When do you book your hotel

[Karma5]

I book 6 months to a year ahead of the cruise date. It all depends on which cruise port I will be sailing from.

[capriccio]

Like everyone has said, book as early as possible. Depending on what time of year you cruise, there may be 6 or more ships in port on the weekends. I've never done the math, but I always figure that could mean 20,000 or more traveler's either coming or going or staying there, and even tho there are tons of hotels, I figure all these people want the same room I want !

 

Actually during the high season there are frequently 7 (and occasionally 8 or even 9) ships in port on Saturdays and Sundays (including the Allure and Oasis) and the record number of travelers on a single day is above 53,000!

 

OP - Should you need a room during the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show (normally the first weekend in November; in 2016 it will be November 3 -7) book your hotel as early as possible. Prices for available rooms will rise as you get closer to the date and they will sell out. In fact someone has already posted on the Florida Departures Board that they have tried a number of the most popular cruiser hotels for one of those dates in 2016 and they are already sold out!

Edited December 8, 2015 by capriccio

[CaribbeanCrush]

Thanks again for all the good advice!

[kelkel2]

Either as soon as I book the cruise, or as soon as the hotel bookings become available. I've learned with Miami in the winter, the prices aren't going to go down..

[OVgirl]

We booked our hotel in march for our January 2016 cruise. I originally booked it for 2 nights . When I made the reservation I verified that I could cancel as long as I cancelled 2 days prior to my arrival. In November I called them to cancel 1 night and they said I couldn't because they were all booked. I said ok then cancel my entire stay and then just rebook me for just the one day. They told me they couldn't do that because they are all booked. I told them if you cancel my reservation then that opens up my room and then you could rebook my reservation. They said the only thing she could do was change my reservation to come in Friday instead of Thursdy but I would have to still pay for Thursday. I ended up canceling the entire reservation and booked another hotel. So just becareful when booking too far in advance.

 

If we come in 2 days early, I will book each of the 2 hotel nights separately. That gives me the flexibility to cancel 1 night without affecting the other night's reservation. With winter weather and flights that might need to be changed, you never know how it will all work out.

[BillOh]

We'll be staying Ft. Lauderdale before our next cruise. Wondering how far in advance do you book your hotel room.

 

 

Are you the same guy who bailed on my Freedom cruise last year?

Since I cruise out of Port Everglades late April and Early may quite a bit, I'm always aware of Fleet week because that can make getting rooms more difficult.

 

I usually book my hotel right after I book my flights. Coming, like you from a colder climate if we get an early flight I look for a place with an nice pool. This is an area where the roll calls help, lots of people with local knowledge.

[trihawks1]

Our cruise was booked the end of January for December. I booked Embassy Suites February 1. Embassy suites prices stayed the same or went up for a month then around April, it was SOLD OUT until November. We ended up canceling and reserving another hotel because I didn't want to deal with a sold out hotel...way too many people. So book as early as you can.