Newbie: When is the best time to book pricewise?

[snackyx]

I've only been on two cruises, but am now at a point where my wife and I have the time to travel more often. I am currently looking at Europe 2014, and note that many of the major cruise lines (Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean) will be releasing these itineries in the next few months. I've been told that booking early (when the prices are first announced) gives you the best price, but booking a few months out can yield savings if you can travel on just a few weeks/months notice.

 

Any thoughts? I tend to like to plan ahead, so I am eargerly awaiting the summer/fall 2014 European schedules, and would book then if it makes financial sense.

 

Any thoughts/advice from the experts out there?

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[Shmoo here]

I've only been on two cruises, but am now at a point where my wife and I have the time to travel more often. I am currently looking at Europe 2014, and note that many of the major cruise lines (Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean) will be releasing these itineries in the next few months. I've been told that booking early (when the prices are first announced) gives you the best price, but booking a few months out can yield savings if you can travel on just a few weeks/months notice.

 

Any thoughts? I tend to like to plan ahead, so I am eargerly awaiting the summer/fall 2014 European schedules, and would book then if it makes financial sense.

 

Any thoughts/advice from the experts out there?

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

Typically, opening day prices are the lowest prices.

 

I can only speak to my experience on DCL, but on those cruises that aren't selling well, they sometimes offer last-minute restricted fares. These rates, while lower than whatever the current rate is, are still higher than the opening day prices. And they have several restrictions, including no changes and no refunds, and you can't select a room (or even a specific category - only a type of room, Interior, Oceanview, Verandah).

[CruiserBruce]

If there was a "best" time, everyone would wait until then to buy, and guess what, the cruise line would raise the prices...

 

If you look around the board, you will find this question asked regularly. The common answer is, yes, sometimes the fares drop as sailing date gets closer. However, what may be available at that point may be cabins that are at levels, locations or types not desirable to you

 

So, considering that most cruise lines will drop your booked fare, if the fares go down prior to final payment, the advice is to always book now, get the cabin type location and level you want, and get fare reductions, if they occur prior to final payment.

[kitty9]

I don't think that waiting for prices to lower for a Med cruise is a good idea, especially because airfares tend to rise the closer to your flying date. If you wait a month out to save some money, well that savings would be wiped out by the increase in airfare that you'd have to pay.

 

As long as you're not past final payment date, and the lower price isn't for new bookings only, most cruise lines will honor the lower fare, or at least give you an upgraded cabin. So, in reality, it's probably a good idea to book early, not only to get a better fare, but to have the best choice of cabins.