Cruising over Christmas 2015 - book now or wait?

[Yayacruiser123]

First time cruiser here!

 

I am turning 40 at the start of 2016 and would love to go on a cruise with my family (2A and 3C) over Christmas to celebrate. Killing two birds with one stone really as it would be a birthday celebration, AND I wouldn't have to do any prep or cooking for Christmas! ;)

 

So I am in the middle of getting quotes for either a P&O ship at Xmas or Carnival Spirit - am leaning towards the Carnival Spirit I think - our kids will be 7,10 and 13. 8-10 days through the Pacific islands

 

I was wondering - do I book now upon receiving the quotes, or do I wait in hope of getting a better price?

 

Do I book through a travel agent, through an online cruise site like ozcruising or do I go direct with the cruise line?

 

Is any particular method of booking going to give me a better chance of upgrading down the track if specials come out?

 

How do you make your booking more attractive to the powers that be that may/may not decide to give you an upgrade (free hopefully ;)) That's a bit cheeky I know, but you never know your luck!

 

Any advice gratefully accepted!

 

Cheers,

Jenny

[pinknotes]

Hi Jenny,

 

Firstly - great idea cruising over Christmas and avoiding the big cook-up yourself!!

 

This is advice for Carnival ship & bookings, as I haven't travelled P&O before.

 

I would normally say to wait for a sale to book the cruise if it's that far away, but if you're traveling with a party of 5 you would need to book two cabins so booking early as possible will ensure you get interconnecting cabins or at least cabins next to each other if that is what you are after. As yours kids will be a little older, I'm not sure if you would want interconnecting or would just be happy with cabins across the hall.

 

I have booked both through a travel agent and also directly through the cruise line for cruises and would always book through cruise line direct in the future. One example is when I booked direct through Carnival I had access to free cancellation 120 days prior to the cruise and only a lost deposit if I cancelled 40 (roughly) days out.

Booking through a travel agent I read (after booking!) that to cancel, at any stage, would be a fee of $150 per person, even if it was 200+ days out.

 

Also the travel agent gave me nothing carnival couldn't themselves, they had a cheap price and onboard credit available as a special, I phoned carnival and they gave me the exact same deal.

 

If you did want interconnecting cabins, someone has recommended the following to me when I was enquiring as it gives you a balcony and a cheaper 'inside' cabin that are actually interconnecting. You would have to phone carnival to book these though as they don't come up when booking online.

Cabins:

5105/5107, 5106/5108, 6108/6112, 6109/6115, 7105/7107, 7106/7108

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[OzKiwiJJ]

We booked our cruise for this Christmas in late January. Less than a month later the price dropped by over $600 pp. Luckily we were able to cancel and rebook in the same cabin otherwise I would have been seriously annoyed.

 

I'm sure some of the more regular cruisers here will be able to give you more advice than me but, just from my observations this year, I'd suggest selecting some cabins that you would be happy with then watch how the sales and prices go over the next few months for those cabins. If they start booking out then it's probably time to make your booking.

 

My cruise is with Princess and booked cabins seemed relatively light up until May/June.

 

I used an online TA that helps you find cruise sales. They seem to be very good so far and reacted quickly to my email about the price drop.

[icat2000]

If you want a particular cabin or location I say book now. Otherwise wait and watch (I mean monitor regularly the sites) for prices.

 

But start of getting some quotes from various agents (online, direct, bricks and mortar) that will give you a benchmark of what the current pricing is.

 

There has been a few Carnival deals of late.

 

As there any particular cruise your looking at like dates or just a range.

 

I've traveled on the Spirit, but its not my favourite cruiseline, however, its caters for kids and family, same with PO Australia and RCL. I would consider Royal Caribbean in the mix too when your looking at cruises.

[shazzygirl67]

Hi,

 

If you are travelling with kids i would go either Carnival Or Royal Caribbean.

 

As you need to accommodate 5 people your options for a family cabin are limited, so to get that or to get interconnecting cabins you would need to book sooner rather than later.

 

We are travelling on Explorer of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) for Xmas & New Year 2015/2016 & we booked nearly 6 months ago. The holiday periods book out alot sooner.

 

The prices will fluctuate until you sail, but i figure if i'm happy with the price when i book it, so be it...

[kjets]

We have had our cruise this Christmas/New Year booked for the last two years! This is a big deal for us as I have a big birth day and our 30th wedding anniversary, but we also wanted a stable part of the ship as I have Meniere's, and booking early made sure that we had exactly what we wanted/needed.

 

Our TA is fabulous and has always let us know when the price has dropped and sorted it with Princess for us. Early on there was a price drop and we upgraded into a mini suite for the same price as our original balcony room. Because of the price drops we have OBC to go towards our shore excursions.Because of the price drops we have OBC to go towards our shore excursions.

 

We now have 37 days to go and I cannot believe the time has flown by so fast.

[Hoti4]

We r going on the spirit for christmas this yr we booked june last yr n kept a close eye on specials we found that we had booked so early that when specials came up they werent any cheaper then what we paid. We also went thru at TA n she kept an eye on all the specials to. We found that most of the time when specials came up they were for 2 ppl n we r a family of 4 or on board credit or cabins on lower decks then we r on.

Edited November 11, 2014 by Hoti4

[aleminggkk]

We booked our Dec 2014 cruise(also 2A3C) in Feb 2014 online direct with Carnival, no agent. Since my youngest is 3yo, we chose the interconnecting rooms. For 10 months, we watched the prices hovering plus or minus $100pp. The sale prices haven't really dropped so much we feel we need to cancel and rebook. The big price drop did come after our final payment for guarantee room. (i.e. they assign a room to u in the last minute in the catagory you paid for.) It wasn't something I want. I have no regret booking early, because it is the days and rooms we want.

[oceanbabe]

Jenny: Thinking and wondering what to do for cruise in Dec/2015 or Jan/2016. Have same questions as you. Also, different ports and different cruises. We want to do Aus/NZ, but want to be abe to go to Great Barrier reef and Tauranga. So many choices. Need Help! thanks to all