When is the best time to buy a cruise

When is the Best time to book a Cruise. for the best price. and Who is the Best Cruise ship.I am looking for our next CRUISE and the last one dropped in price. I called them on it. they offered me a four person room one floor DOWN from mine I already had a 3 person room. and it was only 2 of us.

The best time to buy a cruise is probably a day or two days before it sails. They want to fill the empty cabins. On the other hand, the cruise ships with the best deals like this are the ones people don't want to travel on - that's why they've got the empty cabins.

When is the Best time to book a Cruise. for the best price. and Who is the Best Cruise ship.I am looking for our next CRUISE and the last one dropped in price. I called them on it. they offered me a four person room one floor DOWN from mine I already had a 3 person room. and it was only 2 of us.

The best time to book is usually when the schedule is released then price watch up until final payment is required....but....this can vary and some last minute bookings can be great deals...so basically there is no right or wrong time...As far as the "best" cruiseline that is strickly a personal choice and you'll get many recommendations and why...We prefer RCI...just our choice of what has worked out for us after many years of cruising. Best of luck and enjoy your cruise !!

The best time to book a cruise varies with the person and what is of importance to you.

Our cabin location/category is very important to us so booking as early as we know we want to take the cruise so we can get the type of cabin in the location of our choice. :)

LuLu

The best time to book a cruise for me is as soon as that schedule is released so I have the best pick of cabins.

Only you know what is important to you. :)

Prices are a gamble. We have 3 South American cruises that are now twice what we paid for them. We have 3 Europe/Transatlantic cruises that just last night I got a really great price drop on. They are all next year.

If you can take off very spontaneously and you are within decent driving distance to ports, last minute may work well for you.

I believe in booking sooner rather than later as the lower priced cabins as well as those that are in the best location within each category go first. If you see a price decrease then followup to try to get the better price.

Keith

Asap more rooms..

Now you have the answers, or do you? There really is no defihite answer, so I'll just say "It all depends".

A lot of people don't care what kind of a cabin they have or where it is located.

Us -- we prefer to select the cabin we want -- thus we book many months in advance.

So the final decision comes down to you and what you will feel comfortable with.

The best price to book a cruise is when you can get the cabin you want at the lowest price offered.

Unfortunately, there is no way to predict when this will be. For some cruises, it could be very early on (popular cruise, popular cabin category). For others, there will be price drops and you may be able to get a real deal very close to sailing.

My rule of thumb is usually to book when the price seems fair and is in line with what I am willing to pay.

Good advice. Waiting for the absolute lowest price is a mugs game.

This is really a function of how flexible you are with itinerary, cabin type/location, time, etc. And of course on supply/demand.

We often book inside the final payment period. We do not wait for the lowest price simply because we never really know what it will be. We have a good idea though. We gain an understanding of the prices, determine what for us is a good price, and then book it immediately if our price hits. In our case, if the price is right we are happy to book a verandah gty.

Air is an issue for us so we typically understand air pricing as well. And when we book in the final payment period our TA always places a 'hold' on the reservation for eight hours-enough time for us to ensure that we can get a reasonable air fare or a reward ticket on our preferred dates.

OP should define "best". Is it best price, best choice of accommodations, best time to buy flights to/from the port, or best other variable?

Best price is likely to be available a couple of days before sailing - unless of course the ship is sold out; then no go.

Perhaps the "best" approach is to decide on ship and itinerary, then book it as early as possible if the price is acceptable - then monitor for possible price reductions. Do the same for flights.

It is too easy to outsmart yourself if you try to play too many angles. Remember, any time you buy anything there is always as great a chance that you could have gotten a better (or worse) deal if you bought it at a different time.

The poster who said "it depends" gave the best answer.