When to book for lowest price

[pmatawan]

I'm looking a Dec. 3 departure out of Charleston.

There are 20+ balcony cabins left, same for OV.

Suites are sold out, Inside has guarantee only available.

Any advise on should I wait to book a balcony cabin to get a better price.

I'm local so I don't need to deal with airfare, etc. 

 

[teknoge3k]

If you're looking at December 3rd cruises, you're literally booking "last second" since the final payment date has already come and gone. I would book now, the prices aren't going to go down. 

 

For future reference, if you want to book the lowest price on the cruise, I'd book 1-2 years out then just watch for price drops. This year on the Magic, our fare literally doubled from the time we booked until the time we sailed. Our sailing for next year, I just submitted a $400 price drop this morning on it. 

[MCC retired]

Those December between  Holiday cruises are most often discounted from the day they are available to book on most cruise lines , and may  have gone thru several Sales already.

You may have already missed the best prices .

Book now if you must book that ship/date.

[jbethel11]

There might not be 20 balcony cabins left. There might be more than 20, but Carnival only lists 10 in each category. 

[bakersdozen12]

Honestly, the best time to book is as soon as itineraries are released, under Early Saver.  Then, either the prices go down and you apply for a price match, or prices go up and you have locked in the best price.  In my experience, cruise prices rarely go lower than the prices when itineraries are released.  Except for some guarantee rates, but with those you pay for what you get.  Which is sometimes less-than-desirable rooms.

 

Since you are looking at this December and that's no longer an option, I would say just go ahead and book what you want, under Early Saver if possible.  That way you can still get price matches up to (I believe) 48 hours before sailing.  If you wait until right before the sailing you risk it getting sold out or getting a type of room that you don't want, simply because it's all that is available.

[Illbcruzn4life]

$3200+ for a balcony is a little steep for me even though it's an 11 day cruise. I'm cheap.

 

Nice itinerary though.

 

Good Luck.🙂

[HillBilly Bob]

On 10/9/2019 at 10:48 AM, pmatawan said:

Any advise on should I wait to book a balcony cabin to get a better price.

Best price...one to two years advance.  Check their schedules and book as soon as they post the rates.  

[pmatawan]

Thanks for all your advice. I'm booked!

[Qchell]

19 hours ago, HillBilly Bob said:

Best price...one to two years advance.  Check their schedules and book as soon as they post the rates.  

I completely agree!  A number of years ago we lucked out and a month or so before sailing the balcony rates dropped to $25 more than we paid for our Interior cabin.  I called Carnival immediately, paid the $25 and we upgraded to our first balcony.  Unfortunately the couple that was traveling with us waited until the next day and missed the window.  

I have not seen anything like that on our cruises since.  We generally book a year or so out and we used to get at least a little OBC for each cruise due to price drops (and booking ES), but the last few years, the price we paid was the lowest it was ever offered.  We have $25 OBC right now due to a price drop a week after we booked for our current cruise (1+ year out), but since then it has done nothing but go up.  We did luck out and got an upgrade to an Interior Spa room from an aft Interior for $40.  These years I am noticing that we tend to get offers to upgrade more than price drops when we book way out.  

[teknoge3k]

20 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

$3200+ for a balcony is a little steep for me even though it's an 11 day cruise. I'm cheap.

 

Nice itinerary though.

 

Good Luck.🙂

 

For one person, I completely agree. However I'd love to get a $3200 rate for an 11 day cruise. Heck I'd love a $3200 rate for a 7 day cruise. Our 7 day on the Fascination next year was $3788 for 4 of us and our 8 day on the Horizon was $4176. (Both are 4 people)

[Illbcruzn4life]

3 hours ago, teknoge3k said:

 

For one person, I completely agree. However I'd love to get a $3200 rate for an 11 day cruise. Heck I'd love a $3200 rate for a 7 day cruise. Our 7 day on the Fascination next year was $3788 for 4 of us and our 8 day on the Horizon was $4176. (Both are 4 people)

 

That $3200 was for 2 people but way out of my league. You must cruise in the summer or something.

 

Paying about $2000 for 2 on a 7 day cruise is about our limit. Did I mention I'm cheap? lol

[ray98]

Could be 2 years in advance, could be 2 weeks prior to sailing.  You never know.

[Hotdog 52]

Last cheap cruise that i booked was in March. 1 1/2 weeks before it sailed.  Ocean view for 349pp, 7 day cruise out of New Orleans.

 

Helps a lot to be retired.

[2wheelin]

11 hours ago, teknoge3k said:

 

For one person, I completely agree. However I'd love to get a $3200 rate for an 11 day cruise. Heck I'd love a $3200 rate for a 7 day cruise. Our 7 day on the Fascination next year was $3788 for 4 of us and our 8 day on the Horizon was $4176. (Both are 4 people)

Our balcony for Jan 4 people $2474. Booked in June

[Ace5614]

There is not that many rooms left as Carnival hasn't assigned guest that book guarantee their rooms yet.  They usually assign these rooms about 30-45 days out I believe.