Best time to book?

Hi, we are looking at the Seadream cruise out of Instanbul departing on 11th Sept next year. It finishes in Venice & looks like a great itinerary.

The book today & save fare for Deck 2 is $7899pp (quite a bit cheaper than the "brochure fare").

I know its hard to say, but when is the best time to book?

We've been on quite a few other cruiselines before & generally it is cheaper to book closer to the time.

I've also read that Seadream often release specials around January-March (and some other times too) - is this likely?

The cancellation fee for more than 120 days before is only $50, so is it best to book & then cancel & rebook if a special comes out? Do they allow this?

Appreciate any thoughts,

Gary & Maureen

Perth, Australia.

I've only been on SeaDream twice, so I'm not as knowledgeable as others, but here's my experience.

First cruise was in the Virgin Islands, the price did go down $200 pp a few months after we booked. I called up SeaDream to rebook (expecting to pay the $50 cancellation fee each), but they graciously changed it without charge.

This March we booked our Southern Caribbean voyage almost as soon as it was posted. We were looking forward to this particular itinerary which they do not offer often, and it was an anniversary trip. I checked the price a few times, and by 4 or 6 months beforehand, all the lesser expensive rooms were gone (and it was a full cruise). Great voyage!

We asked a number of repeat SeaDreamers if they enjoyed their Mediterranean cruises as much as the Caribbean, and we heard nothing but positive feedback.

We did that cruise in May 2013 and it was wonderful! You will love it. As to when to book, it's hard to say. If bookings are slow, the price might go down, but if there is a lot of interest, the price may go up! Best to book now -- if there is a later price reduction, SD usually works with you.

Vandrefalk