According to 'The Travel Detective' Peter Greenberg, it is possible to get a good deal at the last minute on that luxury cruise you've been eyeing.

But, he says, skip the seemingly big and luxurious cabin, "brochures are shot with the widest angle lens known to man...you're only in there to shower and sleep, so why would you pick the priciest cabin for that?"

If you want a great view you can always go out on deck so you don't really need a window, plus Greenberg says, those lower, inside middle cabins can help you to avoid that common cruise vacation-wrecker, seasickness.

"It's almost counterintuitive, but where you want to really be is a lower, inside middle cabin as low to the waterline as you can because the centre of gravity is your friend, and you're not going to pitch and you're not going to roll."

Once you know which cabin to look for, the big question is when to buy. Greenberg says on this front we have become a last-minute world.

"The cruise lines realize that an unsold cruise ship berth is revenue they're never going to recoup once the ship sails, so you can do that within two weeks of your departure. There's a lot of websites you can go to that are basically cruise ship consolidators, that's the good news. The tough news is they will sell you the cruise, but they won't sell you the air travel, you have to do that one on your own."

Once you're on board, there are a few more areas where Greenberg says you should do your research, because when it comes to medical care and shore excursions, you need to plan ahead and know how to get the best value.

"The doctor on 'The Love Boat' is not going to be your doctor," Greenberg says. "The doctor on 'The Love Boat' made it seem like it was part of the cruise ship cost. It's not. The cruise doctor is  a separate profit centre for a cruise line and even if you have to get an aspirin from the doctor you're going to pay through the nose for it."

Greenberg recommends good travel health insurance that goes beyond the borders of Canada as well as trip evacuation and repatriation insurance, which is an emergency plan you can buy for an annual fee of about $300.00 that you hope you never have to use.

"It means if you get sick or injured anywhere in the world, not just on a cruise ship, but anywhere in the world, they will actually come with a medically-equipped jet and fly you back to the doctor and medical facility of your choice. That's the kind of insurance you want. You hope you never have to use it, but believe me, I carry it."

Finally, Greenberg says people should know that shore excursions are also profit centres for cruise lines, but there are some that are more worth the cost than others, depending on the infrastructure and what is offered.

"For example, if you're going up to Alaska and you want to be able to take a helicopter tour of the glaciers, when the cruise ships are in port they control all the helicopters so you can't do that on your own.

"But by the same token there are some cruise lines that offer shore excursions called bar-hopping in Mexico for $68.00 and I'm sorry, if you need assistance bar hopping on a bus, you need a whole lot more assistance than I thought you needed. You can do that on your own."