Closest to embarkation you have booked CCL cruise?

[havanadaydreaming]

Any last minute cruise bookers out there? Ive always been a plan waaaaaaaay ahead guy. 

 

We just booked one 15 days out.  The "perfect storm" for airfare, cruise fare, perks and availability came together unexpectedly.  

 

While we wont be havana daydreaming we will be heading to mexico and trying to reason with hurricane season. Im sure we will see some sharks that can swim on the land while we hit up two margaritavilles ( jimmy buffetts former home island key west and cozumel)   

 

 

[mz-s]

I was on one this past May that I booked on Wednesday and it left on the following Monday - so 5 days or so.

[ZoeyVictoria]

I woke up early on September 24 and saw that the projected path of Hurricane Ian was projected to be a direct hit where I live on the west coast of Florida.  I researched and eliminated flying to see family members in New York and Virginia, as well as driving up north.  Then I found a cruise on the Liberty, leaving the 26th and returning the 30th.  Perfect!  After a couple hours of discussion, we booked one of the last five available cabins.  We headed for the port 46 hours later.  Evacuation by sea turned out to be a great idea.  We checked projections frequently, but the cruise was enough of a distraction to keep our stress levels down.  Ian made landfall south of our area, and there was just minor damage and a 22-hour power outage at our condo.  We stayed at sea an extra day and returned home late on September 30.   Last-minute booking with a happy ending.  

[Colorado Beach Bum]

Booked Wednesday for a Saturday cruise.  We were in TX and cruise left out of Long Beach.  This was last fall when you still needed a COVID test.  Needless to say it was a crazy 48 hours getting tested, packed and flights to CA.  

[sgttami]

My last minute bookings were in my earlier years of cruising. A month or so before was normal.

 

The closest I recall was 4 days before on Splendor when  she sailed from NY.(2014)  I had been on in Feb, March, May and Sept and decided to do the repo to San Juan that Oct. just 4 days before.  Easy port to get to for me and I'd never done a repo.

 

My next cruise is for Jan. 2023 that has been booked and paid for since Apr.. 2020 (Covid cancelation rebook).

 

I like the last minute ones better!

 

 

 

 

[Tiger0613]

At 7:42pm CT on Friday 11/29/19, I booked a Sunday 12/1/19 7 day Key West/Bahamas cruise on the Glory out of New Orleans.  I left for the first of two city buses to the Greyhound station in Baton Rouge at about 6:40am on Sunday to get on the 10:30am Greyhound bus.  I got off the Greyhound bus at the Starbucks on Canal St.  It got there early at about 12:15pm instead of 12:30pm.  My check in time was 1:00pm - 1:30pm.  I was onboard at about 1:15pm.

 

I was checking the price of my 12/30/19 cruise on the Valor, expecting to see the Valor listed first in the search results.  When I saw the Glory listed first for $199/person, my reaction was to say what the f out loud.  I was able to choose my oceanview cabin, and it wasn't under the galley.  There was clearly a very last minute cancelation. When I got to my cabin, there was paperwork with a married couple's names on it.  I was solo.  After all expenses, I paid under $1,000 for a 7 day solo cruise.

 

Less than 30 minutes after booking, I got on a bus to the Walmart down the street to get cash.  I was still doing cash accounts on my cruises at the time.  I had to do four transactions to get enough cash since the registers are/were limited to $100 cash back per transaction.  There weren't any of my bank's ATMs near my apartment.  I wouldn't have had any time to go to a bank on Saturday because I needed to pack, wash dishes, take out the trash, and most importantly wash clothes.  Day before travel preparations are an all day/night affair because I need frequent ADHD breaks.

Edited October 10, 2022 by Tiger0613

[Honolulu Blue]

11 hours ago, havanadaydreaming said:

Any last minute cruise bookers out there? Ive always been a plan waaaaaaaay ahead guy. 

I booked a last minute cruise in September 2021 that was 6 days before embarkation.  It wasn't on Carnival though.

 

I've booked some Carnival cruises after final payment.  I think a month is about as last minute as I've done on CCL.

[wareaglefan444]

I booked on a thursday night for a saturday departure on the mardi gras last october

[overeasy]

26 hours. January 2020 on Freedom out of Galveston. Checked off bucket-list item of taking a last-minute cruise just for the fun of it.

[firefly333]

The day of. It took them so long to approve and finalize I almost missed the ship and said never again. I'm a 4 or 5 hour drive away. 

 

From now on a least the day before.

[christyran1228]

73 days.  Lol

[crdtrnr]

A few years back, booked the day before the cruise...Nothing like telling the hubby (went solo) and last minute packing...lol

 

[hard_eight]

Week of, spur of the moment!

[braveslake]

Quite a few years ago we booked on the Friday before Labor Day and left on Labor Day Monday.  It was frantic but fun! 

 

[maluhia87]

Last February, we booked on a Tuesday and sailed on Friday.  Luckily we were already planning on being gone during that time and just had to shuffle flights around since we are nowhere near a port.

[RedbirdFLCruiser]

Four days! Last year, I booked a cruise on November 18 that left on November 22. We live 45 minutes from the port, so we didn't need to arrange flights or hotels. This cruise was Monday - Friday, including Thanksgiving. We loved being on the ship for Thanksgiving!

[matymil]

I booked a quick one on the Liberty in March...i think it was 9 days out

[2Shoes2Go]

While on board, to make a b2b.  Or, a few times, less than 24 hrs before.