Late Booking

[nmhouchin]

How late can you booking through cruise line? Thinking about booking with Celebrity 45 days out so I can still get better price on flights.

[Shmoo here]

3 minutes ago, nmhouchin said:

How late can you booking through cruise line? Thinking about booking with Celebrity 45 days out so I can still get better price on flights.

Pre-COVID you could  book up until the day before the cruise.  In most cases, within 3 days of a cruise you had to call to do so, couldn't do it online.

 

Nowadays - don't know if it's still the same with the COVID protocols for most lines.

 

 

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, nmhouchin said:

How late can you booking through cruise line? Thinking about booking with Celebrity 45 days out so I can still get better price on flights.

I am pretty sure you can book a cruise up to a few days before sailing —- but what makes you think you can get a better price on flights by doing so?  Very frequently flight costs trend upward as time shortens.

Edited October 26, 2021 by navybankerteacher

[Lois R]

I agree about the last minute flights being more $$$$$, not less $$$.........

[Hlitner]

We have done more then our share of last minute bookings (inside the final payment period) with multiple cruise lines on multiple itineraries around the world.  But this was all pre-Covid when there were some basic "rules" about finding good deals.  Things are completely different now because of the severe reduction in the number of cruises, the huge surplus of Future Cruise Credits (because of COVID-related cancelations), etc.    We have seen some good deals but, more then ever, folks need to have flexibility in their cruising dates, cruise lines, and ships.  

 

As always, the best deals are quietly handled by high volume cruise agencies.  Not all favorable last minute pricing is advertised or readily available by simple Internet searches.  The trick is finding out about last mi nute deals and being prepared to quickly book.  I once booked a 24 day cruise in Northern Europe (round trip from Copenhagen) about 10 days before the cruise and made the decision within 10 minutes (as soon as I could verify the availability of decent air prices).  

 

My advice is to register your e-mail address with several reputable discount/high volume cruise agencies.  Agencies do not charge for doing this but you may find yourself getting more annoying e-mails (for years) then you want.  Many of my friends have simply set up an extra e-mail address for this purpose (using Gmail or hotmail).   You can also look around the various agency web sites on a regular basis.  Most good deals seem to show-up Tuesday through Thursdays so we tend to be more alert mid week.  My final advice is that if you limit yourself to a single cruise itinerary or single line you may well miss the best deals.  So, be prepared to expand your cruising horizons and try something new.  Given the COVID protocols you should be fully vaccinated and know where to go to get fast Antigen and PCR tests (one of which is often required for travel/cruising).

 

Hank

[nmhouchin]

THANKS ALL

[gerryuk]

Book a cruise now for the next couple of weeks / months or so, and there are deals to be had. Some cruise lines, including some of the luxury lines seem to be in desperation mode with their prices. Its defiantly a buyers market, however if the cruise you book actually sails, is a another matter.

Book a cruise now for this time next year and into 2023 and the prices are higher by a considerable amount. Those prices will fall of a cliff, if we are in the same situation this time next year. 

 

 

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, gerryuk said:

Book a cruise now for the next couple of weeks / months or so, and there are deals to be had. Some cruise lines, including some of the luxury lines seem to be in desperation mode with their prices. Its defiantly a buyers market, however if the cruise you book actually sails, is a another matter.

Book a cruise now for this time next year and into 2023 and the prices are higher by a considerable amount. Those prices will fall of a cliff, if we are in the same situation this time next year. 

 

 

While some luxury lines should think they are in desperation mode it is often not borne out by their actions.  We were recently (just returned a few days ago) on a 14 day Seabourn cruise which was actually packaged as back to back 7 day itineraries.  During the first week we told the future cruise person that we would consider booking a third week if we could get a good deal.  He offered us a price that was actually more then what we had paid for the previous two weeks.  We politely declined (and explained why) and he then sent our request to the company.  We got a very fast (and polite) response that was still a little higher then the weekly cost of what we had paid for the original reservation.  Our position was that since we were on a ship that was running less than 1/3 capacity we would all win if offered a good deal.  But apparently the company could care less (and so did we).  Rather then trying to deal with our airline to get our flight changed ( a real hassle) we figured if the company was not going to offer us a great deal then why bother.  

 

I mention this because even  some cruise lines that have relatively empty ships are still not willing to offer a great deal.   We do like this particular cruise line (and did book a future 27 night cruise while aboard) but they could have earned another few thousand dollars by simply offering us a good deal.  Apparently they decided that it is better (for them) to have empty suites instead of passengers willing to pay hundreds of dollars per day.

 

Hank