Best time to book???

[spangnash]

My husband and I went onto royal caribbean's website yesterday to look at cruises for February 2016 in the Caribbean on Allure. We found the 2 rooms we wanted for about $3900, then today (24 hours later), the same exact rooms are are about $5100. I can't imagine that there was a sudden rush of booking for a cruise in February 2016 on Allure, right? What gives? Do you think it is just a fluke? Given that the cruise is so far out, do we have a decent chance the prices will go back down, or will they just keep climbing?

[JimAOk1945]

Sounds like a it may be a fluke. I've noticed weird prices from time to time.

[Ashland]

My husband and I went onto royal caribbean's website yesterday to look at cruises for February 2016 in the Caribbean on Allure. We found the 2 rooms we wanted for about $3900, then today (24 hours later), the same exact rooms are are about $5100. I can't imagine that there was a sudden rush of booking for a cruise in February 2016 on Allure, right? What gives? Do you think it is just a fluke? Given that the cruise is so far out, do we have a decent chance the prices will go back down, or will they just keep climbing?

It can happen anytime...and the reason the 24 hour courtesy hold can be a great tool at times...Keep checking and then even after you book keep price-checking...Best of luck.

[harlekuin]

The buy one get one half off sale ended today. This thread discusses the price jumps that were seen today.

[Clarea]

My husband and I went onto royal caribbean's website yesterday to look at cruises for February 2016 in the Caribbean on Allure. We found the 2 rooms we wanted for about $3900, then today (24 hours later), the same exact rooms are are about $5100. I can't imagine that there was a sudden rush of booking for a cruise in February 2016 on Allure, right? What gives? Do you think it is just a fluke? Given that the cruise is so far out, do we have a decent chance the prices will go back down, or will they just keep climbing?

Big sale just ended today.

[spangnash]

Ugh... of course we just missed a big sale. We have a 1 and a 2 year old, so we have been a bit too busy to even THINK about vacations, much less take 2 minutes to look at our options. You would think, though, that there would be some more decent sales coming up between now and February 2016, right??? Or, was this sale that just ended a crazy awesome, once in a lifetime kind of sale?

[Clarea]

Ugh... of course we just missed a big sale. We have a 1 and a 2 year old, so we have been a bit too busy to even THINK about vacations, much less take 2 minutes to look at our options. You would think, though, that there would be some more decent sales coming up between now and February 2016, right??? Or, was this sale that just ended a crazy awesome, once in a lifetime kind of sale?

I doubt if the sale is once in a lifetime. You should keep watching because the prices seem unusually high right now. It may take some weeks, but I suspect prices will come down.

[rxgirl05]

Best deal I've found with kids is with the kids sail free promo.

[chanat]

I usually book 6 to 9 months in advanced but then keep checking the price. I book through the RC web site most of the time and they will honor the cheaper rate if it drops. You have to call them and ask for it and it has to be done before the final payment

[CRUISEFAN0001]

My husband and I went onto royal caribbean's website yesterday to look at cruises for February 2016 in the Caribbean on Allure. We found the 2 rooms we wanted for about $3900, then today (24 hours later), the same exact rooms are are about $5100. I can't imagine that there was a sudden rush of booking for a cruise in February 2016 on Allure, right? What gives? Do you think it is just a fluke? Given that the cruise is so far out, do we have a decent chance the prices will go back down, or will they just keep climbing?

The timing of your pricing lookup (unfortunate) happened to be during a changeover from a sale price to a "regular price". A "Buy One get One Half Off sale" just ended 7/15 on a number of sailings in 2015-2016. Based on your lookup dates, you just happened to find the "before and after" comparisons in pricing.

 

To answer your base questions:

 

1) Booking in advance as much as possible generally will land you a lower price. A number of "best deals" come as much as a year prior to cruise dates.

 

2) Royal Caribbean runs "sales" periodically. They offer different promotions, a number of which tend to be around major U.S. holiday seasons - its fair to assume the next "sale" will be around Labor Day sometime.

 

3) Prices can change daily - so there is no magic formula to find the lowest price.

 

4) If you use a Travel Agent, many are versed on sales and promotions that will get you a good rate/price.

 

5) There are online resources that track cruise prices...but rules here prohibit sharing the names of those services.

 

6) The less you limit yourself to a specific date for a cruise (for those offered on multiple time itineraries), you can sometimes see a variety of different pricing. For example - the same cruise 2 weeks later might be much lower in cost based on a promotion or availability.

 

7) Consider different cabin classifications. Sometimes there are significant differences in pricing.

 

8) Review other ships on the same itinerary. Different ships sometimes reflect significant differences in price operating on the very same routes. Compare.

