Best time to search for a last-minute

[tikkas]

Is there a particular moment before a cruise sail date when any cabins are released? For example, because final payments have not been made, or for any other reason?

 

I'm looking into our 7th cruise, but am shocked at the prices this year, and the non-availability of all the good ones. And I'm not even talking about a cruise in July or August - just late June.

[LHT28]

you can check starting 2 wks before the cruise there may be some deals or some prices may go up

pick a price that works for you ...book it then

 

JMO

[CruiserBruce]

Prices might (but there is no guarantee)go down after final payment, and cabins held by TAs are typically released around then.

 

Your choices at that, or any other last minute purchase may be severely limited. So if you are picky about your cabin type, level or location, you may be disappointed.

 

Last minute airfares may take a sizable bite out of savings.

[MCC retired]

60 to 30 days before sailing.

Cruise lines don't wait too long after Final if sailing needs help to fill.

TA's must turn in unsold inventory before Final.

[iancal]

For us it depends on the itinerary. If we are looking at a standard Med, Caribbean, South American, or Alaska cruise we typically watch the pricing on two or three ships. We usually buy inside the final payment window. We establish a strike price for a balcony cabin and buy when our price hits on one of the two or three ships that we are following. We also follow air at the same time

 

When we book, we always get an 8 hour hold. That gives us time to firm up air, if required.

 

We typically have back up travel plans if our cruise price does not hit. The latest we have booked is three days prior on a Carib. cruise and five days on a Med cruise. Both times we were in close to the embarkation port so air was not an issue.

[AdGuyMG]

I'm not even talking about a cruise in July or August - just late June.

 

Since most public schools are out by late June, it's peak season time. Pretty much the same demand as all of July and early to mid August.

[AdGuyMG]

Prices might (but there is no guarantee)go down after final payment, and cabins held by TAs are typically released around then.

 

Final payments are typically due at 90 days out.

 

TA Group space is typically recalled at 150 to 120 days before sail date. Well before Final.

[Ashland]

Final payments are typically due at 90 days out.

 

TA Group space is typically recalled at 150 to 120 days before sail date. Well before Final.

Good to know..I always thought they (TA) released it at final due date..No idea it was this far out. Thanks

[Hlitner]

You should always monitor price changes on a weekly basis (around mid-week). Become very vigilant just inside the final payment period (the week after final payments are due...which varies by cruise line and sometimes length of the cruise). Then keep watching at least twice a week (we like to look on Tuesday and Friday) for changes. But nothing is simple. Cruise lines seem to often depend on certain favored cruise agencies to quietly sell extra berths. In many cases the lower prices are not made public, but are shared, by the favored agencies, with those who have registered their e-mail and indicated a desire to know about last minute specials. So there is an advantage to being on the e-mail lists of multiple reputable high volume cruise agencies. This is how we have sometimes snagged amazing deals.

 

Hank

[CruiserBruce]

Final payments are typically due at 90 days out.

 

 

Not true. HAL final payment is 75 days. Some cruise lines its 60 days.

[AdGuyMG]

Final payments are typically due at 90 days out.

 

Not true. HAL final payment is 75 days. Some cruise lines its 60 days.

 

Sheesh ...My post said typically to cover the majority of 7+ sailings on most of the major cruise lines.

 

I didn't care to start a laundry list of the Final Payment Dates for every line and avoided the 120 day deadline which is common for longer voyages and premium cabin categories on some lines.

[iancal]

We start well before the final payment date. We do this in order to get an idea about demand and the probability of a fare decrease inside the final payment window. You can often get a sense of the demand by watching specific fares going up or down in your target cabin category.

[MCC retired]

The cruise lines have names for these after Final Payment fares , such as FLASH Rates , Pack N G0 , etc. .

They are not advertised but can be found by monitoring their web sites or having a Good TA who has access to all these cruise line Rates.

[iancal]

We also found that by watching cruise fares on certain itineraries over a period of time there seems to be a pattern.

 

Some time ago we did a number of Med cruises, four or five, over a two year period. There was a definate pattern after final payment for the HAL, Princess, and Celebrity cruises that we followed. Inside the final payment window they all seemed to get down to the same approx price. But Celebrity dropped first, then Hal, and Princess was the last. On Celebrity more often than not you still were able to select a cabin. HAL and Princess were always guarantee. At he point when our price hit on Celebrity, HAL was usually 30 percent or so more, Princess even higher. Both of these prices eventually came down. Our practice was to book the first one that hit our target price....so four of the cruises were Celebrity, One was RCI. Of course everything changes over time so this may not be the situation today.

 

We typically watch the Alaska pricing since the port is close to home. There has been a pattern there as well with HAL usually the first to drop very low for insides on their older ships. Followed by Princess. Both inside the final payment window.

[gerelmx]

They always will try to sail full. I have see price drops from final payment until 1 or 2 weeks prior sailing date

[go.without.you]

I was under the impression you couldn't book a cruise less than 14 days out after 9/11.

[CruiserBruce]

I was under the impression you couldn't book a cruise less than 14 days out after 9/11.

 

Not true. The major change was that cruise lines have to submit the manifest to TSA 60 minutes prior to sailing. Each cruise line has policies on last minute cruise purchases. HAL for example, won't sell you a cruise with less than 72 hours left to sail. Carnival is 24 hours, I believe.

[iancal]

We have had one at 3 days, one at 5, and at a few at 7-10 days.

[dreadpirate3]

In the last two years, I've seen the biggest price drops at 90 and 60 days out.