For those of you that book so far ahead...

[MISSSNOOPYGIRL]

Aren't you worried about unforseen life events happening, like job loss? I mean, I don't know what will be going on in my life 1 year from now so I worry about booking a cruise so far out.

[April-in-NC]

In most cases the cruise deposit is fully refundable (most, not all). There is little risk in booking the cruise portion of a vaction early since you can recover your deposit as long as you cancel in time. The biggest thing is to make sure you know what the cancellation policy is.

[Kitt Grey]

Not really like goes on and if I have to cancel I cancel.

[*Mach*]

Nope... with the exception of the Early Saver rates you can get all or most of the cost of the cruise back, within the restrictions of the contract...

One can book a cruise a month out and run into the same issues... job loss... injury, etc...

If I worried about such issues all the time it would ruin the fun of planning my cruises!

 

 

:)

[klmorg]

Aren't you worried about unforseen life events happening, like job loss? I mean, I don't know what will be going on in my life 1 year from now so I worry about booking a cruise so far out.

 

Another good reason for travel insurance... with the cancel for any reason clause.

[KULPN]

If you book early saver, your deposit is non-refundable. Other fares allow for cancellation.

We always book several months ahead...fun to have something to look forward to. We are cruising in 2 weeks on an early saver fare and next year on a CruiseCritic Member cruise.

[ahaltom2007]

It gives me something to plan for and plenty of time to pay off so I can cruise debt free.

[firefly333]

I worry a little bit, but you cant let it bother you so much it ruins the fun. My parents are elderly, so thats my worry, having to cancel at the last minute .. and no matter which rate I booked, it would cost me to cancel the same amount.

 

I guess Im a gambler. Iv gambled and lost $1000 before, even with insurance, my bf's father died and I felt I had to go to the funeral, so insurance didnt cover me because we werent related, and I lost all my money I had paid for a AI vacation ... never booked another one.. cruises cost less, less to lose.

[lady_cruiser]

I feel the same way as April and Kitt.

 

I booked my September 2010 cruise over 16 months in advance. By doing this I got the exact cabin I wanted, an aft cabin with a wrap around deck. These are the first to go since they only have between 6 and 8 of this cabin type on the cruise ship I am sailing on.

 

And I buy insurance that covers "every thing." This also gives me time to save up the money to pay for the cruise. I also keep an eye out for price drops that might apply to my cruise.

 

Life goes on. I am not going to worry about what happens tomorrow when tomorrow hasn't gotten here yet. And I am not going to worry about what happened yesterday because yesterday is gone and over with.

 

I live for the moment.

[templed]

... I booked our next cruise about 14 months in advance... Whatever happens happens... plus... it makes it easier to pay off... I'm not a "saver" so I need to have something to work towards. If I just had an "idea" that I was going to go on a cruise... it's not as effective as paying off a cruise that I have booked.

 

Plus... I enjoy the planning.

[choclitsnda]

That's all the more reason to Plan & Book ahead.

Since we usually make payments on our cruises....

If there is a job loss or something before final payment, we won't have many more payments to make before the trip is paid off or we can choose to cancel.

If job loss or something happens After final payment...

We can still go on the trip b/c it's already paid for & it's not taking away money that's currently in our savings that needs to be used to pay bills.(Actually, this is what happened to me earlier this yr...I had lost my job, but b/c my trip was paid for while I was working, I was able to make the trip... I'm so glad I paid it off while I was still working.)

[Kurbanfan]

I'm a spur of the moment person..........I would never book that far ahead.......too many things change.......different opportunities come up so I will not tie myself down waiting for a cruise for a year:D And we have always gotten our preferred balcony cabin;) I also have a pet peeve with insurance and I will not spend that much on cancel for anything insurance it defeats the deals I can get...........

[Donna - dsw]

Who do you use for insurance? Especially the cover all for cancel.

[BarbaraSails]

Nope! Not afraid at all. I like being able to have a long time to pay it off. The longest I've ever booked out was a little over a year. I think that's perfect for a well done vacation with a nice room. Like many have said, up to 60 or 90 days out, you can always cancel with full refund anyway, except on a Fun Saver.

