Jump to content

Horizon in NYC. Do you think it'll sell out?


brepri_h
 Share

Recommended Posts

We’re pretty certain we want to book the 4 Day Bermuda cruise on the Horizon in Sept. 2018. It’ll be our 10 year anniversary trip and our son will be 2 by that time. So, we figure we’ll feel comfortable leaving him with grandparents for a short time.

 

 

Anyway, I’m not ready to book this instant (DH is slow to pull the trigger on anything in life) but I am concerned with the Horizon being a new ship and all that it may sell out.

 

 

 

When would you think I should book by? Do you think it’llsell out?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On a 4 day cruise, you only have 1 day in Bermuda which i think is not enough time in that port and i think carnival prices is crazy for a short cruise. Much cheaper to book a competitor like NCL that does a 7 day cruise with 3 days in Bermuda. NCL also leaves out of NYC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could just do the deposit now. Final payment will be two months before sail date so you will need to commit about then or really gamble on it selling out. Read all the details on the type of booking some allow you to benefit from price drops. If you want a particular cabin, book now. Later you get what is available.

 

Enjoy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On a 4 day cruise, you only have 1 day in Bermuda which i think is not enough time in that port and i think carnival prices is crazy for a short cruise. Much cheaper to book a competitor like NCL that does a 7 day cruise with 3 days in Bermuda. NCL also leaves out of NYC.

 

I’m really not interested in NCL. I live near Boston so Iknow lots of people who have gone out of there and just didn’t love it. Also,our son will be 2 and it’ll be the first time we are leaving him. 4 days is themax amount of time we want to leave him for the first time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could just do the deposit now. Final payment will be two months before sail date so you will need to commit about then or really gamble on it selling out. Read all the details on the type of booking some allow you to benefit from price drops. If you want a particular cabin, book now. Later you get what is available.

 

Enjoy!

 

I was thinking about that but we did something similar when I was pregnant thinking it’d be easy to take the baby before he walks. Well, we had a colicky one and he was walking WAYYYY earlier than he should so we canceled and lost our deposit. =(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It will sell out.

 

The last time that I recall a cruise NOT selling out was during Desert Shield/Storm. Our ship (NCL M/S Skyward) was only half full.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I totally understand just having time for a 4 day. My BFF and I booked this cruise because it was 4 days, over a weekend and we can't wait to be on this ship. We wanted to try the Havana Rooms. I have never been to Bermuda, but I can always go on another cruise another time to see Bermuda.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I totally understand just having time for a 4 day. My BFF and I booked this cruise because it was 4 days, over a weekend and we can't wait to be on this ship. We wanted to try the Havana Rooms. I have never been to Bermuda, but I can always go on another cruise another time to see Bermuda.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

 

My thoughts exactly. I plan to do a 7 day Bermuda someday but really am most interested in seeing the Horizon before it leaves NYC!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Will it sell out, no doubt....there is a portion of cruisers who follow the "newer & bigger" mindset. They don't care if it sails out to the middle of the Sahara Desert, if its a new, big ship, they want to be on it....It must be why they expose the saying of "I only sail the newer, bigger ships"....If you ask them "why" (is it the ports, amenities, convenience of port, etc)....you wont get that as a reason, the reason they give is "its newer and bigger"....lol

 

so yes, it will sell out because of the newer/bigger lemmings

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone have an opinion on the first half of the question? When would you think I should book by? I'm thinking 1yr out?

 

 

The earlier you book, the more cabin choices you have....I am in the vast minority I found out, If I book 2 months out, that is a lot of time for me. There are a lot of people that book multiple cruises up to 2 yrs in advance....that is crazy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The earlier you book, the more cabin choices you have....I am in the vast minority I found out, If I book 2 months out, that is a lot of time for me. There are a lot of people that book multiple cruises up to 2 yrs in advance....that is crazy

 

What's crazy about that? We have two booked and the second one is in Feb, 2019. We normally cruise every two years. We just finished one this past Feb and booked the one for 2019. Discovered that if we book another one before that one, we will be Platinum for the 2019 one. DW said she'd like to see Cuba before Starbucks and McDonalds pops up all over it, so we booked a five day one for Oct of this year.

 

If you enjoy cruising and can afford it, book as many as you want for as far ahead as you want. Do whatever works for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone have an opinion on the first half of the question? When would you think I should book by? I'm thinking 1yr out?

