Wow! It's much harder to book this year than last. More cruisers?

[TMull]

Last year we waited until the last minute before deciding to cruise on the Golden out of Puerto Rico. We had no problem booking only a few weeks out. In fact, we had many cabins to chose from.

 

This year I'm trying now to book us on the Crown for February 10 and the ship is just about totally booked. What gives?

Do they release extra cabins later (like concert tickets)?

Is this a school vacation week?

Is cruising "up" that much from last year?

Bad luck?

 

If anyone has any advice or ideas, I'd love to hear 'em. Thanks!

[cbcaper]

We stopped by the TA in May just to check out some prices for the Crown for February and it was almost booked then. We wanted to do a back to back and get married in February but had to decide on the end of March. Glad we stopped by.

I even noticed that the new Emerald is filling up fast for 2008.

[chelsea brown]

We encountered the same (fully booked) story when attempting to book a 3 b to b cruise on Queen Mary2 for 09/04/07 so we accepted what we could get , but am now hearing that they have since released several blocks of cabins in mid ship which we'd have preferred . This begs the question , are travel agents taking advantage of the heavy cruise trade by holding back stock to avoid last minute sales or are cruise companies themselves causing (early purchase panic buying ) .It's a thought.

Chels.

2003 Oosterdam....Caribbean

2003 Navigator of Seas..Medditeranian

2004 Golden Princess.Western Eaurope

2004 Enchantment of Sea.............Mexico

2005 Regal Princess.....Alaska

YIPPEEEE

2007.Q.M.2. .MEDDITERANIAN HERE WE COME !!!

[paul929207]

I tried to book B2B on the Star from Santiago to Venice (36 days) for March 2008 (yes 2008). We are number 3 on the waitlist.

 

Paul

[spongerob]

Isn't mid-February President's Week or some such thing where many people on the east coast take the week off? I noticed a similar thing for Grand Princess in March. The week of March 10 is very expensive and there isn't much cabin selection, the week before and after are much more affordable. It turns out that the week of March 10 is spring break for Texas schools.

[TMull]

I think that the following week is "February Vacation" for east coast schools, but I could be wrong...?

[rebeccalouise]

President's weekend probably.

[willysgrandma]

We booked the Crown last January for the Nov. 4 cruise and Princess had stopped taking group reservations because the ship was selling so well.

 

The ship was completely booked by summer. In fact, it was oversold and Princess was contacting people near the end trying to change them. New ship, great itinerary and low prices.

 

When you are dealing with a new ship that has very low prices, it is best to book very early.

[cruzinchris]

The February "mid-winter" school vacation began in the midwest/east due to heightened energy costs and the threat of an all-out energy shortage. To conserve heat/light, many schools/districts began shutting down for a week or two during the coldest part of the winter.

 

The mid-February respite continued long after the so-called "energy crisis" as educators, students, and families took the opportunity to travel to warm climates at this time. Some local districts may only have a long weekend that includes President's Day while others have a full week or even a little longer sometime in mid-February.

Chris

[BTfan]

Well, I'm a soon to be first timer for Princess..and i noticed for the first time, Princess prices are about the same as the Carnival trips and less than RCCL...so I jumped on the opportunity.

 

I'm guessing that it's because more and more ships competing for passengers and Princess is taking a more aggressive pricing strategy to fill the ships. Empty cabins don't make money

[nikita]

The February "mid-winter" school vacation began in the midwest/east due to heightened energy costs and the threat of an all-out energy shortage. To conserve heat/light, many schools/districts began shutting down for a week or two during the coldest part of the winter.

 

The mid-February respite continued long after the so-called "energy crisis" as educators, students, and families took the opportunity to travel to warm climates at this time. Some local districts may only have a long weekend that includes President's Day while others have a full week or even a little longer sometime in mid-February.

Chris

I hope that isn't true since we chose our cruisedate (Feb. 10th) so that we would not be with the Spring Break crowd.

 

To the OP - we were waitlisted back in Oct. (same cruise you are looking at) and I would check the website several times a day (didn't depend on them to contact me) and got lucky when a few cabins opened up online, and booked immediately online then canceled my "waitlisted" reservation. You might want to try that tip which some nice person from the boards passed onto me. In other words - you can be waitlisted but if something opens up don't expect them to contact you right away - they will sell the cabin online before that happens.

[TMull]

Ok, I just checked with friends that have school-aged children. The following week is February vacation in the following week (12-16).

[nikita]

Ok, I just checked with friends that have school-aged children. The following week is February vacation in the following week (12-16).

