Cruises in 2019

[CruiseGal999]

May I ask why people buy cruises today for sailing dates in late 2018 and 2019? Are the prices lower now? I would think prices would be lower closer to sailing date. I am just curious. Don't mean any disrespect.

[LHT28]

You get to choose the cabin you want

some sailings can sell out early

[Ashland]

May I ask why people buy cruises today for sailing dates in late 2018 and 2019? Are the prices lower now? I would think prices would be lower closer to sailing date. I am just curious. Don't mean any disrespect.

I've found many times that pricing is lower when the bookings are first released.

[Sky616]

We always book 18 to 24 months in advance. You get first dibs on the cabin you want and the price only goes up from there. The only tough thing is the wait.

[AmeliaAtSea]

To get the cabin we wanted, to have more time to pay, to get FTTF when it was released, etc...

[PROCRUISE]

Cabin choice and price. While indeed, the cruise price might drop (you can get that adjustment up until final payment) I often do better booking early. Have three cruises booked in 2018 ( Jan.,April., & September) and the prices for the latter two have already jumped significantly from when I booked them quite some time ago.

[cruiserking]

We booked our Anthem cruise a year in advance to get a specific room we like. We booked the brand new Celebrity Edge for 2019 for first dibs on a new ship, plus the prices have sky rocketed since we booked in March.

 

Jonathan

[easyboy]

We book early primarily for cabin choice. We monitor price movements thereafter.

 

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[Flatbush Flyer]

May I ask why people buy cruises today for sailing dates in late 2018 and 2019? Are the prices lower now? I would think prices would be lower closer to sailing date. I am just curious. Don't mean any disrespect.

 

 

 

We already have two extended cruises (4-5 weeks) booked in 2018 as well as one extended cruises booked for early 2019. All are very unique itineraries (including a transpacific) on our preferred line, Oceania. The combination of these particular itineraries and our preferred cabins (in addition to "book onboard" advantages like guaranteed price drop matches) pretty much demand booking as soon as we can after the cruises are announced. And, with very few exceptions (protected by the price guarantee), the prices for these itineraries on Oceania will not go down (while those prime cabins will disappear quickly).

 

We also usually want to be able to do air tix as soon as the approx 10 month window opens up. Though it may be a bit of a risk in terms of future price fluctuation, I have found that some significant research will find a handful of "loss leader" international airfares early on in the game. For example, a decent time and route in business class one way from SFO to SYD in spring 2018 is currently averaging $5000 pp. Asiana, connecting through Seoul (at ideal flight/layover times) are weighing in today at just a hair more than half that price (and the fare base allows us to add to our United FF account at 100% of mileage).

 

 

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Edited June 15, 2017 by Flatbush Flyer

[CruiseGal999]

To get the cabin we wanted, to have more time to pay, to get FTTF when it was released, etc...

 

What is FTTF?

[paul929207]

We usually book more than one cruise b2b. By booking early, we get the same cabin for all legs.

 

Better choice of private tours on our roll calls.

 

Deposit is usually $100 per person when we use a Future Cruise Credit on Princess.

[BDRebel]

What is FTTF?

Faster To The Fun.

Carnival sells the FTTF program in limited numbers. It allows priority boarding (after Wedding Parties, Diamond, Platinum and Suites), priority line at Customer Service, and the cabin is ready upon boarding.

[tatt2ed]

We book as far out as possible. Price drops we get an adjustment, we win. Price goes up, we already locked in the lower price, we win. Wider variety of cabins to choose from , another win. I see only 2 negatives. The first is waiting as stated before but if you plan multiple vacations theres one always coming up. And the other is them sitting on your deposit, i like to keep my money in my pockets not theirs.

 

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[Sea Hag]

For one reason or another, I've booked several really far out. Except for sales, I've never seen the price go down. Since we mostly sail on Princess, so far I've always been successful in getting bookings refared to sale prices. I know that's not always going to be the case, since some sales are for new bookings, but so far I have 100% success.

[jlb91454]

May I ask why people buy cruises today for sailing dates in late 2018 and 2019? Are the prices lower now? I would think prices would be lower closer to sailing date. I am just curious. Don't mean any disrespect.

 

I book ahead to get the best cabin choice. And it gives me a longer time to pay.

[squick64]

I usually don't book things more than a year in advance, but I'll certainly book things further out than a lot of people will. For me, a lot of it is simply because I know what I'm doing already--if I know I'm going on a cruise in June 2018, say, I just book it. I could do it 3 months later, but it's the same ship...I do it while I'm thinking about it, and it's done. And I'll probably save a little money in the process, whether it's on the trip itself or the flight or whatever.