Advanced Booking

I'm curious: does anyone know how far in advance Royal Caribbean opens their booking process and/or posts their itineraries?

Since returning from our rookie cruise on Indy three weeks ago, we've been chatting with our parents (her parents are experienced cruisers, but my parents have never been), and we're all pretty much settled on taking a family cruise in July 2017.

When we look on the RCI website, even though July 2017 is an option for searching, no cruises show up.

Had we been smart, we would have booked our next cruise during our last cruise: I've come to understand that there are advantages to booking on the ship (Next Cruise), and these bookings can be adjusted at will.

One other reason we're interested in booking early is because Royal Caribbean is still offering a 10% exchange on the Canadian dollar right now, if you buy onboard credit through Gifts & Gear. We took advantage of that for our just-finished cruise and saved some money over the bank rate (currently around 33.5% exchange - yikes!). This was another tip we found out about through this wonderful forum - thank you, kind stranger! :)

Are there benefits to booking super early, or should we bide our time and wait until the spring or next summer to book a July 2017 cruise? I notice that there are BOGO deals for 2016 sailings. Norwegian is offering several options for 2016 sailings, including a free drink package for the first two guests.

As we explore, any comments on the class of ship and/or itineraries? We'll be travelling with two school-aged boys and our parents, and possibly more family members with kids. It will be a Caribbean cruise. We sailed on Indy last time, but as I understand she is going back to Europe. Our boys would love the H2O zone, so I guess we need to stick to Freedom-class or larger. We'll see what Liberty and Freedom are doing, once the itineraries are posted.

Thanks for any info, tips and comments!

It will depend on where your cruising and when the dates open. Some of the Caribbean cruises for the Spring of 2017 are open now. Australia cruises open up 2 years in advance. I book early once the dates open up to get our cabin of choice and better pricing. In most cases the prices will continually go up yet never falling to early booking levels.

It will depend on where your cruising and when the dates open. Some of the Caribbean cruises for the Spring of 2017 are open now. Australia cruises open up 2 years in advance. I book early once the dates open up to get our cabin of choice and better pricing. In most cases the prices will continually go up yet never falling to early booking levels.

Okay, so there is a price advantage - that's good to know. Thank you!

Most itineraries for July of 2017 will open up in March/April of 2016.

For sure, there is definitely a price difference in your favor to booking early. We booked our 4/2016 cruise in 5/2014 (nearly 2 years in advance).

Checked this past June during the most recent 30% off sale .... prices had went up by nearly $900 apiece. :eek: Even our customer service gal on the line was impressed! :D Maybe they hiked the prices during the sale but even so, I'm glad we booked as early as we did, as booking even a year in advance would have priced us out.

There is a Transatlantic, Rhapsody April 29, 2017.

 

As we explore, any comments on the class of ship and/or itineraries? We'll be travelling with two school-aged boys and our parents, and possibly more family members with kids. It will be a Caribbean cruise. We sailed on Indy last time, but as I understand she is going back to Europe. Our boys would love the H2O zone, so I guess we need to stick to Freedom-class or larger. We'll see what Liberty and Freedom are doing, once the itineraries are posted.

 

Thanks for any info, tips and comments!

You might want to look at Harmony OTS for the boys (and the Adults who love to be kids!!) Shes still being built, has had some really good prices for an Oasis Class.

IMO, its better to book early. You get pick your cabin, you have longer to pay it off before final payment is due, watch for price drops and more time to research the ship, ports, and more!

Macdon your welcome. Only once did we catch a break with a price drop for last year and that was only because we caught a Residence drop for Calif 5 months out. I watch regularly for our cabin category and if i see a drop I notify our TA immediately and she verifies and gets us the adjustment. E category rooms will see more drops then D categories. For our 13 day NZ cruise last year, 3 months after I booked the JS jumped $700

Thanks to everyone for the replies! We'll keep an eye on the website and jump on a cruise when the July '17 itineraries get posted.