What governs your time to cruise?

[stowite]

Itinerary and who we are cruising with are the most important factors. Our last cruise and our upcoming cruise both are with friends with a school aged child so we were limited to summer break for the Med cruise we took due to the length of the cruise. For our upcoming Caribbean cruise we decided summer was better than Spring break.

 

Our friends also want to do a Hawaii cruise with us in the next few years but that will likely mean a switch to Norwegian to avoid school conflicts.

 

A new complication is my work is not wanting to allow any individual to take more than 10 vacation days in the summer which is not an issue if my husband and I are traveling alone but will present a problem if we want to do Europe again for 2-3 weeks with friends. :(

[molly361]

Too late to edit my post- price - which is not working too well with the new releases- EXPENSIVE!!!;)

[Clarea]

Too late to edit my post- price - which is not working too well with the new releases- EXPENSIVE!!!;)

Agree. If it wasn't for you and Ken, I'd have nothing booked in 2018. Time to try MSC.

[molly361]

Agree. If it wasn't for you and Ken, I'd have nothing booked in 2018. Time to try MSC.

 

I have a couple of overpriced cruises for 2018 that I may not take if prices don't come down I'm waiting for Princess to release their Caribbean sailings for the beginning of 2018

Edited April 23, 2016 by molly361

[Bookish Angel]

We prefer less kids and cooler temps - we usually cruise 9+ days in January.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Bookish Angel

[pcur]

Just as the title says, what governs your time to cruise.

 

Everyday someone is boarding a ship. What are the factors that determine the particular time.

 

School holidays? no schools on holiday? :) the itinerary? the ship? the time of year/weather? the price?

 

Just interested to see how many variants there are.

 

Time of the year: we don't like to cruise during the summer.

Fall through Spring is our favorite time.

 

Itinerary: We won't cruise just to cruise. It's got to be going somewhere we want to see. Also, we dovetail cruises with other travel plans. We've done transatlantic cruises several times in April to get to Europe for a UK car show my husband likes. Last December we booked a cruise out of Galveston when we were driving home to CA from MI.

 

Price: This should be at the top of the list. It's got to be combined with the itinerary. I shop for the best price I can get so we can cruise more. :D

[OCruisers]

Finding it surprising how many people have price as their determining factor.

[Treanidus]

My job requires me to pick my vacation weeks out before January 1st, but I generally don't book vacations until around February or March, so I'll usually have to pick a cruise that aligns with the one of the weeks I pick. They also require the three weeks I currently get to be three separate calendar weeks (Sunday through Saturday, not back to back without being strangled by red tape to get special approval). In some cases I can work out a day or two before/after but taking more than 10 days (including a day to travel to the port and a day to travel back) isn't feasible. So for now, I'm limited to 7 day cruises, preferably ones that embark and disembark on a Saturday or Sunday.

 

From that, we pick out options with different cruise lines, and narrow it down based on itinerary and price.

 

 

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Edited April 23, 2016 by Treanidus

[sparks1093]

Finding it surprising how many people have price as their determining factor.

 

Since there can be a wide range of prices depending upon what time of the year one chooses I wouldn't find it surprising at all. When the kids were traveling with us we were stuck to the school calendar which meant higher prices. Now we can look for times in the year when the price isn't so high.

[FlaGirl13]

1. When I can talk DH into it.

2. When schools are in session.

3. When it's not hurricane season.

4. When the price is right.

5. When the ship leaves from a Fla. port.

[jagsfan]

Never during March and April because of varying Spring Breaks.

Never July and August in the Caribbean.

Can't book Fall cruises till the NFL schedule comes out in April (that's for me, not DH).

After that, it's a deal that hooks me, even when it just looks like a deal.

 

 

 

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[Tosara21]

Mostly price and itinerary...

but this year wanted to try Oasis class.

[Summerknight]

Price and never during hurricane season.

[pcur]

Since there can be a wide range of prices depending upon what time of the year one chooses I wouldn't find it surprising at all. When the kids were traveling with us we were stuck to the school calendar which meant higher prices. Now we can look for times in the year when the price isn't so high.

 

Also, I intensely dislike spending more than I have to for a cruise. I want money for another one! :D

 

I had a cruise booked 2 years ago from Sydney to Honolulu. The same itinerary was offered by HAL, but went all the way to Seattle for $400 less. More for less. Cancelled RCCL and booked HAL.

 

To me, that's what price watching is all about.

[CanadaRob]

Time of year is always a big one. Usually Febi is our cruise month and the fact that it is well below zero in Canada at this time makes it more appealing. Itinerary is 2nd and pricing is 3rd

[SPacificbound]

Itinerary for us. :)

[cruisequeen4ever]

School schedule, since I'm a teacher...then itinerary and price

 

 

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[Johnamac123]

Fall/Winter months, when school is in session. Next is itinerary, followed by accommodations.

[JoeRum]

Anytime between Labor day and Memorial day. We live in Minnesota. Just gotta get away to stay warm.

 

JoeRum

[atnolan94]

If I have the $$$ and prices are low, hence why I begged my fiancee for a January Wedding :):):)

[Goodtime Cruizin]

1. When (We own a biz that's seasonal so we use our down time to cruise)

 

2. Where/Itenarary(sp) We try to go on different locations

 

3. Price. Sometimes this is based on cabin selection, but also ships can determine price.

 

4. Ship. But so far, we haven't been on a cruise ship we didn't like!

[Funbobby68]

Now with my business becoming more self sufficient ....finally . I would say price is still the number one factor , time of year and destination has a whole lot less to do with it now , other logistics like airfare and hotels are other factors as well .....

Still working towards freedom 55

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

Price, but I guess I'm one of those frugal (cheap) central FL D+'s

[Vexorg]

Although it doesn't always apply to cruising, my wife and I tend to plan our vacations to at least some extent based on when most children will be in school. That comes more from our frequent visits to the Disney parks than anything, since kids in school generally means less crowds. Usually that means vacations happen mostly in January, February, September or December. For cruising, the main determining factors are usually itinerary and price, and we tend to look for the cheapest sailing on the itinerary we like. I'm lucky enough to be on a job where I have a decent amount of flexibility with time off, which certainly helps. In the case of our most recent cruise we were combining the cruise with a week at Disney that my sister-in-law was planning, so we basically had a fixed week.