Cabin prices and availability are supply and demand. As the ship sells and has less openings, the higher the price goes. As also mentioned, room selection dramatically decreases, giving you the rooms that others don't want (usually for goos reasons). We book early as room selection for us is important. My advice is book as soon as you know and can decide.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The earlier you book, the more cabin choices you have....I am in the vast minority I found out, If I book 2 months out, that is a lot of time for me. There are a lot of people that book multiple cruises up to 2 yrs in advance....that is crazy

Guess I am crazy also.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, it will eventually sell out, the the fares will be all over the board to accomplish that.

 

Normal fares are extreme, so they keep the bargain hunters away, leaving only the passionate that want that trip. When that dries up, fares may start dropping. It's all supply and demand. Then they may start offering upgrades for $$ and some gratis, eventually leaving the barnacle rooms at whatever they can get for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone have an opinion on the first half of the question? When would you think I should book by? I'm thinking 1yr out?

 

We were booked on this cruise, as part of a back to back. We booked it the day ( actually the hr it opened, thank you PVP for watching and calling me). We have since gave it up, and are doing a 14 day Journey instead.

 

In your case, if you are not looking for a specific room then you should be fine close to final payment. Which is around 90 days out from the cruise. At final payment some people are going to cancel, as they were just holding a room until they decided, or until they get the money to pay. It happens every time I watch a cruise, about 1 day after final payment the inventory goes back up a bit.

 

If you want the best price, then book now. It will only go up. Even after final payment, the prices wont usually come down much on a new ship, as they know they can sell the cabins.

 

Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Will it sell out, no doubt....there is a portion of cruisers who follow the "newer & bigger" mindset. They don't care if it sails out to the middle of the Sahara Desert, if its a new, big ship, they want to be on it....It must be why they expose the saying of "I only sail the newer, bigger ships"....If you ask them "why" (is it the ports, amenities, convenience of port, etc)....you wont get that as a reason, the reason they give is "its newer and bigger"....lol

 

so yes, it will sell out because of the newer/bigger lemmings

 

 

I booked the Horizon for the ship. The 8 day sailing from NY goes to Amber Cove (ugh - ugly port IMO), San Juan (I've probably spent 50 days in Puerto Rico), and Grand Turk (great beach and off shore snorkeling). Looks like I'll just visit Grand Turk, and deal with Amber Cove and San Juan as "sea days", on the ship, enjoying the hopefully less crowded venues like the Spa and Serenity Deck while most are off the ship exploring the islands.

 

We did the Vista 11 day repo from NY to MIA over last Thanksgiving, so booking the Horizon out of our home port was totally in the cards for us. Prices will only go up, and we wanted a spa balcony this time, so we booked more than a year out from our sail date..

 

There were about 125 Diamond cruisers on the Vista, and over 500 platinums, guess we're all blind followers?

 

If that qualifies me for being a lemming, I don't give a rat's.........tail.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

The ships do not leave with unsold cabins. As the sail date approaches managers look at unsold inventory and may set the upgrade fairy (in reality the best sales people) loose to free up less expensive, thus easier to sell lower price cabins. They might also allow greater commissions to independent agencies

 

As others have mentioned, book as soon as you can to get the choicest cabins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The ships do not leave with unsold cabins. As the sail date approaches managers look at unsold inventory and may set the upgrade fairy (in reality the best sales people) loose to free up less expensive, thus easier to sell lower price cabins. They might also allow greater commissions to independent agencies

 

As others have mentioned, book as soon as you can to get the choicest cabins.

 

 

 

Sales for this ship in New York are very strong. I seriously doubt (not sure that it is even a factor) they will be offering any incentives to anyone to sail on a brand new very popular ship. Even less of a chance with this ship would be upgrades. As example, we are on the 7/3 sailing and all Havana class rooms have been gone for a while (that is over a year out). While there possible could be cancellations at final payment, to count on these would be akin to buying a house thinking you were winning powerball tonight.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As the sail date approaches managers look at unsold inventory and may set the upgrade fairy (in reality the best sales people) loose to free up less expensive, thus easier to sell lower price cabins.

 

In reality, the upgrade fairy is a separate department at CCL called C.U.R.E (Carnival Upsell Revenue Enhancement) consisting of 10 - 20 agents whose sole focus is upsells. They are not necessarily the best nor worst sales people at CCL, they merely specialize in an area that the other 1000 general sales agents like PVPs and 800# agents don't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...