December 5th... Booking or Waiting?

[bookitdanno]

On Tuesday, December 5, Celebrity opens new bookings for 2025-2026 cruises to

Caribbean, Bermuda, Iceland/Canada/New England and South America.

Are you planning on booking opening week, or perhaps waiting a few weeks until

"wave season"?

When will the best deals be available? The best rooms?

[2chiefs]

We board Beyond on December 22 and have two more booked for 2024.

We will be looking for a spring 2025 sailing in the Caribbean. We initially wanted to cruise Europe in 2025 but the airfares seem to be as high as the cruise itself.

[deliver42]

If you're doing refundable deposit, then book now, and if the price drops, which I doubt, then refare.

[39august]

I will be waiting till I'm on board EQ in Jan. to make new bookings. Hoping they still will be giving OBC for booking on board. 

[RTShaker]

1 hour ago, deliver42 said:

If you're doing refundable deposit, then book now, and if the price drops, which I doubt, then refare.

You do not need a refundable rate to refare as long as you keep the same ship/sail date. You just need to bear in mind that the new fare will be with the then prevailing offers, so it may not be an advantage to do so.

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, 39august said:

I will be waiting till I'm on board EQ in Jan. to make new bookings. Hoping they still will be giving OBC for booking on board. 

They were late last month.   
We booked the Xcel for January 2026, 7 N in SV with $200 deposit & $150 OBC.  

[cbfb]

Does this include Panama Canal sailings? 

[SbbquilterUT]

2 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

We board Beyond on December 22 and have two more booked for 2024.

We will be looking for a spring 2025 sailing in the Caribbean. We initially wanted to cruise Europe in 2025 but the airfares seem to be as high as the cruise itself.

We have started scheduling a transatlantic to get to Europe (price point for our interior very close to plane fare) and then our time in Europe.  I love arriving relaxed and ready to explore.  It does involve one flight home but that is okay.  

[2chiefs]

1 hour ago, SbbquilterUT said:

We have started scheduling a transatlantic to get to Europe (price point for our interior very close to plane fare) and then our time in Europe.  I love arriving relaxed and ready to explore.  It does involve one flight home but that is okay.  

Some of the airfares we looked at were quite high. Also, the round-trip airfare in many cases were lower than the one-way airfare. Since you are from Utah I'm assuming you are doing a one-way flight to cruise port then a one-way from Europe home. We live in Atlanta area so a short flight to whatever cruise port for a transatlantic then a long one-way home from Europe. Pricing was higher than the cruise. (We would also sail interior or oceanview).

[marieps]

As for the original question, I think we will book pretty early since we'd be interested in the repositioning of whatever ship does Bermuda, than a B2B on the 1st Bermuda sailing.  It won't be Eclipse or Summit.  Their schedules are set elsewhere already.

Edited December 3, 2023 by marieps

[lv2cruisgrl]

4 hours ago, bookitdanno said:

On Tuesday, December 5, Celebrity opens new bookings for 2025-2026 cruises to

Caribbean, Bermuda, Iceland/Canada/New England and South America.

Are you planning on booking opening week, or perhaps waiting a few weeks until

"wave season"?

When will the best deals be available? The best rooms?

Usually we find booking when it opens gives us the best price! 

[SbbquilterUT]

24 minutes ago, 2chiefs said:

Some of the airfares we looked at were quite high. Also, the round-trip airfare in many cases were lower than the one-way airfare. Since you are from Utah I'm assuming you are doing a one-way flight to cruise port then a one-way from Europe home. We live in Atlanta area so a short flight to whatever cruise port for a transatlantic then a long one-way home from Europe. Pricing was higher than the cruise. (We would also sail interior or oceanview).

I do shop around for prices.  For us I will use a Companion ticket for a RT  from SLC or LAS to EWR for our next trip, then book a return from Europe to NYC - and will look at cruise line ticket for the return because those can be a good deal.  Love extending our trip time and all those sea days before our busy time in Europe.  Many more choices for those sailing out of Florida ports.