Book now, or wait until the last minute?

Ok, so we’ve done a dozen or so cruises but have normally got one booked for summer by now. This year we were undecided as to wether have a change or go land based. However, we fancy the Greek islands and Croatia cruise in August this year, leaving from Corfu. Thing is, I’ve never booked late before so, we want a balcony cabin and there is availability right now. It’s still pricey, so should I book now, or wait until last minute, when prices might drop, or will they increase? Any advice gratefully received.

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Book early to avoid disappointment. Also, I found if you leave it very late and the cruise is getting fully booked, the prices seem to go up, not down. It will be a lovely cruise

Unfortunately, there is no right answer to this conundrum. If the cruise books well, then prices will go up and if it books poorly they will go down. Also depends on how popular the balcony cabins are and how many seats they have left on the aircraft.

At the end of the day, only you can decide how much you want to do this cruise and how much it is worth to you. Good luck with making your decision :-).

Closer to the date prices tend to go down (often by a big percentage) much more than up.

If you are flexible on date and the cruise is repeated several times you can watch the prices & availability til as late as your nerves will allow, and book whichever date is still available. About a month out is usually best value. And if you left it too late you just wait for the prices to drop on the next cruise of interest

But if you're keen on this itinerary & you're stuck with dates - especially August - the risk of the ship selling out is probably too big for the gamble.

Britboys mentions flights.

One joy of a late-booked fly-cruise is that late-booked savings on a cruise aren't blown by high fares for late-booked scheduled flights to the departure port.

But the later you leave it the higher the risk of TUI flights from your preferred airport being fully booked - even a saving of many hundreds of pounds on the fly-cruise fare can be blown if you live in Kent and the only flights available are from Glasgow. :eek:

So only you can decide.

If you book early & you're happy with the price, don't let your cruise be spoilt by others getting a late deal. What you pay is important, what others pay is irrelevant.

JB :)

Also don't forget the nearer the time less choice of cabin - usually inside

the adriatic doesn't tend to go down a lot in price as it is very popular, probably more so on the d2 with it being an all inclusive ship

I have always booked well in advance but due to the general state of the UK economy and pressure on people's incomes and rising living costs etc., I reckon there will be quite a lot of unsold cabins leading to plenty of bargains to be had this summer. Particularly in view of the poor exchange rate affecting sterlings purchasing power abroad.

Ok, so we’ve done a dozen or so cruises but have normally got one booked for summer by now. This year we were undecided as to wether have a change or go land based. However, we fancy the Greek islands and Croatia cruise in August this year, leaving from Corfu. Thing is, I’ve never booked late before so, we want a balcony cabin and there is availability right now. It’s still pricey, so should I book now, or wait until last minute, when prices might drop, or will they increase? Any advice gratefully received.

 

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I have not been on that cruise (I would love to), but August is popular and it may well be that if you leave it you wont get your balcony.

I think that if you can afford it - book it now.

Since a land tour was an option how about booking land tour accomodation at a cancellable rate and keeping an eye on flights and how the cruise price is changing. Cancel the hotels if the cruise starts to become a little nearer your price range.

We always book well in advance for our preferred cabin,airport/ flight etc

Glad we did as our cruise and 4 night stay is no longer available unless of course theres a blip on their website