When to Book? Hawaii - POA in 2010

[salty dingo]

We are thinking of booking a Hawaii cruise for our 5th anniversary in August 2010. It's possible to book now, but should we wait or not?

 

Some questions...

• Fuel prices are falling, any chance the surcharge will be less in the future?
  
• Prices - does NCL ever put these cruises on sale? If so, what time of year do the sales usually occur?
  
• And finally ... will POA even be sailing in August of 2010?

Any thoughts or speculations are appreciated!

[deepnite10]

this aug..i saw the POA in

port..sailing that evening at 8..

[salty dingo]

I remember seeing a cruise ship in Honolulu, and thinking how much fun it would be to cruise the islands.

 

We had a great time touring Oahu for a week, even found the time to get married! We've seen that island and want to see some other islands.

 

I think a cruise is ideal, but the prices are a lot higher than the other cruises we have done. I am curious if they ever go on sale.

[tntworek]

salty dingo...we're already booked for our February 2010 cruise (it will be our second anniversary) so I wanted to make sure I got the cabin I wanted, etc.

 

My TA told me that since POA is now the only cruise ship that is allowed to do the intraisland tour that it is best to book early. She did say that we can keep an eye on the prices and if things look like they're coming down she can either re-book us at that price or get an OBC for the difference...which I figure is a pretty good deal. Plus, we got the military discount which saved us ~$700 so between all that I figure now I have a reason to save my money!!

 

Fuel surcharge...I don't know about that...you could call NCL and ask if the price of fuel comes down what they plan on doing for the people who have already booked. But, I figure in the grand scheme of things it isn't too horrible so I'll take my chances.

 

Good luck with your decision....I'm really looking forward to going back to Hawaii. Spent a week on Oahu a couple years ago and thought it was absolutely beautiful...now I can't wait to see the rest of the islands.

[Addictedtwo]

salty dingo...we're already booked for our February 2010 cruise (it will be our second anniversary) so I wanted to make sure I got the cabin I wanted, etc.

 

My TA told me that since POA is now the only cruise ship that is allowed to do the intraisland tour that it is best to book early. She did say that we can keep an eye on the prices and if things look like they're coming down she can either re-book us at that price or get an OBC for the difference...which I figure is a pretty good deal. Plus, we got the military discount which saved us ~$700 so between all that I figure now I have a reason to save my money!!

 

Fuel surcharge...I don't know about that...you could call NCL and ask if the price of fuel comes down what they plan on doing for the people who have already booked. But, I figure in the grand scheme of things it isn't too horrible so I'll take my chances.

 

Good luck with your decision....I'm really looking forward to going back to Hawaii. Spent a week on Oahu a couple years ago and thought it was absolutely beautiful...now I can't wait to see the rest of the islands.

 

DITTO TO ABOVE we are booked for 10/2010 we wanted to be able to select the cabin we wanted and I'll chase any price reductions along the way as have done in the past. Final payment isn't due till 7/2010.

 

We did back to back cruises on POH in January and can't wait to do it again. It's an expensive holiday but you only go around once, well maybe twice lol.

[mylesf]

August 2010 is already open for sale. Because there is now only one ship sailing the 7 day itin, pricing has increased, overall. Looking at the August 2010 date, if you are a little flexiable the price does drop after the 8/14/10 date and each week there after continues to drop, until it starts to increase again. Tomorrow they are having the one day sale which is fleetwide and it includes a ship board credit so it may be a good time to book. You would be locking in at the current surcharges and unless something big happens within the oil industry I dont see the cruiselines dropping this. Even with the slight drop the cruiselines are still spending way more on fuel then in the past!

[fsupharm77]

Yes the sailings are allready opened. We booked for Nov 27th I believe. Also booked air through them for the first time. Just in case airfare keeps increasing. We figured that if it doesn't we can cancel the air and then book on our own.

[Addictedtwo]

August 2010 is already open for sale. Because there is now only one ship sailing the 7 day itin, pricing has increased, overall. Looking at the August 2010 date, if you are a little flexiable the price does drop after the 8/14/10 date and each week there after continues to drop, until it starts to increase again. Tomorrow they are having the one day sale which is fleetwide and it includes a ship board credit so it may be a good time to book. You would be locking in at the current surcharges and unless something big happens within the oil industry I dont see the cruiselines dropping this. Even with the slight drop the cruiselines are still spending way more on fuel then in the past!

 

The one day sale does not include cruises for 2010

[salty dingo]

Yes, I noticed the one day sale was through 2009 only. Oh well!

 

That's good info about booking a little later. Makes sense, since the cruises over the summer are usually more expensive, due to the kids being out of school, more demand for this time. Maybe we can celebrate our anniversary a bit later!