Booking WAY Ahead? Yay or Nay?

[Wazzo]

Hello!

 

I am new to cruising, and would like some advice. I would LOVE to try out the Freedom of the Seas, but would not be able to go until the summer of 2008. The '08 bookings are starting to come out. Is there a price advantage to booking this far ahead? I've read that refunds are given up to 60 days out, so I'm not too worried about having to cancel. I'm just not sure if booking so far ahead is worth it?? Perhaps for availability?

 

Thank you SO much!

[PhoenixCruiser]

We think it's smart to book as soon as possible. If you find out that the price went down, you call RCI and they will give you the lower price or a refund. If you don't book and the price goes up you are SOL and will have to pay the difference :)

 

You also get the cabin you want.

 

Have fun planning :D

 

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[Cruising89143]

I usually book early to get certain cabins. Also if the price does come down, RCI is good about giving out credits for the difference.

[glgolfer]

One example - the Jewel of the Seas is doing a British Isles/Norwegian Fjords cruise 18 June 2007. Booking started 20 April. All of the suites are gone. We booked on the 22nd and managed to get the cabin we wanted.

 

Also, we booked the Freedon for 15 oct 2006 over a year ahead. There have been no balcony cabins available for a long time and just recently some interior cabins have come open at a higher price than we paid for our balcony.

 

Book early, get the cabin you want and if the price comes down, RCI will adjust it. They will not charge more if the price goes up.

[Wazzo]

Thanks! I will definitely book far ahead. Especially since the refund policy seems so reasonable.

 

Does anyone know when the rest of the 2008 dates will come out??

[CruisinDawn]

Thanks! I will definitely book far ahead. Especially since the refund policy seems so reasonable.

 

Does anyone know when the rest of the 2008 dates will come out??

 

Not for a while, the sailings through 4/08 just came out. Another reason to book now is the $99 off and sailing that was just announced as long as you book within the first 45 days after the rates were posted. We booked our Freedom 3/05 for 9/06 and prices just kept going up until it finally sold out. Make sure if you book outside Royal that you have read the fine print on cancellations or changes. Some have fees that Royal doesn't. A reputable agency won't add extra cancellation fees.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[threeofus]

The best cabins go early...especially the suites.

 

Another problem is...if the ship starts to get close to their person quota they no longer allow more than 2 in a cabin - no matter how large the cabin may be. If you have more than 2 you will have to take another room. This happened to us one year when we tried to book a spring break cruise too late. We are three and would have had to buy another room for a single.

 

So we booked Princess that year.

[Wazzo]

Is it best to book on the RCI site, or through an agent??

 

What's the best approach to booking as soon as the dates come out? Is there a waiting list, or do I just keep checking for later dates?

[jerseygirl3]

Since they've just come out with the sailing through April 2008, my guess is it'll be awhile before they come out with anything beyond that...at least probably not before the end of the year.

 

You can keep checking RCI's website for when pricing comes out and when you see something you like, you can either book it directly with RCI and keep the booking there, or book through RCI and later transfer it to a travel agent of your choice. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity no longer allow discounting, so you probably won't see much difference in pricing regardless of where you book. Some TA's will rebate back part of their commission to get you a lower price, but that is becoming less and less common.

 

We've just booked the Explorer of the Seas Feb. 3, 2008, 12 night cruise from Bayonne to southern Caribbean. I think that's the furthest out we've ever booked a cruise, but the price was just too good to pass up.

[Wazzo]

Is there a difference between the Freedom of the Seas and the upcoming Liberty of the Seas??

[starq1]

We always book early! Those AFT cabins seem to go very fast so I need to book as early as possible. This year I booked our last two cruises for 07-08 the day they came out for booking(May 2) and I am glad I did! They are really filling up fast!

[sgttami]

We booked Bermuda last year within 7 days of sailing...

 

We booked Alaska about 10 months ahead for our trip in Sept '05 and were home for 6 days and then went on Adventure of the seas to the Carib which we booked in Aug for Oct.

 

When the dates opened we booked Explorer from NJ to the Carib...12 day, not untill 11/07 (probably the earliest ever)...

 

Sometime last year we booked Hawaii on NCL for 1/07 but after my sister and I went on NCL this March (which we booked in Feb) we cancelled Hawaii on NCL...just didn't like NCL

 

So we've done both....got some great early discounts as well as some late ones too...

 

We also booked 9 day Explorer for 10/06 back in '05 (when it first came out)

and saved about $1000..compared to what the price is now.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Is there a difference between the Freedom of the Seas and the upcoming Liberty of the Seas??

 

Since the Liberty is still being built, we don't really know. However, and I could be wrong, I think they sail on different days, just like the Navigator and Mariner.

 

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[threeofus]

Since the Liberty is still being built, we don't really know. However, and I could be wrong, I think they sail on different days, just like the Navigator and Mariner.

 

###

 

The Liberty and Freedom flip flop eastern and western. They should be very similiar. When the voyager first sailed they were building the explorer and they are very much alike. They did the flip flop as well. The later ships may be a little bit different as they make changes based on what worked and what didn't. They don't have time to do that with LOS --it's in production.

[SheltieLady]

I agree with eveyone else, book early. For our upcoming cruise in January we booked it November 2005 so we could get the cabin we wanted.

 

Christine

[Cuizer2]

There are no down sides to booking early and several good reasons to do so. For examle, if you book now and the price goes down, you can ask for the lower price. If you book now and the price goes up, you keep the lower price. If you book later and the price goes up, you cannot ask for the earlier lower price. If you book now you have a better chance of getting the cabin you want, unless it is a Presidential or Royal Family Suite. Those cabins sold out on day one.

 

As for summer 2008, don't be surprised if those booking do not open up until April / May 2007.

