Booking Early ! To Book or not to book ?

[Tizzy]

I have spoken about this before but old habits are hard to shake off and we always like to book early for our Cruises.

Am I right in thinking that there have not been as many last minute Cruise offers this year for Caribbean Cruises ?

We are now looking at Cruises for 2014 but some of the prices are horrifying ! The cost of a Balcony Cabin for two people is similar to the cost of a small car. I am not sure I can justify spending that amount of money anymore. I feel like we have reached a crossroads. We have cruised with several different cruise companies and you do get what you pay for, to a certain extent but with more and more cut backs becoming evident I wonder if Cruises are still good value. A balcony is important to us as I have a disability and spend more time than most in the cabin but they are just getting out of our price range. What are your views please ?

[silver service]

Cruising as we know isint cheap. Other than suites, balcony cabins the top end.

On a personal level, after 6years of usually more than one a year.

Have exhausted virtually every cruise possible out of Southampton

On pando. Probably,probably, will give it a rest next year. Have 2

For this year. If, a big if, there is anything different for 2014,

Could re consider. Sure to miss it for certain!

[silver service]

Ps, we always have a wheelchair friendly cabin.

[Tizzy]

Hello Silver Service

It is good to hear the thoughts of other people. We are just about to cruise on Azura for the first time and Ports of call are very important to us. The one Port we were really looking forward to (Guadeloupe) has been dropped ! We have just looked at several other companies to see what is on offer for next year and it seems the ships are now deemed more important than the Ports. A number of ships are only sailing to three or four Ports in the Caribbean. The trouble is once you have enjoyed a Balcony Cabin it is very hard to go back (Quoted by the presenter on an MSC Cruise programme we have just been watching !) The more Ports the better as far as we are concerned and a comfortable cabin, preferably with a sofa is a must !

[HomelessBear]

We usually book early to get the cabin we want. Where we are on the ship is important to us and also getting a cabin on C deck with the larger balcony (on the ships that have these).

I do shop around for price, and although I hear they are not being discounted now, I've always managed to get something off the price (from £20pp to around £200pp), and we often get OBC / car parking as an incentive to book early.

 

Saying all that, I have seen some bargains for last minute cruises, and it does grate a bit when we've paid far more, but that's life - we got the cabin we wanted.

 

The other thing that we consider is that we can't just go at the last minute. We have to book our holidays with work in advance and so although we see some last minute bargains, we couldn't take advantage of them anyway.

We did consider just booking the time off and looking round for a cruise to fit in with these dates when they go on offer, but there is no guarantee that there will be a cruise we want that's available for those dates and we even if there was, we could end up with a cabin we are not happy with.

 

You pay your money and take your choice! I do agree that cruising can be quite expensive, but land holidays soon add up when you include all food and drink and travel.

maybe when we have retired we will consider the last minute cruise offers, but until then, we will cruise for as long as we can.

[robanddiane]

I think that the reason there has not been many late deals to the Caribbean is because for most of the winter P&O only have one ship there. Next winter they are back to both the Ventura & Azura there from November so hopefully good late prices again.

[hammers]

I have spoken about this before but old habits are hard to shake off and we always like to book early for our Cruises.

Am I right in thinking that there have not been as many last minute Cruise offers this year for Caribbean Cruises ?

We are now looking at Cruises for 2014 but some of the prices are horrifying ! The cost of a Balcony Cabin for two people is similar to the cost of a small car. I am not sure I can justify spending that amount of money anymore. I feel like we have reached a crossroads. We have cruised with several different cruise companies and you do get what you pay for, to a certain extent but with more and more cut backs becoming evident I wonder if Cruises are still good value. A balcony is important to us as I have a disability and spend more time than most in the cabin but they are just getting out of our price range. What are your views please ?

 

Hi Tizzy, I have recently booked on the Azura for 31st Jan. I have been watching the prices for a couple of months waiting for a price point to jump in. Unlike you, my wife and I are not fussed on the cabin, we are happy to just be on the ship :)

We usually go to the Caribbean twice a year, November/early December and February/early March, we would rather travel twice in a 'cheap' inside cabin than go once in an expensive (balcony) cabin. We spend very little time in the cabin, only using it to get ready for dinner and for sleeping. We were going to go in November as usual but I didn't proceed because I was waiting to hear by 31st November if I was going to get special early retirement.....which I'm pleased to say I got, I therefore retired on 31st December. I am now very flexible on date:D

 

When I first started looking for prices for either 24th or 31st January, the price for an inside cabin was £1499, I booked last week for £1299.

 

Back at the end of November, to travel on the last week of November/early December, the price was £999!!! I have found that there are some very good last minute deals in November and before the Christmas holiday, there are very few deals from January - March.

 

I also agree with you regarding the number of ports, the more ports of call the better. Last March we cruised the caribbean on the Thomsom Dream, we had a great cruise with 12 ports and only 2 sea days, the problem was, the ship is old and very tired, the ship is not in the same class as the Azuza which is a lovely ship. Now if Thomson had a ship like the Azura/Ventura then P&O would have a real fight on their hands.

[Tizzy]

Hello Hammers

Thank you for your advice ! I always want to book late but always manage to see something I like early on. I am looking at a few different cruises for January next year but they are VERY expensive at the moment. I would also prefer not to sail from Miami as I gather it is a bit of a hassle going from there. If you don't spend a huge amount of time in the cabin then I agree an inside or ocean view is ideal but I need to rest every afternoon and enjoy sitting on the balcony as I would never manage the sun-beds on the top decks. I think I am going to hold my nerve for a while and see what our first cruise with P&O is like.

We cruised with Thomson many times and they were very enjoyable cruises but my husband really didn't like the older ships. Good luck with your retirement. We have a few years to go yet ! I have just realised we will be on Azura at the same time. Our cruise starts a week earlier. If we ever make it with all this snow.

Thanks also to Robandianne and Homeless Bear for your replies.

Yes we are tied by work too so the very last minute cruises are impossible for us to do. Such a shame as there are some great bargains out there.