Lead Time to Book Cruise

[winterpeg2004]

Myself and the wife are looking into the future and starting to plan a cruise for our 10yr anniversary. We are planning the cruise for Nov 2014.

 

How much time before the cruise do most people book there cabin. Do cruise lines have a price guarantee so if you book early and then see a cheaper fare that they will reimburse you the difference.

[kcwingwalker]

Myself and the wife are looking into the future and starting to plan a cruise for our 10yr anniversary. We are planning the cruise for Nov 2014.

 

 

 

How much time before the cruise do most people book there cabin. Do cruise lines have a price guarantee so if you book early and then see a cheaper fare that they will reimburse you the difference.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic winterpeg2004!

 

November prices with exception of Thanksgiving tend to be lower. Booking early is a great way to get a good price, the cabin you want and perhaps later an upgrade.

 

Cruise lines have different policies regarding price guarantees.

 

This is a great time to start "window" shopping.

Edited November 5, 2013 by kcwingwalker

[OCruisers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

We like to book early so we can get the cabin we want. :)

 

Congratulations on your 10th Anniversary! Have fun planning your cruise! :D

 

LuLu

~~~~

[cb at sea]

Ditto on booking early...you have a better choice of cabins/locations. Have the deck plans in front of you when booking! Don't book "blind"!

[Keith1010]

I book early. My view is the lowest and highest price categories go first as do the best ones within each category.

 

Keith

[Lerin]

It really depends on the cruise you are looking at.

Some like to book early so they can get the cabin of choice, while others wait for special sales. There are some who book several years in advance and just last week someone posted about getting a cruise that left yesterday!

 

A good rule of thumb would be to find the cruise you most like at the price you want to pay. :) Enjoy

[wallie5446]

We do not 'normally' book more than 90-100 days out due to work schedule. However :D this year we booked our up coming sailing last Feb! This is the 1st time to do this. The cost never dropped to what we booked for, for the cabin level we chose. There will be some movement in pricing but normally nothing that will break your 401:rolleyes:

Our 1st cruise was in 1987.

[puppycanducruise]

Hi, congratulations on planning a cruise to celebrate your anniversary.

We usually book early. Lots of planning and research to do. Also, don't forget checking into flights. On our last cruise, we had to fly in 2 days ahead because we couldn't get a flight one day ahead (don't like flying in day of cruise). I'm not sure how things are when flying out of 'the peg'. So far this year the weathers not bad, but who knows if there will be a snowstorm next year.

[Gunner22aa]

You will find two dramatically different views on this subject.

 

The first one is to book as early as possible. This option will guarantee that you will get the cruise that you want at the time that you want and most likely the exact cabin that you want. I personally subscribe to this course of action because there are no more than eight particular cabins on any ship that we sail on that interest us and they tend to sell out quickly. Booking 18 months out is the norm for us. You can still get any price drops up until the final payment date and there is the off chance you could even get one after final payment if it is not annotated "for new bookings only". The disadvantage to this approach is that you might not get the lowest possible fare for your trip.

 

The second school of thought is to wait until the last minute and hope for a "fire sale" with greatly reduced prices. The one advantage of this approach is that you could save yourself money, in some cases a lot of money. The disadvantages are that the cruise you want may sell out and you get left on the jetty watching all the fun sail over the horizon. If you do get onboard it may be in a less desirable cabin as experienced cruisers pick the best ones over. Sales for your cruise may or may not be offered. All of the cruise lines track how fast a particular sailing is selling and keep good records of the historical norms. If a sailing is selling on par or better than the norm there is no need for a sale. Slower than normal and they may need to offer some incentives to prospective buyers.

 

It's all a bit of a crap shoot and you have to decide which is more important to you. The potential to save some money or peace of mind that you will be on the cruise that you had planned for.

[attilamom1217]

I would book now. The fare might go up as the date gets closer but before final payment.

 

Most cruise lines will honor the price reductions along the way before final payment.

 

However, sometimes there will be special rates/promotions that will be for new bookings only and are lower than the price you paid. If that occurs, you can weigh your options and either rebook at the lower price to get the promo; or keep what you have without the promo. Sometimes the reduction in price to get a promo is not worth it. Sometimes, the promo price is higher than what you paid. Again - how much is the promo worth compared to the price increase. May not be worth it - may be worth it.

 

