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What's the best way to book a cruise? Far in advance or last minute...


BruGale

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My husband and I plan on taking a cruise in September (2013) like we did last year & the year before around our anniversary, (the 16th). It seems to be an okay time to go, even though its hurricane season, because there are not a whole lot of kids since school usually goes back in session around August. (We don't have kids and prefer less rambunctious passengers while on our vacations). Both of our previous cruises were on Carnival 5 nights and booked several months in advance, one through Travelocity and one through Carnival directly. I just wonder if we got the best deal booking far in advance. Since this cruise we are planning is going to be a 7 night (Sept 14 on the Dream) I want to make sure we get the best deal because it will be the most expensive one so far. So is it better to wait til last minute to book it, or do it sooner rather than later? Any advice will be helpful. Thanks All!!!

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The answer really depends on how the cruise is selling.

 

By booking in advance, you lock in the price. If the price drops you can contact your cruise line or TA and get the deduction. If the price goes up, you sit back and smile since you have the lower price.

 

If you wait until close to sailing, the price MAY drop if there are too many empty cabins.

 

I would book early if you are not flexible as to dates. Also, if you need to fly to the cruise as the discount seats will probably be gone if you try to book flights just before the cruise. This would wipe out the savings.

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"Best" is in the eye of the beholder. Booking later you're likelier to run into price reductions as the cruise line reduces prices to fill cabins (if necessary, a gamble). Booking later means you're looking at cabins no one else wants e.g. over a lounge (another gamble). If you wait too long, the ship might fill up (a third gamble).

 

Carnival has various "saver" programs, one of which gets you price reductions after final payment. You should ask over on the Carnival board.

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I try to book as early as possible, but I am kind of picky about my cabin. If you are planning on the Dream, I would say book now. As long as you don't book the Supersaver rate (I think that's what it is on Carnival), you will have price protection if the fare goes down.

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My general rule of thumb is, regardless of cruiseline, the less flexible you are in terms of the cruise date, length of cruise, itinerary, debarkation port, ship, cabin category/location/deck, etc., then book as soon as you can. But the more flexible you are to any of these, then probably you can find some good deal on some ship, in some cabin going somwhere on some date.

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I can't say about all cruises, but I will give me experience on our last one and the one we have booked.

 

Our last one was Carnival Legend in early December 14 months in advance. We booked a "rare" cabin in a 9B. We were the first one booked for that type. By the time the 6 cabins sold out, they were going for almost $900 more for 2 people, than what we paid for 4. Considering we paid less than $2000 for 4 of us, that is a BIG increase!

 

Fast forward to our currently booked cruise. We booked in Feb 2012 for a November 2013 sailing. We are on the NCL Sun in a suite. Now there aren't many suites in general on board this class of ship. We paid a "reasonable" price IMO for it. The last one just sold recently for almost $800 more than we paid. This is also still 6 months before sailing! An aft suite recently opened up for our cruse. If we wanted to switch, we would have to pay almost $1600 more! So based on that, NCL would make a total of $2400 more if we switched rooms, because of what they could sell our current room for! When we booked our current suite, the aft suite was actually less than the last of our category sold for! On a note, almost all rooms right now are selling for at least $300 more than when we booked also.

 

So for us, it is better to book WAY early. Only because we book "rare" rooms. If you aren't picky and any balcony/OV/inside will do, then you can get great deals if you wait. But you can't always get good deals and sometimes the prices just keep going up and up!

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I tend to book 14-18 months in advance, or as soon as bookings open. My reasoning is that I want a particular cabin, and to get that, I have to be "the early bird".

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We tend to book 12-18 months out.........but we have been known to change cruises. We have found on HAL especially, they will have some pretty good deals closer to sailing. Princess does as well..........

 

Paul is right on with his post...............especially the airfare.........depending on where you are flying from, airfare normally goes up the closer you are to departure date..........if you are land locked like we are, that in itself can become pretty expensive if you haven't decided on a cruise at least 9 months out.

