Booking with only a few weeks til departure??

[P.A.]

Has anyone ever booked their cruise about 3 to 4 weeks til departure? I was just wondering what kind of a cabin you got and if you would ever do it again? What ship?

 

Thanks! :)

[Another ship trip]

I have done this at least 10 times. You don't get the best cabins generally but I feel that it more than makes up for it if I get a price that is half what others paid for the same category. The only complaint I would have is that you are going to generally get cabins at one end or the other of the ship because cruiselines will upgrade those who booked more in advance. Booking last minute appears to be more difficult to do on Princess, especially if you want more than 2 in a cabin. They have a following that seems to book much farther out. I however, like booking vacations "last minute" because it just works for us. THe only time I book 6 months ahead is for our annual holiday sailing as those always sell out fairly early.

[Charliesmom]

We have gotten some very good deals last minute and we always book the room rather than a guarantee.

 

In 2003 we got a terrific deal on back-to-backs to Alaska from Vancouver. I kept on monitoring the TAs website and even found the same room both up and back so we did not have to move. It was lovely.

 

We also got a terrific deal on a March cruise from San Juan. At the very last minute that cruise was going for $299.00 pp for an inside cabin. Waiters and Waitresses from PR were going on that cruise because they could afford it. We paid more since we had a minisuite, but we were very happy with the cruise.

 

I think our first cruise on the Holland America Westerdam was a relatively last minute cruise. That was a terrific deal.

 

I generally start monitoring prices on cruises when they come out with the brochures and itineraries. I keep a close eye on the prices When I see what I think is a good idea, I book it right then and there. In general, unless business really stinks, the cruise lines will up the prices for the better rooms later in the game. That is not true of inside rooms, which is where the real bargains are.

 

Roberta

[SnorkelFool]

Just took a cruise on CB - Aug 19th that I booked 4 weeks in advance. We got a great balcony cabin, mid-ship, close to stairs and elevators (and no extra noise because of it). B432. The location was perfect. Would have been happy with that room if I had booked it several months in advance.

[CaptainKevin]

I've booked suites two weeks beforehand, on both the Caribbean Princess and RCCL's Explorer of the Seas.

 

Would do it anytime! It's always great to see a suite pop up on such short notice. Expedia is good for this... they apparently book blocks of rooms that no one else (including the cruise line itself) show as available.

 

Kev

[huladoula1]

Being the Queen of Last Minute everything, booking a vacation is no different! We just booked the Crown for the 10/18 sailing, balcony guarantee & if they keep us in the same cabin they already assigned us - it's perfect!

 

It's a roll of the dice, but it's better than sitting home, whining about how you COULD be on a cruise right now!

[iancal]

Several years ago, we booked a Saturday departure Alaska cruise on the Wednesday. TA knew we were interested. The price hit the basement so she booked for us and gave me 24 hours to confirm. Cabin, outside, was fine. Just booked a Cuba trip yesterday that will commence this next Saturday. Same story. We do both-book early and sometimes book late.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I'm not sure if this counts but back in 2003, one of my hubby's workers said he can get us an employee discount from his gf who worked for Princess. As we've only cruised with Carnival up to that point, we said yes. The two dates we were given were within a month's time for an inside, lowest category. The three of us went on a 7-day MR cruise on the Star for a grand total (prob. minus the taxes) of $800 tops. Once we convinced my girl's teacher (she was in kinder back then) to let her out of school for a week, we had no problems or qualms.

[iancal]

Your comment about taking you children out of school was interesting. We have two, young adults now...but we regularly took them out of school for one week periods. It would be an early Dec. cruise or a trip to Disneyland / San Diego Zoo/Seaworld in the April off peak weeks. Never had a problem. They were good students and ensured they either got the work done or brought some of it with them. I am a firm believer that they got more out of some of these travel experiences than they did in school. Most of the teachers agreed!

[P.A.]

OK thanks guys for all your info. One other question I have now. We got a recommendation for an online TA from this site and checked the price and it beats all of the prices I have gotten so far, however, now I'm leary about it and not sure what to do. $884 compared to $1300. BIG difference! Expedia, Southwest.com and Princess all have about the same rate, however this other one I mentioned is cheaper. And this is for a cruise in about 6 weeks. Is there somewhere I can go to check and see if this TA has good reviews or something? Not sure I can mention their name on here or not.

 

Does anyone know if Princess will be open tomorrow (Labor Day)?

 

Thanks so much! :)

[causeyoutdoor]

I just completed a week on the CB that was booked 8 weeks ago. After the great experience we had, I may never book far in advance again! lol. But seriously, I would use a travel agent. On this cruise, all of our onboard credits did not get transferred to the ship for some unknown reason. My TA is already on this with Princess and I am sure my overextended credit card will have a credit on it by the end of the week. Booking a straight forward deal is simple enough to do, but I find an experienced TA to be so worth it when things get a little sideways. And with a last minute booking, there are a lot of decisions to be made in a short amount of time.

[dforeigner]

OK thanks guys for all your info. One other question I have now. We got a recommendation for an online TA from this site and checked the price and it beats all of the prices I have gotten so far, however, now I'm leary about it and not sure what to do. $884 compared to $1300. BIG difference! Expedia, Southwest.com and Princess all have about the same rate, however this other one I mentioned is cheaper. And this is for a cruise in about 6 weeks. Is there somewhere I can go to check and see if this TA has good reviews or something? Not sure I can mention their name on here or not.

 

Does anyone know if Princess will be open tomorrow (Labor Day)?

 

Thanks so much! :)

 

I know the rules state that you cannot give out information when it comes to TAs, tours, etc, unless someone asks you for the information. Therefore, I respecfully asking if you would kindly state the WEB site you are talking about.

 

Thanks

[liverpool_ppl]

Hi we booked the golden british isles 12 days before set sail. the best thing we ever did. We got it really cheap and book nearly all our cruises with less than a month before we set sail now. Our cabin was a balcony on Aloha.:D And it was in the kids holidays for our 14 year old daughter , we used to take her out of school but now dont because of British school regulations now.

[johnmik1]

Has anyone ever booked their cruise about 3 to 4 weeks til departure? I was just wondering what kind of a cabin you got and if you would ever do it again? What ship?

 

Thanks! :)

On 8/24 we booked the Caribbean Princess for 9/16.We could not get a balcony but the price for an ocean view was outstanding.

[iancal]

P.A. our experiences with on line agents has been very good. We have used 2, the second one for the past three cruises. The quoted prices have ALWAYS been cheaper than Princess, Celebrity, NCL etc.. As an example, we checked Princess prices for our Dec. trip....they wanted about 25 percent more than the on line TA. We booked with the on line TA and subsequently enjoyed a price decrease and a category upgrade. I look at it like this...when you use an on line TA you will notice that the credit card charge is processed thru the cruise line, not the TA. This is a good thing. We never worry about documents..as long as we can see our booking on the cruise line web site we are happy. We much prefer electronic documents. Have never booked air/pre or post cruise hotels. We do this ourselves. For that large of a price delta I would definately go with the on line TA. What we save by booking with an on line TA and making our own flight arrangements (for Carib). usually pays for at least 2 or three days of pre/post hotels/meals.