Alaska cancel and rebook month out

[cruisingnewtoit]

I will admit I am having some sticker shock on my AK 2020 cruise including the excursions, flights & extra days in Vancouver. I could do the trip for less but my DH & I decided on our 2nd time we were going for it "not suite level."

 

I was reading other posts about how some other posters got a fantastic deal on a suite or AQ cabin. The cabins might not be on the side of the ship I want but who cares if I can save almost $3,000 on my cruise. 

 

Now this was for end of May cruises. I'm.going June 12 not sure if June vacancies will be as prevalent.

 

Arfare can be more expensive if you wait to book. But if I know the cruise I want I could just book the airfare same with the hotel if it's refundable.

 

Lol I have 9 months to decide

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nachosdelux]

If you are flexible you will almost certainly get a better deal by waiting until 90 days out (after final payment)

 

You can gain some flexibility on airfare by using miles or flying Southwest.  

 

You could buy non-refundable tickets on another airline and just pay the change fee + fare difference.

 

Fully refundable airline tickets are (generally) prohibitively expensive.

[cruisingnewtoit]

1 minute ago, Nachosdelux said:

If you are flexible you will almost certainly get a better deal by waiting until 90 days out (after final payment)

 

You can gain some flexibility on airfare by using miles or flying Southwest.  

 

You could buy non-refundable tickets on another airline and just pay the change fee + fare difference.

 

Fully refundable airline tickets are (generally) prohibitively expensive.

Thank you for info. 

Sadly Southwest doesn't fly to Alaska or Vancouver.

[Nachosdelux]

8 minutes ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

Thank you for info. 

Sadly Southwest doesn't fly to Alaska or Vancouver.

 

not sure where you live, but I have considered this strategy:

 

buy Southwest tickets to/from Seattle for a day/two before and after the cruise you are thinking about.

 

once you have definite dates, purchase airline tickets from Seattle to/from Vancouver and Anchorage.

 

make sure you have PLENTY of time between separate tickets as you will (likely) be SOL if you misconnect.

 

you can also take a shuttle or train from Seattle to Vancouver.

 

Of course you would need a couple extra days to do this, and factor in the added hotel costs, but it can save a lot versus buying a last minute flights all the way.

 

good luck!

Edited May 16, 2019 by Nachosdelux

[CHEZMARYLOU]

You can book the cabin you want and upgrade after final payment if Aqua or a suite becomes available. We did a split flight once and stayed overnight in Anchorage and flew to Fairbanks the next day for our land tour. I wouldn't say it was exactly a PIA but it came real close.

[cruisingnewtoit]

9 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

You can book the cabin you want and upgrade after final payment if Aqua or a suite becomes available. We did a split flight once and stayed overnight in Anchorage and flew to Fairbanks the next day for our land tour. I wouldn't say it was exactly a PIA but it came real close.

I'm already in AQ. I'm.tempted to switch to Verenda and than try to get an upgrade to an AQ after final payment. I picked AQ because of the location. I didn't like the location of the Verendas I waited to long to book. AQ cabins seem to be available after the 90 period ends.

 

Lol I'm having buyers remorse because of the great sales after final payment is due. Maybe my cruise in year will.be sold out. 

 

I've never flown Spirit. I might have to avoid them. 

 

Thanks for the info.

 

[lovecruzin]

OP where are you flying from?

Can you cruise in May when prices tend to be lower?

It seems you want a specific location for your cabin?

On the S class ships the cabins are all the same size, Aqua is nice for Blu but if the cost is significant, go for a veranda and have a couple meals in a specialty restaurant. Dining in Tuscan grill while leaving Skagway is fantastic!

Edited May 16, 2019 by lovecruzin
.

[lovecruzin]

Just now, lovecruzin said:

 

 

Edited May 16, 2019 by lovecruzin

[cruisingnewtoit]

4 minutes ago, lovecruzin said:

OP where are you flying from?

Can you cruise in May when prices tend to be lower?

It seems you want a specific location for your cabin?

On the S class ships the cabins are all the same size, Aqua is nice for Blu but if the cost is significant, go for a veranda and have a couple meals in a specialty restaurant. Dining in Tuscan grill while leaving Skagway is fantastic!

 

 

We.are flying out of Newark or Baltimore. We ( DH & I) are so new to cruising we had no idea they are price drops on cruises. I didn't know cruises could be refaired. I could have saved some money on my 1st AK cruise. I've learned a lot from these boards. 

 

It's more I am spending a lot of money when I could wait and get a better deal. Problem is you're not guaranteed a better deal. On our 1st AK cruise because of weight restrictions we couldn't do all the excursions we wanted. Yay now we can do them. The ones we are going to do are expensive. It's a choice we are going to make. It will have to be our only vacation next year.

