Last minute cruise?

[Lance'sBride]

Has anyone ever taken a cruise last minute for a great price? How exactly does it work? Do you show up the day of packed and ready to go just in case they have availability? How much of a discount do you usually get? I've heard of people doing this before, and now that I live near a port, I thought it would be good to know!

[firefly333]

You could only go last minute thru Carnival and same rates prevail. I booked once 4 days outs but some at my dinner table booked 2 days before. Wennfred on here booked the morning of his cruise and said he even got military rates and got his stock holders credit applied and made it onboard.

 

Cant show up at the dock. sorry

[summer08bride]

We booked 6 weeks in advance and I thought that was last minute :p

 

I dont believe Carnival lets you book or upgrade at the port, so you'd have to call or check online the day before. Maybe if you call they can offer you some kind of perk? Worth a shot if you live near the port...

[Pegs222]

I wish I could be like that, fly by the seat of your pants. I have to plan a vacation months in advance. Another reason for not booking late, we do not live by a port, we have to fly and that would be more expensive than the cruise.

[mom2girls]

I was pretty flexible last summer. I had pretty much 6 weeks in which I could go. I booked the Imagination 3 weeks in advance for a wonderful price. The only downfall was that they only had Inside cabins left. But, we had a great time anyway.

[Retired Sparky]

Just booked last night 4 day Destiny 6 weeks out $309 for Balconey could have got inside $189 leaving May 28th

[samiam519]

We don't live close enough to a port to do it, but relatives in Tampa have booked 2 days out and gotten great deals. Usually inside cabins, sometimes they have other availability. If you can do it, it's great.:)

[ManyMore]

I booked two days out, a week and a half out... those were my closest but generally speaking we book a month out. I can't wait forever like others on here can I would lose my mind! LOL

[RedToasterBox]

We're going May 16th and booked our cruise at the end of March. It was about a month and a half out and we thought we did it last minute. LoL

[Karter]

I booked the Glory Last Thursday (4/16/09) sailing on Saturday (4/25/09) when the rates dropped for ~ 2 hours. So I think I have a good deal but you need to be flexable to take advantage. If you try to book now it shows no availability.