Booking a cruise during Christmas week

So I am thinking of booking a cruise for Christmas time at the end of this year. Should I book as soon as possible or should I wait? TIA

Christmas cruises are very popular. If you want to go on one, then book right away. they are expensive and prices do not come down

Yes they are expensive. Thanksgiving week is cheap.

Did you look at MSC? Their price are good for Christmas week out of Florida.

I am looking to cruise for 10 days christmas week to Jan 2. Take it all in.

Just got off a Christmas, New Year's cruise (18) days. Booked it on Dec 15, 2015 flew out on Dec 17th and boarded on Dec 18th. Great price for cruise and airfare from Ft Lauderdale to San Diego!

During the lifeboat drill we met a woman who booked the cruise that morning at 9:30 am! She lived in Los Vegas. so she flew in about two hours later and made the ship in time for sail away.

Just make sure of two things. You really aren't in to Christmas and you LOVE children! Even on an 18 day cruise there were plenty of them!

We did a Eurodam cruise over Christmas holiday in 2014. We booked exactly 2 weeks prior to sail date. It was an unbelievable good deal, including 3rd and 4th person sail free. The only "bad" thing for this cruise: we stopped at Grand Cayman on 12/25 and everything were closed.

To OP question: it depends on how desperate you want to cruise on Christmas and if you are comfortable with the price you see now. Most likely for ship/lines that are more family friendly (such as Royal Caribbean, Disney or Norwegian), the price will just keep going up as it get closer to sail date. If you are willing to take a chance, it is still possible to find good deal for relatively lesser family-friendly ship/line/itinerary (YES I am referring to HAL which I love!), but there is no guarantee anything will be available at all the closer you get to the sail date.

We booked our Harmony cruise in July for next Christmas. It has gone up about 75% since then. I can't believe it keeps going up, I guess people are still willing to pay what they're asking, so they'll keep raising the price!

Book early!!

We sailed over Xmas once--VERY pricey, as is airfare.

But a few years ago we stumbled upon a NYEve cruise in June (it hadn't been showing up before that) that was shockingly reasonable (almost cheap--like $700pp interior) to the Southern Caribbean (on Caribbean Princess). I think we even managed to get air around $400 pp.

A cruise over the holidays is so enjoyable.

We've done it twice and it has such as nice family feeling to it.

You do pay a premium.

Be sure to look at flights because depending on when you fly they can be pricey.

Best to lock them in sooner rather than later.

Keith

We LOVE Christmas cruises after having experienced our first one this past Christmas! The atmosphere is so festive, and crew and pax are extra cheery! I recommend booking early because they can sell out, and they often go up in price. If you will have a 3/4 pax in your stateroom, it's extra important to book early because the extra berths sell out sometimes over a year in advance. Yes, you can get last minute crazy good deals, but you risk not finding one and in turn, not being on a cruise at Christmas. Also, last minute airfare for Christmas is usually exorbitant, if even available.

They tend to sell quick, so I'd grab it while you can.

So I am thinking of booking a cruise for Christmas time at the end of this year. Should I book as soon as possible or should I wait? TIA

We have gone the last 3 years for Christmas and are going this year

as well

The first year our cruise was booked by someone else so not sure of the details - The second I booked Disney about 3 1/2 months ahead of time and for this one the price jumped over 4k by the time the cruise came around so we are glad we got on when we did - The third cruise was Norwegian and we booked about 5 months ahead of time the price dropped a few hundred dollars right before sailing off however they also lost the perks that made up for it and had we not booked our Haven Suite when we did we would have lost out on it because they fill up quick near the end - This current cruise I booked last August on Royal and so far I have seen the price change like by $100 but like the previous one it also lost the OBC I got when I signed up so even though there was a price difference of about $100 per room (We got 2 inside rooms as it was cheaper than 1 balcony) we would have saved $200 but we would have lost $520 in OBC as we got $260 per room

So from my own personal experience it seems like the earlier you book the better deals you get

On 26th December 2015 I booked B2B NCL cruise from Barcelona covering Christmas and New Year 2016. We wanted to be sure we got the same cabin for both cruises and we got to choose 2 of their promo offers . Then a couple of weeks ago NCL Christmas cruise departing Barcelona on 23rd Dec 2017 came up for sale so I booked that as well, only one promo this time . I can't imagine the price will drop , they don't usually on European departures at Christmas , but if it does at least in sure I've got what we wanted.

If you have to fly to the port I suggest booking as soon as possible. Prices tend to go up for holiday travel of all types including cruises. That is not to say there might not be a last minute special but that is more an exception than a rule. I will say that it's almost guaranteed that flight prices will go up. I watched flights for a certain itinerary increase every year as it got closer to December so when it finally came time to book everything I booked as soon as it became available. My current flight same itinerary and seat type is now almost double in price and my cruise price has also gone up. In fact only JS and above are even available right now. So long story short...I recommend for holiday travel that you book early. You can always try to rebook as it gets closer (before final payment) and prices go down but if they don't at least you already have a cabin.

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