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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. Start with the hottest sales and discounts on the CNET Deals page, and check out our CNET Coupons page for current Walmart discount codes, eBay coupons, Samsung promo codes and more from hundreds of other online stores.
Score $40 Free Credit to Spend in Store With This Costco Membership Deal
Final prices worked out to $1,478.40 on Carnival (for two people sharing a cabin) and $1,444.40 on Costco. The Costco cruise deal was slightly better, especially if it really did come with shipboard credit. Typically, Costco Travel offers competitive rates on cruises, so you can either find a discounted deal or at least pay a similar rate offered by other travel sellers. With a Costco Gold Star subscription, you'll get one membership card for your household. It allows you to shop at any Costco warehouse worldwide, as well as online at Costco.com.
What travel can you book through Costco Travel?
Costco does not assign a specific agent to your booking, so you're unlikely to talk to the same call center representative twice. Costco cruises are priced competitively, especially when you factor in the shop card or shipboard credit available with every purchase. 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.
Things You Didn't Know About Booking a Costco Cruise
I've personally had a lot of success booking friends getaways to popular destinations like Mexico through Costco. Using the service has helped me save on other expenses with the Digital Costco Shop Card I've gotten with my bookings. 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. I admittedly don't use Costco for groceries often (buying in bulk doesn't make a lot of sense for someone who lives alone), but I have used shop cards to help pay for Christmas presents and future Costco Travel trips.
Costco cruise prices
Costco Travel has its pros and cons, but there are definitely times when it's worth it. Costco Travel does not sell every cruise line, but it does handle all of the largest brands, including Carnival. There's no hard sell (phone reps are not on commission), cruise cancellations are handled efficiently and without hassle, and the invoicing is clear and easy to read. For my last cruise, I looked at a seven-night Hawaii cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America, departing May 27. I started with a seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas, departing Sept. 9.
Award vs. cash calculator
I've booked direct with cruise lines, used traditional brick-and-mortar travel agencies and gone through online travel suppliers like Expedia, Vacations To Go and American Discount Cruises. But more often than not, when shipboard credits and other incentives were tallied, Costco Travel came out as low as, or lower than, other options. 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.
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. Another member, RSF Cruiser, has booked about two Princess cruises a year for the past five years and has been "totally pleased." 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.
Card Type
Because the cruise industry aims to enforce pricing parity across all booking channels, discounts don't usually appear in the upfront cruise fare. "Costco is usually the best deal," says KirkNC, who is careful to compare multiple outlets before locking in a fare. "We get around 8 percent back in onboard credits, which are refundable, so if we don't use them we get a credit back on our credit card." Although we know (and love) Costco warehouses for their bulk bargains, not all categories at Costco require plus-sized buys. (Think jeans, mattresses and wine, which can be purchased individually.) Cruises are the same. 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.
"They aren't active travel agents, they don't proactively check for price drops," noted kleptn. However, Costco does have pre- and post-travel support departments, as well as an after-hours phone number for travel emergencies, to assist travelers once they've booked their cruise. If you're new to cruising or unsure of what you want, Costco might not be the best travel agency for you.
Here are five things you don't know about booking a Costco cruise -- and why Costco Travel is my first -- and usually last -- stop when shopping for a cruise. You will not be able to use your American Express and earn Membership Rewards points for your vacation purchase. Having reservation information for multiple aspects of a trip, such as a hotel and rental car package, makes sharing and saving the itineraries a breeze. My favorite thing about booking trips through Costco Travel is the Digital Costco Shop Card I get after booking. 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. You'll also have to use Costco customer service if you run into any issues rather than going directly to the brand.
Finally, Costco offers "Buyer's Choice" and "Kirkland Signature" cruise deals, which offer "exclusive savings and included extras," according to the Costco Cruises website. The added-value perks vary by cruise line but may include shipboard credit, complimentary dinners and spa treatments on board and special wine and culinary theme cruise access with exclusive meals, tastings and demos. My quick search through these deals revealed that Costco's Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line cruises usually have the most added freebies.
I noticed a few things as I road-tested Costco's booking tool and compared it to the cruise lines' versions. A six-night Mexico cruise on Carnival Miracle, departing from Los Angeles Oct. 8, was listed as $584 for a balcony cabin on Carnival and $564 on Costco. The difference before the perks was $348, plus you get roughly $200 in value from the perks alone. I was not surprised to see that you could book Disney cruises through Costco, but they are not eligible for either Kirkland Signature or Buyer's Choice deals. For me, the $60 annual membership fee to Costco has been more than worth it to utilize Costco Travel.
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However, one thing to note is that you can't book stand-alone flights via Costco Travel. There is an option to book flights through some vacation packages, but if you're only looking for airfare, you'll want to head to Google Flights to check out your options and book. Costco isn't just the place where you can buy toilet paper in bulk, inexpensive gas, cheap hot dogs and gift cards.
You might find a great deal and get a shop card to spend when you return home from vacation. 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.
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. 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. When planning our annual beach trip back in 2022, my best friend found a few options for Mexican all-inclusive resorts on Costco Travel and shared the links with me. I promptly told her we'd probably be better off booking directly and brushed off the idea of booking through Costco — neither of us even had a membership at the time.
Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information. You can, however, use a future cruise credit from a cruise line to pay for all or part of your Costco cruise. Your shop card amount will be determined by the cost of the cruise fare, not how you pay for it.
