Waiting for prices to drop?

[bobbisailsolo]

Has anyone ever chosen their cruise, purchased their air, then waited to book the cruise till the last minute when prices are at their lowest? Assuming you don't care about cabins, do you think it's doable. Using FF mile , if you weren't able to book, you could just return them to your account. I just hate paying more that someone else for the same cruise. Bit if you wait till last minute to buy your international flight, the prices eat away a good chunk of the savings. does this sound too risky. Looking at something on OCEAN PRINCESS

 

 

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[Snow cat]

No, I book my cruise for the room I want at a price I am willing to pay, book my air, then watch the cruise prices at least daily to see if they've dropped and I can take advantage of it. Its a win-win situation.

[paul929207]

Usually there is a charge to redeposit miles in the FF programs.

 

There is no guarantee that cabins will be available or that the prices will be lower at the last minute.

[Cruise a holic]

Has anyone ever chosen their cruise, purchased their air, then waited to book the cruise till the last minute when prices are at their lowest? Assuming you don't care about cabins, do you think it's doable. Using FF mile , if you weren't able to book, you could just return them to your account. I just hate paying more that someone else for the same cruise. Bit if you wait till last minute to buy your international flight, the prices eat away a good chunk of the savings. does this sound too risky. Looking at something on OCEAN PRINCESS

 

 

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My neice and nephew book the air and wait for the cruise prices to drop. They typically save a lot of money. If you aren't fussy about your cabin, but must leave for vacation on a certain date, and have a ship picked out already- you can gamble. You must however, check often the occupancy of the ship you desire to sail on. If and when you see it booking up- take any cheap cabin, then upgrade at the last minute if you can. Not easy to do during peak holiday periods.

 

Enjoy.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Cruise a holic

[sept10dsm]

I don't think I would book air before the cruise. Price drops may or may not happen.

[denmarks]

There does not seem to be many sales lately. Booking early gives you a good chance to get an upgrade. I picked the lowest price inside cabin and within a month was upgraded 3 times to a balcony.:eek:

[OCruisers]

No, have never done that. We wouldn't book air without having a cruise firmly booked first.

Remember, sometimes prices go up as well as down.

LuLu

[Pam in CA]

No, have never done that. We wouldn't book air without having a cruise firmly booked first.

 

Remember, sometimes prices go up as well as down.

I agree. I've never waited for nor expected prices to go down because I know the reality is that they can just as easily go up. Like some others, I use discount TAs so I'm paying less to start with and if there is a price drop and I'm eligible, I'll save even more.

[geoherb]

No. I'd never book air for a specific cruise before booking the cruise. I usually book them together, although I have waited to book our flights for cruises leaving from Florida since we could, if we had to, drive to the port.

 

What I will do--and what I am currently doing--is wait until after the final payment date to see if prices will come down when there are several different cruises I'm interested in taking. Currently, our options are the Pacific Princess, the Ocean Princess, and the Caribbean Princess, among others, for the first week of August. DH gets his break from teaching at a community college then. His vacation time is July 31 through August 13, so I'm hoping to find a good price for a cruise for then. The three top contenders are wildly different. The Pacific Princess is an Alaskan cruise from Vancouver. The Ocean Princess is doing the British isles. And the Caribbean Princess is in the Caribbean.

[caribill]

The OP says the Ocean Princess is the ship involved.

 

Being a small ship, the chances are good there will be few cabins if any to be had at sale prices.

[Working 2 Cruise]

The OP says the Ocean Princess is the ship involved.

 

Being a small ship, the chances are good there will be few cabins if any to be had at sale prices.

 

I would have to agree with Caribill. This is a small ship and generally prices on cruises on smaller ships tend to go up not down... And they tend to sell out fairly quickly. This would be feasible on other types of cruises, but not this one. This is a gamble that likely will not pay off.

[sept10dsm]

I agree on the small ship theory. I can't imagine booking a flight without the cruise booked first. Just me I guess, of course unless I would do something else there if pricing didn't pan out for the cruise.

