?????s for those with future cruises already booked

[jellens]

Just a question -- how do so many of the posters have so many future cruises planned for 2007 and beyond. I can't plan much more than what is going on tomorrow. How do you do it??? How do you know where and what ship to go on that far in advance??:rolleyes:

[elmorejj]

Research, research, research. Knowing where you want to go, when, which cruise line and which itinerary. It all becomes easy after that.......jean:cool:

[Copper10-8]

You can get that info both on HAL's website and in HAL's 2007 Cruise planner (check with HAL and/or a TA to get one) - Good luck and happy cruisin':)

[jhannah]

It also helps to have a job that offers some flexibility in when you can take off (as I was fortunate to have) or just be retired. When my DW was teaching, we knew her schedule a year or more in advance, so it made it easier to book our cruises well in advance.

[GMoney]

Research, research, research. Knowing where you want to go, when, which cruise line and which itinerary. It all becomes easy after that.......jean:cool:

 

I agree. I currently have 6 cruises booked for 2007 and it just boils down to knowing where you want to go and whens the best time, both from a rate and personal perspective.

[bruce-r]

With DW being a teacher and having 2 kids in school, we are limited to 2 weeks in December and 1 week in March for vacations if we want to cruise HAL in the Caribbean. It is easy to plan in advance if you only have 3 weeks you can go. Since those weeks can be high demand weeks, especially for air travel, we HAVE to plan way in advance if we want to travel at those times.

[RuthC]

The 2007 Cruise Planner has been out for ages; the 2008 Schedule at a Glance is out already. Pour over them, then check out the HAL website for more details.

 

I usually book my future cruises when on a cruise---the onboard credit isn't as good as it used to be, but there is still some $$$ for booking then.

I'm retired now, so I don't have to ask my boss for time off. :D

But even when I was still working I had the seniority to pick my vacation time whenever I wanted it. I had 32 "use it or lose it" days a year, and everyone else pretty much had to work around me. :) The further in advance I planned my time the better off everyone else was.

[sail7seas]

We currently have six cruises booked for 2007. We have two sets of b-to-b's booked that make up two cruises each so we'll only be away four times. We often book 9-12 months in advance. I don't work and DH is the boss so he can plan what time he wants off.

 

[iceman93]

I find that planning well in advance actually makes it easier to schedule time off from work. To me, it seems that only the retired (or self-employed and incredibly rich) can afford to take last-minute vacations!

[GMoney]

I find that planning well in advance actually makes it easier to schedule time off from work. To me, it seems that only the retired (or self-employed and incredibly rich) can afford to take last-minute vacations!

 

Last minute doesn't have to be expensive. I booked the Noordam earlier this year the day before she sailed at a tremendous rate.

[duck tune]

I am a college professor and DH can take time off whenever he wants to so we tend to plan cruises around my schedule - usually leave on a cruise the day after fall semester ends, over spring break and maybe an Alaska cruise in the summer (often the day after graduation). My rationale for 2 or 3 cruises a year is that it gives me a light at the end of the tunnel to motivate me through the difficult days :D. This December's cruise was booked 12/24/2005 and the March 2007 cruise was booked April of this year. We do not have an Alaska cruise booked for next year but DH surprised me with a last minute cruise this June that he booked in April online and got a great deal. The spring break cruise made him want to go again before December. As it was, the last minute cruise ended up in a terrific 7 category upgrade from an outside to a VA balcony so this last minute booking was a great deal. We have only been cruising since 2002, doubt if we can ever afford to retire to will cruise when we can as long as we can!

[Sage]

We book early so we can choose the category of cabin or specific cabin that we want, as some categories fill up faster than others. Other cruise itineraries are very popular and can sell out as soon as they are posted.

[newmexicoNita]

Last minute doesn't have to be expensive. I booked the Noordam earlier this year the day before she sailed at a tremendous rate.

you are right GMoney, I was just checking rates for the ship we are sailing in 10 days: the price is much less than we paid, of course the downside of waiting til the last minute is sold out ships or very little choice in cabins. I know lots of people who can get time off work with little planning, especially when they have several years seniority and lots of vacation time.

 

NMnita

[Krazy Kruizers]

When you are retired it is easy to book so many cruises far in advance -- no conflicts.

 

We pretty much what we want to do -- just wait until it becomes available for booking.

[Randyk47]

My wife and I both work, in fact, as department chiefs for the same government agency. Ours truly is a 24/7 marriage and partnership. :) The point is that while we have good leave benefits we do have to plan our leave schedule out several months, up to a full year ahead for major breaks like 2 weeks. Among the many, many reasons we've picked cruising as our major vacation of choice is the fact we can research and schedule cruises a year or more ahead. We have a general "list" of places we'd like to cruise to and we're continually researching those, watching for cruises at the right time and right price. Right now we're booked for next March, and have been since last March, and we're narrowing down our selections for the February-March 2008 cruise and will probably book that cruise early next year. :)

[babyher]

DW and I travel with a group of friends , usually 5 or 7 couples. We do a cruise every other year. 2007 is our next cruise.

