Off-peak bargains and a scenic splurge

IF you’re thinking about spring, summer or even year-end travel, look at the tips below; I think you’ll find some surprising ways to save money and enjoy your trips more.

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Ensuring elegance: Remember Priceline? This website introduced the concept of the “opaque” booking -- meaning that you learn the identity of your flight or hotel only after you bid and commit to pay a certain price. The trouble with booking a hotel room on its site, www.priceline.com is that if you’re seeking an ultra-cheap room and bid a low price, you sometimes end up in the boondocks or at an unknown hotel.

But smart travelers using Priceline name a low price and specify that they must receive a deluxe room. If their bid is accepted, they will be placed at a deluxe property or beachfront resort, and who cares which one it is? Several people I recently met in Hawaii paid $125 a night for deluxe beachfront resorts that usually charge $400 a room -- all by using Priceline and requesting deluxe lodgings.

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For amore, try Amalfi: The Amalfi Coast of Italy -- just south of Naples with access to Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii -- is a favorite of mine. Unfortunately, it is jammed as of April 1. But in March, vacancies exist and prices are lower, even though the weather is mild and sunny. Tourcrafters, (800) 482-5995, www.tourcrafters.com, has a one-week air-and-land package to Amalfi in March for $1,075 per person, including round-trip air between LAX and Naples, a rental car for a week, a room at the coastal Hotel Villa Romana and two meals a day. Surcharges and airport fees are about $225.

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Making a big wave: Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas will be the largest ship afloat -- bigger than the QM2 -- when it goes into service later this year. Its early departures are already heavily sold.

But the sailings scheduled just after Thanksgiving should sell slowly. Low-cost cabins on its seven-night Western Caribbean sailings Nov. 26 or Dec. 3, departing from Miami, range from $859 to $1,019 per person. See www.icruise.com, or call (866) 942-7847.