Book now? Wait for a sale? WWYD???

[B_Mc]

We're shopping for a S Caribbean cruise next winter, thinking the Adventure.

 

Should we book now assuming earlier is cheaper or do you think there will be a good WOW or other sale coming up?

 

What would you do? TIA!

[PattyG12]

I think this one is up to you. I'd book now and watch for lower prices. IMO the WOW sales don't offer much. We're on a B2B the week of Thanksgiving and the following week. Some room categories are already sold out for week 2 (E2 balcony for example). Room location is very important to me though.

[frito58]

We're shopping for a S Caribbean cruise next winter, thinking the Adventure.

 

Should we book now assuming earlier is cheaper or do you think there will be a good WOW or other sale coming up?

 

What would you do? TIA!

 

It depends , I booked ours all the way out to April 2013 , got a good price , I have have booked so many cruises I know pretty much what "bottom" dollar they will go down to and they are starting at a good price on the one I chose , plus I wanted a certain AFT cabin on the AOS that has an extended balcomy and a larger room for the basic price. Yes You can wait and get a $100 OBC but I figure thats not going to make or break any cruise .

 

Plus if they go down in price before final payment they will adjust the price. If that were to happen , I think thats only happened once for me.

[B_Mc]

Thanks for the insight. Cabin location isn't important, but connecting cabins IS, so I should probably get on this.

 

Another question - why does RCI online booking only offer me deck 10 JS, but it says they are available on Deck 7, 8, 9, 10 when selecting cabin category??? I honestly thought they were only on deck 10 until I saw that half way through booking...

[wantocruisemore]

Personally, if it was me, I would book now by calling and dealing with RCCL directly and then watch like a hawk for price drops. That way you get your connecting room and since there's plenty of time before final payment, you're likely to see a price drop.

 

The next WOW sale is likely in May. The only advantage to the WOW is the OBC ($100 per stateroom on 7 day) and the reduced deposit. Since it is still several months out, I would probably go ahead and book now.

 

We booked during the WOW sale this past Oct. But we had just decided on the cruise a couple of weeks before so it was a nobrainer to wait. But we didn't want to wait longer for price drops for the initial booking since we only want certain rooms.

 

The price we booked at was not bad but we've already gotten two price drops, totaling $500 for our two rooms. I handle my own reservation, have the page bookmarked and check a couple of times a day for reduced prices. As soon as I see a reduction, I call. Same thing happened last year too.

[Sequim88]

Waiting to book is somewhat similar to booking a gauranty except that with gauranty they pick location and with waiting you pick location BUT from a reduced pool to select from. With a gauranty you get a better price and with WOW sale you get OBC. We've never seen price go down on any cruise we have been on.

 

why does RCI online booking only offer me deck 10 JS, but it says they are available on Deck 7, 8, 9, 10 when selecting cabin category???

 

Is it just one on deck 10 that it is showing? The system picks one cabin to "select" to show you but there should be an option to show more. Typically it will then show up to 15 more options (total of 16). There may well be more than those 16 too but it seems they figure 16 cabins are enough to select from. If it shows less than 16 then availability may well be limited. It is possible to check at other travel sites such as Expedia and Travel-o-city (or something like that) to do a fake booking and view all the available cabins deck by deck.

[frito58]

More and likely they raise the price for a sale and then you give you a $100 OBC so it comes out in the wash. And yes I would call , that way you get all your ducks in a row.:)

[CroozeAddict]

We're shopping for a S Caribbean cruise next winter, thinking the Adventure.

 

Should we book now assuming earlier is cheaper or do you think there will be a good WOW or other sale coming up?

 

What would you do? TIA!

 

If getting a real good cabin location isn't an issue, wait. I, on the other hand, love hump cabins and book as early as possible just for the location. As you can see in my signature, we are booked on AOS next winter. The prices right now are excellent. I snagged a center hump JS for less money than the cost for an OV on Allure. Good luck with whatever you decide. :D

[mariamtzj]

Hump cabins? I have heard this on a few posts but don't really know what that is...my guess bigger for the price? Also, how do you identify a hump cabin from the deck plans?

[CroozeAddict]

Hump cabins? I have heard this on a few posts but don't really know what that is...my guess bigger for the price? Also, how do you identify a hump cabin from the deck plans?

