Travel
Booking a cruise on your New Year’s to-do list? How to save money from an industry insider
The year’s biggest cruise sale is almost here, but is it really possible to both save money and be eco-conscious?
Wave Season is famous in the cruising industry for being the busiest booking period of the year. 2025 is set to be no different, thanks to the post-pandemic boom in cruising.
From January until the end of March, bookings flood in, with some of them made years in advance of the voyage.
I’ve previously worked for a cruise line and have been a travel writer for 24 years, so I guarantee Wave Season is the best time to save money and score perks like free room upgrades or credit to use onboard.
Thanks to the Friends of the Earth US’s (FOE) Cruise Ship Report Card, you can now easily make more environmentally responsible decisions, too.
Here, I give you my tips and tricks for finding the best bargain while avoiding the most common mistakes.
How to save money on a cruise – and why a bargain might not be all it seems
There’s little point in shunning the fireworks to leap onto booking sites at 00:01 on 1 January. Bargains can be found throughout the three-month sale period, with additional discounted cruises often added right up until the end.
How far in advance should you book a cruise? The industry is unusual in that bookings can open well over two years in advance, a long time before flights are even bookable. Such advance bookings are, however, unlikely to attract large discounts, so during Wave Season, you may want to focus on departures within 12 months.
It’s possible to find heavily discounted last-minute deals, but they usually mean you have to go when there are still plenty of available cabins on a particular sailing rather than having a choice of dates.
I have, however, seen excellent deals (such as an MSC Cruises holiday departing Southampton for just £50 (€60) per person per night in a balcony cabin) up to two months before departure. Further savings can be made if you’re not fussed about cruising during a destination’s low season.
Be warned: cheaper cruises will often get you the bare minimum for your bargain holiday. You’ll pay extra for access to the spa and some restaurants, and for any drinks apart from teas, coffees and juices.
I equate the cheaper end of the cruise market with the Ryanair model of offering incredible up-front prices, then pestering you for those optional extras. Whereas before, you could choose where your cabin is, now, when you pay less, you don’t necessarily get that choice.
Apart from the cons of cruising on a minimal budget, there are also positives. Having been on an astonishingly cheap MSC cruise, I can safely say that you’ll still have a great time. You’ll be going to the same destinations as those who have paid considerably more, mostly eating the same food and enjoying the same on-board entertainment. There won’t be any hidden charges, like taxes and tips, either.
There’s a lot to be said for paying more too. Paying upfront for drinks packages and access to speciality restaurants means you won’t be worrying about your spending once on board. If you think you’ll be wanting spa time then it’s often cheaper to include this in your package before you sail.
My personal preference is to go as cheap as possible. I know that if I want additional drinks, I can purchase them individually without a huge on-board cost. For example, a beer on Royal Caribbean’s ships will set you back about US$8 (€7.62), and there are often daily promotions on certain drinks. Because I’m not interested in having more than two or three paid-for drinks every day I know that drinks packages are not for me.
Is it better to book a cruise directly or via a travel agent?
I’m a keen independent traveller, I like creating my own holidays and saving money along the way. But when it comes to booking a cruise, a travel agent can be of enormous value. I’ve seen cruise lines provide agents with prices you may not find elsewhere, plus agents have the expertise of pulling in various other discounts to get you the very best deal going. Found a better price elsewhere? It’s possible that an agent can beat it, so don’t be afraid to ask.
Airlines like to hide some of their most discounted rates by combining them in package holidays. So if you’re booking a cruise that necessitates flights, having an agent package them together could save you money, especially during the main airline sale season (which overlaps with Wave Season in January).
You can cut your carbon footprint by looking into arriving at your cruise’s departure point by land or sea rather than flying. Long-distance and overnight trains are booming right now, with journey times ever shorter and trains more comfortable than ever. You also only need to arrive at the train station an hour before your train leaves – instead of waiting in an airport for hours. Websites like Omio and Trainline are great for figuring out routes and prices.
Being loyal to a cruise company rewards them – and you
If you’ve been on a cruise before and you still have access to your previous booking details, you can enjoy that cruise line’s loyalty programme. Cruise companies love loyalty – they’re willing to offer generous discounts and perks to repeat bookers.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by choice, I recommend starting your Wave Season sale search with a cruise line you’ve enjoyed sailing on before. That amazing sale price you found? It can be made even more amazing by adding the loyalty discount on top.
