Is early booking really more costly?

[clementine01]

I booked almost 18 months out. Because I booked with Carnival's early saver rate, I can take advantage of any price drops until I cruise. I also got the cabin I wanted and have time to save.

 

 

Thanks for sharing that information.

 

Now that's getting the best of both worlds! I've never heard of that program.

 

Does anyone know if the other cruises have similar programs?

[leaveitallbehind]

Thanks for sharing that information.

 

Now that's getting the best of both worlds! I've never heard of that program.

Does anyone know if the other cruises have similar programs?

 

Check the restrictions for that program as I believe your deposit is non-refundable should you decide to cancel your booking prior to final payment. (I believe they hold it as a credit towards a future booking). IMO that is a restriction I would not find attractive as plans can and do change.

 

Most cruise lines will lock your pricing in at time of booking against future increases while allowing you to take advantage of price drops prior to final payment. They will also provide a full deposit refund should you cancel your booking prior to final payment. That to me is the best of both worlds.

 

As example, two of our three future bookings have had price decreases which we have taken advantage of since the initial booking. As they are all still pre final payment, all three also provide for a full refund of our deposit should we need to make any changes.

 

In our experience early booking has never been more costly - just the opposite.

Edited July 30, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[marco]

Honestly, I think the answer(s) to your question is "Maybe" and "Sometimes". We booked a cruise a while back. The price has gone up since we booked. We also get a lot of e-blasts for a sailing within 60 days or so with reduced prices and have taken advantage of them on occasion. I think it totally depends on if the cruise is selling or not and there are a lot of factors that determine that. And if you're really picky about your cabin, yes, there might be a really good price on a cabin or category, but not one you'd be happy with.

Edited July 30, 2014 by marco

[donnatello]

If you have to fly to the cruise port, sometimes saving $$$ on the flight is more likely if you've booked your cruise well in advance and can watch (and grab) a better deal on the air when you have more advance time to book it. If you have to book air within 30 - 60 days, sometimes that can be pricy and negates any "deal" you got on the cruise.

[CraftyScribbles]

I don't believe in last-minute anything. We live in California; so we need to know the ins and outs before we take off, and our distance from other places requires early planning.

 

Besides, I like having first dibs on cabin selection and reservations, especially air fare - the earlier, the better.

[Carnival_Brides]

Check the restrictions for that program as I believe your deposit is non-refundable should you decide to cancel your booking prior to final payment. (I believe they hold it as a credit towards a future booking). IMO that is a restriction I would not find attractive as plans can and do change.

 

Most cruise lines will lock your pricing in at time of booking against future increases while allowing you to take advantage of price drops prior to final payment. They will also provide a full deposit refund should you cancel your booking prior to final payment. That to me is the best of both worlds.

 

As example, two of our three future bookings have had price decreases which we have taken advantage of since the initial booking. As they are all still pre final payment, all three also provide for a full refund of our deposit should we need to make any changes.

 

In our experience early booking has never been more costly - just the opposite.

 

There are a few restrictions with ES--the biggest one has to do with the deposit. If you cancel or modify you're booking (date or ship change) CCL keeps $50pp and gives you the rest in a future cruise credit.

 

The other random restrictions are that you can only claim price drops up until 2 days before sail and you aren't supposed to be able to price drop GTYs (people still manage it). We book it for some cruises, but not all.

 

We've only booked two cruises early (18 months out)--one we did with GS and the other was our wedding cruise, so we had to book in order to book our wedding. We don't worry about booking the day sailings are released with CCL because their prices usually come down unless it's Europe, a holiday, or special sailing (the Pride and Freedom repos). If I was looking at Disney or RCI I'd probably plan differently.

[Hlitner]

The article cited by the OP is only partially true. We have booked an awful lot of cruises (more then 3 years on cruise ships) and still cruise over 70 days a year. Sometimes we will book far in advance if it is a cruise that we think might be in great demand. Even when booking in advance, one can "reprice" the cruise at any time up until final payment....after which things become much more difficult if not impossible. On some cruises we will wait until inside the final payment period...and have sometimes gotten amazing deals. In fact, on one RCI repositioning cruise it was almost like RCI paid us to take the cruise.

 

As to air, there are some good newsletters on the market about air fare strategy and none suggest booking far in advance (except for major holiday periods). And there are too many cruisers who have booked (and paid) for their air 11 months in advance to later learn that their cruise has been cancelled due to a charter...or undergone some major itinerary changes that make the cruise less then desirable.

 

When we started cruising (in the early 70s) we would carefully choose our cabin. Over a lot of years we found that in many cases it just did not make much difference. In fact, our favorite cabins are in the forward quarter of most ships, and this location is generally the least popular. If we can save substantial money (often in the thousands of dollars) by not selecting a cabin then we usually take our chances.

 

As to pricing, we will give you all an example based on a current HAL booking we have for a 35 day cruise. When we originally booked this cruise (about a year in advance) the total cost of the booking was about $22,000 (which included a drink package). By the time we got to our final payment (a few weeks ago) that same cruise (and cabin) cost us a little less then $12,000. So by rebooking/repricing, which we had our TA do 3 times, we saved about $10,000 although we did lose the drink package :).

 

And getting back to our "last minute" bookings (which are simply within the final payment period) we have been able to grab balcony cabins for as little as $58 a passenger day (total cost including all taxes). Most of the other passengers in that same category cabin were paying more then 3 times what we paid. But last minute bookings are best left to those of us with lots of flexibility (generally retirees). Although most of our bookings are made well in advance, we are always watching the last minute deals for something worth our while :).

 

Hank

[SPacificbound]

I agree with "BS" article.

[Ehpride]

Check the restrictions for that program as I believe your deposit is non-refundable should you decide to cancel your booking prior to final payment. (I believe they hold it as a credit towards a future booking). IMO that is a restriction I would not find attractive as plans can and do change.

 

Most cruise lines will lock your pricing in at time of booking against future increases while allowing you to take advantage of price drops prior to final payment. They will also provide a full deposit refund should you cancel your booking prior to final payment. That to me is the best of both worlds.

 

As example, two of our three future bookings have had price decreases which we have taken advantage of since the initial booking. As they are all still pre final payment, all three also provide for a full refund of our deposit should we need to make any changes.

 

In our experience early booking has never been more costly - just the opposite.

 

Yes, there are a few restrictions. But I 'm not one to change cruises on a whim. And if I were to cancel, it would be because I had to, likely after final payment anyway. At that point, I would be losing the deposit regardless.

[MrsPete]

It's something of a guessing game:

 

If you book early, you get THE ROOM you want, and you can watch the prices -- you have many months to change rooms, ships, or to ask for price drops. If the price goes up (and it may, especially if you're sailing over a holiday), you're locked in. I personally like to book the very day the dates open; I feel that the aft cabins are worth more, and I am willing to watch like a hawk to get a room that's a better value for the money. I also enjoy checking the prices in hopes of a drop -- not everyone likes that.

 

On the other hand, if you wait 'til the last minute, you MIGHT get a room for a discount price -- but it's almost certainly going to be a lackluster location, which may or may not matter to you (and for the right price, I could be convinced not to care so much about the location). At a glance, I'd guess that this technique is most likely to be effective in the off-off-off seasons, where rooms are tough to sell.