First time cruiser...

[zephyrella14]

I will be taking my first ever cruise and first ever "proper" vacation of my adult life on 8/10/2015 to Alaska from San Francisco, around trip. I've done my research and pricing is pretty much the same all across the board at the moment. I'm assuming that booking right now is considered early bird booking at lower rates. my question is; should I wait to book, will I get a better deal closer to sail date? Or should I book now? If I wouldn't save much money booking late, it won't be worth it to wait...I'm on a tight budget so Im just weighing my options. Thank you in advance...any money saving advice is welcome :)

Also how likely am I to get upgraded if I book now?

[Surfwench]

It would help to know which cruiseline/ship you are looking at. Fare structures vary by company.

 

:)

[zephyrella14]

It would help to know which cruiseline/ship you are looking at. Fare structures vary by company.

 

:)

 

Hi! Princess CL on the Golden Princess, its pretty much our only option out of San Francisco...

[karatemom2]

We have done the Alaska cruise with Princess four times now out of San Francisco and it is an excellent option. We really enjoy it and I'm sure you will too. Since this is the only Alaska cruise option out of San Francisco it tends to be very popular, especially with California residents who tend to make up a majority of the passengers. Because of this the rates don't tend to go down as sailing approaches but in fact go up. We already booked onboard our most recent cruise for next year! I would advise you to book early and just keep an eye on the prices. If for some reason you do see a sale or discout, you can generally get the adjustment on your booking right up to final payment.

[EatSleepCruise]

While I have never sailed on this ship, price analyses tend to show that prices for select cruises, especially Alaskan cruises, do not go down over time, they go up.

 

Most "last minute deals" are usually for smaller ships in the Caribbean, where there is more supply of ships. Sounds like this sailing is the only one that fits your needs.

 

I would suggest booking early.

 

We tracked prices for our Alaskan cruise, which happens in less than two weeks, and found the prices were much higher within the 90 day window. You can read about that here.

 

There is a price drop watch tool here on CC you can also use to see if the prices go down. It emails you updates on a regular basis.

 

Use a travel agent and if you see the price go down, contact them to get the lower fare. Sometimes, those lower fares are for new bookings only. In those instances, you may still be able to get the reduced fare, or get a cabin upgrade.

 

Happy planing!