Booking close to sail date

[jp2746]

This is our first cruise on Princess and we are looking at a cruise that is pretty cheap.  It is close to home so we do not have to worry about airline tickets.  The final payment is due in August (31) and I am wondering if it would be better to wait until final payment is due to book or book now?   We aren’t sold on the cruise but for the right price we would go.  Since deposits are refundable I am thinking that people may drop out at the last minute and free up some rooms that they want to sell therefore reducing the price.  Is my line of thinking correct or should I just book and watch up until final payment to see what happens?  I know it is a gamble but one we are willing to take for the right price. We are using goodwill credits so I don’t really want to lose them. 

[CineGraphic]

Wait until final payment is due.

You may have less cabins to choose from, but the price drops can be fabulous.

You also risk the cruise selling-out.

Hopefully everything works in your favor.

Enjoy your cruise!

[jp2746]

55 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

Wait until final payment is due.

You may have less cabins to choose from, but the price drops can be fabulous.

You also risk the cruise selling-out.

Hopefully everything works in your favor.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you!  That is what I will do.  I will be checking on September 1st.  There are quite a few cabins available right now. 

[CineGraphic]

4 minutes ago, jp2746 said:

Thank you!  That is what I will do.  I will be checking on September 1st.  There are quite a few cabins available right now. 

 

In the meantime, check prices multiple times each day.

If you see a price you are comfortable with before the 1st, book it.

[NavyVeteran]

3 hours ago, jp2746 said:

Thank you!  That is what I will do.  I will be checking on September 1st.  There are quite a few cabins available right now. 

You are taking a gamble if you wait. There may not be cabins available, and, if there are, they may or may not go down in price. If you have Future Cruise Credit that is going to expire, make sure you have another cruise you would like to book if you don't get this one.

 

How do you know that there are quite a few cabins available now? You don't know that by looking at cabins available for sale on the Princess website. Princess may have sold guarantees that they haven't assigned to cabins yet. That keeps more cabin choices available to sell.

 

Example: Suppose they have sold 100 guarantees and they have 110 cabins available. If they assign the guarantees now, they only have 10 cabin options for people to choose from, and they may not be the ones people want. They can wait and give people 110 choices. It looks as if they have 110 available, but as soon as they sell 10, everything is sold out.

 

If you want to wait, I recommend you find another cruise you would also like with final payment farther in the future but within the constraints of your goodwill credit and book it now with a refundable deposit. Then if you get this cruise, you can cancel the other one. If you don't get this cruise, you have another option without losing your goodwill credit. (Note: This recommendation is if you are from the US or another country that has fully refundable deposits.)

[Ptroxx]

4 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

Wait until final payment is due.

You may have less cabins to choose from, but the price drops can be fabulous.

You also risk the cruise selling-out.

Hopefully everything works in your favor.

Enjoy your cruise!

I disagree with this first statement.   And agree with the second.  If you found a killer deal.  Book it.  
you risk the cruise selling out.  
 

I just booked Alaska with 2 weeks to sail date.  And when I booked was told I got one of the last cabins.   
so if you like the price and the cruise.  Book it.  

[jp2746]

If I book the cabin and it goes down after final payment date do they give onboard credit or something like that?  Just curious.  This is a little stressful because I really can't spend too much money.  We just got off a cruise last Saturday and the only reason we would take this one is because of the goodwill credits.  I hate to let them go, but I also don't have much of a budget after having our big summer vacation last week (that was also a canceled credit from 2020!)

[Momma Rene]

Doesn't Princess have a guarantee on the best price?  If pricing goes down, can't you still get the lower price?  

[voljeep]

2 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

Doesn't Princess have a guarantee on the best price?  If pricing goes down, can't you still get the lower price?  

Not that I am aware - but you can always call and ask if you see a price drop in the same category of cabin you booked