Financial savings-conscious customers have lengthy gravitated towards AARP. The advocacy group for older Individuals negotiates reductions on all the things from cell phone plans and drug prescriptions to eating places, motels and, sure, cruises. Whereas “older” usually connotes seniors ages 65 and above, AARP membership is open to Individuals who’re significantly youthful. However is it price subscribing in the event you’re wanting to save cash in your subsequent cruise?
I bear in mind feeling insulted when proper earlier than my fiftieth birthday I acquired an invite by mail to hitch AARP. “I am nowhere close to retirement,” I assumed as I crumpled it, mumbled one thing about ageism and tossed it within the trash. This was years after AARP (pronounced A-A-R-P with the letters sounded out) formally modified its title to its acronym. It was based in 1958 because the American Affiliation of Retired Individuals, however as modern child boomers started retiring of their 50s, AARP began to have interaction with them to encourage youthful membership.
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Greater than a decade later I am nonetheless not retired, however this project gave me an excuse to lastly be part of AARP. Once I did, I took a take a look at the perks of membership to see which advantages can be helpful to my journey plans. This is what I discovered about the right way to save on cruises with AARP Journey.
You do not have to be retired or age 50-plus to hitch AARP
You do have to be age 50 or older to reap full advantages, however Individuals ages 18 to 49 can even be part of AARP. People below 50 can obtain most member advantages, apart from these restricted by legislation or contract, similar to sure insurance coverage merchandise.
To enroll, merely go to AARP.org and click on “Be a part of Now.” Membership is $16 per 12 months, though charges could be as little as $9 per 12 months in the event you join a multiyear membership time period.
Associated: This annual membership can prevent a whole lot on flights and motels
Whenever you be part of, you will additionally get a second free membership for an additional grownup in your family, in addition to a month-to-month AARP Bulletin and the bimonthly AARP The Journal.
You may e-book cruise journey through the AARP Journey Middle Powered by Expedia
The reserving engine that provides member reductions for cruises, in addition to motels and rental vehicles, is the AARP Journey Middle Powered by Expedia. That is the place you may seek for ocean or river cruises, simply as you’ll on Expedia, with an added bonus: AARP members can obtain as much as $100 onboard credit score on greater than 15 cruise traces and as much as $200 onboard credit score on choose Holland America Line cruises.
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You may seek for a cruise through the use of a drop-down menu of just about two dozen locations (it’s a must to choose one to go looking) after which plugging in your required journey dates.
The ocean cruise choices are pretty intensive however not deeply discounted
Since Expedia powers the AARP Journey Middle, it provides entry to an intensive vary of cruises to international locations, from a three-night Caribbean crusing from Miami on Norwegian Sky to an 80-night world cruise on Cunard’s Queen Victoria. In all, I discovered hundreds of sailings supplied by most main cruise traces via mid-2025.
Once I looked for Caribbean cruises in the course of the interval from Jan. 1 to April 30, 2024, the reserving engine returned greater than 800 choices supplied by 13 cruise traces. Once I narrowed my search to simply premium and luxurious cruise traces, I noticed a seven-night Caribbean itinerary from Miami on Oceania’s new cruise ship Vista in mid-February priced at $2,599 per individual for a balcony cabin with bonus shore tour, beverage, specialty eating and Wi-Fi inclusions. This Western Caribbean itinerary calls on Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Harvest Caye, Belize, with two sea days.
That appeared like a terrific deal, however once I checked Oceania’s web site, I discovered the identical value with all of the included bonuses. The one distinction was the “as much as $100” onboard credit score obtainable with AARP membership. On this case, the credit score was the complete $100 as a result of the cruise fare was greater than $2,000. Cruises priced beneath $2,000 per individual get a $50 credit score.
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Different offers within the luxurious class included a seven-night Caribbean cruise in late February 2024 in a verandah suite aboard Seabourn Ovation for $3,249 per individual. The cruise departs from St. Maarten and calls on the British Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Guadeloupe and Martinique earlier than ending in Barbados. On Seabourn’s web site, verandah suites for this itinerary began at $3,419 per individual. So, the AARP value did supply a financial savings of $150 per individual — plus the $100 onboard credit score.
Funds-minded cruisers can even discover loads of three-night sailings for $300 per individual or much less (for an inside or ocean-view cabin on Norwegian Sky with free drinks, eating and tour credit) and even some seven-night sailings for below $500 per individual (for an inside cabin on Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises and Princess Cruises ships). All have been just like what’s obtainable on the cruise traces’ web sites, however with AARP certified for an onboard credit score of $50.
Cruisers preferring Holland America even have loads of decisions. They’ll, for instance, e-book a seven-night Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale in early March 2024 aboard Nieuw Statendam that visits Jamaica; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Cozumel; and Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. The value? An inside cabin was priced at $614 per individual (akin to what HAL provides on its web site) and got here with a $50 onboard credit score.
What I found is that the $200 onboard credit score cope with AARP hyperlinks on to Holland America’s web site for reserving and is legitimate just for balcony and suite bookings on choose cruises lasting 10 days or extra.
AARP members can even e-book expedition cruises, similar to 12-night Antarctic Explorer itineraries on Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, through the AARP Journey Middle. These are priced at $11,995 per individual (the identical value as on Viking’s web site) with only a $25 deposit. Once more, the one financial savings is the $100 onboard credit score.
Principally, the AARP Journey Middle appears to be an expedient solution to evaluate ocean cruise offers as they’re supplied by particular person cruise traces through the reserving engine Expedia — with the possibility of scoring a barely discounted cruise fare and the added bonus of a $50, $100 or $200 onboard credit score, relying on the cruise booked.
AARP Journey Middle has provides from 4 main river cruise traces
The AARP Journey Middle additionally means that you can search and evaluate river cruises by looking the vacation spot “Europe” and a selected date vary.
