Europe cruise: when to book?

[JettaGirl]

My fiancé and I are looking at taking a June 2012 Mediterranean NCL cruise. We are researching prices right now but are unaware of when to book.

 

Do the prices of a summer European cruise go up or down as time goes on? Would booking the cruise now be too silly since it's 15 months away?

 

TIA for any advice.

[Carnac767]

NCL has announced a ten percent price increase effective April 1st. It's not silly at all to book a cruise that far out, especially if there's a particular cabin you'd like to reserve. Balcony cabins on European cruises tend to sell out quickly. If you do book early, you can still take advantage of fare sales that will occur between when you book and before you must make final payment.

[bigfoot88]

We are on the Epic this June 12th, we booked June of last year. The price came down over $380 since we booked, I checked the price everfew weeks and got it requoted.

 

Plus, the longer lead time you have, the better air fare options you have.

[cate58]

LOL ,my friend and I booked in December 2010 for our September 2012 sailing.We are having a ball planning all aspects and reading about others' adventures while we wait.Of course we have other trips planned before then, but this fall 2012 trip will be our most Epic ever as we are combining it with a land tour as well,also booked.

[lacrossemitch]

We are on the Epic this June 12th, we booked June of last year. The price came down over $380 since we booked, I checked the price everfew weeks and got it requoted.

 

Plus, the longer lead time you have, the better air fare options you have.

 

Bigfoot88,

 

I just saw that you will be on the same cruise as us in june. We just booked with that recent price drop. We are so exited!

[mcmomny]

It never hurts to book early, with Hawaii we booked 14 months out and the price almost doubled by the time we cruised

 

We just booked the Med for Sept of 2012 and have till July of 2012 to change our minds and get the money back or transfer it to a different cruise

 

With everything you have to do to plan a wedding book the trip now so it's one less thing to worry about!

[cynbar]

I would say, book as soon as you know where/when you want to go. That way, you get your choice of cabins. Then, watch the prices. Up until final payment, usually 75 days before sailing, you can call and have your price changed if the price goes down. If the price goes up, you'll be protected.After final payment, don't look anymore because it will only upset you! Some people wait until after final payment to book if they aren't too fussy about which cabin they get (the better ones sell out first, naturally) but you really can't do that when you have to book air to Europe. And regarding airfare, we watched prices on kayak.com, and grabbed it when the prices went down to reasonable rates. We have sailed NCL twice to Europe, and that was the plan we used for both and it worked out great.

[russianmom]

It's never to early to book!!

I'm eagerly awaiting May/June 2013 schedule to open to book our Med cruise!!:D

[Dayenu]

By booking early (pay deposit only) you are locking up the price that is today. After that, watch the price change.

 

If it goes down before the final payment, ask NCL or your travel agent to adjust your invoice. If the price goes down after the final payment, call and ask nicely for a cabin credit - you may get it or not.

 

If the price goes up, praise your lucky stars :D

[polySeraph]

We booked our Sep 2012 cruise in Dec 2010. Since then, the price for our category of cabin has gone UP. I agree with what the others have said about getting the cabin you want, the lower airfare, the fully-refundable deposit, and all that wonderful research and anticipation.

 

One thing we always factor into our cruise planning is the travel insurance. Several of the different insurance policies will cover pre-existing conditions if we purchase the policy within a certain number of days of booking the cruise. (With some, it's 14 days, with others 21, I think.) So while we know that we can get our deposit back until July 2012, we do incur the cost of travel insurance because coverage of the pre-existing conditions is important to us.

 

Happy cruising!