How far in advance do you book your cruises?

[JackieH]

How far in advance do you book your cruises, and what do you do in the meantime;)

We seem to go on cruises every other summer. This is mostly because that is how long it takes us to save the money. Last summer(Aug 2010 we were on Carnival Liberty),,Last week I just booked us on the Dream for Aug 2012...now what do I do??;) Ive been reading Dream Reviews, looking at pictures, and trying to get my family as excited as I am..but it seems only my 7 yr old daughter shares my excitement. I suppose as time draws nearer, the rest of them will get on board;):D...with my excitement..

So what do you do 13 months in advance???:rolleyes:

[pe4all]

We usually book a year to 18 months out. I read these boards to stay sane till my next cruise.

[Philly Steve]

We've been cruising once a year and usually book within a month after returning from the last cruise. I like the cabin choice flexibility in booking so early, almost a year in advance.

 

In the meantime, we enjoy this website and post on the Roll Call. And, from time to time, we actually watch our home video of previous cruises (especially on snow days!). :)

[ready2cruzagain]

Anywhere from a couple of months in advance up to 2 yrs in advance. Just depends on if we have anything going on. Right now we have 4 cruises booked and 2 of them were booked 19 months in advance, one booked 8 months in advance and one booked 4 months in advance.

[ibcnusoon]

We booked 17 monthis in advance of our November 2012 cruise. Even that far our, I got my 2nd choice in an aft-wrap cabin (am waitlisted for my 1st choice).

 

That's the ideal situation when booking early, you get the first choice of cabins.

[Colorado Beach Bum]

We try to cruise twice a year. We take all 5 of our boys on a cruise over Thanksgiving vacation. This will be our 5th year and our 6th year will be booked by January. Hubby and I cruise solo-no kids once a year. This one we book anywhere from 6 months to one year out. We are Sailing the Magic in about 38 days. Can't wait. That one has been booked for a year. We are hoping to sail the Breeze next year (that is if we love Europe as much as we think we will). We will probably book that one within a month from returning.

[MamaParrotHead]

We're in the same boat...cruising every other year to save pennies and do home improvements on the off years. After I book (which I'm HOPING to do the beginning of August for November 2012) I do all my research and as a family we decide what we want to do in ports. We book those. Continue to find fun ways to save money (cleaning out closets and taking the loot to consignment shops, squirreling away change to fill our "cruise jar" and then taking it to the bank to deposit, etc), we make a paper chain (one link per week until we sail), I also have a "Carnival party" and invite people we'd like to come along on our trip and make a little pitch to them and see what happens. I shop end of summer sales for cruise essentials. I take inventory of our "cruise bin" as far as replacing old meds that are in there, cleaning snorkel equipment, etc. Start in on my "cruise time line" as far as what need to be done and when (making hair/pedi appointments, arrangements for the dog, taking dry cleaning in, alterations on any new clothing, etc.). I also watch my favorite cruise shows I have on DVR while I'm doing mundane things like folding laundry or something.

[Katoo]

Last year, I booked an October cruise in January, and swore I'd never book that far in advance again, because it nearly drove me crazy.

 

So what did I do? I booked for May 6, 2012 in May of this year. A whole year in advance.

 

I never learn my own lessons. We cruise every other year, go to England once a year, and do a land vacation for a week on alternating years from cruising. This year we will be spending a week in Key West.

[BenjiRodney]

12-24 months in advance.

[cawagner]

We are going to be booking a cruise for June 2012 and my husband also does not share in my excitement :rolleyes: what is wrong with him :p

[Cigar Dude]

About a year. That's about all I can stand to wait! And that's too long!

[rickcop44]

I don't have a set time for booking our annual cruise. I keep an eye on pricing and when I see the price I'm looking for in the category I want, I book. That might be five months in advance for our February 2011 cruise or in the case of our February 2012 cruise, I found the price I wanted via ES in May and booked. I try to keep an eye on cruise fares about twice a week, sometimes three times a week.

 

I've also found it helpful to read through the cruise forums (such as CC) and pay particular attention to posts advertising a drop in pricing on the ship I want to cruise on. That's been particularly helpful in taking advantage of reductions in fares which in turn increases my OBC.

[serene56]

I do about 18 months. BUT booking that long in advance you take the chance of being changed out.

 

Example- we were booked for the Valor for February 2012 but they switched the cruise to either a 6 day or an 8 day cruise going to ports that are not of an interest to us as we been there too many times now.

 

So we had to scramble as we were only given 72 hours to make changes to be price protected- we switched to the Legend going to ports that the Valor was doing.

 

So just be ready--jsut in case

[shof515]

i usually book within 8-12 months..by booking this early, you can book using lower prices since sometimes the price increases as the cruise date gets closer

[slotguy777]

I do just the same thing you are doing! I get more and more excited. Eventually my wife does to. Our next cruise is May 2012 on the Liberty w/our daughter, hubby, and 5 year old granddaughter. So Gramma is more excited than usual. I'm also excited because of that and my brother and sister-in-law and friends are going! It is hard to wait but at least it will come eventually. We had to cancel our cruise in april this year because like alot of people I got layed off. Now that one about killed me!LOL

[firefly333]

I book further out than you did, but I book more cruises so I have one closer in always to look forward to.

 

Im always up for some last minute deals too.

[rockabutzer]

I read these boards to stay sane till my next cruise.

 

 

Ditto...:cool:

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

I try to book as soon as I have the deposit money saved up! We just returned from the Dream last month, and I already have about $500 saved up for our June 2012 cruise deposit. I'll have the rest of the deposit money by September & I'll be ready to book! I try to book as early as possible so that we can buy the flights around November-December.

[adamsfly]

I booked my upcoming July, 2012 cruise 364 days in advance... I don't like that it's that far away, however, I know it'll be here before we know it.

 

I come on CC everyday and read the threads and some I save to my favorites so I can refer back to.

[6 of us]

We haven't cruised enough to have a rhythm yet.

We book 3 to 6 months in advance because once I have a down payment saved up, I can't handle booking a year out - too impatient. Also, I don't book the bigger boats, I stick with the Fantasy line so far because I can afford more for my $$ & those sail from ports close to my house anyway so I can drive & not worry with flights.

I am actually cruising a lot recently, well, what I would consider a lot. I went last September w/all the kids, then in May with hubby for my b-day present (a fabulous deal;) ) & now we are going in Oct. for a couples cruise. I am also currently saving for a May 2012 cruise & taking the kids with us again who LOVE to cruise! That is a good bit & I love it!! :D

 

All that to say, while I am waiting for my cruise to come, I stay on these boards while searching for another deal :D I amy not get a cruise for a while after that though, my husband really wants to go to the mountains. sigh...

[ccruisequeen]

Whenever we get a good price-- we had one booked 8 months in advance & another 4 months in advannce. It's amazing how fast the time flies (especially when you can check for a price drop & OBC in the mean-time!:D )

[BlueJacketsFan1]

My wife and I booked our first four cruises at the limit of 18 months out. Although for our upcoming cruise we only booked it 15 months before sailing.

[mousey]

For so many reasons I won't bother you with, we usualy book our cruises 1 to the most 2 months before we cruise. We find the cheapest cruise available and book inside rooms only. We like to cruise at least once a year so this is why we go inside and cheap. We've always had a fantastic time. Never, ever had a bad cruise!:D

[azpilot]

We book anywhere from 6 months to 18 months out for our cruises

[Anung Un Rama]

Too far in advance apparently. These waits are killing me :mad: