How early do you start planning a cruise?

[ActiveTraveler]

I know it is way too early to worry about prices and itineraries, but can't help it because I am too excited to finally board a ship for the first time. True, I will not know for 2 years what my choices are, but at least I could make some decisions before the schedule for Western Mediterranean cruises in 2013 is released. Now I am wondering if I am setting a record for earliest cruise vacation planner. I started before joining this message board because people who were volunteering at an animal shelter with me talked about some of their cruises during my shift there. Ever since that day, I have not been able to get it out of my head: I am taking a cruise less than five years from now, and it will not be on Carnival or Royal Caribbean.

Now I am wondering how early other people start to plan their cruises. Does anyone on Cruise Critic do what I am doing - not necesarily three years in advance, but try to plan everything that does not require knowing the schedule for when they want to travel? Do you plan for a cruise more than a full year away knowing it will not be very soon? Or do you wait until the schedules are released and risk not getting the cabin you want or the traditional dining time your prefer?

[paul929207]

Usually, one to two years ahead. I am now planning one for fall of 2011. Plus I am always looking for ideas for future cruises.

[mutzy]

we started planning our alaska trip about a yr before we were wanting to go- started planning fall 2008 for sept 2009 cruise. Because of drs adivce we ended up moving to cruise to june 2009. I loved the alaska cruise- my favorite so far.

[cb at sea]

As soon as we decide to go, I start planning!

[Havin'fun]

We booked our Jan 2012 Hawaii cruise 5 months ago! ;)

[operafan]

We start planning and booking about a year out but there have been a couple of times when I've seen a good price on a cruise leaving in less than 2 months and we've grabbed it......

[uppitycats]

I start planning about a year out, as I need that much time to secure a handicap-accessible cabin. I start with itinerary -- where do I want to go, and then price. But there are lots of other details that I don't worry about until closer to the cruise..and some, not at all. Once I've booked the cruise and assured a handicap-accessible cabin, the rest is minor.

[johneeo]

I am taking a cruise less than five years from now, and it will not be on Carnival or Royal Caribbean.

 

 

The first thing I do in planning a cruise is select where I want to go, then the line that I want to go on.

[grandmato4]

If I did not know for over One year what my itinerary choices were for a sailing 3 years from now there's not much I could plan for certain this far ahead. If we'd never sailed before I could only collect a lot of general information knowing that much could chance before I actually booked and some of that could chance between when I booked and when I sailed. I could collect information about cruising in general so I knew ports aren't guarenteed and even after booking a crusie it can get cancelled before it sailed. I could collect general information about which cruiselines I thought would or would not fit me best so when the time came I could look at their itinearies to choose from. If I knew little about the area I wished to generally cruise in I could take some books out of the library and search on line to learn more about where I wanted to go.

 

We book our cruises up to 18 months before they sail. The real planning takes place after booking when making decisions about what flights to book, what precruise hotel to stay at, any other precruise plans and post cruise plans and lots of time planning excursions for the ports we hope to visit.

[patseacruiser]

Just booked my February 2012 cruise. I have been to the ports the ship will be visiting but it's the Epic and I'm doing it for the ship. But I will start researching for new ideas for the ports I've already been to and it's just never too early to start your planning. It's what keeps the blood pumping.:p

[Roadtripster]

As soon as I know when and if I can go! Sometimes just months before and our next one booked is summer 2011. Plus, getting ready to book my 2012 and when I see it is available to book, my 2013! Now, I might have some at the drop of the hat before next year. LOL

 

But, I do have my ATW cruise in planning now before I go on it. Which who knows when that will be. But as soon as the time is here, I will book asap. But for that one, I have tons of planning to do before hand. It requires lots of "home" work. We plan on selling our house before we sail and then moving when we return after several months living on the sea! I can not wait and I can not get it out of my brain! LOL

[LindaKE]

I generally have an idea about what our next cruise will be (not counting the one already booked) several years in advance. I start looking at itineraries and reading these boards for ideas on what's appealing. You can get an idea based of the kind of itineraries available now. Since itineraries don't seem to vary greatly from year to year, you can pick one that you hope will still be out there when you go. Once I know what we want to do, I start waiting for the itineraries to be posted and book as soon as they are published.

 

That's the norm, but we booked one cruise after the final payment date.

[kag92]

I started planning for our Alaska Cruise 5 years out. We started putting money in a special account for it. I will be celebrating turning 50 next year. My in-laws will be celebrating 50th Anniversary. We have now booked for next July to cruise Alaska. Now the waiting game begins.

No I don't think you are looking to early for your cruise. Cruise Critic is a GREAT place to learn all you can before you go.:)

[margeecruiser]

Hello -- We booked our next cruise on Oasis as soon as the itineraries were out - about 14 months, I think. We have a transatlantic booked for next October, 2011 that we hounded our TA about. We wanted a special cabin, so we booked it as soon as it was available, which was April of 2010.

 

These are special cruises, but we have also gone on "spur of the moment" cruises if we see a special price or someone says "wanna go with us?"!!

 

Margee

 

Edit: We planned our 50th Wedding Anniversary last year for TEN years!! We knew we wanted to go to the Med, we just saved up and dreamed for all those years.

[geoherb]

I haven't planned very far in advance. Generally, I look at the options a few months out. We book most of our cruises after the final payment date--when prices can go down. If you're watching prices on several cruises, the odds are that they'll go down on at least one, even at popular times of the year.

