When to book QM2 for July 2014 NY-UK

We are thinking of making the one-way crossing from NY to Southampton in July 2014. We are a family of 5 so any savings quickly mount up. I've never looked at or booked a cruise before so not sure what the likelihood of prices going up or down are.

Anyone have any advice as to whether the price is likely to go up or down in the next 14 months (I know, how long is that piece of string!) and whether I'm better to book now or to wait.

Does Cunard honour price drops for example?

Are you booking from the US, or the UK or elsewhere? We're new to Cunard but I think different rules may apply to price drops. Hopefully some of the resident experts will weigh in.

You mention that you are a family of 5. You will need two rooms, then. Do you need those rooms to be close together, because if so, I think that will give you less flexibility. We're a family of 4 and have two rooms booked for the June 1 crossing, a sheltered balcony and an inside across the hall. Our kids are 16 and 12, so it was important to us to have the two rooms quite close together.

We actually booked our air back in August using award miles, and then started to watch fares for the June 1 crossing. We booked on January 4 when there was a "Wave Season" promotion. At the time we booked, our TA told us that she had grabbed the last sheltered balcony that had an inside available across the hall.

We did continue to watch fares for a while after that until final payment, but they never went below what we had booked. More importantly, we couldn't find another pair of rooms across the hall opening up.

Obviously this is just one family's experience, and yours may be different. Good luck!

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Does Cunard honour price drops for example?

Yes, based on our experience in booking a dozen QM2 cruises and crossings, all directly with Cunard from the US. But, you must phone them to ask about any reduction that may have occurred since you first booked, they won't volunteer it. Good luck and bon voyage!