We were scheduled for May but changed to June because we wanted to see the bears.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

 

[Tourist1292]

Taking the train from Seattle to Vancouver was a great experience for us. It totally worth the $31pp we paid. The only problem is the schedule. Either you need to catch the train early or arrive Vancouver very late.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Not spirit airlines. I was trying to say we flew to anchorage on United. Got in late spent the night and then flew to Fairbanks. 

[cruisingnewtoit]

14 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Not spirit airlines. I was trying to say we flew to anchorage on United. Got in late spent the night and then flew to Fairbanks. 

We flew United back from Vancouver. We missed our connection because we sat on the tarmac because of 2 mechanical issues.

[whitshel]

Check out this price  for Concierge class Gty on the Eclipse for june 9th of this year!  Wow!

 

 

[cruisingnewtoit]

7 minutes ago, whitshel said:

Check out this price  for Concierge class Gty on the Eclipse for june 9th of this year!  Wow!

 

 

Lol.thanks more reason to cancel & rebook. I talked my DH about it. He thinks we should keep the hotels in place. I'll notify our TA to cancel the day before & I'll watch the prices. I'm a chicken and will probably book 50-60 days out. I'm going south bound and really wanted a port side cabin but CC could still have some I just might not get AQ.

 

Thank you for the info

[cangelmd]

16 hours ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

 

 

We.are flying out of Newark or Baltimore. We ( DH & I) are so new to cruising we had no idea they are price drops on cruises. I didn't know cruises could be refaired. I could have saved some money on my 1st AK cruise. I've learned a lot from these boards. 

 

It's more I am spending a lot of money when I could wait and get a better deal. Problem is you're not guaranteed a better deal. On our 1st AK cruise because of weight restrictions we couldn't do all the excursions we wanted. Yay now we can do them. The ones we are going to do are expensive. It's a choice we are going to make. It will have to be our only vacation next year.

We were scheduled for May but changed to June because we wanted to see the bears.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

 

We did Alaska a few years ago from late, late May like may24-25, thru the first few days of June. Thirteen day trip and June 1 (opening day of salmon fishing, that’s how I remember) was about halfway through the trip.

We saw lots of bears, although we did not go to Kenai, and I’m not sure when the salmon runs start there and the bears begin fishing.

Going at that time meant we were on last shoulder season cruise. We also were able to see elk in Denali before they migrate uphill to getaway from flies. It was also climbing season at Denali which was interesting.

We had perfect weather, although every local we spoke to over the 13 days, and most of guides,etc commented on how lucky we were about the weather, so I wouldn’t count on that

[cruisingnewtoit]

11 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

We did Alaska a few years ago from late, late May like may24-25, thru the first few days of June. Thirteen day trip and June 1 (opening day of salmon fishing, that’s how I remember) was about halfway through the trip.

We saw lots of bears, although we did not go to Kenai, and I’m not sure when the salmon runs start there and the bears begin fishing.

Going at that time meant we were on last shoulder season cruise. We also were able to see elk in Denali before they migrate uphill to getaway from flies. It was also climbing season at Denali which was interesting.

We had perfect weather, although every local we spoke to over the 13 days, and most of guides,etc commented on how lucky we were about the weather, so I wouldn’t count on that

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. Denali is supposed to be a great spot to see bears. Sadly we are not going there. It's included in the land tours. I looked on one through  HAL (10 days) and it's the same price as our X 7 day. 10 days would be more difficult for us because we have to add in travel days and we would lose out extra days in Vancouver. 

 

HAL's ship that is going is old. I don't remember if it's the one that is going into dry dock this year..We took HAL for our 1st AK cruise on N Amsterdam and loved it.

 

Thanks for the info

[roxievegas]

check out WestJet for flights

[moneeman]

You have a cabin you like, so hold onto it for now.  It is a long time before final payment is due.  As time for final payment approaches, start pricing different options as a "new" customer.  Select "Choose your own" cabin, and you will get a sense of how many rooms are available and where in the category you want.  If you see several decent possibilities, then release the cabin just before final payment and wait for the price drops.  Assuming the ship is not essentially sold out, you will see a very significant drop in prices, but understand that those prices may (or may not) drop more in the coming weeks.  Others can tell you more than me, as my experience is minimal.  I can tell you that we booked our upcoming (July) Alaska cruise last October, in a Concierge level room.  Aqua was just a little bit more.  Prices fell for our room to about half of what we paid.  I kept watching, and a few days ago they dropped the price of the sky suite to only $300 more (total for two) than we had paid for the Concierge room.  So even though I could have paid much less for the Concierge room if I had waited to book, I was still able to upgrade to a suite experience for the price I paid for the Concierge room (plus $300, but we got extra OBC that essentially offset that).

