Early Book v late book

I have just checked the price of our cruise and stay from marmaris on 13th may. It is now a whopping £590 cheaper than we paid in July last year. I know the merits of early /late booking have been chewed over before but that is quite a hike. We always chose to book early to get the hotel we wanted, and also the free A/I, and of course you cant get free A/I Now, but £590 is a lot of booze, and would have gone a long way towards paying our trips.. I think we may do last minute in future. you pays your money and makes your choice.

I have just checked the price of our cruise and stay from marmaris on 13th may. It is now a whopping £590 cheaper than we paid in July last year. I know the merits of early /late booking have been chewed over before but that is quite a hike. We always chose to book early to get the hotel we wanted, and also the free A/I, and of course you cant get free A/I Now, but £590 is a lot of booze, and would have gone a long way towards paying our trips.. I think we may do last minute in future. you pays your money and makes your choice.

When I worked in travel, Early - Mid May was always a good time to pick up good holiday bargains. If I had the flexibility of dates & wasn't too bothered about where or when we went, I would leave it to get a bargain like that. Trouble is, we are tied to school holidays (for now) but I also like to have my holidays booked ahead so that I have something to look forward to!!!!! That is a big difference though. Best not to look when you have booked so far in advance!

Yes I take your point about the school holidays, but from what I have seen on our cruises I suspect you are in the minority. I am also trying to look at the broader picture, with the current economic climate likely to show less people taking holidays. we also had to pay £350 deposit some 10 months before going and they have now brought the balance payment to 12 weeks instead of 8, so they have our money much longer now. I just get the feeling that since Thomas Cook nearly went belly up, that Thomson think they can do as they like, without much competition, but they better be aware of biting the hand that feeds them

Im a bit in the middle on this, like Julie i'm also an ex travel agent.

We booked originally 18months in advance for this year, booked April 12 for Oct 13, in the mean time we have moved the holiday forward to suit my husbands work etc.

We like you booked early to get free All inc, (Dream, Med Medly )choice of cabin, itinerary we wanted ( and hotel as cruise & stay).

If we had stayed with our orig choice, yes it has gone down by about £180pp however no all inc and the hotel we originally chose (Son Matias in Majorca) sold out very early on our sailing so we would have been disapointed if left it any later as would have prob cost us more than £180pp for our OBA and would not have got the hotel we wanted, in fact having looked we didnt like any of thr hotels now available at all :(

The new choice (Majesty / Corfu stay) has gone up a bit (£144pp) since we made the move, we had £100 admin fee but working out all inc etc we are still ahead :D

I think by the time you get your OB bill there may not be much in it, interest is so low that if its worked out what they gain with your deposit and then bal a little earlier then its hardly nothing really and everyone now asks for balances 12 weeks before travel, its not just a Thomson thing.

About 8-10 weeks before dept date is a good time to get a bargain as thats when lots of people cant afford final balance and cancel :( (losing deposit) but there just arent the late deals there were a few years ago , i only retired 18 months ago and there were very few then.

As the climate has changed and not so much money about the holiday companies take this into consideration so not so many for sale in first place.

Its all personal choice and ive done both over the years, early and late booking but i think if any aspect of the holiday is important ( date, itinerary, ship, cabin type, hotel for stay etc etc.....) then book early and you get all you want, if not then its worth the risk :eek: and you may get a fab deal but it may not be exactly what you really want ;)

Yes I go through this each time I book. We booked last September to go June 13 and got free all inclusive and early morning flight from Newcastle. The price has dropped considerably but the free AI is no available and the early morning flight full so an afternoon flight now on. All in all I'm happy.

I'm pondering though about booking the Carribean next Feb. they only do odd flights from Newcastle.

I wAs also thinking if there would be any offers for future bookings when we go in June.

Decisions!

We always book our main cruise early to take advantage of free all inclusive and to get the cabin we want etc. and as yet we have always done well and not lost out.

I have just checked for this years and the cruise is £334 dearer now and that price is based on an outside deck 3/4 and we are in a deluxe so we are well up on price.

Very pleased.:D:D:D

We have also got a couple of decent late deals but of course no AI with these, so if we can get AI cheap or better still free it has always worked out better to book early for us.

From what you say, it looks like the large drop in ours is a bit of a one off, so there may not be the trend I fear. Last year the hotel we booked went off the list early on which justified the early booking but this year they are both still available. It is still 8 weeks to go so it will be interesting to see what happens approaching 'last minute'.

