I froze, what now.

I called up X tonight to book a cruise I wanted to put in on hold for 24 hours so I could make my airline and hotel plans. The sales lady told me she could only do it for 3hours because it was final payment day. I kind of froze because I think most cruises get cheaper after F.P. and it was not enough time to book plane and hotels. What should I do now ,wait or call tomorrow . Will the price go down .It seems kike there are plenty of cabins still for sale.

I called up X tonight to book a cruise I wanted to put in on hold for 24 hours so I could make my airline and hotel plans. The sales lady told me she could only do it for 3hours because it was final payment day. I kind of froze because I think most cruises get cheaper after F.P. and it was not enough time to book plane and hotels. What should I do now ,wait or call tomorrow . Will the price go down .It seems kike there are plenty of cabins still for sale.

The price will not go down - that is, unless it does.[emoji41]

The price will go up, unless it goes down, but in all seriousness, why did you have to have a hold to line up air and a hotel? You could have done that after you booked. The odds are that the price is the same tomorrow as it is tonight.

You can't actually tell how many cabins aren't booked, as you can't account for guaranteed bookings. You can see how many are unassigned...and that can be very different. A cabin category can look wide open one minute, and be fully booked an instant later, because of guaranteed bookings.

And nobody can tell what the fares will do.

We're cruising The British Islands in Sept and have been booked for less then a month. The least amount of time I ever booked a cruise! I've been watching the rates very closely because I was hoping to get a good deal to upgrade to a balcony from an OV. I don't think it'll happen! That quick the site says it's sold out on the balcony on up. OV is available on GTY . I think the most availability is for Inside.

I'm sure that they offer passengers to bid on upgrades and that's why the higher categories are sold out. I did make sure that air for usage of points was available before I booked because the cruise was in Final Payment. If you really want the cruise, book it or lose it!

For some cruises, the price rises for others they fall, book when you think it is a good deal and then don't worry what the price does next.

You never know where the prices will go. The only thing I can say with at least some confidence is that the last minute deals are a lot more far and few in between these days. Through years of experience and technology, they have been able to plan for this better without having to give everything away at the last moment.

I would use the 3 hour hold and get all the info for air and hotels asap.

Three out of the four cruises we've booked, we've booked after final payment (2 of them were booked 3 weeks before sailing). We never had a problem finding hotels and flights - it's just a matter of what you want to pay. Our TA told us there's (almost) always room on a cruise ship up until the day of sailing, if you're not picky about where you want to sleep. The same is true of hotels. I don't think it matters which you book first, the cruise or the flights/hotel, as long as you're willing to pay more and/or settle for less.

We typically book inside the final payment window. We track pricing on one-three ships and book when our price hits. We watch air prices at the same time.

When we do book, our TA has always been able to hold the cabin for 4-8 hours. Even if it is inside the final payment window and on a sale. We use the time to finalize air. Shopping for air only after you have place a cruise on a short hold is not the best way to approach this in our experience. Also, don't make any assumptions on airline prices based on what other may say. It is strictly supply and demand. Some of our best international air fares have occured anywhere for 10-45 days away from blastoff.

If you do decide to wait, sign up for Celebrity's Tuesday specials. They often offer very attractive pricing-especially inside the final payment window. We have snagged three of four this way. RCI also has a Tuesday special page but we seldom find the pricing attractive. We also receive late book offers from Princess.

If you buy outside the final payment window monitor the prices for any reductions. If they occur, have your cabin re-fared. If you buy inside the final payment window stop looking at prices. You are committed. The objective is to get a good price. If you wait for the very best price possible chances are you will be vacationing in your back yard.

Depending on the cruise itinerary, we either book early or book late.

One off type itineraries just seem to sky rocket in price due to demand and even though they may fall slightly after Final payment, they never get as low as the original bargain offer (note that this is not the brochure price). Other itineraries that are common (leave every week), it is better to book after final payment.

^ good advice

It also depends on what type of cabin you want and how fussy you re re location. We want a balcony. Insides are often much easier to get for a steeply discounted price, as are obstructed outsides.

So many variables. Our sweet spot has typically been on balconys, end of or shoulder season, on fairly standard runs. But there are always exceptions driven by supply and demand.