 

Tough decision.  Best of luck!

[mosleyman]

We are going in August 2019 and are very excited to go.  I will tell you that I kept checking the prices by doing a "fake" booking on line.  No price reduction showed up.  Additionally, there were no cabins showing up as available for the deck that we choose.  On the off chance I called celebrity and asked them if there was a price reduction.  To my surprise, there was ($180) even though the "fake" booking showed no availability.  I then called every single day until final payment.   In addition to the original $180 I received another price drop of $280.00.  All this to say call them and see if there are any price drops.

[DebInAntigua]

I called the other day to ask about something else and on a whim asked if she could check my pricing. Saved $80 just by asking. I’ll be calling more often as final payment gets closer. 

[CruzinfromFL]

9 hours ago, mosleyman said:

We are going in August 2019 and are very excited to go.  I will tell you that I kept checking the prices by doing a "fake" booking on line.  No price reduction showed up.  Additionally, there were no cabins showing up as available for the deck that we choose.  On the off chance I called celebrity and asked them if there was a price reduction.  To my surprise, there was ($180) even though the "fake" booking showed no availability.  I then called every single day until final payment.   In addition to the original $180 I received another price drop of $280.00.  All this to say call them and see if there are any price drops.

 

Did you book directly with X or through a TA? It is my understanding that if you booked through a TA then you have to work through them to get any discounts. I'm fairly new to cruising and have my first X cruise booked for May 2020 so I'm not totally sure how everything works (but I'm learning a lot from this board).

[cruisingnewtoit]

16 hours ago, moneeman said:

You have a cabin you like, so hold onto it for now.  It is a long time before final payment is due.  As time for final payment approaches, start pricing different options as a "new" customer.  Select "Choose your own" cabin, and you will get a sense of how many rooms are available and where in the category you want.  If you see several decent possibilities, then release the cabin just before final payment and wait for the price drops.  Assuming the ship is not essentially sold out, you will see a very significant drop in prices, but understand that those prices may (or may not) drop more in the coming weeks.  Others can tell you more than me, as my experience is minimal.  I can tell you that we booked our upcoming (July) Alaska cruise last October, in a Concierge level room.  Aqua was just a little bit more.  Prices fell for our room to about half of what we paid.  I kept watching, and a few days ago they dropped the price of the sky suite to only $300 more (total for two) than we had paid for the Concierge room.  So even though I could have paid much less for the Concierge room if I had waited to book, I was still able to upgrade to a suite experience for the price I paid for the Concierge room (plus $300, but we got extra OBC that essentially offset that).

 

Tough decision.  Best of luck!

Thank you for the info! Enjoy your sky suite. That will be lovely on an Alaska cruise. 

 

I'm worried we will not be able to get a flight if we wait to book 45 days out and the costs will be high. I have to find out how the travel insurance will work with if we book the air fare 4 months out and then adding on the cruise fare.

[cruisingnewtoit]

5 hours ago, CruzinfromFL said:

 

Did you book directly with X or through a TA? It is my understanding that if you booked through a TA then you have to work through them to get any discounts. I'm fairly new to cruising and have my first X cruise booked for May 2020 so I'm not totally sure how everything works (but I'm learning a lot from this board).

Your TA has to make the changes if you have one. I check everyday for price drops and have her make adjustments if there are ones.

 

Not being able to do a mock booking would definitely cause problems on knowing if there was a price drop.

[cruisingnewtoit]

15 hours ago, DebInAntigua said:

I called the other day to ask about something else and on a whim asked if she could check my pricing. Saved $80 just by asking. I’ll be calling more often as final payment gets closer. 

Definitely check. Over a week I saved $160 on our Caribbean cruise and that one is 6 months out. Have to be careful you can lose your OBC promotion with refares. Need to make sure refare is higher than promotion OBC like the recent $200 one for $2019. If the promotion is still going on it's not an issue.

[mosleyman]

6 hours ago, CruzinfromFL said:

 

Did you book directly with X or through a TA? It is my understanding that if you booked through a TA then you have to work through them to get any discounts. I'm fairly new to cruising and have my first X cruise booked for May 2020 so I'm not totally sure how everything works (but I'm learning a lot from this board).

 

I should have mentioned that I booked directly with celebrity.  I will tell you the first time I booked a cruise it was with a TA.  it was such a PIA to get the price drops put through that I swore I would book directly myself from then on, which I have.  I am not sure what the TA can offer me.  I do my own research to determine what is best for our family.   This latest Alaska cruise we did receive the price drops and maintained the offers of OBC ($150.00 per person) and the prepaid gratuities.    It might be worth it to you to contact your TA (if that is how you did it) and they should be able to check.  I honestly would have them do this often. I hope that helps you.