[ar1950]

Another opinion here that agrees with others. More likely on the small ships to see prices go up rather than down. Also, we used to get great last minute deals, but, on the last two cruises the prices went up and the cruises sold out. We actually got the best prices booking earlier rather than later. Good luck whatever you decide to do. :cool:

 

YMMV

[JohnBoy in NC]

Has anyone ever chosen their cruise, purchased their air, then waited to book the cruise till the last minute when prices are at their lowest? Assuming you don't care about cabins, do you think it's doable. Using FF mile , if you weren't able to book, you could just return them to your account. I just hate paying more that someone else for the same cruise. Bit if you wait till last minute to buy your international flight, the prices eat away a good chunk of the savings. does this sound too risky. Looking at something on OCEAN PRINCESS

 

 

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I have done this once before (Alaska)...and doing it now actually for a fall repo cruise, but I was fairly certain of availability based upon previous year and this was for an inside cabin. Booked flights 330 days out, secured great deal on hotel...all almost a year in advance...then waited for final payment date and then price drops for new bookings only. For my fall target, have the flights/hotel secured....now have to anxiously wait until August. But again, this particular repo has never sailed full....so the odds are greatly in my favor. On an overseas cruise on the Ocean, I wouldn't take the chance...but that is just me (unless you have tracked this sailing in the past).

John in NC

[bobbisailsolo]

Right now, 1 month to sailing the north cape, the price is down to 1299 for an inside. With a 200% supplement that's 2600 and cabins are available. The price for the 2015 is 4349 with 160% supplement, bringing the cost to 6958! Quite a difference for me. It costs about 150.00 to put my miles back In... So I'm gambling 150 on maybe a 2600.00 savings! Upgrades really aren't important to me... And as a solo, they are not prone to give me much of an upgrade since they are already losing money on me..[emoji19]

 

 

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[DrivesLikeMario]

Yes, I did this once. I knew I wanted to go no matter what and I was willing to pay whatever price it was at the last minute if prices didn't drop. I didn't use miles to upgrade to prem. economy, I just paid in full for it months ahead of booking the cruise. I also booked all my Princess tours and independent tours. A little odd to do things that way, but there was nothing that was going to stop me from going. Had the BEST time ever BTW! And, I was sailing solo too so I feel your pain with the prices.

Edited May 9, 2014 by DrivesLikeMario

[Coral]

Yes - I have done this multiple times, but for Alaska.

 

I don't worry about FF miles (returning them) as there is always a flight change and I can always say "sorry, that doesn't work for me, please cancel".

[sunsetbeachgal]

The OP says the Ocean Princess is the ship involved.

 

Being a small ship, the chances are good there will be few cabins if any to be had at sale prices.

 

I agree...I seem to get a lot of email specials from Princess lately (probably because I have nothing booked) and rarely see the Ocean Princess offered...if it was an itinerary that was done repeatedly I might say wait, but the Ocean does different ones so I probably wouldn't risk it..

[bobbisailsolo]

I got an email on the OP today... With the north cape cruise advertised. That's what led me to post this thread. Actually my math was wrong...with a single, it's a difference of 4300 on an inside cabin!

 

 

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[cdngrl]

add me to the list who wouldn't do this. especially on the ocean princess or one of the small ships. in my experience, they often fill up and rarely does the price go down. I hope it works out for you. let us know.

[jrzebird]

Yes, I did this once. I knew I wanted to go no matter what and I was willing to pay whatever price it was at the last minute if prices didn't drop. I didn't use miles to upgrade to prem. economy, I just paid in full for it months ahead of booking the cruise. I also booked all my Princess tours and independent tours. A little odd to do things that way, but there was nothing that was going to stop me from going. Had the BEST time ever BTW! And, I was sailing solo too so I feel your pain with the prices.

 

How can you book Princess tours if you haven't booked the cruise?

 

Maureen

[oceans2blue]

Interesting idea, but you have to watch the trends for a particular time and destination, and not just assume the price will go down. I've been on cruises that are sold out before sailing, so with the sales going well they would not likely discount those much.

[princess09]

Has anyone ever chosen their cruise, purchased their air, then waited to book the cruise till the last minute when prices are at their lowest? Assuming you don't care about cabins, do you think it's doable. Using FF mile , if you weren't able to book, you could just return them to your account. I just hate paying more that someone else for the same cruise. Bit if you wait till last minute to buy your international flight, the prices eat away a good chunk of the savings. does this sound too risky. Looking at something on OCEAN PRINCESS

 

 

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I booked our October cruise in February because cabin choice is important to us. Although I was satisfied that the price was good, I watched for sales for several months. When the price didn't go down and I booked the air yesterday. I checked the price today and guess what? Yes, the price went down! I'll continue to watch until final payment...

[Tedferg]

Just checking price on Baltic tour out of Copenhagen July 2014. Balcony on Royal $2599. I then signed in to see past passenger rate - usually $100 less, and New Bookings Only at $1799 popped up. Signed out and it reverted to $2,599 !

 

We are thinking of this trip for 2015. Regarding OP I would think Royal is unlikely to sell out quickly - do you agree?

[insidecabin]

Three of the round Britain's on Ruby are currently on offer in the UK insides down under £600(inc tx),11th was £499 but gone up again.