Book early or leave to last minute?

[RobandJames]

We have just booked flights to Venice in May 2014 and intend to book on the cruise that leaves on May 10 th on Norwegian Jade. We have never cruised on NCL before so should we book now or wait? Are there typically sales on that might give us a better deal (on on board credit)? And if so, when do they normally happen?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Rob

[Demonyte]

Usually you can get best deals either long before (immediately when the cruise is available) or very close (6-8 weeks before) - but the latter only IF there is still availability so the choices might be limited. And also for popular cruises the prices might never drop and the cruise gets still fully booked.

 

We booked only last week cruise on Jade this July and the prices for certain cabins were dropping during the past week or so, little over 40 days away.

 

All in all, my suggestion would be to book as early as you can when there is a good promo going on. For example our 2014 cruise became available for booking last december (just like the cruise you're looking at) and there was a dash sale going on at the moment and we booked immediately - now the price is $200pp up and we have a nice chunk of OBC b/c of the promo.

 

According to cruise fish website the price for your cruise is now around $50-100pp higher than it was 6 months ago but there is no way of knowing where the price will eventually go. I don't have history information but it seems that the exactly same cruise leaving next saturday has been pretty constant with the pricing and pretty much sold out so it might be that there will be no large changes to either direction with your cruise either.

[goldmom]

We did something similar last year. We booked our flights to Venice. There were 2 ships leaving Venice that worked, so we kept checking on them. About 2 months before the trip, we saw that the prices on the Jade dropped significantly so we booked it.

 

We were also willing to just do a land vacation if the cruise didn't work out so we didn't mind waiting. If you're willing to be flexible and don't have your heart set on a particular cabin then you can probably wait. However if you have your heart set on that cruise, then book it when the price seems reasonable and fits your budget.

 

Enjoy, Venice is amazing!

[RobandJames]

Thanks both. Really good advice. We are off on a Celebrity cruise in 2 weeks. We booked over a war in advance and then watched all sorts of offers appearing that we couldn't get our TA to get for us, hence my question about waiting. Also I am not familiar with how NCL typically works.

[Tomas62]

Thanks both. Really good advice. We are off on a Celebrity cruise in 2 weeks. We booked over a war in advance and then watched all sorts of offers appearing that we couldn't get our TA to get for us, hence my question about waiting. Also I am not familiar with how NCL typically works.

 

Hi, We'll be on this cruise as well. It will be the second week of a b2b for us. Our first time in Italy & Greece. We booked ours thru our PCC at NCL in April. We have sailed with NCL several times. I'ld book as soon as possible. The cabin category we wanted [Aft Penthouse suite] we were able to get, but is now no longer available. and it seems the category below ours [Aft mini-suite] has gone up to the price we paid. Every so often we check in with our PCC and each time he checks for any specials or promotions that have come up that would benefit us.

This should be a great cruise. I hope your as excited as we are.

[Demonyte]

We did something similar last year. We booked our flights to Venice. There were 2 ships leaving Venice that worked, so we kept checking on them. About 2 months before the trip, we saw that the prices on the Jade dropped significantly so we booked it.

 

We were also willing to just do a land vacation if the cruise didn't work out so we didn't mind waiting.

 

I didn't think of this, we too have thought about doing this in Florida sometime. This is a great advice if the ship/itinerary is not that important and land vacation can work as a backup. :)

[daffodiliaz]

If you just want to be on the ship and aren't picky about cabin or location, I say take the chance and wait to book. I'm trying to convince myself to do the same thing for a May 2014 Baltics itinerary but there seems to be steeper price cuts for that than the Jade. No risk, no reward, right? Just got to have a backup plan (land vacation or a different cruiseline).

[RobandJames]

True. I have been to Venice before so don't want to end up spending 9 days there so want to be on the cruise. So we will book and gamble that the prices don't drop too much between and now the cruise date!

[Keith1010]

Book early for best selection of rooms.