After a slow start, the cruise industry has now caught on to more advanced online booking technology. I still find it worthwhile shopping around different cruise agencies, but, in my experience, the difference in price can be negligible. Where the real differences between these websites lie are in how search results are presented and the filters you can select when searching.
Combining cruise deals with environmental responsibility
Another benefit of the advances in booking cruises online is that you can search for less polluting cruises. I love that online agency Iglu Cruise has researched each line’s sustainability goals, using criteria such as shoreside power and advanced wastewater systems to create an ‘Eco-Friendly’ filter on its search page.
The FOE’s Cruise Ship Report Card ranks lines and ships from A to F based on four key environmental factors: Sewage treatment, air pollution reduction, water quality/scrubber use, and transparency.
It’s rare to see such a complicated issue presented so clearly. All you do is compare cruise lines in the left-hand column with the grade they received in the right-hand column. Look out for the tabs at the top of the table to see the scores for individual ships.
I’m impressed at how this report card cuts through the usual greenwashing. For example, many lines boast about how some of their ships can now run on liquified natural gas (LNG), but it’s not as clean as they claim it is. “Lately many cruise ships have been outfitted with LNG technology,” says Marcie Keever, author of the Cruise Ship Report Card, “but this is a polluting fuel producing harmful amounts of methane.”
It’s thanks to this level of research and detail that the report card is the best tool for any cruise booker wanting to easily make more responsible decisions.
How to be environmentally friendly while onboard a cruise
There are plenty of things you can do once onboard a cruise to contribute to reducing the voyage’s carbon footprint. Firstly, don’t bring more luggage than you need – as that makes the ship heavier.
Act as you would in your own home – don’t waste water (an especially precious resource on a ship), turn off the lights, and unplug devices when you leave your cabin.
Many ships now have advanced recycling centres, so take the time to throw away your rubbish in the correct bin.
It’s always best to reuse towels and bedlinen to reduce ocean pollution. For example, the ship Norwegian Bliss gets through 5,000 kg of laundry every day, with the resultant wastewater pumped into the sea.
When you first see those buffets laden with delicious food or learn that you can, in fact, order as many dishes from the menu as you want, you may be tempted to pile up your table with as many plates as it can carry.
I get it: food is a big part of any cruise. On Royal Caribbean’s largest ships, an incredible 3,200 slices of pizza are served every hour. My advice is to pace yourself, not least because, by doing so, you will help to reduce the vast amounts of food waste generated by cruises.
I’ve never noticed a difference in price between cruises that spend more time in ports than they do at sea. But cruises that involve more sea days will, of course, be burning more fuel.
In addition to choosing cruises with less travel time, it’s also worth seeing if your cruise stops at ports that offer cleaner shoreside power. Cruise Lines International Association has produced this handy map to help your search.
Travel
Seat reservations on Spanish trains just got easier for Interrail and Eurail passholders
Interrail and Eurail passholders rejoice, as you can now skip the queues and reserve your seats on long- and medium-distance RENFE trains online.
Rail Europe, a European train booking platform, has expanded its offering to include trains operated by Spain’s state-owned railway, eliminating a major hurdle that has dogged rail passholders for years.
“The addition of RENFE’s passholder fares to our platform is a game-changer for travellers eager to explore Spain with ease,” says Jürgen Witte, Chief Product and Technology Officer of Rail Europe. “This enhancement ensures Interrail and Eurail Global Pass holders can navigate its world-class rail system seamlessly.”
With the new service, passholders can easily see if a seat reservation is required for their journey and what the associated costs will be.
From there, they can make their reservation online, eliminating the need for time-consuming in-person bookings where a lack of Spanish language skills is sometimes an issue.
What’s the problem with booking RENFE seats with a rail pass?
While many Interrail and Eurail trains don’t require seat reservations, Spanish high-speed trains – the Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) – do.
Although Interrail purports to allow bookings on some AVE trains via its self-service system, users report extensive issues in getting the platform to work. Some trains available on Interrail/Eurail are not bookable via the self-service system at all.
Previously, the only option to secure a seat reservation without buying a ticket on a RENFE high-speed train was to call the company. The traveller would then have to go to a RENFE station to pick up and pay for the reservation within 72 hours of booking, which is often not convenient.
