Booking early or Late?

Can anyone pass on there advise/experience about booking late availability please.

We always book well in advance of our holidays, which used to be necessary when we both worked but it got us into the habit of booking a particular deck/cabin but is no longer the case now.

I do regularly check the prices after we have booked and they always appear to go up not down. Actually they do sometimes go down just one week after I have booked:confused:

At present we have two booked the first being in 9 weeks time and the cost, now, like for like, has increased by £450 this was booked June 2014 and we booked our Caribbean cruise December 2014 and that has increased by £456.

We have not booked our cruises for the second half of next year yet so are considering late booking on the Discovery.

Any info would be gratefully received :):)

Thomson's pricing policy is a mystery to everyone. It depends on so many things - How many people have booked the cruise; How many cabins of a particular type are left; Which airport you have chosen; How many seats are left on the plane etc. etc.

You will usually get a different price at any one time for the same cabin on the same cruise from each different airport.

Sorry, I know that's not much help.:confused:

Thomson's pricing policy is a mystery to everyone.

Including themselves !!!

One thing is consistent - the "free" AI if you book within certain time window is a con.

When the AI offer ends the cruise price will drop.

In the past I've spotted a cruise with AI added on that worked out cheaper than when it was first available with the AI included.

I was keeping my eye on 2 weeks on Thomson Discovery for June 2016. When it went up £90 I decided to book it. When I went to choose an outside cabin on Deck 3 midship, I found I had to settle for my third choice. Which still suits me fine, but did surprise meat this early stage. I will no doubt kick myself if it goes down in price, but I like to be able to choose a cabin and on balance I am relieved I booked when I did. Also the 'free' AI is a big incentive for me:)

I'm the other way, we always book late. Just booked yesterday for beginning of August. Cruise was down to £500 from just over £800 earlier in the year. We don't drink enough to pay £398 for the drink package so free AI is not an incentive for us. We were still able to prebook a double cabin this close to the date as well which on the spirit is a bonus.

Thomson are very sneaky. A lot of the time they drop the cruise price and put the cabins up or have a higher cruise price and lower cabin price.

I always book as late as possible. I reckon about 3 weeks before departure gives a good price. We've booked as late as 3 days prior to departure on more than one occasion. As a rule we're not fussed about which deck or inside vs outside, rarely pre book a cabin and don't drink enough for buying A/I. I'm currently monitoring the price daily of a holiday on the Dream in September and when I feel it's gone as low as it's going to, I'll book it. Of course if it sells out or the price isn't right then it's not a problem, we'll just go somewhere else. There's always a holiday available somewhere.

The last minute deal is traditionally the way to go to bag a bargain at Thomsons. Unfortunately having to fit cruises into my annual leave means that I never have the nerve to leave it late enough for the big price cuts... However, unusually, this time I have already booked Majesty's 8 night Iberian Adventure for April 2016 as the current £700pp for flights & AI seemed a fair deal to me. :)

Thomson are very sneaky. A lot of the time they drop the cruise price and put the cabins up or have a higher cruise price and lower cabin price.

I usually book 6 weeks before (personal preference, suits better to our lifestyle) I always get flights, deck etc that I want. It usually drops another 10% after that but I find the choice of decks, outside rooms and airports are limited for my tastes. A/I of course I must pay for, but im finding that a bit of a raw deal, seems things we like still have a payment premium on them !!!!!!

Whenever I book early, always caos forces cancellations, sickness, death those type of things.

Well, thank you all for taking the time to share your experiences with me, my feeling's at the moment are that I will explore the 'wait' option don't know if I will be able to hold out without having three or four cruises booked to look forward to but I will attempt to keep my powder dry, I think I may have problems though if I follow Rookery's lead and book just three days before departure, her indoors would have something to say as it takes that long to sort out her 'wardrobe' :rolleyes:

The first one will defiantly be the Discovery as with no knowledge of the cabins or layout, other than the brochure, it doesn't really matter which cabin we go for. I am actually looking forward to monitoring the situation and hopefully obtaining feed back on the Discovery as it becomes available.

Thanks again:):)

Tend to book early due to getting time off at work, only ever booked a late cruise once

Well, thank you all for taking the time to share your experiences with me, my feeling's at the moment are that I will explore the 'wait' option don't know if I will be able to hold out without having three or four cruises booked to look forward to but I will attempt to keep my powder dry, I think I may have problems though if I follow Rookery's lead and book just three days before departure, her indoors would have something to say as it takes that long to sort out her 'wardrobe' :rolleyes:

The first one will defiantly be the Discovery as with no knowledge of the cabins or layout, other than the brochure, it doesn't really matter which cabin we go for. I am actually looking forward to monitoring the situation and hopefully obtaining feed back on the Discovery as it becomes available.

Thanks again:):)

I can recommend the balcony cabins overlooking the wake on Discovery. The balconies are much bigger than the side balconies

I would think there will be some bargains to be had on the Discovery W Med cruises next year - not certain I think Thomson have chosen the best itineraries for the Discovery's first season; so many people have done the W Med ports & with a ship with a large capacity, I would be surprised if they sell early to full capacity especially at the prices they are charging now! Certainly worth the wait!

I am tied to school holidays so have always booked as soon as brochures go on sale but decided to book a last minute over Easter 2014 on the Celebration - kept watching the price & booked 10 days before travel from a small local airport & got a fantastic bargain! After we had booked, the price never went as low again - it kept creeping up & up!

I agree Julie. Really wanted to go on Discovery until I saw the itineraries (and the prices)! Think we will do the Adriatic on Dream next year!

I agree Julie. Really wanted to go on Discovery until I saw the itineraries (and the prices)! Think we will do the Adriatic on Dream next year!

I would love to do the Adriatic on the Dream - it would be ideal!

The best itinerary and my favourite ship!

The best itinerary and my favourite ship!

Agree with the first bit Sheila, lol :D

Ha, you wouldn't want to do it on the Dream Linda! [emoji3] I like the Majesty too, just prefer the layout of the Dream.

we were lucky to do adriatic on the spirit not as good on the majesty, glad its gone to the dream, booked magic of spain on discovery as not done most of those ports, someone on facebook went for october too as told cabins were filling up quick and they couldn't get the earlier dates they wanted

Last Year we booked a week in March on Thomson Majesty Cruise only from Malaga. We booked it months before and it was less than £500 pp and included a drinks package and an outside plus cabin. The cruise only price dropped to below £300 a month before departure in a standard cabin and no drinks package, so I think I got the better deal by booking early. Today I have booked 7 nights cruise only on Thomson Spirit from Malaga for October 2016 including a drinks package and paid about£650 pp for an outside cabin on deck 4.

Yes I think the price will go down but they will also drop the free drinks package to accommodate the cheaper price . I believe it really is just swings and roundabouts really.

We did the Adriatic Explorer last year on the Majesty. Fantastic trip and found Kotor in Montenegro an unexpected gem. Straight off the ship and you are right into the old town, which was a lovely place for a leisurely stroll.

I also liked the overall ambience on the Majesty. Looking forward to two weeks on the Discovery next year.