Sale price vs early booking

AQ is offering some really good 50% sale fares right now, for cruises that are under the 90 day final payment date. I wonder, is it better to wait or book early? I know that booking early gets you the better cabin selection vs maybe no availability at all. Having said that, AQ does seem to be offering 50% fares on a lot of their cruises. Just wondering.....are they sailing full....half empty?

JL

This year I waited until there was a two for one offering on the trips that I wanted to take before I booked. The first cruise that I went on this year was the four night round trip out of Cincinnati, and I was able to get the category that I wanted. My next voyage is a round trip out of the Crescent City this winter, and once again I was able to secure the category which I preferred.

I haven't even thought about booking next year. I have no idea if the DELTA QUEEN will be out running next summer, and my schedule is flexible enough that I can wait for a good deal on one of the AQ's 2015 cruises before booking.

I booked about 4 weeks prior to cruise date on a 50% off offer. When I called to reserve there were 6 cabins available in the category I wanted (category C).

I got a 50% off booking for the Nov 22 sailing sometime in early July so I know this year they started their their big reductions early. It had a full pay at booking requirement as if inside the 90 day window. AQ does have a $100 pp cancellation fee. Their most recent offers showed only the Nov 22 sailing as full but that might not be true for that sailing or any others as they seem to not do things in a timely manner. Calling always works best with them.

As for next year, my thoughts are that with added competition from the American Cruise Line (second Miss. boat if it comes out on time) that AQSC will have to continue the deep discounting for most if not all of their schedule. Naturally that is an uneducated guess. If you are flexible, by all means, wait as they seem to have to struggle to fill berths.

....for the comments. Sounds to me like, with the added competition next year, it might be better to wait on the discounted cruises, but be prepared to pay in full at booking.

JL