Waiting for Black Friday to book a cruise deal? You can actually get an early start if you’re a fan of a few well-known cruise lines that are already offering discounts, weeks before Thanksgiving.
Black Friday has become a big day in cruise bookings as every line offers some sort of sale or special. Just like a store offers special deals to get people in the doors and make a purchase, the cruise lines offer special deals and incentives to get people off the fence and book that trip.
Normally these deals don’t roll out until the week of Thanksgiving. Some cruise lines offer some “sneak peeks” ahead of time, but this year we’re seeing something very different.
Specifically, we’ve seen multiple cruise lines already announcing Black Friday offers more than three weeks before Thanksgiving.
One Note About Black Friday Cruise Deals
Now, we will be honest. While everyone loves a good sale, Black Friday — or any other excuse for a sale — shouldn’t get you too excited.
Writing, researching, and taking cruises, we regularly look at prices, sales, specials, and deals. What we’ve found is that cruise lines run sales constantly. Go to any line’s website and you’ll always see some sort of special “deal” being offered, no matter the time of year.
In reality, cruise prices do move around, but you won’t see them suddenly slashed from one day to the next because of a sale. If that were the case, then cruise passengers would simply wait until a sales event and only book then. Cruise lines, however, want you to book as early as possible and want a steady stream of bookings, not large spikes and drops.
That’s not to say that Black Friday deals are bad. It’s just that you shouldn’t automatically think you’re getting a much lower price than what’s seen at other times of the year.
Still, there’s no doubt that sales do incentivize some people to go ahead and book that cruise. And this year the cruise lines seem to be cranking up offers earlier than ever.
So far, we’ve seen multiple lines — including major names like Norwegian Cruise Line — offer up their Black Friday sales early…
Norwegian Cruise Line (Free at Sea + Loyalty Points)
With a large headline that proudly proclaims “Black Friday Starts Now!” NCL is bringing back an old favorite. For years the cruise line offered a “Free at Sea” sail with all sorts of perks from unlimited bar to wi-fi to specialty restaurant dining and more. That was changed to “More at Sea” with similar perks but some fine print changes. Now it appears the cruise line is bringing Free at Sea back.
With this Black Friday deal, NCL says they are offering 50% off all cruises, plus free open bar (although it still costs $28.50 per day… we’re not sure how that can be called “free” either), specialty dining, wi-fi, excursion credits, airfare for a second guest and free sailing for kids.
Honestly, however, the biggest perk of the deal might be a sweetener that’s not normally offered. With this offer, NCL is also giving people who book three extra points per night for its Latitudes loyalty program. So instead of earning just seven points for a week-long cruise, you’d earn a staggering 28 points. That could help NCL fans move quickly up the loyalty program’s ladder.
Oceania (Up to 50% Off Cruises)
Like its sister line NCL, upscale cruise line Oceania is also offering an early Black Friday deal. In this case, the cruise line is giving cruisers “up to 50% off” on more than 170 cruises for 2026 and 2027.
“This year, we’re giving our guests a head start on the season’s best offers,” said Jason Montague, Chief Luxury Officer of Oceania Cruises.
Not every cruise will see the 50% discount, but the cruise line is showing the biggest savings on an April 2026 trip that passes through the Panama Canal to Miami and a 15-day round trip from Tampa to the eastern Caribbean, including stops in St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Kitts and more.
If you’re an upscale cruiser, this is one offer you definitely want to check out.
Virgin Voyages (80% Off Second Passenger + Bar Tab)
Virgin Voyages is arguably the most unique cruise line around in that it is completely adults-only. So families need not consider this Black Friday deal.
For those that want to sail without kids, however, the cruise line has a deal for you. It’s Black Friday offer is for 80% off the second passenger, as well as up to $400 in bar tab for your cruise.
While Virgin Voyages is a relatively new line (it started sailing after the pandemic), it now features four different ships positioned around the world. So whether you want to sail Alaska or the Caribbean or Europe… all without kids, you can do it.
In addition, the cruise line is well known for including a lot with your fare like wi-fi, all food, and soft drinks instead of upcharges like on other lines.
