Buying Cruise 9 Months in Advance

[brentconn]

Our first cruise we bought 5 months in advance through a travel agent. I am thinking of going ahead and purchasing our next cruise this weekend 9 months in advance. If there is a price drop will Princess readjust your price?

 

Thanks!

 

Brent

[Colo Cruiser]

Our first cruise we bought 5 months in advance through a travel agent. I am thinking of going ahead and purchasing our next cruise this weekend 9 months in advance. If there is a price drop will Princess readjust your price?

 

Thanks!

 

Brent

 

Not sure if you just deposit the cruise or pay in full right away.

It depends on the type of price drop, (new bookings only etc) if so sometimes people cancel and rebook if its a significant price drop.

Sometimes a good TA can get the price drop for you, if you book direct with Princess you would have to keep an eye out on the fares and follow up yourself. No real answer until it happens. After the final payment date its much harder.

[Chuck's Girl]

Our first cruise we bought 5 months in advance through a travel agent. I am thinking of going ahead and purchasing our next cruise this weekend 9 months in advance. If there is a price drop will Princess readjust your price?

 

Thanks!

 

Brent

We usually purchase our cruises 10+ months in advance and Princess has always reduced our cost when the price of the cruise drops. I check the price every morning!

[RetiredNTraveling]

We usually purchase our cruises 10+ months in advance and Princess has always reduced our cost when the price of the cruise drops. I check the price every morning!

 

We have booked anywhere from 1 month to 10 months in advance and always seemed to get the price drops when I call my PCVP! :)

[Zoolou]

Is it best to plan that far ahead when the prices are high? When do you see prices normally drop especially on 10 day cruises next Feb.? Our price offered was $1400 CDN its pretty steep but they seem to fill up quickly for those and we dont know if we should hold off for the price fact alone..

[Laine]

We always book at least 9 months up to over a year out and have always ended up getting the price drops when they occur.

[Colo Cruiser]

Is it best to plan that far ahead when the prices are high? When do you see prices normally drop especially on 10 day cruises next Feb.? Our price offered was $1400 CDN its pretty steep but they seem to fill up quickly for those and we dont know if we should hold off for the price fact alone..

 

Because we have the flexibility we no longer book that far out.

We are on the Princess stanby email list and just watch for great deals from about 6 weeks or closer out. We just have issues sometimes with Ft Lauderdale and flights because its always so busy and not many flights abvailable. :)

[Zoolou]

Because we have the flexibility we no longer book that far out.

We are on the Princess stanby email list and just watch for great deals from about 6 weeks or closer out. We just have issues sometimes with Ft Lauderdale and flights because its always so busy and not many flights abvailable. :)

 

 

You still able to get deals on any 10 day cruises 6 weeks out in prime winter months?

[FritzG]

We've booked as much as a year in advance. If you want a specific cabin on a popular itinerary it's sometimes necessary. We book the cabin at a price we're willing to pay, and then we hope for some reductions along the way. Sometimes we're lucky enough to hit a good sale, and sometimes we're not.

[Kmkub]

We are 376 days out from our next cruise. We locked in on Wednesday and today the price for our room is up $100/PP.

 

Did we cause that by booking early? :eek:

[brentconn]

We did actually go through our TA and we saved $100. Every bit counts!

it also gives us something else to look forward to. Now to join the Roll Call!

[Pam in CA]

I usually book my cruises a year or two in advance. Using a high-volume TA that discounts, I almost always pay 10-20% less than the Princess fare, depending on the cruise length, cabin and itinerary and get OBC and perks. If fares drop, I'm normally still paying a lot less than the "new" fare and sometimes, I'm eligible for a fare drop.

[OCruisers]

We often book over a year in advance. :)

LuLu

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[jrzebird]

I usually book about a year or so in advance and the price is sometimes dropped, a lot, before we sail. Sometimes it goes up.

