Advance booking comments

[tinykygal]

I am unable to convince DH that it is not necessarily a negative thing to book a cruise far in advance, i.e. 10 months approx. He doesn't think there are deals by doing so.

Convince me as to why we should consider booking in advance.

 

I was thinking room choice, but that is not a big issue with us. I love the balcony, but inside works for me. We are retired and are flexible with our travel plans.

 

Secondly, have you ever received a price drop when you book so far in advance?

 

Thank you.

[Shmoo here]

I am unable to convince DH that it is not necessarily a negative thing to book a cruise far in advance, i.e. 10 months approx. He doesn't think there are deals by doing so.

Convince me as to why we should consider booking in advance.

 

I was thinking room choice, but that is not a big issue with us. I love the balcony, but inside works for me. We are retired and are flexible with our travel plans.

 

Secondly, have you ever received a price drop when you book so far in advance?

 

Thank you.

 

Typically the pros are that you can select that special room you want, and prices are generally lower the further out you book. Prices tend to rise as the space fills up onboard.

 

The farthest out we've booked was 23 months. The shortest 4 days.

 

And it's a lot of fun knowing you have a cruise coming up that you've committed to.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Shmoo here

[leaveitallbehind]

With most cruise lines when you book in advance you are locking your prevailing rate in against future increases. However should the price drop prior to final payment you can take advantage of that lower rate. Additionally stateroom selection is best further out. You also have the flexibility with a refund of your deposit (in most cases) prior to final payment should you change your mind.

 

Regarding price drops, two of the three cruises we currently have on deposit have had price drops which we have taken advantage of since we booked them.

Edited July 29, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[tinykygal]

LEAVEITALLBEHIND, how are you able to take advantage of the price drops?

There is a thread after mine, a copy of a blog that is negative toward booking in advance.

We have sailed 10x, so we aren't new to cruising.

Thank you.

[leaveitallbehind]

LEAVEITALLBEHIND, how are you able to take advantage of the price drops?

There is a thread after mine, a copy of a blog that is negative toward booking in advance.

We have sailed 10x, so we aren't new to cruising.

Thank you.

 

In our case we book through a very good and proactive TA who typically spots the price reductions as we do or ahead of us and initiates the price reduction with the cruise line (RCI) for us. (She also is one who does not charge any separate fees separate from the cruise line for managing, modifying, or cancelling a booking).

 

If you book direct all you need to do is contact the cruise line when you see a reduction and they will apply it to your booking.

 

We book when we decide on the next cruise we want. Sometimes that is a year in advance, other times only a couple of months. But we see no disadvantage to booking in advance for the reasons I outlined in my first response.

[Cruising Golfer]

Our next cruise has gone up almost $200.00 per person and we are still a long way out...:cool:

[dancinman66]

To get price drops you need a good ta. They are not going to go out of their wY for this as is extra work for less money

So apart from pleasing you a little there is no benefit for them

With all their bookings to work nov would mean also time wise could only do half the qty they would otherwise

 

 

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[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Price and room selection .

[calliopecruiser]

I am unable to convince DH that it is not necessarily a negative thing to book a cruise far in advance, i.e. 10 months approx. He doesn't think there are deals by doing so.

Convince me as to why we should consider booking in advance.

 

I was thinking room choice, but that is not a big issue with us. I love the balcony, but inside works for me. We are retired and are flexible with our travel plans.

 

Secondly, have you ever a price drop when you book so far in advance?

 

Thank you.

 

I don't know if there are deals to be made, but there are definitely advantages.......whether or not those advantages matter to you is a different matter. Assuring your cabin is one, assuring your flight plans ahead of time (might or might not be a bid deal for you), and the planning or booking of specifics that can't be done until you're booked or paid for (varies by cruise line).

 

You're assured the price won't rise (yes, that does happen for some voyages) and if it drops your TA can usually get compensation for you.

[olemissreb]

I can tell you why I book so far ahead...

 

* My pick of rooms

* I pay my cruise off a little bit at a time until final payment (less pain in the pocketbook)

* plenty of time to research ports of call and find independent excursions and to book early for the more popular trips

* early booking allows for easy booking of flights using frequent flier miles (seats are harder to find the closer you book to sailing)

* early booking of hotel rooms using either points or AAA plus you lock in the rate which protects against price increases later.

* more time to shop for the perfect outfits to take on the cruise:o:D

 

It drives my DH nuts too when I book so far in advance, but when he finds out everything is paid for and we have nothing to do but relax and enjoy our vacation he figures it was worth all my obsessive planning.

[Guest maddycat]

LEAVEITALLBEHIND, how are you able to take advantage of the price drops?

There is a thread after mine, a copy of a blog that is negative toward booking in advance.

We have sailed 10x, so we aren't new to cruising.

Thank you.