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Thank you all for the helpful tips. Unfortunately, we waited to long this year to get the early saver rate that we got on the last 2 cruises that had the price protection up until 2 days before the cruise. Thats why I am now concerned about when & how to book. Otherwise I would definitely book now and not be worried at all because I would have that guarantee! Our dates are not flexible because my scheduled week off, & we like to be sailing on our anniversary <3 Also I wonder, is it best to book directly through Carnival? Does anyone know? I don't care about "personal service" at a travel agency. (Lol.) I prefer perks or "more for my money"... Thanks!!!

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I'm a late booker. Usually 4 - 6 weeks out at the earliest. Late enough to get a great deal but still early enough to get a reasonably priced flight. I've never had a problem getting a great room. But I'm also flexible as to which cruise line I take. I pick the itinerary I want and then watch all the cruise lines doing that same or similar itineraries. Some may sell out early but others won't and I choose from the great deals being offered by those who still have space.

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I think your rate would still be protected. I usually book on Carnival, unless it is a big group. Go on the site and take a look at the different rates- it will say on the right side if there is price protection. You should be able to find your past guest number too if you need it.

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We've booked most of our cruises very early, around a year or more.

 

I keep reading that people get last minute deals, perhaps if a cruise hasn't sold well you can. But in every case (24 cruises), the price we've paid is always lower than late bookings. There may be advertised sale prices, but we've still paid less than that. We've also gotten some really good price reductions, or have been able to upgrade with no cost.

 

Our last cruise, the price we paid for a mini suite on Princess was less than the regular balcony price 3 months prior to the cruise. Lots of cabins were available until the final payment date, then the price went up and everything started selling. Maybe people thought they got a better deal by waiting?

 

Usually there is nothing to lose by booking early (with some exceptions). You can cancel up until the final payment date with no penalty. Many times you can get price drops with no problems.

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We tend to book late, often after final payment date, because we just don't like hemming ourselves in to a certain date a year or more in advance. For various family and business reasons, this often isn't feasible. Yes, I know we can book ahead and then cancel if it doesn't work out, but we'd just rather not.

 

Once we are within a couple months of a vacation, we are very flexible as to cruise line, ship, cabin (always a balcony, at least) and itinerary. Sometimes we have a certain itinerary we are interested in, like Hawaii this winter, other times we look for a different ship or itinerary.

 

We have a baseline, won't go above, base price of $100 pp per day for a balcony cabin. Usually we sail at half that. We'd go more only for some drop-dead bucket list cruise (South Pacific, anyone?). Usually we get some significant OBC or other perks.

 

I often have to bite my tongue when we dine with people who are bragging about their great deal and ours was half what they paid!

 

Flexibility is key, and not being too picky. We often do guarantee cabins and have never had a terrible one yet. We use FF miles, usually, for flights, so if we can't get tickets, we don't go.

 

I don't think I could stand the suspense of waiting, say, 18 months for a cruise!

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I book a year, sometimes more, out. I mainly do it so I can keep an eye on flights. I live in Minnesota so I fly no matter where I'm cruising from. Plane tickets are half of the vacation expense for me, so a last minute cruise deal wouldn't work for me as the savings would be blown on high flight costs.

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Thank you all for the helpful tips. Unfortunately, we waited to long this year to get the early saver rate that we got on the last 2 cruises that had the price protection up until 2 days before the cruise. Thats why I am now concerned about when & how to book. Otherwise I would definitely book now and not be worried at all because I would have that guarantee! Our dates are not flexible because my scheduled week off, & we like to be sailing on our anniversary <3 Also I wonder, is it best to book directly through Carnival? Does anyone know? I don't care about "personal service" at a travel agency. (Lol.) I prefer perks or "more for my money"... Thanks!!!

 

Want perks? Want more obc? Don't book direct with the cruise line, go to a reverse bidding site. You will get a better net price than from the cruise line, just be sure you know if there are any agency change fees.

