One strategy we used recently was to go for the Marriott card at 70k points on first purchase. Get two of those (husband and wife can each get) and purchase 5k points to bring the total up to 145k and you can get a $1000 cruise discount. Combine that with air miles to get to the point of departure and it reduces the cost considerably. Using this method we were able to get 4 people on a spring break cruise for under $1200 all-in. The total cost would have been less had we more flexibility with the dates. The problem was that we are stuck on the school schedule still, so the cabin prices for when we needed to go were higher than I liked. The final cost was one I was comfortable with, however. Good luck.