Patience. Good deals aren't always available, so if you are wanting a deal, you need to regularly check and follow price fluctuations.

Play the waiting game. The best prices usually come up on cruises that are running at low capacity about 1-2 months before departure. Yes, waiting means that you may miss out on the cruise if it ends up filling up, so you have to be ok with that.

Explore the options. Some cruise lines tend to have better deals than others. MSC is a growing cruise line and is trying to build clientele so they offer some really good prices. Some of the fancier cruise lines give great prices on their older ships. I've used some of the conglomerate sites to find cruises, like vacationstogo, but I use this more as a search engine and then use the actual cruise line sites to keep up with prices.

Go in the off season. Cruise prices tend to be much cheaper in months like October-November and January- March. Don't go during major school breaks or holidays.

Repositioning cruises. These almost always tend to have lower number of people booking and also tend to be longer. Often the cruises are not full also so that is a bonus. They are a great deal for your buck, and the only inconvenience is that you have to book two separate tickets instead of round trip flights.

Reduce onboard spending. So many things are included for free on cruises, yet people spend tons of money on unnecessary stuff. Get an interior cabin, as you won't be spending most of your time in the room anyways. Don't go to the restaurants where you have to pay money. You already paid for your food in the main dining hall with your ticket. Drink packages are not worth it, especially if you don't drink alcohol. There are usually free juices in the buffet or at breakfast if you want something other than water. You can also just pay individually for sodas if you want a couple during your trip. You will be getting a ton of calories from the food anyways, so it may behoove you to forget about drinks.

Special deals. Almost all cruise lines claim to have sales and deals going on 95% of the time. I consider the sale prices pretty much the base price for cruises, unless you are looking at luxury cabins or brand new ships. Watch to see what deals are actually reducing the prices. There are also sometimes special deals for military members and family, healthcare workers, sometimes educators... If you are really cheap like me, you might consider some promotions that different cruises offer. Norwegian Cruise Line gives awesome deals through the myvip slots games because they are counting on you gambling on the ship.

These are some of the things that I consider. For many people on here, spending a few more dollars is worth it for the reduced time and stress, but I enjoy the process of finding deals so it is worth the effort for me.