“In Spain, almost all trains, apart from purely suburban ones, require a reservation, and RENFE’s own website doesn’t offer passholder reservations,” explains train travel expert Mark Smith, who runs the website The Man in Seat 61.
“Furthermore, Spanish trains can leave fully booked, so you ideally need to book ahead. This was a major issue for using an Interrail or Eurail pass in Spain.”
Smith warns that, particularly on peak travel days, such as Fridays and Saturdays in the summer months, queues can be atrocious. At major stations in Madrid and Barcelona, passengers can wait as long as one or two hours to be served.
The complexity has caused confusion and frustration among travellers. On the Eurail forum, one user said, “Not gonna jump through hoops to go to Spain. I’ll cancel the Spain leg and stay in France.”
How to book seat reservations with RENFE
To reserve a seat on a RENFE high-speed AVE train, simply head to the Rail Europe website.
Click ‘add rail pass’ below the journey planner and select the type and class of pass you hold. Then, you can search for a journey as normal, but you should only see the passholder reservation costs rather than the normal ticket costs.
Smith notes that the Rail Europe system defaults to a second-class reservation in the search results. Holders of first-class passes need to manually change the price drop-down if they want to reserve a first-class seat.
There are other options for booking seats on RENFE with a pass. These include using Dutch agency HappyRail, which has proven to be successful at booking seats on AVE trains, but charges a 3.5 per cent fee.
Interrail and Eurail reservation services have been available since 2023, but success is patchy. Smith notes that, when the systems do work, they allow booking in first or second class, but not in the ‘premium’ class that gets passholders Sala Club lounge access and a meal with wine included on AVE and Euromed trains.
Smith has long recommended Rail Europe as a booking service for Interrail and Eurail passholders, as it has more seat choices, more benefits for first-class passholders, and no booking fees.
“This is a big step forward,” says Smith, “and if one system won’t get you the reservation you want, try the other.”
Where can you travel with RENFE?
RENFE operates a comprehensive route network across Spain, with both its AVE (high-speed) and Larga Distancia (long-distance) trains. On the map below, the purple lines are AVE trains, and the grey lines are the slower long-distance routes.
As well as travelling within Spain, RENFE connects to several international destinations. These include Oporto in Portugal and several destinations in France.
From 23 April, RENFE will launch a new direct Seville-Barcelona train service, cutting out the transfer in Madrid and making it easier to get between the two popular cities.
Along the way, it stops in Córdoba, Puertollano, Ciudad Real, Madrid, Zaragoza, Lleida, Tarragona, and Girona, which are all attractive destinations to visit, too. The high-speed service takes around six hours and is set to make travel between the south and northeast of Spain a much more convenient option.
Travel
ETIAS scams: Everything Brits need to know about EU travel as ETA launch causes confusion
Brits planning travel to Europe are being warned by an industry body not to fall for scams amid confusion over entry and exit rules.
With the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)coming into force this week, scammers are busy taking advantage of the uncertainty. The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has warned of fake websites offering a similar pass to British travellers heading into mainland Europe.
From 2 April, Europeans who don’t have a British passport are required to obtain an ETA to visit the UK. The Electronic Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) is a similar system that will affect UK travellers heading to Europe.
However, ETIAS is not due to launch for another 18 months, and there is presently no requirement for Brits to obtain any additional documentation to travel.
What authorisations are currently required for travel between the UK and the EU?
The UK’s ETA came into force for Europeans on 2 April, and means any EU passport holders will need to apply for and secure an ETA before visiting the UK.
The scheme has been live for visitors from non-European visa-free nationalities since January. However, its rollout has come with plenty of hiccups and confusion.
“If you have friends, family, or business associates visiting from abroad, they’ll need to check if they need to get an ETA,” says ABTA. “This is one of three changes coming up for travelling across borders between the EU and UK, but the only one to have gone live, meaning there is scope for confusion.”
There is an equivalent rule coming in for Brits traveling to Europe – the ETIAS. However, the ETIAS won’t be introduced until the new EU Entry/Exit system (EES) goes live.
The EES has been pushed back several times already, but is presently anticipated to launch in October 2025. It will be rolled out in stages, so not all changes will take effect immediately.
