How far out do you book for families?

Hi all, have previously sailed on Nav OTS with just our daughter back in Oct 13. Now we have our 11 month old son and I'm looking into our next cruise for Mar 2016. Most likely MSC divinia mainly because it's not too pricey. Apart from disney, it seems impossible to find something suitable for a 20 mth old. So my thinking is to just got middle of the road until both our kids are old enough to avail of the better kids facilities - does that make sense?

But i am alreasy thinking about when my son turns 3 and where we should go! It's 2 years away :) but would LOVE to sail on one of the newer RCL ships..and I'm guessing I should book as far out as possible? But won't that make the price really expensive? I'm a bargain hunter so spend AGES looking for best price/package.

The nice thing about booking far out is you get first choice on cabins and, depending on the kind of fare you book, can take advantage of price drops or upgrade. On our last RCCL cruise, I must have changed cabins 5 times based on prices dropping, better cabins opening up, etc. For someone who doesn't mind following up on the rates often, it can work out wonderfully. If you like to grab the lowest cost last minute fares, that's a completely different plan, but only works if you don't have to fly and can be flexible if the cruise/cabin size you need doesn't work out.

Best,

Mia

Do you get the best cabins by booking direct? We have to flu :( no cruises from Dublin ireland!

It really depends on the travel agent, and what THEY offer. The cruise line doesn't give many or any "perks" for booking....but a travel agent might...you'll just have to check around and ask!

I seem to remember reading that the rules are different when booking from the UK - no changes or taking advantage of price drops whether with an agent or not. I may be wrong, and that may have just been for US cruises, not Med, so basically, I have no idea what I'm talking about :rolleyes: Sorry - I hadn't paid attention to where you were posting from.

All the best,

Mia

I have a cruise booked for November of 2016 now. I few days ago there was a sale and the price dropped. I was able to call and have the rate adjusted to take advantage of the savings. If this is an option for you, then how far in advance you book shouldn't matter. I booked directly with RC.

I've also become pickier about the type of stateroom after having kids. We have two of them, 2 and 5, and the size of the stateroom (and the size of the bathroom) matters much more now than when we were just the 2 adults.

That's why I like to book as early as possible to get my pick with the stateroom, and why I don't go prize first anymore.

I'm in the same boat (no pun intented). My DD is 18 months and I'm planning on going on the Harmony in Spring 2017. I think this will be great, cause she'll be 3 and able to use the kids club. I'm leaning more towards booking early so I can get all the price drops, if any.

Not that I plan on cancelling, but life happens. What if for any reason, I can't go last minute? Do I lose all my money. I'm wonding if I should pay vacation insurance, since it's so far in advance.

I believe vacation insurance only pays if the cancelation fits what they cover. In other words, for one of their specific reasons. You may want to look into that. The only time I take the insurance, is if we're flying to the departure location. I know the cruise line has a cancelation policy, and the closer you get to the sailing date the less you will receive back. And if it's to close they won't refund anything.

Do you get the best cabins by booking direct? We have to flu :( no cruises from Dublin ireland!

Is there anything to prevent you from booking with a US agent? I'm from Canada and I now book with US agents. Canadian agents just don't offer enough perks. Why should my American friends get all the OBC?:D

Ontario agents will scream "don't do it" you won't be protected. But really, how much risk is there? If I put a deposit down on my credit card, I just have to make sure that the deposit made it to the cruise line (I can check online to make sure it is added to mycruises". As long as it is there, I now my booking is valid. If it isn't, I can challenge it with my credit card company before I pay the bill. Then final payment is due XX days before you sail, so how much risk does one really have? I will take my chances.

I'm in the same boat (no pun intented). My DD is 18 months and I'm planning on going on the Harmony in Spring 2017. I think this will be great, cause she'll be 3 and able to use the kids club. I'm leaning more towards booking early so I can get all the price drops, if any.

 

Not that I plan on cancelling, but life happens. What if for any reason, I can't go last minute? Do I lose all my money. I'm wonding if I should pay vacation insurance, since it's so far in advance.

Book now. You only put down a deposit until final payment is due ... By that time, you should have a clear idea of whether or not you intend to follow through. I think the PP is right, and insure only covers you for certain reasons.

