Best time to book a May 2025 cruise

[OCSC Mike]

12 hours ago, captainannoyed! said:

 I have to believe that I the few days before the cruise, aside from the requirements to have a set passenger list 48 (?) hours before sailing, there’s got to be a last minute spot to be had at big savings.

Not with how full ships are these days. I used to book fairly last minute (3-6 weeks out), sometimes during the GGG sale, but even those deals are few & far between.

Edited March 4 by OCSC Mike

[neverbeenhere]

Book early OR wait until last minute and book deal on another cruise line. 

[captainannoyed!]

32 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Not with how full ships are these days. I used to book fairly last minute (3-6 weeks out), sometimes during the GGG sale, but even those deals are few & far between.

I can easily believe that.  It seems like they’ve got 100% occupancy pretty aced.  But if you have flexibility and live in FL I do feel like that’s the basis of opportunity.

[SquishTheWhale]

I'm in the UK so if you aren't keen on using a US agent here's some info regarding my May 2024 booking on Oasis- not a transatlantic though.

We booked 19 months in advance and since then have only seen the price go up and up and up.

 

Now we're under final payment date I just went on to check prices to see if there's any reduction based on what people in this thread are saying.

 

We paid- £1650ish in an ultra spacious interior for 2 adults 1 kid

Price now at 69 days out- £5800

 

However that's an unfair comparison as it's an odd cabin category and there's only 1 left so it's skewing prices.

 

Price now in a standard interior: £2940

 

So my only conclusion is to book early early early.

[gavvy]

As you are from the UK I assume you will need a 1 way air ticket too - leaving that until last minute could wipe out any savings you have made on the cruise, generally they only go up closer to departure 

[OCSC Mike]

7 hours ago, captainannoyed! said:

I can easily believe that.  It seems like they’ve got 100% occupancy pretty aced.  But if you have flexibility and live in FL I do feel like that’s the basis of opportunity.

 

It can't hurt living here and if you book TA group rates (which have refundable deposits) you can always keep an eye out for last minute deals and then decide if you want cancel any cruises you booked early. I did find one last October less than a month out and I had a friend find a good deal on Wonder in a GGG sale in the fall... they are just nothing like what they used to be.

 

In 2022, there were multiple 4N cruises on Indy out of PC with a base price of $129pp in the GGG sale. We also squeezed in an October cruise that year and would have gone more than once if we were more flexible. It's those deals that are currently long gone (for several reasons).

Edited March 4 by OCSC Mike