Is first week in December a busy cruise week?

[Ilikeboats]

I am looking at an Indy 5 day for the first week in December and have never cruised during this time period. It seems unusual that most balconies available are Guaranty Only and only a few are listed as available where they tell you the room number. I have never encountered that before though I haven't cruised Royal in three years. I can't figure out if it means they are only a few cabins left or if it means they are trying to make it appear if there are only a few cabins left. Thanks, Pam

[Clarea]

Our experience has been that the first week in December has been one of the least expensive times to cruise.

[molly361]

Our experience has been that the first week in December has been one of the least expensive times to cruise.

 

 

Ditto that-

[rednancy1]

I agree, the first week in Dec is probably the least expensive to cruise. In fact, over the years we've done several b2bs during the first and second week of Dec.

[cruisefan0110]

I know that the first 2 weeks at the Florida theme parks a lot less crowded. We have FOS booked for the week after Thanksgiving due to the great price.

[irishgal432]

The Indy cruise is on the going going gone sale starting Monday for c/a members. http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

 

 

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[Ilikeboats]

Thank you for the input. I just think it is strange that all the balcony cabins except for the most expensive ones are guanranty only. Wondering what the mind set is for doing that.

[SbbquilterUT]

Love cruising that time - the ship is decorated for the holidays but much less crowded than later in the month. Few kids and great prices.

[Merion_Mom]

I am looking at an Indy 5 day for the first week in December and have never cruised during this time period. It seems unusual that most balconies available are Guaranty Only and only a few are listed as available where they tell you the room number. I have never encountered that before though I haven't cruised Royal in three years. I can't figure out if it means they are only a few cabins left or if it means they are trying to make it appear if there are only a few cabins left. Thanks, Pam

 

There are plenty of D1 cabins available. Very few in D2 or E1. If you want to pick your own cabin, get a D1.

 

:)

[pasodancer]

For the past 5 years we've cruised the 1st week in December (Indy or Freedom)..........we found the ships moderately crowded and with few children. We also discovered that the "prime cabins" go fast which caused us to book a year out to get the cabin we desired. Airfare prices were reasonable. Unfortunately, due to an accident we had to cancel this years cruise, hoping that next year we will be back during that specific week.

[mjgep0316]

We are on the 12/2/17 Indy cruise. We are part of the Slot Tournament Championship taking place on that trip which we won as a free cruise on another cruise.

 

By my estimation, there are about 1,000 of us “in the same boat.” It would make sense that this promotional cruise is during one of the slowest weeks of the year and also explains some of the limited cabin availability. I hope you enjoy whatever cruise you choose.

 

 

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[Ilikeboats]

Oh thanks for the info about the slot tournament. I have already booked it and booked a guaranty cabin so will

See how it goes.

 

 

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[Russ Lomas]

We are on the 12/2/17 Indy cruise. We are part of the Slot Tournament Championship taking place on that trip which we won as a free cruise on another cruise.

 

By my estimation, there are about 1,000 of us “in the same boat.” It would make sense that this promotional cruise is during one of the slowest weeks of the year and also explains some of the limited cabin availability. I hope you enjoy whatever cruise you choose.

 

The site I looked at showed very few balconies for that cruise (lots of inside and ocean view for cheap though). That is very unusual for that time of year, especially on a shorter cruise.

 

I was going to say that maybe that there is a large group on that ship that have taken all the balconies. The post above confirms what I thought. I would assume that most of the balconies are in use for the Slot Tournament Championship.

 

For the OP, don't worry about the tournament, it will not impact your cruise in the slightest. Enjoy your first cruise. The Indy is a great ship and you should have two nice ports for beaches if you like beaches.

[pasodancer]

There is also a dance group - about 100+ dancers on that cruise.

[Pstreet12]

We frequently cruise that week, and often pick the cruise at the last minute based on prices.

[Ladysilver]

Our experience has been that the first week in December has been one of the least expensive times to cruise.

 

Yep....My favorite time of year to cruise! :D

[Gordo]

We sailed this week a few years ago (booked last minute after a wonderful birthday celebration for my mom in which she fell in love with cruising). We got a great rate on a guarantee cabin, and were very pleased with our assigned cabin. We loved how they had the ship decorated for the holidays. We would definitely book this week again!

[cb at sea]

All cruises sail pretty much full...even if there are cabins available, doesn't mean the passenger totals haven't been reached! You can sail with a FULL ship (if there are many cabins with 3/4 passengers) and still have empty cabins that cannot be booked, due to lifeboat regulations.

[trihawks1]

We usually cruise the second week of December to avoid a ton of kids. We have been on Indy, Oasis and next Freedom all the second week of December. Lucked out with awesome weather, less kids, and always booked a balcony of choice usually booking 6-10 months out. And the prices are cheaper usually. We look for cruises starting after thanksgiving and before Christmas. Our very first cruise was at Christmas but less kids than usual because it was on Celebrity.

 

 

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[wilmingtech]

We booked Anthem for the 14th of Dec. I thought it would be 1/2 to 3/4 empty because of the time of year between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

 

We jumped on this cruise because of the killer deal (599/pp for Balcony) with 400$ OBC. But I guess lots of others got killer deals too because all of the insides and OVs are sold out and there are less than 10 balconies and only 2 suites left.

 

The week after we booked I went back on to check prices and there were no rooms avail for more than 2ppl which leads me to believe lots of kids on this one.

 

-Sean

 

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[SetAnOpenCourse]

I waited weeks hoping to see a good deal for the December 4 sailing of Serenade, figuring it was bound to happen due to it being an early-December cruise. It never did.