I've done some last minute sailings - booked as little as 30 days out because of a great price/promo. I think my "longest" booking is the one I have now for November 2016 on Oasis. I a recent convert to onboard booking. i'm generally doing those 1 year in advance.

My kids are 8 and 9. While a small cabin is not ideal, it's doable. I think our smallest cabin ever was a deck 11 inside on Oasis. It was teeny and there was no storage room. But we managed. We don't spend a lot of time in the cabin anyways. It might change as we get older though. For our next Oasis, I have two adjoining verandahs booked (cheaper than a suite!).

My preference is to book on price/promo. Either way its a cruise that we are going to enjoy, even if the cabin configuration/size is not ideal.

I just booked 18 months out with RCCL (Harmony). I was looking for peak season (Christmas) and their rates were really good. I don't know if this is because it's a new ship or if it's due to booking so far ahead. This is the first time I planned this far in advance, but the rates are better when you plan far in advance, from what I can gather from our seasoned cruisers on CC.

As far as canceling, RCCL lets you cancel w/out losing any money until closer to the date. I think I have until September, 2016 to cancel for December 2016 and I get all the money back. I am still thinking about keeping the insurance I bought just in case travel conditions are bad (snow...) in December, but I know I have more than enough time to pay.

I'm in the same boat (no pun intented). My DD is 18 months and I'm planning on going on the Harmony in Spring 2017. I think this will be great, cause she'll be 3 and able to use the kids club. I'm leaning more towards booking early so I can get all the price drops, if any.

 

Not that I plan on cancelling, but life happens. What if for any reason, I can't go last minute? Do I lose all my money. I'm wonding if I should pay vacation insurance, since it's so far in advance.

Kids club if she is potty trained....Our youngest will me 3 years 3mths old on our cruise coming up....she is quite the stubborn two year old....going on the potty is on her terms, lol....I told her no potty, no cruise, lol (even though that's not the case) but it would still be nice for her to enjoy the pool and adventure ocean like her big sister.

We actually took a couple of years off from cruising because we weren't sure when our son would potty train. Most of the lines are NO FUN for a child who is 3 and not potty-trained. They are too old to go to the toddler activities, but not allowed in the kids' clubs.

When we were on a cruise when our son was 2, we talked to a parent with a 3 year old son who was really, really unhappy with the cruise. Because he wasn't potty trained, he couldn't go in the pool and he couldn't go to kids' club. She felt like there was literally nothing for him to do. I didn't want to be in that situation with our son, and he was stubborn and not interested in potty training, so we did other vacations until I was sure he would be able to do the kids club. (As it turns out, he doesn't generally like to spend much time in kids clubs anyway, but at least he had the option.)

It's not quite that bad on all lines - some have splash pools or water play areas for kids in swim diapers. But it definitely gives you fewer options.

I like booking as far out as possible, because I care about what specific cabins we get. (We get suites because we travel with a party of 5; my mom often comes with us.) We try to get early booking discounts to help with the cost. I'm usually one of the people booking the day the new itineraries are available for booking when we cruise DCL.

Definitely look at RCCL! They have the most (besides Disney) for those ages.

We sailed MSC Divina with DD who was 3 at the time...

There is no swim area for diapered children and one officer tried to insist it is MSC policy that only children over 6 or 7 can use the pools (guest services backed him up, but we could never find it in writing). He said younger ones could only use the area with 2-3 inches of water in it.

Their kids program was good. There really wasn't much for children younger than 3 (parent supervised play time in the closed club).

Other than that, there wasn't much for kids.

On RCCL, the larger ships have splash areas for diapered children and a nursery. Some have small playgrounds and toddler areas of mini golf. The buffets habe more selections and there are multiple options for dinner (MSC's alternative dining was not much, the pizza place was nice--but more artisanal pizzas than kid friendly and the buffet was very limited at night--kids section was only open for kids dining with the children's program). Overall, they are more family friendly than MSC.

The OP will have to check on the options for booking from Ireland so it might be different than for those of us in the States. If there isn't' any cancellation fees for cancelling before final payment date, it might be worth booking now.