 

Last year, for instance, I watched prices on Christmas cruises starting around this time of year. I will be doing it again this year starting next month. We eventually ended up going Thanksgiving instead. We booked our spring break cruise right before New Year's. We booked our upcoming Alaska cruise right after the final payment date in May.

 

One of the disadvantages to booking cruises way in advance is that the cruise lines sometimes change itineraries. Ships get chartered or sent to drydock. I think it was the NCL board that had a recent thread about people who were disappointed by their November cruise being canceled. I wouldn't have even started to look for a November cruise yet.

[ActiveTraveler]

Wow, I did not realize it was normal to start planning three years in advance. (Initially, I had planned for 2012, but that changed last month.) Apparently, I am not as weird as a number of CC members tried to me me look, even if I am doing it backwards. :)

By the way, I am leaning toward Princess (probably the Grand or Ruby) first because a Crystal cruise is out of my budget and I finally accept the fact that luxury can wait until I retire.

[SeaTeach]

I usually start planning about 18 months out. At the present time I am researching a transatlantic cruise for Nov. 2011, and plan to book when on upcoming cruise(s) in August. I really want to do the TA, but the airfare just might derail plans.

 

The upcoming b2b was planned 2 years in advance. I like to select my cabin, which has limited choices.

[Putterdude]

We usually book our cruises 18 to 20 months out so that we have a choice of cabins. We start looking at air transfers and hotels about 6 months out and excursions in the last 60 days.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

If we want a cruise for a special occasion we start planning early and book as soon as the cruise becomes available. We started looking at Alaska for our 40th anniversary in August 2012 on our cruise in December 2009. We booked the cruise in May 2010, the 1st day it was offered to get the cabin we wanted. We just changed the cruise tour last weekend because the one we originally booked did not have the TWT. Glad we did because the price went up 3 days later.

 

If we are just booking a cruise for a vacation we don't plan that far in advance. Booked for October/November this year in January because of a special offer we received. We were originally looking at a 7 day all inclusive but got a 14 day cruise for $3,000 less when adding in the airfare.

 

Mary Lou

[agabbymama]

I usually plan at least 12 months out, sometimes 18 months. You just have to be careful not to get your hopes set on a certain itinerary in a certain year. As that cruise may not even be offered the year you want it.

 

I've had it happen to me twice. In 2005 Royal Caribbean did a really nice New England/Canada cruise from New York to Quebec. I waited and watched for 2006 schedule to be published, and no New England/Canada cruise. I called and was referred to take their sister company Celebrity. So we did, and had a lovely cruise in Sept 2006.

 

Then HAL did a 7 nt Baltic cruise from Rotterdam to Copenhagen to Oslo and back to Rotterdam in 2009, but when they released the schedule for 2010, they didn't offer it. I was sooooo disappointed. I love HAL and the short cruise is really what I wanted, not 12-14 days.

 

Then I found an Ocean Princess cruise from Dover to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo and back to Dover in August 2010. I was so excited, booked it, then after the first of the year, had to cancel.

 

We ended up just doing a land tour to Washington DC and surrounding area. We didn't take a cruise this year at all. But we do have one booked for September 2011 already.

 

I would say that to have an idea of what you want to do 3 years out is okay, but you can't really make plans of any kind that far out. You are going to have to wait until the itineraries are published (usually around 18 months out). Then if a particular itinerary, particular cabin is important to you, book it as soon as it is published. Have fun planning then taking your cruise.

[sail7seas]

We book almost all our cruises about a year out in order to get the cabin of our choice.

We just made a booking for 13 months from now and the choices for our category were already getting limited.

[sail7seas]

If we want a cruise for a special occasion we start planning early and book as soon as the cruise becomes available. We started looking at Alaska for our 40th anniversary in August 2012 on our cruise in December 2009. We booked the cruise in May 2010, the 1st day it was offered to get the cabin we wanted. We just changed the cruise tour last weekend because the one we originally booked did not have the TWT. Glad we did because the price went up 3 days later.

 

<snip> ....

Mary Lou

 

 

:confused: What is "TWT"? It is so hard to decipher all the abbreviations these days. :o Thanks.

[griffy116]

We usually plan and book between 18-12 months in advance. Our next cruise will be July 2011 and we were shocked :eek: when we booked last week at the limited cabin choices already. We did not get our first choice of cabins. We always wait to find out what ship is sailing what route as we have favorite ships. We always book RCCL. We start saving earlier but 5 years from now we wouldn't know what ship was sailing where and for us, the ship is as much a part of our vacation as the ports. For our upcoming cruise, we've previously visited all the ports but have never sailed Freedom of the Seas and we love leaving from Port Canaveral. These were the 2 deciding factors for us (1) ship (2) Port of Embarkation. Everyone is different. I think if you are planning a cruise this far in advance, you would be checking out ports of call and planning how much it will cost (although in 5 years, that too will be different). We knew we were going to do a Hawaii cruise and started planning 18 months in advance for that one.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We usually book at least 18 months in advance so that we can get the cabin we want.

Booked in June for September 2011 and for once we didn't get one of several cabins that we like. Oh well -- that's the break.

[jotabecu]

Usually at least a year ahead.

They are usually longer cruises so they need more planning.