[lovemylab]

We booked our first cruise 9 months early and the choices for balcony cabins was limited. We booked our next cruise 18 months early.

 

We prefer to book early to ensure that we get the cabin of our choice. Also if the price drops we get a credit. We both know that we can have the time off work so we have no reason to wait.

[Peggy13]

We always book at least a year in advance. We just booked last week for next June and got two great AFT cabins. Our friends think I'm crazy planning that far in advance, but I tell them you get the cabins you want, not the ones that are leftover.

[NYCRUISR]

We book a year or more out in order to get our favorite aft cabins. For Freedom, it wil be 15 months for our June 25, 06 cruise. Long wait but we get what we want and often with decent savings compared to late bookers.

[jd10367]

My wife and I were interested in the Med for 2007. Cabins became available for booking at the end of April. We started looking into a cruise a few days later. We picked a September cruise (which is a slower season), and when we checked on line, almost all the balconies were already gone!

 

We booked a cabin. A day later, the price went up $100.

 

Book early. Book often. LOL

[Bruin Steve]

First of all, let me agree with everyone else...

ALWAYS book early if you can:

--Choice of cabins or categories

--Often there are early booking discounts

--and, yes, cruises and cabin categories, especially for popular cruises in high season, DO SELL OUT...

 

Prices on cruises are driven, over time, by market conditions...they may go up, they may go down. Consider that early booking a cheap "futures" bet...You are hedging against the price going up...

If the price goes up, you are confirmed at your lower price...If it goes down, call your TA and have them call the cruise line--who will, in turn, reduce your price...The hook you have is that you could always just cancel and rebook at the new, lower price with no penalty (all the way through final payment)...Of course, you never have to do this because the line will make the adjustment...

 

And, what does it cost you to book early? The cost of the interest on your deposit funds...Let's say your deposit is $500 ...and you're otherwise earning 3% interest (which is high compared to what banks are paying on liquid accounts nowadays)...that comes to $1.25 per month!!! and most of us don't make anywhere close to that interest on short term funds--right now, Wells Fargo is paying, on its "Preferred Rate Savings Accounts" for accounts under $10,000 the rate of .65%!!!...That means the cost of the interest on your deposit amounts to a mere TWENTY-SEVEN CENTS per month...

 

I'd certainly pay that to guarantee a cruise fare any time...

 

Now, as to the Freedom of the Seas/Liberty of the Seas--I just booked the Liberty of the Seas a couple of weeks back...In fact, my TA told me RCCL told her I was the first one to book the ship--She called the morning they released the prices to their reps BEFORE they were even posted on the internet...So, I snagged #8338--the prime "hump" balcony cabin for the June 30, 2007 sailing...

 

Anyway, the Freedom OTS and Liberty OTS are sister ships--they arebing/have been constructed from the same blueprints...Same size, same configuration, etc. Oftentimes, there will be MINOR differences between sisters...They'll come up with a new idea sometime after completing one and before completing the other...or there will be decorative differences--a different color scheme, different pieces of displayed art...

 

But, for the most part, expect the two ships to be almost indistinguishable...

 

Likewise, they will have similar, but not necessarily identical itineraries...yes, one is slated to sail Sturdays, the other Sundays, both witll alternate Eastern and Western

 

As to Summer of 2008, remember the Summer 2007 schedules weren't released until May 1, 2006...so be prepared to wait another year...

 

Good luck...

[isujim]

We always book early...............18 months early if possible

[Cuizer2]

First of all, let me agree with everyone else...

ALWAYS book early if you can:

--Choice of cabins or categories

--Often there are early booking discounts

--and, yes, cruises and cabin categories, especially for popular cruises in high season, DO SELL OUT...

 

Anyway, the Freedom OTS and Liberty OTS are sister ships--they arebing/have been constructed from the same blueprints...Same size, same configuration, etc. Oftentimes, there will be MINOR differences between sisters...They'll come up with a new idea sometime after completing one and before completing the other...or there will be decorative differences--a different color scheme, different pieces of displayed art...

 

But, for the most part, expect the two ships to be almost indistinguishable...

 

Likewise, they will have similar, but not necessarily identical itineraries...yes, one is slated to sail Sturdays, the other Sundays, both witll alternate Eastern and Western

 

As to Summer of 2008, remember the Summer 2007 schedules weren't released until May 1, 2006...so be prepared to wait another year...

 

Good luck...

 

Last time I looked at the schedules, the Freedom was going to Ocho Rios while the Liberty was going to Mo Bay. I'll take Ocho Rios over Mo Bay any day.

[Cuizer2]

First of all, let me agree with everyone else...

ALWAYS book early if you can:

--Choice of cabins or categories

--Often there are early booking discounts

--and, yes, cruises and cabin categories, especially for popular cruises in high season, DO SELL OUT...

 

Anyway, the Freedom OTS and Liberty OTS are sister ships--they arebing/have been constructed from the same blueprints...Same size, same configuration, etc. Oftentimes, there will be MINOR differences between sisters...They'll come up with a new idea sometime after completing one and before completing the other...or there will be decorative differences--a different color scheme, different pieces of displayed art...

 

But, for the most part, expect the two ships to be almost indistinguishable...

 

Likewise, they will have similar, but not necessarily identical itineraries...yes, one is slated to sail Sturdays, the other Sundays, both witll alternate Eastern and Western

 

As to Summer of 2008, remember the Summer 2007 schedules weren't released until May 1, 2006...so be prepared to wait another year...

 

Good luck...

 

Last time I looked at the schedules, the Freedom was going to Ocho Rios while the Liberty was going to Mo Bay. I'll take Ocho Rios over Mo Bay any day.

[TheWog]

I'm booking this week for January 08. I think the prices will only go up from here.