when should I book for Nov 1st sailing South Pacific

[triptastic3]

New to NCL but did a bunch of cruises years ago on RCL, haven't cruised in 12 years. Looking to do something different. I plan on traveling around Australia and New Zealand but thought why not cruise to Australia to see a different part of the globe that I normally wouldn't see. So.

I am looking at doing a back to back on the NCL Jewel From Honolulu to Papeete sailing Nov 1st. Followed by the Papeete to Sydney sailing Nov 14. 

I will be cruising solo. I have two questions. 1st. Both cruises show a solo discount but the price for a sail away inside is just twice the double occupancy rate. Is this common that it says a discount but there isn't one?  2nd. The price has dropped on each cruise since early July, a total so far of $1200 cdn between the two. Given the time out from sailing and the fact there are still tons of cabins available I assume it will drop further. When should I wait until to book? 

I understand there is no definitive answer on when to book but for those who have looked at similar cruises or re-positioning sailings in the past I figure someone may have some insight.

 

 

 

[Sauer-kraut]

Book when it hits what you are willing to pay.  It could drop drastically the week before the sail date.  It might drop right after the final payment date....and continue to drop. 

[Vancan123]

I just booked Vancouver-Honolulu on the Jewel, leaving Oct 21. This is the sailing righ before the ones you are looking at. I had been tracking the prices and availability, and same as you, lots of cabins left and the prices had dropped about $500 in the past two months.

 

This week, at 90 or 89 days before sailing, there was a gigantic price drop (another C$500 for an inside; and C$950 for a balcony), and the solo discount was really only 50% of double occupancy, so that is when I decided it was time for me to book.

 

Ninety days before sailing, the cancellation penalty rises to 50%, so pretty much everyone who paid the higher prices is locked in by then. I have a feeling NCL will apply a similar price drop to the cruises you are looking at at 89 days-pre-sailing, which for the first one should be sometime next week... Good luck.

 

[triptastic3]

Good to hear. I had not been tracking that Van - Hon cruise but I will now. I see there are still a ton of cabins left on that sailing in all categories. I do notice it is down from when I first looked in late June but I don't remember if there was a noticeable solo discount back then. A 50% solo surcharge would be great for both of the ones I am looking at. Right now it is a 100% surcharge.

I had planned on waiting until early August and less than 90 days. I will definitely do that now.

 

[Level six]

We just booked both cruises.  The price was the selling point.  I think the price will come down due to high inventory, but I also got a great airfare from Sydney, so I had to take the price of the cruise as of yesterday.  Sometimes the airfare won't cooperate!!

 

I am going on a Princess cruise to Greenland in a few weeks and I booked about a month ago.  I got the cruise for about $1000 pp, and it ended up being the lowest price, it is now about $1500pp.  You never know, it has just gone up since I booked. Maybe they got enough people to book with that low price.  I have gotten fantastic deals at the last minute, but when you need a long distance airfare, sometimes you can't wait until the last minute.  

 

Goodluck!