When to book?

[Gloria Mundi]

My husband and I are interested in a small ship cruise around Alaska next year- most likely an Innersea Discoveries ship. They're new but are a sister company of American Safari, which is far pricier. We've traveled all over Europe together but the only thing we've ever done that could be rermotely considered a cruise was an overnight ferry from Piraeus to Patmos. Darn nice staterooms, though!

 

We know the sticker prices. We're prepared to pay them if that's how it goes. I see references all over the Web to "deals" on cruises. Is this mostly when you play a game of "chicken" with the cruise lines, hoping that if you wait long enough they'll mark the costs down, but you run the risk they might be full? Since these ships carry under 100 passengers, the latter would be my concern. I see some people here with cruises planned for 2013 already!

 

So, how long should we wait, and do we have any chances of a discount? I asked this question in a post on the Alaska board, with no response- maybe it was considered a thread hijack or a newbie question.

[CruiserBruce]

I think the issue with low response would be the lack of knowledge of the very small cruise ships.

 

This general question gets asked regularly. And the summary is..... do you know what the stock market is going to do next week? No, of course not.

Cruise pricing can be just as unpredictable.

 

If you have a certain sail date, or more importantly a particularly cabin, cabin level, or location, then book early, as you don't know when that particular choice will be snapped up.

 

Like airfares, usually the best cruise fares go early. Late sales are too unpredictable to..... well, predict.

[Gloria Mundi]

Thanks! Makes sense to me- we've dealt with plenty of airlines and typically book our flights on major trips a year in advance for just that reason (and then try not to look at the airfares after we book).