Stay Stateside for Good Winter Deals

When it comes to winter vacation bargains, the United States is no slouch. Consider these choices:

Florida cruise: In the deepest winter period, you can pay a lowest-ever price of $399 per adult, $99 per child for seven nights in Florida and the Bahamas.

A seven-night Florida/Bahamas vacation seldom sells for less than $799 per adult. The $399 price is offered by Universal Studios Escape and Premier Cruise Lines (operators of the Big Red Boat) from Jan. 7 to Feb. 7. The package brings you three or four nights in Orlando combined with three or four nights on the Bahamas cruise, plus entrance to Universal Studios theme parks, a rental car and other extras.

It’s a classic family vacation--the cost for children ages 2 to 9 is $99 apiece for all seven nights’ arrangements--but adults traveling without children are also frequent participants in the stimulating land/sea experience.

Premier Cruise Lines, telephone (800) 528-7245, is handling bookings.

Las Vegas: With some effort, you can find spectacular hotel values in a city that’s awash in excess rooms. Why? No city could increase its tourist numbers quickly enough to fill the breathtaking number of giant (4,000 rooms is the average) Las Vegas hotels completed in 1999, such as the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Paris Las Vegas and the Venetian. Result: Hotel discounters are scrambling to sell the excess capacity.

Although you can probably do just as well by phoning the hotel and bargaining with the reservations staff, these companies often can get you a Las Vegas room for as little as $39 a night midweek: Las Vegas Hotels, tel. (800) 771- 0405, Internet https://www.lasvegashotels.com; InVegas.com, tel. (800) 666-5268, Internet https://www.hoteldiscounts.com; and Discount Hotels Directory, tel. (800) 461- 0124, Internet https://www.vacationweb.com/vegas.

Camping: The long-established TrekAmerica, tel. (800) 221-0596, Internet https://www.trekamerica.com, runs “cooperative camping” adventures year-round. Among this winter’s listings are two very different types: “active” visits to national parks in the Southwest, $949 for 11 days, and the more sightseeing-oriented Florida Adventure, $565 for seven days from Orlando to Key West.

Operated in groups of up to 13 participants (heavy on visitors from abroad), campers are carted around by van and sleep in tents (bring your own). TrekAmerica makes the arrangements, provides the guides and sets up optional extras, such as a day at Disney World. A fee of about $35 per week to the communal food kitty covers most meals.

New York: The Big Apple is at its cultural peak in January and February, but savvy visitors can keep costs low. Plan ahead to enjoy a winter week in Manhattan for less than a night in a Waldorf-Astoria suite. First, snare a room at midtown’s old-fashioned Wolcott Hotel, tel. (212) 268-2900, on West 31st Street, with pleasant, amenity-equipped units starting at $65 a night. Then take in a Broadway show at 30% to 50% off with discounted tickets from the TKTS booths in Times Square or the World Trade Center. Or better yet, buy them on the Internet before you arrive: https://www.playbill.com.

Equip yourself with last-minute information by phoning the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, tel. (800) 692-8474, or checking the Internet, https://www.nycvisit.com.