To book or to wait???

[sacnaillady]

Hi everyone! I'm looking to book a Med. cruise for Sept. 25th, 2015. I've mostly sailed Carnival but I'm looking for a change. I notice there is a buy one get one half off. I can get a mid ship balcony for $3100. Is this a really good price or should I wait for another promo. I don't know if this is a "true" sale or just a gimmick and I can therefore get the same price a month from now on some other great "sale". It would work out better for me to wait a month or two to book this but if this is the sale of the year I will stretch myself and book it now. Sorry if I'm babbling but I'm just unsure. Thank you in advance.

[Clarea]

I'd book now to get the best selection of staterooms and take advantage of the sale. If the price goes down before final payment date, Royal will give you the lower price, with certain exceptions.

[Artemis]

Is that the 12-night Vision? Run the numbers--if 12 nights, that's an attractive per diem for a balcony, and to be able to select a midship cabin to your liking now is a plus. And as the previous poster said, you may be able to improve your position before final payment. (Viking is an older ship, but there have been several positive reviews from this summer in the Med. Personally, on such a port-intensive itinerary, I don't care if I'm not on the "latest, greatest" because it's a challenge to go hard all day and then take full advantage of the ship at night! The Vision class is nice because it's small enough to feel personal--you interact with the same staff and pax more often than on big ships.)

 

Have fun researching!

 

 

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[sacnaillady]

I booked it! 8 night in an aft wrap Jr. Suite. I'm very excited!!!

[KKMurphy2]

We booked the same cruise. We are Diamond members and usually book balconies. But we took an inside cabin because it is so port intensive and we know that we will not utilize a balcony to much extent. We saved a ton of money for airfare and excursions. :) Hope to see you on the ship!

[jules815]

I booked it! 8 night in an aft wrap Jr. Suite. I'm very excited!!!

 

Nice! Congrats!

[sacnaillady]

Nice! Congrats!

 

 

Thanks, I've joined the roll call, posted my countdown ticker...I'm ready to research!

Edited July 8, 2014 by sacnaillady
wrong word

[Artemis]

Wow, that was decisive--and an aft wrap JS no less! I love your enthusiasm. Have fun with your year+ of anticipation and planning! (And you probably already caught it, but I erred when I said Vision was in the Med this summer--not! But some nice reviews out there, nonetheless!)

 

Congrats!

 

 

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[LBumb]

congrats

[Beardface]

I always say, if you have the money and you have an itinerary on a ship that looks good to you and the timing appears to work, book it and put the money down. You have until 75 days prior to sailing to make your final decision on whether or not you want to go. If you decide to cancel, you get a full refund, assuming you call back before the end of the day that 75th day prior to your cruise (when final payment is due, by the way). If you decide on doing another cruise, that deposit will transfer, and if you ever see the price for the room class you booked go down up to that 75th day, call up RCI and they'll immediately drop the price of your booking to that price.

 

For as much crap as RCI does take on here for their customer service, they really do go out of their way to make the process as fair for passengers as they can.

[Dwalkerdave]

Except if you live outside the USA !!!!!!

[FLACRUISER99]

Except if you live outside the USA !!!!!!

The OP does live in California and that's in the USA.:rolleyes:

[Dwalkerdave]

The OP does live in California and that's in the USA.:rolleyes:

 

I was referring to non US customers ie. UK who do not benefit from the refund policy etc.

 

Even I know where California is !!!!!!!!!

[sacnaillady]

I always say, if you have the money and you have an itinerary on a ship that looks good to you and the timing appears to work, book it and put the money down. You have until 75 days prior to sailing to make your final decision on whether or not you want to go. If you decide to cancel, you get a full refund, assuming you call back before the end of the day that 75th day prior to your cruise (when final payment is due, by the way). If you decide on doing another cruise, that deposit will transfer, and if you ever see the price for the room class you booked go down up to that 75th day, call up RCI and they'll immediately drop the price of your booking to that price.

 

 

 

For as much crap as RCI does take on here for their customer service, they really do go out of their way to make the process as fair for passengers as they can.

 

 

Good to know on the 75 day thing. I was wondering. I'm pretty sure we won't back out but you never know.

 

Now, since there's a 75 day and 100% of you deposit is returned if you cancel.....should I buy trip insurance now or wait until 75 days out? Advantages? Disadvantages? Any opinions?

[Clarea]

...Now, since there's a 75 day and 100% of you deposit is returned if you cancel.....should I buy trip insurance now or wait until 75 days out? Advantages? Disadvantages? Any opinions?

The answer is "it depends". Have you purchased non-refundable airfare that you want insured? Do you have an existing medical condition that may flare up and prevent you from cruising. Insurance is complicated and there are many options to choose from.

 

You can take a look at some options here:

 

www.insuremytrip.com

 

www.squaremouth.com

 

www.quotewright.com

 

tripinsurancestore.com

[sacnaillady]

I always buy insurance. Our Mom's are elderly and I have some health issues that occasionally flare up. We won't book air until early next year sometime. But I don't know if we should wait until I purchase non refundable flights or until there are penalties for canceling the cruise. I know there are some advantages to getting you insurance as soon as you book the cruise but I don't know what. I think it has something to do with pre existing or canceling for any reason. Does anyone know? I may post this tonight on the insurance discussion.

[Artemis]

To get pre-existing conditions covered, you either need to buy your insurance within something like 7-14 days of your initial trip deposit, i.e., now, use the links provided above to identify policies. You can always increase the coverage after you determine additional non-refundable trip costs. Otherwise, if you want to wait, there is only one policy I know of, may br one or two others--again, those sites will show you, that allows you to secure pre-ex if you buy within 24 hours of your final trip payment. It's the premium CSA product. We have bought it numerous times and had to make two claims, one involving a pre-ex--both claims were paid very quickly with no hassle.

 

 

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[sacnaillady]

To get pre-existing conditions covered, you either need to buy your insurance within something like 7-14 days of your initial trip deposit, i.e., now, use the links provided above to identify policies. You can always increase the coverage after you determine additional non-refundable trip costs. Otherwise, if you want to wait, there is only one policy I know of, may br one or two others--again, those sites will show you, that allows you to secure pre-ex if you buy within 24 hours of your final trip payment. It's the premium CSA product. We have bought it numerous times and had to make two claims, one involving a pre-ex--both claims were paid very quickly with no hassle.

 

 

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So we can add coverage as we go? Example, we just put a deposit on our cruise. We are planning to do a week to week and a half in Italy, starting in Venice ending in Rome. Then we will board the cruise. So we could cover the cruise now and add air coverage and hotel/b&b coverage as we book it?

 

I will defiantly look into the coverage I can book 24 hour of final payment. Thanks

[dacsmom]

Congratulations, it sounds like a wonderful trip you have planned.

[Artemis]

Yes, you are correct. By the time of final payment, I usually have a good idea of my non-refundable expenses. On air, if you travel enough thay you could recycle the value of the ticket within the prescribed time (usaually a year, must be same flier, can be any itin--check ticket terms to be sure), then you only need to cover change fees, not the full cost of the ticket. If you use miles, better to take the airline coverage that protects reward travel; use the trip insurance for everything else. Other non-redundables you may need to include are certain hotel stays with tight cancellation policies, any tours requiring advance, non-refundable deposit, any show tickets, etc. Obviously, you have to pay a supplemental premium for the add-ons, so I always do a cost/benefit analysis--you might be willing to eat a loss or two if the premium increase doesn't justify the coverage.

 

Hope that makes sense!

 

 

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Edited July 9, 2014 by Artemis