 

In our case we book through a very good and proactive TA who typically spots the price reductions as we do or ahead of us and initiates the price reduction with the cruise line (RCI) for us. (She also is one who does not charge any separate fees separate from the cruise line for managing, modifying, or cancelling a booking).

 

If you book direct all you need to do is contact the cruise line when you see a reduction and they will apply it to your booking.

 

We book when we decide on the next cruise we want. Sometimes that is a year in advance, other times only a couple of months. But we see no disadvantage to booking in advance for the reasons I outlined in my first response.

 

To get price drops before final payment you need to contact the cruiseline if you booked directly with them. If you booked through a travel agent you must contact the TA and ask them to get the price drop for you.

 

I book our cruises anywhere from 1 1/2 - 2 years in advance, when bookings for a cruise that I am interested in first open. I check the cruiseline's website for price drops daily by doing a mock booking. If I find a price drop I either contact the cruiseline or my TA.

[cb at sea]

Why are you even discussing it with him? Decide on a date, book it, and be done with it!

[CruiseMore1]

LEAVEITALLBEHIND, how are you able to take advantage of the price drops?

There is a thread after mine, a copy of a blog that is negative toward booking in advance.

We have sailed 10x, so we aren't new to cruising.

Thank you.

 

That quoted blog/article is so full of misinformation, I wonder if the author has ever cruised at all!

[leaveitallbehind]

To get price drops before final payment you need to contact the cruiseline if you booked directly with them. If you booked through a travel agent you must contact the TA and ask them to get the price drop for you.

 

I book our cruises anywhere from 1 1/2 - 2 years in advance, when bookings for a cruise that I am interested in first open. I check the cruiseline's website for price drops daily by doing a mock booking. If I find a price drop I either contact the cruiseline or my TA.

 

Which is what I said. Not sure why you quoted my response to the OP and repeated it. :confused: The only difference is our TA often beats me to it so I don't always have to call her to ask her to process the price drop. :)

Edited July 30, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[SPacificbound]

I book as soon as the schedule comes out, I like to book specific cabins.

 

So far every cruise I have booked the prices have gone up. At one point our South America cruises were over double what we had booked them for and they were still selling.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have booked as far as 1 1/2 years in advance. We do like certain cabins.

A couple of times the price went down and we called our TA and she got us the lower price (before final payment). But most of the time we have seen prices go up.

[tinykygal]

LOL. I met you and your DH years ago on the Brilliance. I wonder if you discussed with him.

Happy Cruising!

[sail7seas]

A significant advantage can be if you have to fly, usually air prices are better the further out you book. If you book your air close to the date you are flying you could lose anything you saved on the cruise fare by paying higher air fare.

 

[cjnwildfire]

I am unable to convince DH that it is not necessarily a negative thing to book a cruise far in advance, i.e. 10 months approx. He doesn't think there are deals by doing so.

Convince me as to why we should consider booking in advance.

 

I was thinking room choice, but that is not a big issue with us. I love the balcony, but inside works for me. We are retired and are flexible with our travel plans.

 

Secondly, have you ever received a price drop when you book so far in advance?

 

Thank you.

The first cruise we took was a gift. I didn't know about price drops and such.

I have booked anywhere from 2 months out to 1 yr out ever since. I have always gotten a good amount of OBC ($200-$500).

Booking later, doesn't always mean a better deal. But neither does booking early!

You have to work for it!

[pris993]

LEAVEITALLBEHIND, how are you able to take advantage of the price drops?

There is a thread after mine, a copy of a blog that is negative toward booking in advance.

We have sailed 10x, so we aren't new to cruising.

Thank you.

 

We have a different approach. We book 1 - 1.5 years in advance. Sometimes we book while on board a ship and buy a Future Booking Credit to put down a $100 deposit each in most cases.

 

We book directly with the cruise line, watch for price drops, then call the cruise line and ask for the lower price. You have to ask for the price drop.

 

We often transfer the cruise to a TA when we are sure we will actually take the cruise. We are retired, sometimes we change our mind. If we do cancel with the cruise line directly we do not lose our deposit, as long as we do so before final payment. We generally cruise on Princess, Holland America, NCL and Cunard.

 

We do cruise Celebrity, I have read recently on the Celebrity board you can not cancel a cruise, but you can transfer the booking deposit to a later cruise, which we would do until we used it. If you cancel on Celebrity you will lose the deposit.

 

The bottom line you need to ask for price drops to get them.

[cjnwildfire]

LEAVEITALLBEHIND, how are you able to take advantage of the price drops?

There is a thread after mine, a copy of a blog that is negative toward booking in advance.

We have sailed 10x, so we aren't new to cruising.

Thank you.

If you have an upcoming cruise, I will be happy to help you. Just email me.

 

jlcruse@live.com