A seek for European river cruises in 2024 and 2025 turned up a whole lot of choices on river ships operated by AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways, Uniworld River Cruises and Viking. Itineraries ranged from a seven-night Rhine River cruise from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland, in late March 2024 aboard Avalon Panorama for $1,949 per individual to a number of sailings of 20 nights or extra priced at $15,000 per individual and above for suite lodging.
There have been additionally greater than a dozen Viking itineraries on the Rhine in March and early April 2024 for $1,999 per individual, which is identical value featured on Viking’s web site. Uniworld costs begin at $2,999 per individual, additionally akin to its web site, whereas AmaWaterways’ worth fares ($1,919 to $2,159 per individual for Rhine cruises) all matched the cruise line’s pricing — and have been in February 2024. Brrr!
A seek for river cruises in Asia in 2024 and 2025 turned up greater than 300 sailings on AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways and Uniworld, most 12 to 14 nights in size with costs starting from $6,999 to $8,399 per individual.
As soon as once more, the AARP Journey Middle appears to be an environment friendly aggregator, pulling offers from Expedia’s reserving engine. River cruise fares are also eligible for a $50 or $100 onboard credit score.
River cruise followers can discover further members-only offers past onboard credit score
AARP members even have entry to particular offers on river cruises supplied by AARP-preferred journey suppliers.
Gives embody saving as much as $100 per individual on river cruises booked through Grand European Journey. These are aboard luxurious river cruise ships in Europe operated by Uniworld, and the $100 low cost per individual is off costs akin to these listed when reserving straight with Uniworld.
For instance, the eight-day Enchanting Danube itinerary in March and April 2024 aboard S.S. Maria Theresa begins at $3,299 per individual, the identical as on Uniworld’s web site. The whole financial savings? A $100 per individual low cost if booked with Grand European Journey.
One other financial savings alternative is $50 off per individual on Collette cruisetours. Cruise choices listed below are extra restricted and are totally on Amadeus River Cruises ships on the Rhine and Danube, plus some small-ship coastal cruising in Croatia and excursions in Egypt that includes a four-night cruise.
Members-only advantages additionally embody 5% off choose rail-and-cruise holidays with Holidays by Rail. The low cost is obtainable on a wide range of itineraries in Europe that mix rail journey with cruises aboard river ships operated by CroisiEurope and Amadeus. The catch: All excursions start in London (Holidays by Rail’s mum or dad firm is British), which generally is a detour for American vacationers as a result of it is less complicated to reach by air in Amsterdam, Basel, Budapest or Bordeaux, France, the place these cruises start.
Some guided excursions are 12 days, with 4 days of rail journey and resort stays prematurely of a seven-night cruise. Opinions, nevertheless, point out the trouble of getting baggage on and off trains by your self (there are not any porters).
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The price of the four-day rail/resort portion of Trip by Rail’s 12-day Glacier Specific & the Majestic Rhine cruise-and-rail tour additionally appears to account for about half of the general price for one-third of the times. The value is $5,095 per individual for a June 2024 bundle, however the seven-night Classical Rhine itinerary on board MS Amadeus Star from Basel to Amsterdam that’s included could be booked on the Amadeus web site for about $2,600 per individual on dates in Could and July or $1,913 per individual in April.
Each the agility required for practice journey and the price of the four-day rail tour are one thing to think about when weighing the worth of a 5% low cost.
Discounted cruise line reward playing cards can be found to AARP Rewards members
Members who join AARP Rewards — which helps you to earn factors by taking knowledge-boosting quizzes or utilizing fitness-tracking or money-crunching instruments — can even buy reward playing cards for 5 cruise traces at a ten% low cost. Relevant traces embody Carnival Cruise Line, Superstar Cruises, Holland America, Princess and Royal Caribbean.
AARP Rewards members have two choices: $100 reward playing cards priced at $90 ($92 for Princess) and $500 reward playing cards priced at $450 ($460 for Princess). You should use these reward playing cards to pay for a portion of your cruise fare or, on some traces, onboard bills.
Card availability and quantities might change at any time. You should buy a most of 25 reward playing cards every month.
You will discover offers for pre- or post-cruise resort stays and get a reduction on British Airways
You may save probably the most cash by reserving a pre- or post-cruise resort stick with certainly one of AARP Journey Middle’s dozens of resort companions, most of which provide a ten% low cost off one of the best obtainable nightly price. The record consists of Hilton, InterContinental, Radisson, Vacation Inn, Finest Western, Embassy Suites, Wyndham, Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Kimpton and Lodge Indigo.
AARP additionally has partnered with British Airways. Members save $65 off World Traveller (economic system) and World Traveller Plus (premium economic system) or $200 off Membership World (enterprise class) fares once they buy round-trip transatlantic tickets on-line to greater than 130 locations, together with Europe, Asia, the Center East and Africa. Restrictions do apply.
It can save you cash with AARP, however you also needs to do your homework
The AARP Journey Middle appears to be a terrific place to check fares when deciding which cruise line and month most closely fits your finances. Whether or not you ultimately e-book through AARP, the cruise line’s web site or elsewhere relies on your desire. (Keep in mind, journey brokers and advisers typically have offers with extras that web sites do not.)
With related pricing, it in all probability relies on whether or not the onboard credit score is a greater bonus than perks supplied elsewhere.
Signing up for e mail provides out of your most popular cruise line and checking its “offers” or “provides” tab frequently could be your finest guess for scoring a high deal. Nonetheless, there isn’t any doubt that AARP’s $9 to $16 annual membership charge rapidly pays for itself with even a one-time onboard credit score — and there’s a potential for extra financial savings. Irrespective of your age, it might probably’t damage to enroll.
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