Last minute cruises--thoughts and ideas?

[dcollette]

So we were discussing with my son and his girlfriend who are looking to plan a future cruise with us (as they missed out on being able to do this one) and we were talking about time off and pricing. We generally cruise during less busy times--not when kids are off from school-- so there are generally rooms available on all sailings we might consider. Questions are these: for those who have booked at roughly 1 month out or so-- what have your experiences been? I see that pricing for upcoming sailings have dropped dramatically and if we had already planned on cruising and just waited until we found a price/itinerary we liked, could it work? If not, we would just make other plans and do something else (although we would all rather be cruising). I have heard from friends that have sailed within a few weeks of booking that they were able to get good deals and had basically planned on a vacation anyhow, so it was all good.

 

We would not be looking to fly to a port, so plane tickets are a non issue. Mainly we would be looking to do this because although I work for an awesome company that I could give them a month's notice (or less) for my vacation (they only require a two week notice) my son's gf has to give at least 3 months notice (crazy, right?). Perhaps we could all save a little money if we did it that way. We are not fussy on what rooms we would want, because we don't spend much time in them anyhow. I just wonder if that would be what we might end up with-- a room that is under/over a loud venue or some other undesirable location.

 

Any experiences, thoughts or suggestions are appreciated!

 

 

Debbie

[Budget Queen]

This is very easy to do from Florida. If you were to snag some good flight rates for a trip of 10 days, it is very likely you could pick up some give away rates.

 

Out of Ct. with not wanting to fly, is way more limiting, Boston is seasonal, and NYC has some crappy itineraries off season.

 

IF you want to make your plans for November, first half of Dec, Jan after the New Years, and Feb- it's pretty common for the cheap Bahamas cruises, if you don't care where you go.

[trish1c]

My experience with NY sailings is that the prices go up as embarkation day nears. I watched one cruise two years ago sail with the price for IV cabins close to the price for balcony cabins when I first started dreaming about that voyage.

We ended up getting a deal (< $400 pp) on a Princess cruise out of San Juan but paid dearly for the airfare. It was still cheaper than the last minute NY cruise.

[QuiGonJohn]

I can't wait until I can go on short notice. When I booked my Sept 2014 Alaska cruise, at $419 pp interior, I saw I could have booked a Sept 2013 Alaska cruise, same line, same itinerary, for only $249 pp interior. That was at about 2 weeks prior to the sailing date.

[dcollette]

Thank you all for your insights. I did notice that the prices in Sept for the bermuda sailings went way down on Breakaway --like half of what I paid for our November sailing to bahamas. I know it's hurricane season and all (as we just saw the delay of Breakaway docking in bermuda yesterday) but it seems like they dropped way down close to sail date. Think I'll spend some time watching so that next year maybe we will decide on a vacation week (after all, I get four weeks total) and if we don't find one, we can always put down a deposit for another date with the money we set aside anyway. When I watch airfare, it never seems like a good deal. Would love to sail out of FL, but with four plane tickets to purchase, it adds up super fast!

[Bars7816]

Our next cruise will be Alaska again and last minute. No airplane tickets to buy. We can go any day, so we will just watch and wait. Do not want to book guarantee, though. Too picky. Also, we might just book ocean view instead of balcony to save even more $$$. All cabins are going to the same places, right?:D Unless, or course, we get a killer deal on a balcony.

[4774Papa]

We have been doing our bucket list these past three years, since I retired. We book early and get great prices, since prices do tend to go up.

 

We don't cruise the Caribbean much, but would consider taking a bargain cruise if the price is right, since we can drive to South Florida.

 

If airfare is involved, like going to Europe, last minute bargains just don't work out well with the higher airfare. Also, most of the cruises we book early are sold out or nearly sold out, with the old bargains being inside cabins, which we don't want.