Andrea Zelinski
Black Friday might technically still be 10 days away, but travel deals, particularly those from the cruise industry, are already here.
I reviewed a dozen promotions, and the sales I've seen range between 25% and 60% savings for cruises, with some lines throwing in hundreds of dollars in onboard credit. Other lines are offering included gratuities or free fares for thirds and fourths.
But the other element I've noticed is how early those sales have come out. Cruise lines, like other retail sectors, began rolling out their Black Friday sales promotions in mid-November.
"Cruise lines are creatively getting people to focus on travel and expanding their booking windows," said Anthony Hamawy, president of Cruise.com, about the early Black Friday promotions. "If it works for Amazon, Walmart and other retailers, why not?"
Sales are not only beginning early, but many will stretch well past the official sales holidays of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Travel Tuesday. For example, Black Friday sales from Cunard Line, Oceania Cruises, HX and Atlas Ocean Voyages will last through at least Dec. 7, more than a week after Black Friday. Norwegian Cruise Line plans to run its sale for nearly a month, but hasn't published an end date, according to a spokeswoman.
Hamawy said he hasn't yet seen any "extreme" deals this year. One thing did stand out to him, though: More promotions around short close-in products in the Caribbean sailing in Q1.