How “last minute” can you book a cruise?

[McFins]

What is the minimum number of days prior to the sail date that you can book a cruise?  

Thanks all!!

[zqvol]

If cabins are available you can book on the day of sailing.

[McFins]

16 minutes ago, zqvol said:

If cabins are available you can book on the day of sailing.

Oh I thought they stopped that a long time ago and now needed some minimum number of days pre sailing.   Good to know!

Edited June 16 by McFins

[complawyer]

ncl is in business to sell cabins, it's in their best interests to sail at full capacity. consequently, as long as there are cabins available, you can book, regardless of how many days are left prior to sailing

[Roscoe13]

2 hours ago, McFins said:

What is the minimum number of days prior to the sail date that you can book a cruise?  

Thanks all!!

So then same day bookings are still possible.

 

Theoretically.  The closest I've heard about is RCI, I believe, that allows bookings the afternoon before.  Has to be done by phone, not online, and most certainly not at the port, despite what some think.

[Roscoe13]

1 minute ago, Roscoe13 said:

So then same day bookings are still possible.

 

Theoretically.  The closest I've heard about is RCI, I believe, that allows bookings the afternoon before.  Has to be done by phone, not online, and most certainly not at the port, despite what some think.

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

Ok, I just have to ask.  Why on earth would somebody be looking to book a cruise the day before sailing?  I guess if I'm already at the departure port and my cruise the next day is suddenly cancelled.  Why else?

[Distinctive-Destinations]

2 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Ok, I just have to ask.  Why on earth would somebody be looking to book a cruise the day before sailing?  I guess if I'm already at the departure port and my cruise the next day is suddenly cancelled.  Why else?

I’d guess really good deals could be had. 
 

if you live say 100 miles or less to a port, I could see it.

[BirdTravels]

Probably no deals. If you are that desperate to get out of the country, they can charge you a higher price. 

[DorothyB]

I'm close to the port and if I could get a good deal . . . 

[McFins]

45 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Ok, I just have to ask.  Why on earth would somebody be looking to book a cruise the day before sailing?  I guess if I'm already at the departure port and my cruise the next day is suddenly cancelled.  Why else?

Really just wondering when the window closed for booking.  Was chatting with someone who worked at the pier MANY years ago who advised at that time you could book/board same day. I didn’t think that would be possible anymore and just wondered.  
 Since not far from port, wondered if on a whim we could get on a cruise with less than a week’s notice.  Doubt I would do just one day before but who knows. Sometimes other plans change and wanted to know if that could be a viable pivot.  
 

[fla33023]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Ok, I just have to ask.  Why on earth would somebody be looking to book a cruise the day before sailing?  I guess if I'm already at the departure port and my cruise the next day is suddenly cancelled.  Why else?

I live in Hollywood, FL so I'm in between POM and PE. If I had the money, I certainly would hop on a ship with a moment's notice.

[McFins]

42 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Probably no deals. If you are that desperate to get out of the country, they can charge you a higher price. 

Ha, not desperate to get out of the country…wouldn’t care if the ship actually left the dock(well maybe just far enough so the casino could open)  Just figured its an easy vacation for us so wanted to know our options in case we decided last minute. Not looking for a deal per se but hadn’t thought prices would be higher…would think they’d be more interested in filling up any rooms that were still empty that close to sailing rather than charging more. 

[1bighund]

I’ve heard it is 3 days because security clearance issues

[Kp125]

When I worked for a cruise line long ago I had a gentleman run into friends on a World cruise in Singapore and decided to jump on with them. The purser just sent the high five figure charge through. Now though I don’t know if they would allow that.

[ChiefMateJRK]

4 hours ago, fla33023 said:

I live in Hollywood, FL so I'm in between POM and PE. If I had the money, I certainly would hop on a ship with a moment's notice.

Wouldn't you have had that same money two day's prior?  Or, are you a big lottery player?

[kelib]

The closest I had was booking Wednesday for Sunday out of NYC. We were slow at work and the price was great, cheaper than going to the beach  (2019) 

[Asawi]

I was actually seriously considering booking a cruise leaving out of Oslo yesterday. .(It's just a few hours of bus/train for me to get there.)

It was available to book at least until late night the day before departure. 

Price was good but not good amazing.

[Travelling2Some]

We're retired and can hop in a cab to the Port of New York.  We're also very light packers so "why" is more like "why not?" for me.

[chengkp75]

9 hours ago, 1bighund said:

I’ve heard it is 3 days because security clearance issues

Security clearance from whom?  The government, CBP, does not see the passenger manifest until 60 minutes prior to sailing, so they have no idea who has booked, or when.  Some cruise lines do run bookings through a sex offender database, but that is not mandatory, and I don't believe there is any "timeline" for doing this.

[fla33023]

9 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Wouldn't you have had that same money two day's prior?  Or, are you a big lottery player?

Not sure I understand what you're saying. Do I have money right now to go on a cruise tomorrow? Not really. All my summer travels have already been planned and purchased. The only thing stopping me is money as I'm on summer break. I have the time and don't need hotels and flights. Just an Uber!

[Distinctive-Destinations]

14 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Probably no deals. If you are that desperate to get out of the country, they can charge you a higher price. 

Is this a serious post?

 

Are you trying to say that if a ship still had say a hundred empty cabins, a day or two before sailing that they won’t cut prices to fill them up?

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

Is this a serious post?

 

Are you trying to say that if a ship still had say a hundred empty cabins, a day or two before sailing that they won’t cut prices to fill them up?

Prior to the COVID suspension of sailing NCL definitely had last minute mark-downs.  I haven't noticed it so much lately, but I would expect that if you were to pore over all the prices for all of their cruises until you found a cruise about to sail with a bunch of empty staterooms, you probably could find a bargain or two.

[The Traveling Man]

12 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Wouldn't you have had that same money two day's prior?  Or, are you a big lottery player?

I think the point of the post is that if you are footloose and fancy free, live near an active cruise port, and have money to burn, so to speak, then "why take a cruise?" becomes "why not?"  You may not want to plan in June to take a September cruise that will cost you $4,000.00 for a couple, but if that same cruise is still available in September for just $2,000.00, WHY NOT?  Even though we live hundreds of miles from the nearest cruise port and more than a thousand miles from the nearest port that routinely embarks more than a dozen ships a week, we still keep our eyes open for last minute bargains.  We may not be able to take advantage of day-before-sailing bargains, but if a week before sailing counts as "last minute" we're open to considering it.

[ChiefMateJRK]

3 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

We may not be able to take advantage of day-before-sailing bargains, but if a week before sailing counts as "last minute" we're open to considering it.

Exactly.  I was really just poking at the "day before."  Why not just book three days before and have some time to pack and prepare?  I'm guessing "day before" makes a better story to post on social media (which I know absolutely nothing about).