 

The Humps (aka Bump out cabins) are those located on the curved out section of the ship (around mid-ship). They are also right next to the elevators making it really convenient. They are no more costly than any other cabin in the same category.

 

The smaller RCI ships don't have them. I think they are only on Radiance class and above.

 

Hope this helps.:)

[mariamtzj]

Are they a bit bigger than other cabins in the same category?

[Marysunshine]

I usually book a year out or close to that. I have always gotten the best price. On my next cruise the cost has gone up $300 pp so even if they run a great sale, they can't match my price.

[will773]

If you find a price that you're happy with, I would book it immediately. If prices go down, see if you can get an adjustment. If they go up, be happy that you booked when you did!

[CroozeAddict]

Are they a bit bigger than other cabins in the same category?

 

No. Some balconies may be slightly larger though. You can see pictures of hump cabins and balconies in the pic links in my signature for the Liberty and Radiance sailings.

[mothwoman]

If you find a price that you're happy with, I would book it immediately. If prices go down, see if you can get an adjustment. If they go up, be happy that you booked when you did!

 

I'm confused on how a price drop works. If I book now and price goes down I know in the distant past you could call and get a price adjustment. But I thought that changed. Has it changed back? I want to book now too so if price drops before final payment can I do anything?

[PattyG12]

As long as the lower price isn't marked "for new bookings only" and you're before final payment date, you can call and have the newer price adjusted. If you're after final payment date, the only thing you can do is upgrade to a higher category.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[sadie8]

We booked early for our February 2012 Adventure cruise and since then have watched prices on balcony cabins and suites go up (way up!) with some categories being sold out. Based on that, I would book now.

[wantocruisemore]

PattyG12 has it correct. As long as not designated for "new bookings only" and it's before final payment, you can call and get the lower price.

 

But even though your cruise may go up after booking, don't assume it will stay there. For the price drops I have gotten, everytime the cruise went higher than the price I booked, and then for a very short time it went down (once for less than a day) and I called to get the price drop. In one of the instances it went down just on Sat. and Sun. so if I had booked through a TA I would have been out of luck. But since I did it on my own I saved myself $300 on that price drop alone.

[mothwoman]

Thanks for your help, I better get booked!

[gelo7]

I would book the cabins now.

[sparky-elpaso]

Also, if you qualify, check the "over 55" rate. DH and I got HUGE price drops on our Australia b2b next month. Over half the original amount on the first leg and slightly less than half for the 2nd leg.

[Sequim88]

Also, if you qualify, check the "over 55" rate. DH and I got HUGE price drops on our Australia b2b next month. Over half the original amount on the first leg and slightly less than half for the 2nd leg.

 

On caution on the Advanced Search on the RCI site. If you check mark the 55+ box you will see ONLY cruises that have a 55+ discount. Similarly if you check mark the "Accessible Stateroom" box it will show only cruises where those are available. So the 55+ box does not show all cruises and adjust price for the ones that qualify but severely limits what is shown. It may be better to check mark that later in the reservation process.

[kc320]

On caution on the Advanced Search on the RCI site. If you check mark the 55+ box you will see ONLY cruises that have a 55+ discount. Similarly if you check mark the "Accessible Stateroom" box it will show only cruises where those are available. So the 55+ box does not show all cruises and adjust price for the ones that qualify but severely limits what is shown. It may be better to check mark that later in the reservation process.

 

THANK YOU!!! I thought I was losing my mind this morning...had been checking a price for a cruise I want to take in Dec....went back this morning to look again & had checked the 55+ in the search feature...the only cruise it would pull up was one in Feb....whew...thought I was going crazy...:eek: now I will go look again without checking the box....

[sparky-elpaso]

On caution on the Advanced Search on the RCI site. If you check mark the 55+ box you will see ONLY cruises that have a 55+ discount. Similarly if you check mark the "Accessible Stateroom" box it will show only cruises where those are available. So the 55+ box does not show all cruises and adjust price for the ones that qualify but severely limits what is shown. It may be better to check mark that later in the reservation process.

 

Oops - my bad. I meant to say "after" you have your cruise booked. I think that type of discount usually shows up later on towards the cruise date.