[loveJake]

I have 3 cruises booked at the moment. The 12/09 cruise I booked in 8/08 16 months out. The 12/10 cruised I booked 8/09 16 months out, because number 1 cruise was paid for. And then spur of the moment cruise I booked 9/09 for 5/10 only 8 months because we got some unexpected money, that was a last minute cruise for me. I then divide the time up and make month payments each month, sure Carnival has my money, but as cheap as cruises are I would hardly get any interest. It's just live having a bill I pay each month, works for me.

[etwright]

I don't know what could happen tomorrow!! So what does it matter if I book one year or one day in advance? Don't dwell on it much at all. If something happens, that's life. I deal and move on.:) Tommorrow is never a guarantee!! :D

[finoky]

I choose to not live full of worries. There are enough people in my family that worry enough for me and a few others. as far as the job goes I am not worried one little bit about losing mine. Should it happen, oh well, I will be working again within a week. Might not be the job I want and may have to take two jobs but I will be working.

[unicorngoddess]

It gives me something to plan for and plenty of time to pay off so I can cruise debt free.

 

Exactly. I planned mine far enough in advance so I could have it paid off by the due date. It makes for one less stress in life when you can get on that cruise and know that you won't be paying it off plus interest over several years.

[aggieastrosfan]

I'm not going to spend my life planning around what could happen. Sure, there's always that chance, but what fun is life if you're always planning for the bad stuff?

[pe4all]

We usually book 1 year to 18 months out. We get insurance "just in case." So far, have never had to use it. Luckily, we have no job worries, as dh has his own business, and I teach (and have for many, many years!) Yes, I have an elderly mom, and dh and dd have health issues - we live for each day. Gives us something to look forward to down the road. We have also recently (last 2 cruises) begun to pay off our cruises in advance - so it doesn't "hurt" too much at final payment/s and s bill.

[golfadj]

Very interesting thread.

 

I am not that particular about cabin and do not see any reason to plan too far ahead. We have booked within a month of cruise and as far as 6-7 months and would never feel the need to go out a year.

 

Especially in this economic climate that cruises generally do not sell out until close to sail date.

[marshhawk]

We originally had the next cruise planned for our wedding cruise, and then decided we really didn't want to wait to get married, and we discovered that while our friends were going with us , one couldn't get off from work in September 2010(16 months in advance)so we moved it to january 2010. Which at the time was 10 months in the future.

Booking in advance gives me something to dream about, to plan for, to make my life happier than doing the same thing every day with nothing to look forward to. I may fall over tomorrow, but at least I'll go with a dream and a passion. BTW we got married on shore,:D and plan to do a renewal ceremony on a future cruise. Something else to plan and dream for.:)

[Tapit]

Well it does happen. January 21st 2009 booked 1st cruise. Feb 9th 2009 found out I was losing my Job April 3rd. Feb 10th dh paid it off. Guess what still going. Saving money here and there. Still Going 6 days and counting. Mabey I will look for a job when I get back and mabey not.

[njmomof2]

We booked our August 2009 cruise back in November 2007 (changed it a couple of times and finalized the week we wanted in February 2008). In April 2009 DH was laid off.

 

We waited until about a month before final payment, then cancelled (was hoping he'd find something and all would be well but it was not to be).

 

While paying off the trip over time might have been an option, buying airfare had to wait until the fares were decent enough, and that didn't happen before the layoff.

 

We have another cruise booked for October 2010 that we've had since the day they opened Oasis bookings. And we'll sit on that as well (to see if DH finds something and we can rebuild our accounts). At this point, I am not confident that will happen, as we have other expenses that are more pressing coming up (yes, I know that cruising should be at the top of our list, but summer plans for the kids as well as an upcoming bar mitzvah are there too), so that might be cancelled too.

 

This economy stinks.

[Warm Breezes]

That is why I purchase insurance. We are at a place where only one week works for us for a vacation due to our work, school, and sports scedules. It is in the summer so DH has to get it off now or he would not be able to get it off. He just got it off yesterday. I booked today. Since we are restricted to summer cruising, and we wanted to try cruising out of NY to Canada (DH thought our cruise to the Carribean during last summer was too hot), I am anticipating the cruise rates to rise and wanted to book while they were still reasonable. I booked ES to catch any rate drops but I do not expect any. If something does happen to our jobs or to our health we covered with the travel insurance I just purchased seperately on-line.