When do you book? Several questions

[superduper123]

Just curious, how far in advance do you book a cruise reservation? I have a reservation for Feb 2020, which is crazy to me. I'm ok with crazy. I just don't typically plan that far in advance. (I'm going with a friend and she picked it.) What is the shortest time frame you have booked? What is the cutoff time frame the latest you can book, assuming that you're not picky about cabin choice?

[cb at sea]

We try to book as soon as we know when and where we want to go...because we are sort of picky about our cabin!

[Ourusualbeach]

The latest I’ve seen bookings available is around noon the day before the sailing.

[superduper123]

The latest I’ve seen bookings available is around noon the day before the sailing.

Wow, I'm surprised at that. I've never searched on short notice, but great for those people who are spontaneous!

[blackshirt]

The latest I’ve seen bookings available is around noon the day before the sailing.

Perhaps possible many years ago but that should not be possible now. My understanding is the passenger manifest must be finalized no later than 72 hours prior to departure. Maybe still possible out of non US ports.

[lenquixote66]

Just curious, how far in advance do you book a cruise reservation? I have a reservation for Feb 2020, which is crazy to me. I'm ok with crazy. I just don't typically plan that far in advance. (I'm going with a friend and she picked it.) What is the shortest time frame you have booked? What is the cutoff time frame the latest you can book, assuming that you're not picky about cabin choice?

 

 

We normally book more than a year in advance . The shortest time was on our very first cruise ,a week prior to sailing.

[Florida_cruisers]

I am a planner so I typically book as soon as the sailing reservations become available for the cruise I want. Which that seems to be just about 18 months in advance. Although I do have a cruise booked for Spring Break 2020. I don’t mind booking 2 years ahead.

[John&LaLa]

Perhaps possible many years ago but that should not be possible now. My understanding is the passenger manifest must be finalized no later than 72 hours prior to departure. Maybe still possible out of non US ports.

Closer to 72 minutes. [emoji6]

 

Two years ago we booked on Tuesday for a Friday cruise. Very expensive, though.

 

Better pricing seems to be 30 days out

 

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[MalteseMama2]

We try to book as soon as we know when and where we want to go...because we are sort of picky about our cabin!

 

 

 

We are also picky about our cabin. We have 3 cruises booked right now through Dec. 2019 and are looking at March 2020 so we can book while onboard our next cruise.

We started the habit of booking on board when we could only cruise once a year. I told my DH that I wanted to be able to look forward to the next cruise the minute we stepped off the ship!

 

 

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[Desert Cruizers]

I prefer to book as soon as the dates open for a cruise I am looking at. I feel I get better pricing and also a preferred cabin. Since I have to fly to most cruises except cruises out of San Pedro, I am more selective on where I cruise.

[George C]

We book about 18 months before, but always watch prices , RCCL will give you new price if fare goes down at least they will until final payment is due.

[Ca5ualCrui5er]

We book about 18 months before, but always watch prices , RCCL will give you new price if fare goes down at least they will until final payment is due.

 

Hello George, for the best rate you need to constantly check and if you find it call/email RCCL?

[steveru621]

ASAP, and then watch prices.

 

We prefer to book onboard, which may conflict with the ASAP. But for repositioning cruises, we'll go to our Travel Agent.

[gerelmx]

There are two scenarios with the prices since an itinerary is launched that will drop or rise, if they raise bingo you already have the insured rate, and if they download you request the reduction of the contracted rate (Best Price Guarantee). I have booked almost 2 years in advance 1) Silhouette to the Caribbean in March 2019 the rate has gone up $1,120PP and 2) Eclipse to Hawaii in October 2019 the rate has gone down $880PP. So depends on the demand of the cruise you are looking if it's better to book early or wait until date near final payment. You are on a B2B and want the same cabin in both legs book early. If you book late maybe don't find the desired cabin. etc etc.

[taglovestocruise]

We have April 2020 booked and are waiting for May 2020 to be released so we can get the same cabin for a B2B on Ovation.

[accio_7]

For my next two solo cruises, I booked 16-18 months ahead in advance to lock down fare and studio stateroom. I imagine that this will be the case for my fall/winter 2020 cruise as well.

 

 

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[pcur]

Usually 6 - 20 months in advance.

[George C]

Hello George, for the best rate you need to constantly check and if you find it call/email RCCL?

 

Yes our next cruise oasis we had a grand suite price went down several times called each time , final drop gave us suite for 500 less than original cost per person, but rather than save it we switched to owner suite for our original cost of grand suite.

[mek]

I have a family cruise booked for Feb 2020, but that is not the norm. Usually 6 months out is about as far as I go and most of the time it's less than that. I've never not been able to get a cabin in the location I want if I book late, but then I'm not particular about getting a specific cabin.

[Daghis]

if they download you request the reduction of the contracted rate (Best Price Guarantee).

 

One minor note: that's not their Best Price Guarantee. That guarantee is only offered for the first 48 hours after booking and provides onboard credit for 110% of the difference, not a price reduction.

[Ourusualbeach]

Perhaps possible many years ago but that should not be possible now. My understanding is the passenger manifest must be finalized no later than 72 hours prior to departure. Maybe still possible out of non US ports.

 

The final manifest does not go in until 60 minutes prior to sailing. It has been recently not years that sailings have been available until around noon the day of. That is provided of course they are not sold out well before that which is why you may not see many for sail. I just checked and there are currently 2 sailings available for booking for Monday which is less than 48 hours away.

[John&LaLa]

The final manifest does not go in until 60 minutes prior to sailing. It has been recently not years that sailings have been available until around noon the day of. That is provided of course they are not sold out well before that which is why you may not see many for sail. I just checked and there are currently 2 sailings available for booking for Monday which is less than 48 hours away.

Did you try and book? I checked a few days ago and it said none available. That was Florida departures, though

 

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[jcc1025]

For a number of years we always booked our next cruise with RCCL while we were on our current cruise. You get some extra discount or credits and it was usually about a year in advance. Sometimes you will get some special offers while on the ship and we always look at those to see if we are interested. Once we knew we were not going to be able to sail for over a year and the people on the ship advised we book out as far as possible and that if we booked on the ship and needed to extent we would still get the credits. We did that and then moved the booking out about 4 months when the new listings came out and it worked great.

[DonTreadOnMe]

We try to book as soon as the bookings become available as you tend to see the best price then these days (in general). Next best time I have found is on a very rare "sale", or more likely the day after final payments are due. Price tend to dip quite a bit that day depending on how many bookings were cancelled/changed/abandoned.

[ONECRUISER]

Book nite cruises are released. That way always get cabin I want. Have had few sleepless nites, but worth in. Love my corner Aft's...