The ETIAS is expected to be introduced in 2026, and ABTA says likely not before the end of 2026. Even then, ETIAS is expected to be optional for at least six months. Right now, there is no additional documentation required for Brits to holiday in Europe.
“With three new changes coming in over the next couple of years, we’re keen that people understand what it means for them,” says Graeme Buck, director of communications at ABTA. “In short, the only thing to act on now is for European visitors to the UK to apply for an ETA. Nothing will be changing for UK travellers going to Europe this summer.”
How to apply for ETIAS when it comes into effect
ETIAS will be similar to the US ESTA scheme, where a simple online application grants permission to travel within the relevant area for a period of time.
For the EU scheme, the cost of an ETIAS is expected to be around €7 and will be valid for up to three years (or until the passport reaches three months to expiry). It will allow British visitors to stay in any EU country (or countries) for up to 90 days in any 180 day period.
According to the EU, third-country nationals, including the UK, will be granted a ‘grace period’ of six months on a one-time basis if they forget their ETIAS.
“Those coming to Europe for the first time since the end of the transitional period will be allowed to enter without an ETIAS provided they fulfil all remaining entry conditions,” the EU says.
ABTA warns that “people who try to apply for an ETIAS now may be at risk of fraud, with a loss of money and possibly personal data too.”
When the time does come, the only place to apply for an ETIAS will be on the official website. Any apps, websites, or social media posts suggesting there is an alternative route are impostors.
Travellers will need to submit personal information and passport data, as well as disclose any serious convictions in the past 20 years. They must state the reason for their travel and where they will be staying, as well as the Schengen Area country they will first be visiting.
The fee is payable for all applicants aged between 18 and 70. Those under 18 or over 70 will still need to apply for the document, but won’t be charged.
“With two further changes planned, the situation may not seem simple,” adds Buck. “As the changes affecting UK travellers start to come in towards the end of the year, ABTA and our members will be on hand to support travellers.”
Travel
UK ETA travel permit: British dual nationals flag issues with application system
The UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system has officially expanded to European travellers.
Starting 2 April 2025, all EU (except Irish nationals), EEA, and Swiss citizens need ETA approval to enter the UK.
The system became mandatory for travellers from the US, Canada and Australia on 8 January 2025, following its rollout last November for nationals of Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
To obtain the visa waiver, which costs £10 (€12) from today or £16 (€19) from 9 April, travellers need to complete an online process – but some British citizens with dual nationality are already flagging issues.
How to apply for the UK’s ETA visa waiver
Travellers can either use the official mobile app, which can be downloaded from the UK government website, or apply online here.
To complete the application, you need the passport you’ll be travelling on, an email address and a credit card, debit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. You will have to answer a set of suitability questions. You don’t need to enter your travel details.
The government advises applying at least three working days before your trip.
You can delete the app when you’ve finished applying. Your ETA will be linked to your passport digitally, and you will not need to show anything else when you enter the UK.
Though it seems pretty simple, the application process has left a handful of British dual nationals confused about whether they need to apply for the visa waiver or not.
ETA application issues for British dual nationals
In theory, British citizens with dual nationality do not need ETA and should be able to travel to the UK on whatever passport they choose.
But confusion has arisen for those who don’t have a British passport because theirs is expired, lost, or they were never issued with one.
If they choose to travel on their EU passport, the process of applying for ETA – and whether it is necessary – remains unclear.
The ETA application form asks travellers to declare any other nationalities, but the drop-down menu does not give the option to select ‘British citizen’.
Should British dual nationals continue with their application without declaring their ‘secondary’ nationality, they would theoretically be forced to give misinformation about their dual nationality.
Euronews Travel posed the question to an ETA advisor from the Home Office on their web chat.
The advisor refused to give guidance about not declaring British nationality on the ETA form. They stated that if you are a dual citizen with British/Irish citizenship, you do not need an ETA.
However, “you prove your permission to travel using your valid British/Irish passport or other passport containing a certificate of entitlement to the right of abode in the UK.”
When asked what to do if the traveller is not in possession of any of these documents, the advisor responded, “You either need to apply for a British passport or a certificate of entitlement”.
Renewing a UK passport from overseas costs £101 (€123), while a certificate of entitlement comes with a £550 (€658) fee. Both application processes take several weeks.
Euronews Travel has reached out to the Home Office for official guidance.
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