 

I always have a couple of FCC's in my account so my deposit is only $100.00 and we don't pay anything else until final payment is due. Now what convinced me that it's OK to book far out is the fact that I can cancel anytime before final payment with zero monetary loss (except the insurance premium). So, if the cruise is too expensive, I could cancel, but I have my cabin reserved by booking early. Also, I get insurance that I can cancel right up to the last day, for any reason, but even without that, anyone can cancel before final payment. Just be sure that your TA doesn't charge a fee if you cancel.

 

Maureen

[BillieMomof5boys]

Sorry what does FCC stand for

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[OCruisers]

Sorry what does FCC stand for

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

FCC is a Future Cruise Credit. :)

LuLu

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[cflutist]

To answer OP's question. We book more than a year out and if the price drops we just call Princess and have it "re-fared". I did this 3 times for the cruise we are taking in two days and saved an extra $800 on a balcony on the Caribe deck.

 

Have used TAs in the past (and received credits and gifts like wine and UBDs) but like having control over our bookings now.

[ggprincess2004]

When we know there is a cruise we want and when we want to go, we book asap. We've also booked a few relatively at the last minute, because we got a great offer and it meshed with other travel plans.

 

We do watch for pricing changes, and if there is a drop we do call and get our booking repriced, which has never been a problem before final payment. We've even had reps be most helpful when it is marked new bookings only before final payment by booking the new cruise for us, then going in an cancelling, applying our FCC's, and selecting the same stateroom. Not nearly as easy to do after final payment.

 

Booking early means more time to plan, chat on the boards with people on the same sailing, enjoy the anticipation......:)

[cruzsnooze]

I book directly with the cruise line and watch for the prices frequently. If there is a price reduction or a cabin I like better I can call and get things done instantly. If it's after final payment the chances of getting them to honor a price reduction is iffy but then I look to upgrade.

[BillieMomof5boys]

Thank you

 

 

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[Hlitner]

At the risk of starting a "thread war" we would not even consider booking a cruise directly with Princess. Why in the world would we want to pay more money for the privilege of booking directly with Princess (or nearly any cruise line). Folks, there are some good deals out there if you simply shop around. Now, I could give you specific examples but that is a royal pain for me. But as a quick example, one well known Cruise Agency (with a great reputation) is now offering the equivalent of about 10% cash back after nearly any Princess Cruise. So book a cruise at the normal Princess price and this agency will send you a check for about 10% of the cruise price. We just looked at another specific 7 day Alaskan Cruise (on the Island Princess) at another cruise agency (that we have used for years). If we booked a balcony of our choice on either Princess or this agencies web site our total cost would be $3550.78 (total cost for 2 including all taxes). But if we book this cabin through this particular agency they would give us a $350 On Board Credit (not available if we book directly with Princess). And this is pretty typical. For those who take longer cruises (like moi) the savings in shopping around can be well over $1000 per cruise.

 

Hank

Edited April 4, 2014 by Hlitner

[Jetswdo]

On Princess I try to book as soon as schedule is out if I want a specific sailing date on the itinerary I want. Princess customer service is very nice each time that I call to get the cheaper latest promotional price. On the Royal, the price for a regular mid ship balcony started at around $1500pp--I must have rebooked that same cabin 5 times for the same sailing- ended up being $895pp, plus $150 obc, not bad for a spring break sailing on the Royal-----

 

I have learned (after a few hundred dollars extra spent) that Celebrity is not so wonderful with price drops--- Unless the sailing is a real popular date and itinerary and can sell out quickly--you are screwed if you book early at an inflated price. Many of their promotions are for new bookings only--if you cancel to rebook at a better rate the reps will tell you that they won't be able to hold your cabin--now if that doesn't really matter and their are plenty of other cabins that would work for you, then you are ok. but trust me, not a very pleasant experience--- so on Celebrity, I will not book early on out. But Princess, yes!

[kdkmilwaukee]

Last year we booked about 7 months in advance of our cruise and I checked the fares on the Princess website often until our final payment was due. I think we were able to save something like $400/person over the course of three price drops. That was pretty gratifying! Someone we met on our last cruise said that you can always try to get the price reduction/savings even after you make your final payment. Sometimes they'll credit you and sometimes they'll add the difference/savings as an OBC. We haven't tried this yet, but that sure would be great if that's truly the case!