Save Big on Summer Travel

Cruise From a Port Closer to Home

Until a few years ago, many vacationers had to fly to Miami or Orlando to hop on a cruise. No longer: Several companies, including Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International, now set sail from ports located near large population centers around the country, such as New York City; Seattle; Galveston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; and Baltimore. And if you live near one of those locations, that can save you a bundle. Case in point: As of mid-April, taking a Carnival Cruise Lines trip directly from Charleston to the Bahamas cost $569 less than flying from Charleston to Miami, staying one night in a hotel, and departing the next day. The only drawback? “It takes longer for the ship to reach the destination, so you spend more time on the boat,” says Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of the review site CruiseCritic.com. “But for most people that’s preferable to killing time in the airport.”