 

There are other tips you'll find at this great website...but these can help.

[knittinggirl]

Run a few google searches for cruise price drops, but you can also get price drop information here at cruisecritic.

 

To get a specific room, book as early as possible. We try to book rooms right after they appear. We got a very good price on a Transatlantic, and lost a bunch of our savings on ChoiceAir. So, it evens out.

 

Keep looking for sales, because this year it seems like then announce a new sale soon after the previous sale ends. But once you book, you're position isn't as strong w/ sales. They've started a new quirk "new bookings only," but that's often added after final payment date when we can't cancel w/o losing everything. There was a suite available for $700 more, but we learned it didn't qualify thanks to that "new booking's only" clause.

 

Also look for residency rates, as well as senior rates (55 and up). Rarely, there are also military rates as well as firemen, police, etc.

 

Try for low season. There's an article here somewhere where it explains the peak and low season for several itineraries. For example, we often book the second week in December or the first week in January, because those are often the lowest. While Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years are the highest of the year.

Edited July 17, 2014 by knittinggirl

[Karma5]

Book as early as possible……you can always cancel if price goes lower before payment is due…….

[vacation_junkie]

My husband and I went onto royal caribbean's website yesterday to look at cruises for February 2016 in the Caribbean on Allure. We found the 2 rooms we wanted for about $3900, then today (24 hours later), the same exact rooms are are about $5100. I can't imagine that there was a sudden rush of booking for a cruise in February 2016 on Allure, right? What gives? Do you think it is just a fluke? Given that the cruise is so far out, do we have a decent chance the prices will go back down, or will they just keep climbing?

 

BOGOHO sale ended on the 15th.

Prices rose significantly once the sale ended.

 

Price will go up and down from now until the sailing.

 

Our Feb 2015 Cruise price has fluctuated since May.

 

We booked May 26th and the price is now $1100+ more then what we booked for.

 

Just keep watching prices.

 

That can be done easily by google'ing the following words

 

cruise fare monitoring

 

The first fishy one that comes up does an awesome job at monitoring prices.

 

You can bookmark and monitor the prices daily.

 

The paid service emails you an alert. Just as easy to bookmark and pop on daily to check for free.

 

You can see pricing trends on their as well

Edited July 18, 2014 by vacation_junkie

[vacation_junkie]

 

Also look for residency rates

 

 

I agree....

 

 

I got lucky and popped online when they had a Canadian Resident Sale.

We paid $892 p.p. for a B1 Boardwalk Balcony room on the Allure for February (Excluding taxes for guest 1& 2).

The sale ended the day after I booked.

The price went up to 1569 p.p.

 

We absolutely lucked out.

The BOGOHO sale would have cost us $548 more.

And with todays fares it would have been almost $1100 more.

Edited July 18, 2014 by vacation_junkie

[Tommy3putts]

Cruisefan, that's some great advice. I guess my question is a bit more specfic. Does RCCL have the same sale that the run at specific times of the year? For example I booked a Med Cruise on X Reflection 18 months before the date of the cruise and was able to take advantage of the 1,2,3 GO promo that they runseveral times a year. . I was also able to take advantage of a price drop. Is there a similar promo for RCCL that I should be looking for? I'm looking to book a Feb 2016 cruise on Allure in the coming weeks, but want to keep my eye out on promos.

 

Cheers!

Edited July 30, 2014 by Tommy3putts
edit

[Clarea]

Cruisefan, that's some great advice. I guess my question is a bit more specfic. Does RCCL have the same sale that the run at specific times of the year? For example I booked a Med Cruise on X Reflection 18 months before the date of the cruise and was able to take advantage of the 1,2,3 GO promo that they runseveral times a year. . I was also able to take advantage of a price drop. Is there a similar promo for RCCL that I should be looking for? I'm looking to book a Feb 2016 cruise on Allure in the coming weeks, but want to keep my eye out on promos.

 

Cheers!

Royal does not have sales that are predicable year to year.

[molly361]

Cruisefan, that's some great advice. I guess my question is a bit more specfic. Does RCCL have the same sale that the run at specific times of the year? For example I booked a Med Cruise on X Reflection 18 months before the date of the cruise and was able to take advantage of the 1,2,3 GO promo that they runseveral times a year. . I was also able to take advantage of a price drop. Is there a similar promo for RCCL that I should be looking for? I'm looking to book a Feb 2016 cruise on Allure in the coming weeks, but want to keep my eye out on promos.

 

Cheers!

 

 

I have never seen RCL have a BOGOHO sale like the one that just ended. That said no one knows if they will do it again.

[Tommy3putts]

Too bad. Celebrity's sales and the times of year offered have been fairly predictable.