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My husband and I plan on taking a cruise in September (2013) like we did last year & the year before around our anniversary, (the 16th). It seems to be an okay time to go, even though its hurricane season, because there are not a whole lot of kids since school usually goes back in session around August. (We don't have kids and prefer less rambunctious passengers while on our vacations). Both of our previous cruises were on Carnival 5 nights and booked several months in advance, one through Travelocity and one through Carnival directly. I just wonder if we got the best deal booking far in advance. Since this cruise we are planning is going to be a 7 night (Sept 14 on the Dream) I want to make sure we get the best deal because it will be the most expensive one so far. So is it better to wait til last minute to book it, or do it sooner rather than later? Any advice will be helpful. Thanks All!!!

 

We need to plan months in advance so DH can get scheduled off work. Plus you need to factor air fares or driving time if you don't live anywhere near a port like we do. For us it is better to book way ahead. For someone living in Florida who can easily get of work, then it may be best to book last minute. It all depends on your own situation.

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We booked onboard last June for this June's cruise. This gave us a great selection of cabins and decks.

 

Also, we find the price only goes UP on popular ships. Our current cabin (ocean balcony on Allure of the Seas) goes for nearly $1000 more currently.

 

JM

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Want perks? Want more obc? Don't book direct with the cruise line, go to a reverse bidding site. You will get a better net price than from the cruise line, just be sure you know if there are any agency change fees.

 

Not sure I know what a "reverse bidding site" is... Any suggestions as to a site I should check out? Carnival is offering a 50$ obc right now and low deposit, however the deposit is no big deal, but the obc is nice. Thanks for the advice!

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We've booked most of our cruises very early, around a year or more.

 

I keep reading that people get last minute deals, perhaps if a cruise hasn't sold well you can. But in every case (24 cruises), the price we've paid is always lower than late bookings. There may be advertised sale prices, but we've still paid less than that. We've also gotten some really good price reductions, or have been able to upgrade with no cost.

 

Our last cruise, the price we paid for a mini suite on Princess was less than the regular balcony price 3 months prior to the cruise. Lots of cabins were available until the final payment date, then the price went up and everything started selling. Maybe people thought they got a better deal by waiting?

 

Usually there is nothing to lose by booking early (with some exceptions). You can cancel up until the final payment date with no penalty. Many times you can get price drops with no problems.

 

Wow, 24 cruises! Sounds like you know your stuff! May I ask, what has been your favorite cruise line altogether, and have you sailed the Carnival Dream yet & if so did you like it? Having only sailed twice on 5 night cruises on fairly older ships I'm really excited to go on the Dream and hope it's not a totally let down. Some reviews can be discouraging, along with the recent bad press (!) but I remain optimistic!

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Carnival Dream is a beautiful ship. We sailed on August 3rd,2012 with family and close friends and had a great time. The ship is wonderful and it was the first time that we had a cove balcony. The ship was scheduled to sail to the Western Caribbean that week. Due to Hurricane Ernesto we were only able to sail to our first scheduled port of call, Cozumel, Mexico. Because the hurricane was south of Cozumel and traveling west towards the mainland we were diverted to Progresso, Mexico, Freeport, Grand Bahamas,and Nassau, Bahamas. The seas were rough while were we sailing eastbound towards the Bahamas. We had such a great time that I'm considering a second sailing in August 2014. My immediate family is considering a seven day cruise to Bermuda on the Breakaway in August 2014. That trip would cost double the price for my family of three. I would rather spend a week on the Carnival Dream and a second week at my condo in South Florida. You definitely won't regret sailing on the Carnival Dream. The food was good, the crew was outstanding, and most of fellow cruisers were pleasant. What more can you ask for!

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In reference to your original question, it's always better to book as far ahead as possible. I booked a twelve day European cruise on Holland America's New Amsterdam scheduled to depart from Venice, Italy on July 14th,2013 in August 2012. My Category VF Balcony Stateroom is now over two thousand dollars more than I paid and the category is now sold out. If I booked this cruise now I would have had to shell out an additional two thousand dollars plus because I would now have to purchase a higher category cabin. Since I got the cruise bug back in May 1983 I have never booked a cruise less than six months prior to departure and never felt that I overpaid in more than twenty five plus cruises.

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