Last Minute Cruises?

[andyandsue]

I read the info on CC of course but I want to ask- Has anyone ever booked a last minute cruise? How much can you really save, and how last minute were you?

 

NCL is our preferred cruise line. I have my travel agent on it, but really as I look at cruises coming up the savings isn't more than a few hundred.

 

We have vacation time the first week of August. Don't have any plans at the moment but know we want to go somewhere... luckily we live close enough to the NYC port or even Baltimore if necessary. If a cruise doesn't become an affordable option we can always drive somewhere, but I have visions of another cruise.

[Demonyte]

You usually really can't save much. There was a recent discussion about this and the sweet spot for "last minute" was usually about three to four weeks away - if ever. At least our July cruise has been selling very quick during the last month and a half with two weeks to go and the prices really haven't dropped at any point. The times when people usually have their vacations (like summer and around holidays etc) aren't in general good times to find deals.

[dark star]

i would agree with the above post. got my best deals three weeks out,extra O B C and some great savings but yhat was in winter season.

[SFO-F/A]

Those last minute deals usually don't happen in the summer. I've found the best deals after final payment is due, usually 2 months out, during the fall and winter.

[yellohj]

We booked an inside guarantee just on Monday July 1, for a July 14 sail on breakaway. We paid for it on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday morning the price had dropped $300. NCL refunded me the difference because it was in 24 hours. Others found their studio dropped from $1600, but other cabins dropped above, so they were able to upgrade to balcony or mini suites for not much more. Read the July 14th roll call for breakaway to read about each of the posters fortunes.

 

j

[biker@sea]

Booked a 7 day Bermuda for $299 pp 23 hrs before sailing .;) Most of our bookings are within a week of sailing . :D

[SFO-F/A]

We booked an inside guarantee just on Monday July 1, for a July 14 sail on breakaway. We paid for it on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday morning the price had dropped $300. NCL refunded me the difference because it was in 24 hours. Others found their studio dropped from $1600, but other cabins dropped above, so they were able to upgrade to balcony or mini suites for not much more. Read the July 14th roll call for breakaway to read about each of the posters fortunes.

 

j

 

That's great news! I guess with all the cabins to fill on the larger ships it's easier to get deals if you can hold out and buy last minute!

Our Panama Canal mini suites have been sold out for a month or more and we still have almost 3 months to go!

[Sauer-kraut]

Got an EPIC studio cabin on a Monday for a cruise leaving Saturday. When I first started looking there were 8 studios left....by the time I was ready to book I had a choice of 2 cabins and that was up for grabs while I was on the phone. It was shown as booked with NCL on the phone, but it became available while I was on hold and I booked online instead.

 

You just never know what its going to be, the price I paid was about half of what the price was when the cruise was first offered.

[Barb Nahoumi]

We met a couple on our Bermuda cruise last summer, who booked 2 weeks before sailing.

 

They said that they did $ave some money.

[aSiAnRiCk]

I'm looking at a Bahamas cruise on the Sky for THIS Friday. The price is $179++ for Inside and $199++ for Porthole window. Other lines are in the $300++ range.

 

Too bad there's a tropical storm warning in the Caribbean :(

[wjb2613]

I'm taking my first cruise in October. It's the Star TA. The price for my guaranteed inside cabin has dropped 25% since I bought it January 3rd. It seems to me like certain times of year and certain itineraries are much more popular and for cruises that fall in that category I would not wait until the last minute to book. However, TA cruises don't seem to be extremely popular. The April TA on the Star was around 16 days if I remember correctly and the price for a gty inside a few weeks before it left was around $400. That was the cheapest per day cost of a cruise I ever saw. I expect based on that, the price of the TA going back in October is going to continue to fall since it's "only" 12 days and the gty inside is currently $449. I wouldn't be surprised if the price falls all the way to $350 for this cruise which would be a drop of 42% from the January price.

[Demonyte]

It seems to me like certain times of year and certain itineraries are much more popular and for cruises that fall in that category I would not wait until the last minute to book. However, TA cruises don't seem to be extremely popular.

 

Yep, some TAs and other reposition cruises are not that wanted because as you said, they are usually longer (limits the families with kids) and also they are always between peak seasons (late spring or late autumn).