Advice for booking cruise itinerary offered one time next year

[disneydancersmom]

I’ve been wanting to book a British Isles cruise but most of the itineraries include Iceland, except for one 10 night next May. Since it is a one cruise offering, would you book it without any special offers, would you wait and watch the price for a while? Would you use a travel agent? We have never traveled to Europe. We have previously booked celebrity once with American Airlines cruises.

Thank you for your advice,

mary

Edited September 11, 2019 by disneydancersmom
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[mom says]

If it's a unique itinerary, and the price is acceptable, I'd book it now, either directly with X or with a cruise specialist TA. You can sign up for notifications from X, and if a sale comes up before final payment  that includes your sailing,  then you could call (or have your TA call) to have the booking re priced.

[ScubesDad]

My thoughts, for what they are worth.......

If this is the cruise you want to take and there is only the one offerring then book it now.  Book it with refundable deposit and if a sale or promotion does pop up in the future and it is to your advantage then you can make changes.

[Denny01]

I did a quick look at Celebrity and there are two UK-focused cruises. One from Dublin to Amsterdam in July and another in Aug a round trip Amsterdam with lots of UK/French Cannel ports. So you do have two choices. 

 

Iv’e done the Around the UK cruise twice and loved it so I recommend either. I also love Amsterdam and strongly recommend staying a number days there. Fantastic. And you can get great hotels without going through the very expensive Celebrity pre/post hotels. The one from Dublin would allow you to enjoy that city for a while too. I’ve stayed in fun hotels in both cities and used their common trams which are cheap and excellent (get the multi-day use tickets!).

 

As to your specific question, these are very popular cruises. But having no crystal ball, can’t say if it’s good to book now or watch. I am a guy who books a year+ ahead for many cruises. And I use to do all my own bookings, but I now use a local (not on-line) TA who gets me cruise prices that may not be avail to individuals; watches for changes; gets me good flights and upgrades; and helps with hotels, when needed. So I suggest a TA. Gives you good rates and specials that aren’t avail to individuals. 

 

With all that said, I’d recommend booking now, watch for price drops and use a TA. Why book early? You can then set up pre/post stays and good airline pricing, etc. 

 

Have fun either way, but if you wait, watch out for big changes in availability and prices going up on these special cruises. 

 

Den

Edited September 11, 2019 by Denny01

[Fouremco]

Given the singular nature of the cruise, I would definitely book as early as possible. The longer you wait, the poorer the choice in cabins and the greater the possibility of a higher cost. Special offers are frequently not so special if you price it out, but as @ScubesDad points out, if you think that you might be able to get a better deal down the road, book with a refundable deposit.

 

There are countless threads discussing the pros and cons of using a travel agent. If you don't have one now that you know to be reliable, book directly with Celebrity and then consider transferring it to a TA at a later date once you've had the opportunity to do some research. Like many other CC members, we use the travel agency of a big box store because of the considerable perks, but there are many other alternatives and you should look for one that you feel comfortable with. Or simply keep the booking with Celebrity.