Book last minute for a September Alaska cruise?

[tgcassidy]

Hello, my job will have me living in Seattle for the month of September. I am thinking of booking a cruise for the week of September 15. I have been told by an unreliable source that if I wait until last minute to book the price will drop. My questions are as follows:

Has anyone ever booked last minute?

Are the balcony rooms full that week?

Do you think I can get a better deal by waiting or should I book now?

[cruz chic]

How last minutes is last minute? I noticed that my August 18 Oosterdam cruise is now at the lowest price for balconies since I've been tracking it. That happened about a week ago. Generally Hal does do the fire sail close to booking but the odd time they don't. You'll probably be ok but it's hard to say for sure.

[Rowsby]

Have you cruised with Holland America......??

They are having a Mariners Sale and the September 15th Oosterdam cruise is $799 per person for a VF category Veranda....

The earliest we have booked was 25 days before cruising...we did get a good rate.....but you never know....

Good luck....!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

I seriously doubt if you will get much choice in booking a cabin at the last minute.

HAL will take of guarantee reservations first which will have been booked maybe months before.

Therefore the balconies and verandahs will be gone.

You may end up with an ocean view at the best.

But even that is iffy.

[iancal]

We have been watching the prices. The bottom line is the type of cabin that you prefer. If you are looking for a verandah cabin and are happy with the price you may want to book in order to avoid disappointment.

 

If, on the other hand, you are OK with an outside or an inside, those prices can go as low as $349. But...it is always a crap shoot. We live within an easy drive of Vancouver and schedule is not an issue so we tend to watch for last minute deals.

 

The other very LARGE benefit of booking late for an Alaska cruise is that you can sometimes get a better handle on the possibility of getting good weather or avoiding inclement weather.

[garydm]

We booked an Alaska September cruise a couple years ago about a month out from the trip. Got an S Suite at a great price. Only problem was we had major fog the entire week, but Alaska weather is totally unpredictable so YMMV.

 

Gary

[iancal]

There are a number of Sept. sailings with good verandah pricing still left. They are gtys, but that is what one would expect.

 

The Alaska prices 20-45 days out have been very good on a few cruise lines, including HAL this year.

[Kenito]

We have been watching the prices. The bottom line is the type of cabin that you prefer. If you are looking for a verandah cabin and are happy with the price you may want to book in order to avoid disappointment.

 

If, on the other hand, you are OK with an outside or an inside, those prices can go as low as $349. But...it is always a crap shoot. We live within an easy drive of Vancouver and schedule is not an issue so we tend to watch for last minute deals.

 

The other very LARGE benefit of booking late for an Alaska cruise is that you can sometimes get a better handle on the possibility of getting good weather or avoiding inclement weather.

 

IANCAL are you saying a RT out of seattle for $349?

 

I've seen the one-way northbound or southbound cruises that cheap... but hard to find the RT trips that cheap. Found one RT for $399 however!