How far in advance do you book?

[ldubs]

54 minutes ago, glrounds said:

When I was running my business, I had to look for a week I could be away so I frequently booked 2-3 days before the cruise. Once booked the day of the cruise (hardest part was convincing that nice lady in Carnival's office that I was, indeed, aware that the cruise was the same day)🙂. But now I'm retired (turned 80 several days ago) and I have a cruise in January 2020 on the PANORAMA that I booked over a year ago. I must admit, I prefer booking a few days before the cruise, however.  ☺️

 

Hey, you are retired so you can book whenever you want!  Haha

 

Happy B-day (belated)!!

[clo]

7 hours ago, coevan said:

We are looking at a January 2020 cruise now. Because we own a business, we can never book too far off.  We don't even have dates yet, but we will be in shorts, T shirts and sandals somewhere in January. 

And today you're probably snow skiing !

[Rustic46]

We booked a January 2021 cruise in March of 2019. This is our first cruise. On the down side, the wait is driving me crazy! Lol

[sverigecruiser]

 

I once booked late, 7 months before the cruise. More common is around 18 months before the cruise.

 

(As you can see in my signature we don't cruise very much. If we cruised more we should probably book later.)

[Bookish Angel]

Because we want choice of a midship or aft cabin, we book about 18 months out which also gets us a better price.  We booked almost 2 years out, for the same reasons when we went to the Galapagos.

[marco]

Sometimes up to a year in advance, sometimes as little as 2 weeks prior to sailing, especally if a really good deal comes along, last minute.

[iancal]

Anywhere from three days to two months out is typical for us.

[JMorris271]

It depends on how bad I want that certain cabin with a handicap rail in the bathroom. They go pretty quickly. I'm booking a June 20 now and missed out on my rail.

 

[George C]

Recently we been booking a year before prefer 18 months before , like to book while on board which we did for next couple of cruises.

[Bizmark'sMom]

Farthest out has been 18 months. I knew I wanted to go to Antarctica for my 50th birthday. When my group of friends and family came to a consensus on what dates worked, I booked the cruise.

 

More typically I book a few months ahead.

[ldubs]

I don't know exactly how far out would be the furthest in advance we would book.    We will not book before air fares become available.   We always book airfare at the same time as the cruise.  FWIW,  Mrs Ldubs just booked a land trip/cruise for next September.  I booked the airfares.  

[navybankerteacher]

As soon as I see something I want I start planning - and depending how unusual the itinerary is the quicker I want to nail it down.  This past January, just after removing all Christmas decorations it occurred to me that I would like someone else to do that sort of thing, I came across QM2’s Christmas and New Year’s escape to the Caribbean - so I grabbed it;  my preferred accommodations have been sold out for some time, so delay would not have been a good idea  —- - there are precious few attractive itineraries/ships sailing out of New York - so I booked this one just under a year out.

 

If all you are interested in a is mass market line sailing to the Caribbean from a Florida port between January and April, there are so many, every week, that a couple of weeks in advance is more than enough.

[navybankerteacher]

 

 

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

...

 

 FWIW,  Mrs Ldubs just booked a land trip/cruise for next September.  I booked the airfares.  

I assume there was some communication before you each made your bookings - a bit awkward if you got a great deal on flights to New Zealand just as she nailed down a charming villa in Tuscany followed by an Aegean cruise.

[ldubs]

19 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

 

 

I assume there was some communication before you each made your bookings - a bit awkward if you got a great deal on flights to New Zealand just as she nailed down a charming villa in Tuscany followed by an Aegean cruise.

 

Yep, Air New Zealand looked at me kind of strange when I asked about the connection to Madrid.  

 

By the way, Swiss Air once put me on a connection from Zurich to Rome on Air New Zealand.  Turns out they were wrong of course.  Funny story now but it wasn't at the time.   

Edited December 10, 2019 by ldubs

[Shmoo here]

How far in advance do you book?

On 10/30/2019 at 7:43 AM, CruzerDeb said:

I like to book as soon as I know I want to cruise (I think the farthest out I've book is 18 months); my DH doesn't like to make plans that far in advance. I've got my eye on Europe cruise.  Does anyone know when 2021 dates will open up?

 The furthest out we've booked (so far) has been 23 months.  That was for our first trans Atlantic cruise.  

[MBP&O2/O]

Booked and paid deposit last month.

Paying final balance next week.

Sailing September 2021.

Used a similar time scale for the last cruise and prices went up 80% from when we booked to when we sailed.

[navybankerteacher]

10 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Yep, Air New Zealand looked at me kind of strange when I asked about the connection to Madrid.  

 

By the way, Swiss Air once put me on a connection from Zurich to Rome on Air New Zealand.  Turns out they were wrong of course.  Funny story now but it wasn't at the time.   

Happened to me once -years ago: my booked SAS flight from London to Helsinki on a Wednesday was a fiction - it only went Tuesdays and Thursdays - I only found out at attempted check-in.  An amazingly competent agent managed to get me on connections : London-Copenhagen-Stockholm-Helsinki - getting in only four hours later.

[iancal]

Usually 30-45 days out.  A few that were 3-5 days out.   Only one , a  South American, in the past ten years that was three months out.  Seemed odd not having to pay the full amount on booking!

[Mich3554]

Depends.  We leave next week for a cruise I booked in Sept.  However, I have itineraries that I am currently working on through March 2021. 

[SRF]

Longest, booked April 2021 cruise onboard April 2019 cruise.

 

Shortest, book Jan 31, 2020 cruise on Nov 10, 2019.  Couldn't pass up the deal of less than $50 per person, per night.

 

 

Edited December 10, 2019 by SRF

[squick64]

As soon as I know I want to do the cruise, I book it. Last week, I booked one for October 2021--and on the day Royal added it to their site.

 

It's usually pretty far out because I already have a rough idea of my schedule for the next couple of years. 2020 is all booked up. In 2021, I know I have that October cruise, and I intend to book the Star Trek cruise again (and every year).

 

While I've had my eyes on a few cruises, I don't have any other definitive plans beyond 2021. Either way, I plan to buy CruiseNext deposits on my next NCL cruise, even if I don't know what the next NCL cruise will be by then (and I very well might).