Book Early

Holy smoke Batman! I just checked our next booked cruise on the Pearl, still 6 months out. The price on a mini suite that we have booked is up now a full $1000 for the two of us over what we paid. And, the reason I checked was to consider upgrading to an SF suite, which we have used before. Holy smoke Batman! It is now $3100 more than the current price for the mini, or $4,100 more than we paid for our booking. Don't think breakfast in Modernos is worth that for us. Will keep what we got. But do book early. Then as you approach final payment if you don't like it, you can always cancel. If NCL is selling all these cabins at these prices still, then I guess it works for them. But for us, our cruising might have to slow down a bit.

Yes, it certainly can pay to book early, especially at busy times.

I just checked our POA booking for this August. We are in an aft balcony, which are all sold out now, but we got to choose the exact one we wanted and the price we paid is more than £1,000 cheaper than what they are currently asking for a standard balcony, and only £100 more than the cheapest non guarantee inside.

That is fairly typical. On all of our cruises, all but two of them prices have risen a lot up to final payment, usually be between £500 and £2,000. The couple that fell were only by a couple of hundred pounds.

If you can wait until after final payment, and you aren't bothered about choosing your room then it's probably worth waiting, but otherwise, the earlier the better.

YES!!! Absolutely agree with you. Our Bliss cruise has DOUBLED + $200 more per person. Our Jade Med cruise in 2019 is now $600 more per person.....it DOES pay to book early (which we always do just for this reason).

IMO this simply illustrates the myth that prices drop the closer you get to sailing. It seems to me that the best prices are at least 9 months out, any closer to sailing and prices tend to go up. Sure there are exceptions for last minute cruises, but most people can't take advantage of those.

I book two years out for most every cruise once itineraries are open for booking. In the past 5 years I haven't seen a price drop on any of them. I booked our 2019 15 Bliss cruise in 2017 and now it's over $1000+ more to book today for next year.

Prices can and do change in either direction. Also the FAS and/or other offers can change. It is always a good idea to watch your cruise all the way through final payment to see if a better deal comes along and if so rebook for the new options/price.

IMO this simply illustrates the myth that prices drop the closer you get to sailing. It seems to me that the best prices are at least 9 months out, any closer to sailing and prices tend to go up. Sure there are exceptions for last minute cruises, but most people can't take advantage of those.

The price changes actually have nothing to do (directly) with the proximity to sailing date. It is all a matter of supply and demand. A cruise that is selling well will see a price increase, one that is selling poorly will see the opposite.

Supply and demand. Simple Freshman Economics 101.

In my experience, 7 day+ sailings should be booked about a year out, maybe longer, as the price will rise as sail date nears. The only time you can really score "last minute" deals are the 3 nighters to the Bahamas. Example: Check out current pricing on Sun and Sky for June sailings. Some are less than $300pp, with open bar. I'm on Sun in June and watched prices for some cabin categories drop 30% over the course of 1 week. This of course is only to your advantage if you live near a port. Cost of last minute airfare can compromise any savings.

We already have one booked for February 2020.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Forums mobile app

Supply and demand. Simple Freshman Economics 101.

I think that most people understand that it is supply and demand.

What isn't so clear is what the actual effect of that supply and demand is. From experience, we can say that cruises at holiday times and unusual itineraries tend to sell very well and prices tend to increase, sometime significantly.

For more standard itineraries, and those outside of peak times, it can certainly go the other way.

Transatlantics, and other repositioning cruises, can tend to fall in price, despite there scarcity compared to other itineraries.

For me, room selection is a major deciding factor. We have booked a room on the Spirit for next year, despite the price looking to be on the high side. It is an unusual itinerary, so the price may go up anyway, but we are in a room which is unique open the ship and is much larger than the other balcony rooms. Having that room is probably worth an extra couple of thousand pounds (it is not much smaller than some suites), but if you don't book straight away then it can be gone.

book early only if you really want that cruise and/or cabin location.

for me, im flexible.

i only book last minute deals ($50/day or less) with no solo supplement.

that is, if my cruise isnt comped in the 1st place by my land casino :D

We have to book 6 months or more to use our credits, cruise nation do good deals, especially to Caribbean inclusive with flights and stays..

Interesting. I never would have considered booking so far in advance but I appreciate this thread. There is a cruise in 2020 that I am interested in so maybe I should look into it. I always use a compete site to book, but I wonder how "competitive" your offers will be so far out in advance.

Also, I understand things are pretty strict now at NCL and there is no issuing of OBC for fare changes (I tried looking up the exact policy but couldn't find it). Sometimes that is a gray area anyhow when booking with agencies where your "fare" is sometimes fuzzy (their best fares are not really published). I guess you are pretty safe to cancel / rebook with no downside in the worst case as long as before the 120 days based on the cancellation table, right?

Interesting. I never would have considered booking so far in advance but I appreciate this thread. There is a cruise in 2020 that I am interested in so maybe I should look into it. I always use a compete site to book, but I wonder how "competitive" your offers will be so far out in advance.

 

Also, I understand things are pretty strict now at NCL and there is no issuing of OBC for fare changes (I tried looking up the exact policy but couldn't find it). Sometimes that is a gray area anyhow when booking with agencies where your "fare" is sometimes fuzzy (their best fares are not really published). I guess you are pretty safe to cancel / rebook with no downside in the worst case as long as before the 120 days based on the cancellation table, right?

As long as you're not booking through an agency that has a cancellation penalty of their own, you can cancel up until final payment if you wish (or change to a better deal if it happens). Of course, previous promo offers might not then be available with a new booking. For us, I use a TA that has no penalty and does always give us a bit of OBC. Out of all the bookings we've done with her, I've cancelled two and had her get NCL to rebook/upgrade us on two more when I saw a better deal being offered.

Interesting. I never would have considered booking so far in advance but I appreciate this thread. There is a cruise in 2020 that I am interested in so maybe I should look into it. I always use a compete site to book, but I wonder how "competitive" your offers will be so far out in advance.

 

Also, I understand things are pretty strict now at NCL and there is no issuing of OBC for fare changes (I tried looking up the exact policy but couldn't find it). Sometimes that is a gray area anyhow when booking with agencies where your "fare" is sometimes fuzzy (their best fares are not really published). I guess you are pretty safe to cancel / rebook with no downside in the worst case as long as before the 120 days based on the cancellation table, right?

After the date for final payment NCL will not give you an OBC. Prior to the date for final payment, if there are price drops NCL will adjust the price you pay.

......and other times the price drops, sometimes drastically.

......and other times the price drops, sometimes drastically.

I watched the sailaway inside rate on the Sun 6/1 sailing go from $359 to $259 in less than one week.

So yes, you are correct. Sometimes they drop, but sometimes they spike. Supply and demand.

We booked about 10 months early. Probably should have booked earlier since it's the Bliss and brand new.

I watched as my cabin class went up over $1,000 and then just completely sold out. NCL has a reputation for offering great last minute deals, but it's just on the oversaturated Caribbean cruises for the most part (or Mexico). If it's an old ship, it can be worth waiting. If it's new, or in a higher demand area, then book early.

Alaska tends to be more in demand, but Princess is still offering amazing deals because all but one of their ships is older than dirt.