How far in advance do you book?

As soon as the itineraries are released. Advantage in both pricing and cabin selection.

As far as possible! You can always (until final payment) change the date, cancel, or alter the cabin. The longer you wait the more it costs - usually! Enjoy :)

My husband and I booked our cruise through RCCL in April around tax free and port fees free. We paid a fantastic price for our 10 day cruise and 2 days ago we were upgraded to a balcony room from an interior room for free! Can't wait to sail on Anthem!

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We usually book cruises about 12 months out for the same reasons everyone mentioned above.

 

We, however, struggle to find the best time to book the air flight... We always seem to purchase when most expensive (3-6 months) and, unfortunately, they don't adjust the price down after the purchase like the cruiselines.

 

 

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We do the exact same.

I start getting nervous if we don't have a flight at least 3 months in advance, but it seems every time I pull the trigger and book one prices really drop. I don't think I'm capable of waiting until 1 month pre-cruise though. I'd hate to be stuck driving.

I'm really curious about this thread, and wondering if all of you are booking directly thru RCCL or using a TA? I was under the impression you couldn't do anything directly thru the cruiseline if your original booking was thru a TA. Am I wrong? I booked Harmony about 1 1/2 years before our sailing in December 2016, and got great "perks". Fortunately, the price just increased to the point of doubling what we paid for a Cat d7 balcony. I would assume I would have lost all my perks if I did anything to the booking!!!

We book direct but if you watch for drops, you should call your TA if you see one and ask if there is a downside to taking a drop. In some cases the drop is worth more than the perks.

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I book as soon as the dates open for a specific cruise, I have gotten the best prices and cabin we wish and have a separate acct to pay the cruise off with. I make the payments with my credit card then pay off from the cruise acct. I also watch for price drops. If I have booked more then one cruise then this gives me time to work out the payments as well as the air and any other pre cruise expenses.

Unfortunately when you book in the UK through a ta once you have paid that is it no reduction is applied if the price goes down - no upgrade option either. Would appreciate advice from any other Brits how to get around this ( don't know if booking directly with cruise operator would help but if there are flights involved it is usually a better package price through the ta)

Looking forward to my Eurodam cruise on 27th Sep and Eclipse cruise in Oct

We've booked anywhere from 3 weeks out to two years out. One of the best cruise prices we've ever gotten was on the Quantum TA, inside for $599. and got upgraded to a balcony. We booked that about 6 weeks out. We've never had a problem with air, since we book one way air thru Choice Air and usually get good prices, even last minute.