OH well, hopefully it won't be college spring breakers - that's really what we are trying to avoid. Thanks for checking.

[cruzinchris]

I hope that isn't true since we chose our cruisedate (Feb. 10th) so that we would not be with the Spring Break crowd.

 

I checked calendars for three local school districts - north suburban Detroit. Mid-winter break appears to begin Friday, February 16 with classes resuming as late as February 27 for some.

 

"Spring break" is in early April with school vacations around Easter.

Chris

[T&J]

I tried to book B2B on the Star from Santiago to Venice (36 days) for March 2008 (yes 2008). We are number 3 on the waitlist.

 

Paul

 

FYI...that cruise was cancelled as of yesterday and instead the Star will be doing the same as the Goldfen next March from Valparaiso to Acapulco and then Acapulco to Seattle.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[cruisinsuzan]

...Pre-911. Folks are starting to plan 9 to 18 months in advance. Last minute deals are becoming few and far between!

[rjack22]

Presidents week would be the week of Feb 10 through 18th. Since a lot of schools have Monday off as a holiday, many parents take their kids out of school that week since they only have to miss four days instead of five. So more kids on that week's cruises. Probably not the collage age kids though. Younger kids.

[Pam in CA]

I almost always book my cruises a year or more in advance now. For our Golden cruise in February, I booked in mid-September and got the last outside cabin of ANY kind on the ship (a mini-suite). My sister and BIL booked the next day and were waitlisted for an outside cabin until 3 weeks ago (the day after final payment.) Yes, there are last-minute bargains around but there aren't a whole lot on Princess. If you want a particular sailing and cabin type, book it as soon as you think you want to go.

[lazygirl cruiser]

There is definitely a trend in that some cruises are sold out quickly. I usually book a cruise a few months in advance because of my schedule. However, the cruises that I am interested in are waitlisted right into 2008 It seems that the more expensive cabins are getting booked and also waitlisted before an ocean view/or inside cabin. The cruises I have been looking at are Australia-South Pacific and/or Asia cruises. Also noticed on some of my past cruises that people are booking future cruises while on their current cruise. Don't know whether this blocks me out of a cruise because I just can't book a cruise so far ahead.

 

It must be the baby boomers are retiring and going cruising! Seriously, it’s been a disappointing search for me this time.

[Pacruzer]

there is little availability on this sailng and there wont be any more available..Group space closes out usually 75- 90 days before a sailing so there wont be any group space released at this late date

[Princess Chatterer]

I tried to book B2B on the Star from Santiago to Venice (36 days) for March 2008 (yes 2008). We are number 3 on the waitlist.

 

Paul

 

I booked a couple of short Princess cruises in May 2008 recently and the cabin picks were going fast. Here's the Deal. You snooze, you lose.

[Princess Chatterer]

FYI...that cruise was cancelled as of yesterday and instead the Star will be doing the same as the Goldfen next March from Valparaiso to Acapulco and then Acapulco to Seattle.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

 

Princess hasn't changed their web site yet to reflect the cancellation of the repositioning. :-(

 

http://www.princess.com/pb/itineraryDetails.do?voyageCode=9807A&date=0308&noOfPax=2&definition_name=

[Hlitner]

Booking cruises is almost an art and it can be difficult to know the best time. As an example, somebody posted that they are waitlisted for a March 18, 2008 36 day Star Princess cruise...so they assume its almost booked. The reality is that they 24 day 2nd part of that back to back is currently under review by Princess, so their computer will not accept any bookings. At some point early next year it will be opened and than it will be no problem bookiing. As to Feb, those shorter mid-February cruises are always popular because of Valentines day, Presidents day, and some spring breaks. You also have to factor in (as already stated) that travel agents and consortiums will often "block out" group space which will than not show as available. Once that space is released, than interesting things can happen such as late promotions at much reduced prices. We recently booked a HA cruise for this March where we got a balcony for about $110 per passenger day....because they had a lot of group space released and are practicing yield managment. Its hard to know the best strategy for bookiing, so frequent cruisers all have their own methods...and we are all probably wrong most of the time :)

 

Hank

[Gone Cruising]

Princess also had a huge sale for Jan, Feb,March cruises. We booked an AB mini suite for $799/person on the Grand Feb.3rd. Since then it started to sell out and the price went way up!

[Murphey]

Then there are those of us who hear about those deals.....and slink away, knowing we are never savvy enough to scoop those up....:o You keep us up at night!! ;)