My rule of thumb is when I see the cruise I want to take at the price I'm willing to pay for it - I book it!

[rjgdjg]

Hi-

 

I'll echo some of what others have said:

* Early is the best--you get great pricing and the best shot at the room you want.

 

* The middle period is the worst.

 

* As the trip gets closer, the price will either drop if the ship isn't filled or go up if it is. We've seen both. We booked our upcoming trip on Princess a year in advance and got a mini-suite for the price that the verandah rooms are going for now.

 

Few other things to consider

* Since deposits are refundable, you can book early and if you have to cancel, you can get your money back.

 

* If you work with a travel agent, ask him/her whether after booking, if the price goes down, you can have it applied. We were able to do this on several of our trips on Celebrity. The difference comes in the form of a shipboard credit, which you can use for expenses during the trip.

 

-- Diana, http://musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com

[Cuizer2]

Myself and the wife are looking into the future and starting to plan a cruise for our 10yr anniversary. We are planning the cruise for Nov 2014.

 

How much time before the cruise do most people book there cabin. Do cruise lines have a price guarantee so if you book early and then see a cheaper fare that they will reimburse you the difference.

 

I have cruises booked for November 2014 and April 2015.

[Steviewonder1]

We book when we find the destinations and the ship that goes there. Mostly 6-10 months in advance. We did do our final Carnival Cruise this past January 2 months before. We will not be cruising them again. We just booked our New Zealand cruise while on our Eastern Med Cruise. We are spoiled rotten and book PH or Owners Suites so not worried about price reductions. We do go on Private Tours that cost 50% of what the cruise line charges and have a blast on them. The "Fire Sale" pricing is for Inside Cabins and Porthole View cabins. All of the Owners Suites, PH, Mini-PH and balconies sell out first starting at the top down. Space on the outside of the ship in a balcony is primo. We are going to see the sights of the world before we have to use crutches, walkers, or motorized scooters. We grew up learning about these destinations and now is the time to step foot on them and enjoy them before we cannot. We have no issues with work or vacation time as we can schedule that at our leisure.

[SPacificbound]

I have booked very early, pretty much as soon as the cruise we want is available for booking. I like to pick the cabin and location we want and if I wait the choices are not as good.

 

We paid over $2,200.00 less for our Aft Jr Suite on our Panama Canal cruise then what they ended up going for. That is another reason I book quickly.

[Colorado Kat]

I would love to book early, but don't always know school and vacation schedules. We book 2-4 months out.

[Crew News]

One reason to book early that has not been given is the savings on early booking of airfare. Waiting until the last minute to book a cruise will give you less choices and higher costs for airfare.

[Cuizer2]

One reason to book early that has not been given is the savings on early booking of airfare. Waiting until the last minute to book a cruise will give you less choices and higher costs for airfare.

 

While this is true, there is some risk in booking nonrefundable air more than six months out. Cruise lines have been known to accept full ship charters and then all the passengers suddenly find their cruise cancelled. Cruise lines don't always offer a full refund on non-refundable airfare.

[Crew News]

While this is true, there is some risk in booking nonrefundable air more than six months out. Cruise lines have been known to accept full ship charters and then all the passengers suddenly find their cruise cancelled. Cruise lines don't always offer a full refund on non-refundable airfare.

 

What you say is true. That is why I book my own air travel on Southwest who does not charge for flight cancellations.

[TruckerDave]

What you say is true. That is why I book my own air travel on Southwest who does not charge for flight cancellations.

 

That is fine if the blue and orange planes fly to where you live. ;). Not a big fan of them myself, but many people are.

 

 

Sent using a small piece of fruit.

[Tiggertastic]

There is no automatic price drop guarantee - you need to keep an eye on it and then contact the cruise line or TA to ask for the price drop - to cancel and rebook

[SPacificbound]

I book the cruises 1 1/2 years or more out but book the air about 6 months out.

[peety3]

Here's my suggestion: visit the website of a cruise line you like, and find a cruise happening in perhaps February 2014. Go through the motions of picking a cabin, and take rough notes on how few choices you have. Now start over, and go through the motions of a similar cruise in February 2015...which would you prefer?

 

Our first Alaska cruise was booked about 5 months out, and we had perhaps five mini-suite choices across three dates. Our second Alaska cruise was booked about 7 months out, and we had perhaps ten mini-suite choices on the date we wanted. Our next Alaska cruise was booked almost a year in advance, and there was a short list of rooms that were taken, otherwise we had the pick of the ship. I prefer having the pick of the ship myself.... ;)