Deal watch: Norwegian Cruise Line drops rates as low as $37 a day for close-in departures

In a bit of a twist, some of the best cruise deals popping up at cruise line websites in recent days have been from Norwegian Cruise Line — a brand that in recent years has been more reluctant than most to offer deep discounts.

As of Friday morning, the Miami-based line was selling space on soon-to-depart Bahamas voyages for as little as $37.25 per day.

That's about 53% less than the least expensive Bahamas voyage that was available early Friday from rival Royal Caribbean. It's about 17% less than the least expensive Bahamas voyage available from Carnival Cruise Line.

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As of Friday morning, Norwegian was also selling space on soon-to-depart Pacific Coast sailings for as little as $39.80 per day.

The lowest rates tended to be Norwegian's "Sail Away" category, where the cruise line picks your room location.

Currently, these fares are eligible for free excursion credits, bringing your total vacation price down even further. However, you could save more overall by choosing a slightly higher fare that's eligible for the line's latest "Free at Sea" promotion.

The promotion brings a free drinks package, Wi-Fi package and specialty dining, plus credits for shore excursions with new bookings of three-night or longer cruises.

There are just a handful of Norwegian voyages available at the most discounted rates, and they are mostly trips departing in the next few months. They include:

• A four-night Bahamas sailing on Norwegian Pearl departing from Miami on Jan. 16, with fares starting at $149 per person — or $37.25 per day. The trip brings stops at Grand Bahama Island, Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian's private island in the Bahamas.
• A five-night Pacific Coast sailing on Norwegian Bliss departing from Los Angeles on April 9, with fares starting at $199 per person — or $39.80 per day. The trip brings a stop at Victoria, B.C., and ends in Vancouver, B.C.
• A four-night Pacific Coast sailing on Norwegian Encore departing from Los Angeles on May 1, with fares starting at $179 per person — or $44.75 per day. The trip is a one-way voyage to Vancouver, B.C., with no stops.
• A three-night Bahamas sailing on Norwegian Sky departing from Miami on March 3, with fares starting at $199 per person — or $66 per day. The trip brings stops at Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay.
• A two-night Mediterranean sailing on Norwegian Sun departing from Granada, Spain, on March 31, with fares starting at $99 per person — or about $50 a day. The trip brings a stop in Seville, Spain, and ends in Lisbon, Portugal.

All the deeply discounted fares above are only available for windowless interior cabins, which are the lowest-category cabins on each of the ships. However, Norwegian is also is offering notably low rates on ocean-view and balcony cabins on some of the trips, too.

Related: 6 ways to get a deal on a cruise

Ocean-view cabins (that is, cabins with a window) on the five-night Norwegian Bliss cruise departing April 9 were listed on Norwegian's website Friday for $259 — just $60 more than a windowless cabin. Balcony cabins on the sailing were listed for $299. That works out to about $60 a day for a balcony cabin.

Note that all the fares are per-person rates that are based on two people staying in a cabin. They're not available for solo travelers.

In addition, while the rates include accommodations, meals and entertainment, they don't include port taxes and fees, which range from $98.73 to $234.17. Cruise lines typically advertise their fares without port taxes and fees included but add these costs to final bills at the time of checkout.

The fact that Norwegian is offering at least a few close-in departures at lower starting rates than what's available from rival lines such as Royal Caribbean and Carnival is a shift from the pricing patterns that we've seen over the past year.

As recently as October, Carnival was offering last-minute space on close-in departures for as little as $26 a day while Norwegian's lead-in pricing was much higher. Royal Caribbean was selling last-minute space on cruises in the fall for as little as $33 a day.

Related: The ultimate guide to picking a cruise line

As of early Friday, the least expensive Bahamas sailing available on Royal Caribbean's website started at $54 a day. The least expensive Bahamas sailing on Carnival's website was priced starting at $44.75 a day.

As we wrote about in November, starting rates for Bahamas voyages at Norwegian were running 120% and 93% higher, respectively, than starting rates for Bahamas sailings on Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships.

For the past several years, Norwegian has touted a deliberate strategy of holding the line on pricing, even if that means that it draws fewer bookings and its ships sail less full.

"We make no bones about [it] that we hold price," Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings president and CEO Frank Del Rio said in December during a conference call with Wall Street analysts where he explained the strategy in detail. "We lead the industry by such a wide margin on price that it's almost untouchable."

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is the parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

The result of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings' strategy over the past year has been noticeably lighter occupancy levels on the ships of its various brands, as its higher pricing kept some customers from booking.

Related: Why we love Norwegian's newest ship, Norwegian Prima

In aggregate, the three Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings brands reported 82% occupancy for the quarter that ended Sept. 30. Royal Caribbean Group brands, by contrast, reported 96% occupancy for the same quarter.

Royal Caribbean Group is the parent company of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises.

Rival Carnival Corporation in December reported occupancy levels for the latest quarter of 85%.

Carnival Corporation is the parent company of Carnival, Princess Cruises, Holland America and six other major cruise brands.

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