Best time to reserve your cruise?

[elbmag]

I'm about to depart on my third cruise and I'm anticipating taking another this coming summer. My question is when do you find is the best time to book your cruise. I've never cruised in the summer before and i'm finding that the prices are a bit higher than the fall cruises I've normally taken.

 

Do you find that cruises are best to book as far out as possible? I know they have the Early saver that supposedly protects you from lower rates but you are responsible for keeping on it and checking, it also requires a non-refundable deposit. I'm not the kind that wants to wait until the last minute to book it because with my luck it would sell out. We don't look for anything fancy cheapest room we can get is usually just fine for us.

 

Thanks for any information or suggestions anyone can offer.

[cb at sea]

The best time to book is when you decide to take a cruise! Most cruiselines will honor "price drops"...unless it's a "super new-booking" special....Now, if you want to let the cruiseline choose your cabin (a guarantee booking) and that type of booking is available, you can generally get an excellent price, but you have little say over where your room will be.

If you want a specific cabin, then you should book ASAP--the better cabins go first!

Since you don't care about the cabin, then just keep checking...hopefully, your cruise won't sell out before you decide to book!

[Princess4Aday]

I book a year out and then have the price reduced.... so far for my next cruise I have saved $500....;)

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

The farer out the best so you can pick your room

[Keith1010]

Book early. The lowest prices and highest price cains go first along with those that have the best location within all categories. If the prices drop then followup to get the reduced price.

 

Keith

[simplelife]

If you want fixed dining, the earlier you book, the better, before the fixed times run out.

[jnsparky]

I want to book 2010 cruise...but everything I read on hyper-inflation is making me believe that fuel surcharges will get added back to cruise bookings...

 

but if there is inflation cruise prices will keep going up as well...so booking early seems to makes sense, just budget in the $70 pp for fuel surcharges if they get added...

[wdw1972]

I generally book my next cruise while I'm on one. I only cruise HAL and I get a small onboard credit for booking while on the ship. While cruising in February I booked my next cruise in November, and while on board then I'll book another cruise for April. By the time I board in April I'll know what to book for the next one.

 

I do watch the fare and if it goes down my TA gets me the adjusted price - so for me it makes no sense to wait or book further in advance.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Eurodam 11/07/09

[zoncom]

I have better luck at lowest pricing by booking just before or after date when final payment is due.This is when people cancel without penalty.Lots of cabins come back when times are tough.

[SC LTC]

I book a year out and then have the price reduced.... so far for my next cruise I have saved $500....;)

 

i book a year out 10/5/2010 how offen does one check to see if the price goes down.

 

THX

[jnsparky]

i book a year out 10/5/2010 how offen does one check to see if the price goes down.

 

THX

 

Just read of an agency paying for future fuel surcharges on the USA Today Cruise Log

[julieanne]

i book a year out 10/5/2010 how offen does one check to see if the price goes down.

 

THX

I start checking when we're about 3 months out (once a week). We're 3 weeks from sailing and we actually had a price drop. I managed to get us an OBC

[grandmato4]

There's not a perfect answer to your question because every sailing is different depending upon how the sales for that particular sailing are going.

 

Summer sailings are always more expensive than fall sailings because of demand for the summer sailings when children are out of school and families wish to take a vacation. Booking early tends to be a good choice for these sailings but not always.

 

Booking early means you can get the cabin that you wish while waiting until closer to sailing may mean the category you want is all sold out. We care where our cabin is so for us this is a major consideration but it sounds as if that's not a major consideration for you.

 

There can be some great bargains to be found if one waits until after final payment BUT there is no guarentee this will happen on every sailing nor any guarentee that there will be cabins available in the category that you wish to book. Some sailings the prices only go up and up and never down. IF you have to fly to port and wait to book you can also have to deal with higher airline prices sometimes which can wipe out the reduced cost of the cruise. Its all a gamble and no one knows for certain until after the fact which was really the better way to book for any cruise.

 

Personally we book our cruises when we find an itinerary we wish to sail on the dates we wish to sail at a price we are comfortable at. If I find a reduced price before final payment I call and am happy to have a lower price than we originally expected to pay and if the price goes up I'm happy I booked when I did. I've had it go both ways. After final payment I may look out of curiousity a few times to see what prices are but I've never regretted booking early no matter what I see because I know its always a gamble and sometimes we win and sometimes we loose. :D

 

So far we've not waited until after final payment to book any of our cruises because we need to know earlier than that when we are sailing so all other arrangements can be made. After retirement when we could go anytime I'm sure we'll sometimes do the last minute bookings and occasionally catch a great deal.

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

We book when we find a cruise at a price that we feel is fair. I check Carnival's site daily, not necessarily for price drops, but to see what cabins are still available.

[mexico8]

We book when we find a cruise at a price that we feel is fair. I check Carnival's site daily, not necessarily for price drops, but to see what cabins are still available.

We are booked on a cruise with HAL and our final payment was made at the end of July. Now our cruise is reduced about $700 per person but we won't get anything. Not even an OBC. I checked with the internet TA and also with HAL and both said "Sorry, no reduction for you because the final payment is made". It does seem to me that some people are getting the reduction even after they pay their final payment. Anyone know the secret to this?

 

Where do you check about cabins still available?