We booked our b2b cruise for this year on the day the brochures went on sale 16 months before departure date :D. There have been no cabins left of the same type we have booked for a long time now. We got AI, the choice of cabin number on the ship & will be flying from an airport 30 minutes down the road.

I don't know what I would do if I wasn't tied to school hols - probably still book in advance as I love to have my holidays to look forward to & need to book time off work. We've always booked our holidays months ahead but then again I like to have a focus and a reason to work lol!!!!

Yes Jules your circumstances are somewhat different, and in the past we have always booked well in advance for more or less the same reasons, but I think I was staggered by the difference this time. £590 is a lot of money and I would expect that a few days before sailing but not 2 months.

I have just gone back in, and both the hotel we stayed in last year and the one we booked this have have both been removed, so either they have made a mistake and removed them or they have been snapped up.

I have just gone back in, and both the hotel we stayed in last year and the one we booked this have have both been removed, so either they have made a mistake and removed them or they have been snapped up.

It's like Russian roulette isn't it :eek: if prices stayed the same would be ideal you would know where you stand but of course there are valid reasons they go up and down so there will never be a good answer .

So annoying when you've paid a lot more like you have but now the hotels have gone at least you know you have got what you wanted by booking early and poss wouldn't have done if you'd left it .

I know best not to look after booking but it is hard not to isn't it :confused:

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Hi

It's not so rare for prices to go down. We r just back from majesty and the price for booking in the last two weeks was LESS THAN HALF what we had paid. Oh also kept all our receipts re drinks etc and it came to approx 280 if we hadn't the dp. So basically we spent an awful lot of money in advance but would def been worth it to have waited and got a late deal. It really did used to b betr to book well in advance as u got best deals but just doesn't seem the case any more which is a pity.

Our Canarian Flavours cruise 1.3 13 booked 8.11.12 (4 months before) was like-for-like pricewise £188 each more than Colourful Coasts cruise 12.4.13 booked at the last minute when i saw a bargain, 24 days beforehand. That works out at 24.5% less for Colourful Coast cruise.

But because there are three of us sharing an outside plus cabin and travelling from Leeds Bradford instead of Newcastle it is even cheaper, £514 which makes it 33% cheaper. Bargain! :D. And I just got a free maths lesson on how to work out percentages, by my DH. :D

Moral. Book it when you are happy with the price because I was happy with the price for the 1.3.13 cruise or I would not have booked it but I am super happy with the price of the 12.4.13 cruise.

And if we get to La Palma and Madeira this time I will be extremely happy.:)

 

And if we get to La Palma and Madeira this time I will be extremely happy.:)

http://www.madeira-web.com/camera/cam-03.html

Here's a taster Jackie :)

 

http://www.madeira-web.com/camera/cam-03.html

Thanks Linda. 3 weeks and I will be there...I hope. :)

Well I don't know why but the hotels are back on at the lower price. strangely it is £895 for a weeks cruise only, but £877 for a weeks cruise and one week stay, deck 3/4 for both of them. curiouser.

Assuming it is the Egyptian cruise you are going on? I'm guessing that's the reason why it's so reduced in price - it's probably not selling as well as they hoped due to the problems there are in Egypt currently.

Odd about the price difference between 1 week's cruise & cruise & stay although for 3 consecutive years we stayed in Turkey for 2 weeks in May & it was £1000 cheaper to go for 2 weeks for four of us than it would have been to go for 1 week!

I have just checked the price of our cruise and stay from marmaris on 13th may. It is now a whopping £590 cheaper than we paid in July last year. I know the merits of early /late booking have been chewed over before but that is quite a hike. We always chose to book early to get the hotel we wanted, and also the free A/I, and of course you cant get free A/I Now, but £590 is a lot of booze, and would have gone a long way towards paying our trips.. I think we may do last minute in future. you pays your money and makes your choice.

I think the comparison to the stock market that has been made before is the apt one for Thomson cruise pricing. I know it’s pointless, but I have become fascinated in checking the latest pricing of the Dream cruise I have already booked for April. I noticed that the price had risen overnight by around eleven quid to £556pp for a 4/5 inside room. This evening I see the same category 4/5 inside has gone down fifty quid to £506pp, with the online saving changing from £900 odd up to £1,028. Now I can (just about) accept buying at a price one day & a lower price advertised by the next. But today it appears some poor soul may have booked a cruise in the morning & it has gone down £100 by the afternoon.

Just a thought... If you are a poor soul who booked this morning & was blissfully unaware until reading this... Sorry. :o