What is your WS booking strategy? Early/late?

Hi all!

I'm getting excited about my upcoming trip with WS in October. It seems we are able to go if not every year then every other year, looking forward to retirement and more frequent trips. Anyway, since booking this trip last year I have watched the price drop significantly twice the closer to departure. I understand they are trying to fill the ship so it's a smart move on their part. But it sure can hurt when you could save a couple thousand a person by booking later rather than a year ahead. I was able to get a room upgrade and nice OBC with the first price reduction before my final payment, but now I've made my final payment and kinda wish I had waited to book...

I just booked my August 2016 trip on the Windsurf and am wondering was I wise to book so early? I use miles to book flights as my husband will only fly Business on long flights so I have to plan those as soon as I am able. I understand there is a risk to waiting...they may book up.

Just wondering what others strategy is with Windstar and how your experience has been. Thanks for your input! My travel docs came yesterday and that's always an exciting moment! Jean

Hi Jean and congrats on your upcoming trip! I booked our family Christmas 2014 cruise on WS in April, 2014. We too wanted to use miles for flights and since there were four of us traveling, it made sense plus over the holidays it always fills up. And to be honest, I'm not sure I kept track of the fare changes (I can't really remember!).

We booked a January 2016 cruise back in March I think. Happily I've been paying attention and that cruise dropped significantly over the 4th of July and I was able to get a price reduction. This time we were able to book a decent price on business class since we were so far out.

We like to book as soon as we decide we want to go so that we can coordinate our flights. We do all our own travel arrangements so it gives us plenty of time to figure things out. If we waited until the last minute to book I can't imagine what our flights could potentially cost us.

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We tend to book all our trips early. Prices early are good, although they can be better closer to the day. However, living in Alaska makes short-notice trips problematic from a flight standpoint, though it's getting a bit better. Also, we do our own booking of all the details, so earlier gives us more time to work it out. And, of course, time to dream about the trip.<G>