 

What we do is first get a window of time that is good for everyone. Then we hit the websites and see what is out there and make copies of the cruises that interest us.

 

Then we plan a dinner at one of our houses , eat, drink, be merry *LOL* and then get down to business. We throw all the printouts with the various cruises on the table and let everyone check them out. eventually through process of elimination we decide on one. (or kill eachother trying *LOL*)

 

The past few cruises we have done, November seems to be the best time for all of us. What we have planned this time is have our "pick a cruise" dinner, right after the new year , and then once we all decide we book enmasse with the same TA.

[sail7seas]

That is so great, Babyher. I love reading about good friends having good times together. Hope your group selects your first pick for your next cruise.

 

Somehow I don't think it will really matter.....as long as you are all together, you'll have a good time.

 

[Teresa Price]

I'm a teacher too so booking in advance is the best for me. Already booked for 20 nights next summer in the Med with HAL - first HAL cruise.

happy cruising

Teresa

[babyher]

That is so great, Babyher. I love reading about good friends having good times together. Hope your group selects your first pick for your next cruise.

 

Somehow I don't think it will really matter.....as long as you are all together, you'll have a good time.

 

 

We have a ball wherever we go :)

 

It is so funny when you do the time line of how we all know eachother and how we all met, its like one of those 6 degrees of separation things *LOL*

 

One of our friends calls us the Royal Family (we just don't breed outside the circle *LOL*).

 

So far we are leaning towards Hawaii this cruise, but if you knew this group , by the time we have the dinner we could be circleing the Antarctic *LOL*

[RevNeal]

Just a question -- how do so many of the posters have so many future cruises planned for 2007 and beyond. I can't plan much more than what is going on tomorrow. How do you do it??? How do you know where and what ship to go on that far in advance??:rolleyes:

 

I keep familiar with HAL's website and know what cruises are projected in 2007 and into 2008. I have certain future cruise itineraries that I want to take -- there are places I want to cruise to before God takes me on the cruise to Heaven -- and, so, I keep abreast of the offerings a year or two out so that I can project, plan, and pay for future cruises accordingly.

 

Being a member of the clergy in full-time ministerial appointment as the Senior Pastor in a local church, there are several "black-out-dates" governing when I can be away on vacation: i.e., I can't be gone for most of Advent, Christmas, most of Lent, Holy Week, Easter Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, or Annual Conference time. Otherwise, and keeping in mine other Church functions, events, and scheduled Weddings and Baptisms, I am free to plan my vacation time as I see fit and in conjunction with my Associate Pastor. With 17 full years of seniority in the ministry, my judicatory grants me a minimum of 4 weeks of vacation every year. That's "minimum," not "maximum," nor does it mean "up to," and I take that distinction in the guidelines seriously. Some years I don't take anything more than the 4 weeks alloted (and once I got in trouble with my Bishop for not taking even half of my alloted vacation time), but other years I have taken up to 6 weeks of vacation time throughout the year. It all depends upon my needs and the needs of the church.

[arzz]

For most of my teaching years, I have used the annual (or semi-annual) vacation planning as my way to deal with the stress of my job. Whenever it was too much, I sat down for a while to either plan, or review my trip plans. We started cruising when my son was about 8. What a wonderful way to travel with him and not have him totally surrounded by adults 24/7. The children's programs were a real gift to help alleviate his lack of siblings.

 

We stopped during the college tuition years, but resumed our cruising (now just for the two of us) soon after.

 

Boy, having that cruise planned sure got me over many stressful times.

 

Now that we are retired, our plan is to travel as much as we can afford. We currently have two cruises booked (one that we originally booked over two years ago) and we are planning a third. Our times are no longer as stressful but I find everything more fun when I have travel plans in the works.

 

Since retirement, however, we find that we do two types of cruises -- the cheap last minute ones that just take us on a quick get-away to someplace we have always wanted to go -- and the big ones that we plan way in advance where itinerary and cabin assignments are all important.

[Spender Nui]

A combination of research and captalism.

[Atomica]

Personally, I have to plan ahead - it helps me schedule time off from work, and also it gives me more time to pay for each trip, particularily if I want to do a larger cruise. I am already looking at 2008 ;)

[Crazy]

My next cruise is to the Panama in February on the Volendam. I booked when HML came out with upgrades about a year in advance. I recently retired and love to travel and always cruise with HML. I will be planning my Europe trip in 2007 for 2008. This past year I went on two cruises. In 2007 I have one planned and thinking about booking one for the holidays as I loved to cruise over the holidays.