Final Payment Questions

[habita]

How many weeks before sailing is final payment due?

Good or bad idea to wait and book a cruise after final payment?

What is your experience?

Thank you for your replies

[skynight]

Most cruises final payment is 90 days before sailing.

[JF - retired RRT]

25 minutes ago, habita said:

Good or bad idea to wait and book a cruise after final payment?

Downsides:

The cabin/deck/area you want may already be full.

You have to pay in full on the day of booking.

You can't transfer to a TA, so if you want to use a TA, you will need to book thru the TA.

If you have to fly, the flights might be very expensive.

 

If none of the above will be an issue, go for it.

[frugaltravel]

4 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Downsides:

The cabin/deck/area you want may already be full.

You have to pay in full on the day of booking.

You can't transfer to a TA, so if you want to use a TA, you will need to book thru the TA.

If you have to fly, the flights might be very expensive.

 

If none of the above will be an issue, go for it.

The flights are easy to resolve. You can check airfare in advance to get an idea of what flights would cost before locking in the cruise. Though I am not usually a fan of EZair, sometimes their airfares are good for relatively last minute flights.

[Waynetor]

If you are looking at a particular ship/itinerary/date/cabin type then waiting to book late can be risky as there maybe no cabins available but if you are open to options there is great chances of getting some good, late deals.  Often when booking early some extras can be included such as gratuities included but late booking usually don't have this type of extras.

[caribill]

14 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Downsides:

The cabin/deck/area you want may already be full.

You have to pay in full on the day of booking.

You can't transfer to a TA, so if you want to use a TA, you will need to book thru the TA.

If you have to fly, the flights might be very expensive.

 

If none of the above will be an issue, go for it.

 

Another downside is that the price of the cruise may be higher, not lower, than if you booked early.

 

A cruise I have this December that was booked 13 months ago is 50% more expensive to book today than when I booked it.

 

So if you do not care what cruise ship you are on and what the itinerary is, you may find some good bargains after final payment time. But if your desires are set on a particular cruise, waiting until after final payment to book could lead to disappointment.

[caribill]

10 hours ago, frugaltravel said:

The flights are easy to resolve. You can check airfare in advance to get an idea of what flights would cost before locking in the cruise. Though I am not usually a fan of EZair, sometimes their airfares are good for relatively last minute flights.

 

EZAir rarely has good pricing at any time for domestic USA flights. Over-the-ocean flights can be very expensive with EZAir when booking close -in. There may be some bargains close-in, but I would not count on it.

[frugaltravel]

58 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

EZAir rarely has good pricing at any time for domestic USA flights. Over-the-ocean flights can be very expensive with EZAir when booking close -in. There may be some bargains close-in, but I would not count on it.

I actually found EZAir to be a good deal on domestic flights for a booking about 4 weeks in advance.  YMMV.

 

[JF - retired RRT]

3 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Another downside is that the price of the cruise may be higher, not lower, than if you booked early.

 

 

Good point. Forgot about that.

We always try to book when the cruise first opens. The price almost never goes down.

[thinfool]

19 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Downsides:

You have to pay in full on the day of booking.

 

 

Princess allows 'holds' on new bookings after final payment date.  We recently booked the Crown for January '20.  Our TA booked it with a 3 day hold....we paid in full on the 3rd day.

[JF - retired RRT]

53 minutes ago, thinfool said:

 

Princess allows 'holds' on new bookings after final payment date.  We recently booked the Crown for January '20.  Our TA booked it with a 3 day hold....we paid in full on the 3rd day.

That's interesting. I booked a cruise online after final payment once and the booking engine wouldn't allow me to use a hold, it insisted on full (immediate) payment.

Note to self: if you ever do that again call Princess or TA.

[frugaltravel]

1 hour ago, thinfool said:

 

Princess allows 'holds' on new bookings after final payment date.  We recently booked the Crown for January '20.  Our TA booked it with a 3 day hold....we paid in full on the 3rd day.

I was given a 1 day hold on a booking that I made after final payment was due. Booked about a month before departure through a TA.

 

[cruisingberger]

TA's can get a hold of 3 days for a departure more then 90 days out and a 1 day hold on a cruise that is less then 90 days out. Once I had a 1 day hold but I wanted a different cabin in the same category and she was able to get me moved.I like working with a TA.

[Expat Cruise]

The final payment is due 90 or 75 days before sailing. Just made payment for a 3 day cruise that is 77 days away.

 

[caribill]

7 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

The final payment is due 90 or 75 days before sailing. Just made payment for a 3 day cruise that is 77 days away.

 

 

I bet you booked that cruise a while ago.

 

Recently booked cruises have the new Princess policy applied of 90 days.

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 hours ago, cruisingberger said:

TA's can get a hold of 3 days for a departure more then 90 days out and a 1 day hold on a cruise that is less then 90 days out. Once I had a 1 day hold but I wanted a different cabin in the same category and she was able to get me moved.I like working with a TA.

I had a three day hold last month when I booked a cruise for December. Actually, I got close to a four day hold due being in Australia and the hold not expiring until the end of the date US time. 😊 And I needed that time as my house sitter couldn't confirm until the last day. I didn't use a TA, I just booked online through the Princess website.

[Expat Cruise]

9 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

I bet you booked that cruise a while ago.

 

Recently booked cruises have the new Princess policy applied of 90 days.

Sorry but your information is wrong this cruise was booked less than 30 days ago.  Princess does not have a fixed policy of 90 days for final deposits. It is 75 to 120 days depending upon the length of the cruise.  Cruises of 5 days or less  final payment 75 days before, 6 to 24 day cruises final payment 90 days before, cruises 25 days or more final payment 120 days before.

many guests think it is 90 days because they take cruises which fall in the 90 day window. But if they believe it is always 90 days they will be wrong. 

[ontheweb]

I think the TA we usually have used adds a few (5?) days to whatever the cruise line sets as to give a cushion in case final payment is missed. He can then still contact the client and remind them that they better get the payment in or the cruise booking (and quite possibly the deposit) will be lost.

[MCC retired]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I think the TA we usually have used adds a few (5?) days to whatever the cruise line sets as to give a cushion in case final payment is missed. He can then still contact the client and remind them that they better get the payment in or the cruise booking (and quite possibly the deposit) will be lost.

A very good practice by TA's .

Princess, more than most other cruise lines ,  is quick to cancel as soon as the  Final Payment is missed.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, MCC retired said:

A very good practice by TA's .

Princess, more than most other cruise lines ,  is quick to cancel as soon as the  Final Payment is missed.

And it costs us nothing since the credit card payment is still generally in the same billing period.