale as well, including voyages in the eastern Mediterranean, Hawaii, the Mexican Riviera, South America, and the Panama Canal ranging from later this month until spring 2008; on most of them, NCL is promising the best available inside, oceanview, and balcony cabins at time of booking.

To take advantage of these deals, you must book by September 14, 2007; ask for promo code PGSD1. Government taxes and fees are additional.

Visit the NCL website or call a travel agent for more information or bookings.

Photo from NCL.

Bring your friends, land a discount on ACCL

The small-ship cruise line American Canadian Caribbean Line is featuring a Bring Friends offer for fall 2007.

Here's the deal: if you book two cabins on the same itinerary -- and at least one cabin's guests are new to ACCL -- then each cabin receives up to a $500 discount, depending on the length of the cruise.

The offer is valid only on non-discounted cruises and isn't combinable with other offers; still, up to $1,000 off for two cabins can make a big difference in your bottom line. Non-discounted rates range from $1315 to $4295 per passenger in double occupancy.

Loyalty is prized and rewarded here (nearly two of every three passengers signs up for subsequent voyages). Currently, passengers taking 10 cruises (based on 12-night trips) receive their 11th voyage free of charge. Like any special offer, though, this one is always subject to change.

And here's another benefit: passengers can bring their own wine or other alcohol on board -- potentially reducing what can otherwise be huge bar bills aboard more typical cruise ships.

For more details or reservations, click here or call ACCL at 800/556-7450. Since there's no definite end date for the offer, ask if you can apply it to sailings beyond this fall as well.

Itineraries for ACCL's two expedition-style small ships (with just 50 cabins) are destination-oriented and focus on coastal New England, the Great Lakes, the canals and rivers of the northeastern U.S. and Canada, and the Intracoastal Waterway and bays of the U.S. East Coast. Cruises range from five to 15 nights. ACCL also offers some off-the-beaten path Caribbean itineraries that include Belize and The Bahamas.

Because of their compact size and special features (including a retractable pilot house that allows transit under low-lying bridges on the Erie Canal), its ships can navigate areas usually only accessible to small private yachts. The atmosphere aboard these family-owned ships is casual, non-commercial, and uncrowded.

Photo courtesy of ACCL.

New price reductions for Marco Polo's farewell season

In its farewell season under the umbrella of NCL, Orient Lines is offering two specials on lengthy cruise tours aboard its ship Marco Polo during November and December of this year.

Second passengers in a stateroom are eligible for half off their fares on a 32-day repositioning cruise tour from Barcelona, Spain, to Rio de Janeiro starting November 12, 2007; and also half off their fares on a 24-day cruise tour to Antarctica starting December 5, 2007.

Inside cabin fares start at $3,099 for the first passenger and $1,550 for the second passenger on the November repositioning cruise, and $5,199 for the first passenger and $2,600 for the second passenger on the December Antarctica cruise. For ocean view cabins, add $1,000 and $500 per passenger, respectively, on both cruises.

The cruise tours include hotel accommodations and sightseeing tours of the departure cities before or after the cruise.

For bookings or more information, click here or call Orient Lines at 800/333-7300 or a travel agent. For the transatlantic repositioning cruise, ask for promotion code MPO60EBF50; for the Antarctica cruise, ask for promotion code MPO63EBF.

For our earlier posting on the future of the Marco Polo, click here.

Marco Polo photo from Orient Lines.

SeaDream Yacht Club holds Caribbean half-off sale

The luxury line SeaDream Yacht Club is holding a short sale of up to 55 percent off for six voyages later this year.

Starting with a repositioning cruise from Tenerife to Miami on November 3, 2007, the seven- to 11-day sailings include five voyages from Miami to St. Thomas, San Juan to St. Thomas, and San Juan to San Juan during the rest of November and December, 2007.

Prices start at $2205 per person based on double occupancy; some fees are additional. Staterooms up for sale are limited and the offer could be withdrawn at any time before the deadline, which is midnight tomorrow EDT, September 7.

To take advantage of this sale, you'll have to contact a travel agent and have the agent call or e-mail SeaDream; the promotion is not on SeaDream's website.

Photo from SeaDream Yacht Club

Free travel insurance offers when booking online

One of the latest perks being offered by various online cruise travel websites is free travel insurance with bookings.

Here are some offers we've come across recently:

eCruises.com offers complimentary cruise travel insurance to all vacationers who book through their site. It insures all the passengers in a stateroom and not just the first two. Coverages include trip interruption and cancellation, emergency dental and medical expenses, emergency medical evacuation, travel delay, and baggage delays and losses.

Cruise Value Center offers free cruise travel insurance when you book voyages on select Carnival, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean sailings. The deal includes most of the above coverages but applies to new bookings for first and second passengers in a stateroom only.

TopCruiseClub.com offers free cruise travel insurance with every new online booking through its website. This is described as a "limited time offer" but no expiration date is noted.

As with any free offer, it's important to read the fine print and compare it with other offers before signing up. Cruise travel insurance benefits can vary widely, and not all contingencies that could force you to miss your cruise may apply.

But if you are able to take advantage of one of these offers, it could save you several hundred dollars off your total costs.

Cruise ship photo by Dennis Cox/WorldViews

Cruise West features early booking rates for holiday voyages in the Sea of Cortez

The small ship cruise line Cruise West is offering early-booking discounts of up to $175 per passenger for five specialty voyages in Mexico's Sea of Cortez this holiday season.

The cruises will take place in December 2007 and January 2008 aboard the 138-passenger Spirit of Yorktown. Besides Christmas and New Year's sailings (December 22 and 29), both with holiday-themed events, Cruise West is offering two John Steinbeck-themed cruises (January 5 and 12, 2008) and one photography-themed cruise (January 19).

To claim the complete $175 savings, you'll need to book your trips by September 14, 2007, and pay in full on that date. Early booking savings of $125 are available if you book and put down a deposit only by September 14. Prices start at $2,399 per person, double occupancy.

Real early-birds can save up to $350 on departures in December 2008 if they book and pay in full by October 5, 2007.

For more information, click here or call 888/851-8133 or a travel agent.

Photo by Dennis Cox/WorldViews

MSC Cruises announces Senior Saver deals

A few days ago we posted an item about MSC Cruises' Family Plan fares to the Caribbean aboard the MSC Lirica.

Today we can tell you that MSC Cruises has announced Senior Saver prices for its 2007-8 Caribbean sailings aboard the Lirica, starting at $479 per person, double occupancy. (Government taxes and fees are extra.)

To take advantage of the offer, only one guest in the stateroom has to be 50 years of age or older on the departure date. Bookings must be made by September 30. If you're a North American resident, you only need to place a $100 deposit per person at time of booking, based on double occupancy.

For more information or bookings, click here or call a travel agent. Photo of MSC Lirica from MSC Cruises.