 

Keith

[Demonyte]

True. I have been to Venice before so don't want to end up spending 9 days there so want to be on the cruise. So we will book and gamble that the prices don't drop too much between and now the cruise date!

 

You can usually get price reductions before the final payment (75 days before the cruise), just call (either your TA or NCL if you book directly) and ask.

[jertom]

You can usually get price reductions before the final payment (75 days before the cruise), just call (either your TA or NCL if you book directly) and ask.

 

That's interesting. Why would the price reductions be before final payment and not after? And wouldn't it depend on how many people dropped out then?

[Demonyte]

That's interesting. Why would the price reductions be before final payment and not after? And wouldn't it depend on how many people dropped out then?

 

There can be price drops anytime (and on slow selling cruises most drops do come couple of weeks after final payment once the non-paid reservations are released), but after final payment NCL has no obligation give anything people that are outside their free cancellation period, before the final payment there is no penalty for cancelling so it's possible to cancel and rebook for free to get the lower price.

[Moondawgie]

Book early - best selection of cabin and price drops. My cruise dropped after I booked, I got the lower price and now it is 2X what the lowest price was.

 

If you are ready to watch the price, book early and do it.

[cynbar]

We usually book early, in the lowest cabin category we would be happy with, which likely is a balcony cabin (depends somewhat on the itinerary.) Then we keep an eye on prices, if before final payment we know we can call and get a price adjustment if it drops. But we still watch prices after final payment. Even though we won't get a price change, we can often move up to a better cabin at a great price by paying the difference. There are some exceptions, such as flash sales for new bookings only. But often the prices on the NCL website will go down as the cruise approaches, unless it is a particularly popular cruise. This works for us, we ended up in the Owner's Suite on our Gem cruise out of Venice, at a price much lower than we ever thought we'd get, but we still knew we'd be on the cruise so we could make all our other plans if that hadn't worked out.

[roger001]

There's no way to know. If you can wait until last minute, you might get lower prices on a cruise that is not selling well. However, you also might find it mostly sold out, poor room selections remaining, and higher prices. Also, airfare last minute is a consideration. I book early then watch for possible price reductions up until final payment is due/made. I have two cruises booked right now. One, in November, the price for our room (two persons) has gone up $1348. The other, for next April, is already up $300 for the room. Additionally, even though both of those are still months away, the cabin selections remaining are very few for what we want. So waiting on both of those would have been a big mistake. Last year we had a PC cruise booked. On it, even though we had booked early at a good price, the price kept coming down slowly as final payment approached. We kept getting the new lower price. And, even after final payment, several weeks before the cruise, the prices dropped even further. NCL moved us to a higher category room then. You just don't know what to expect. Book early and watch.

[cruisendave]

In our experience booking early is a must for rooms accommodating four. With a room for two you can probably wait. Booking early will leave you with more options like where your room is located (Near: Elevator, Casino, Etc.). Booking early will also enable you to get OBC.:)

[garycarla]

Big warning!!!

 

The term early means different things to different people. There are people that book a cruise almost 2 years out - or whenever they are available to book. Others than often book inside of a month or two. To us, booking early would be 6 months.

 

As said above, any cruise that still has a cancellation option is worth booking. If you have to lock in and pay, well...

[RobandJames]

How do you negotiate OBC?

 

 

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[roger001]

How do you negotiate OBC?

 

 

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There are no guarantees reference OBC being given for any price changes. Before final payment, you'll get the lower price if you ask. Keep in mind that getting a lower price is the same as rebooking. So if you had any previous special offers associated with the original booking, you will probably lose them if their offer no longer exits. So verify that a lower price outweighs any previous benefits. After final payment, NCL owes you nothing. The best you can do reference OBC is ask, either you direct if you booked through NCL, or through your TA if booked by one. Sometimes NCL will give you a small OBC just to keep you happier. But if they don't, do still go and enjoy your cruise. Remember, the price you originally booked at was a one you felt good about at the time. If you liked it then, don't let last minute discounting later bother you now. Seeing a lower price later happens to everyone frequently.