My relatives ask why we book a cruise so far out...

[CWcruisers]

I booked my Thanksgiving 2013 cruise today to get the cabin I want. I am so far out that the only discount rate available right now is ES, so I booked Past Guest and will switch to Military when that comes available. Once my other friends commit, I will switch to ES, which you can do anytime before the five months out. This way I've locked in my cabin, can watch for price reductions, and can still cancel without penalty.

 

It's not like I'm making a lot of interest on that $500 deposit letting it sit in the bank.:rolleyes:

[wendymac]

We booked our May 2012 cruise last July - now the price is $600 more than what we paid....annnnnd the Canadian dollar was a fair bit above par so we got an extra savings of about $40-60 on the dollar so we saved all around! I always like to book early saver.

[Ehpride]

My hotel room has already gone up 100 dollars per night. People can laugh all they want because I'm saving money!

[glrounds]

A year out? I would go absolutely stark raving mad if I booked that far out.:eek:

 

I usually book 3-5 days before the cruise, sometimes a week or so. Only one time was the ship sold out, but then just jumped on a relatively new ship, at the time, the GLORY for a reduced price. I tend to get great pricing. My all time best $99pp for 3 days aboard the ELATION out of San Diego with my son. Only 3-dayer I've ever done.

 

In the past running my own company I just couldn't book that far in advance. Didn't know if I could be away that far in advance. Had to look for a "window" in which I could be away for a week and then GO.

 

[Lawgrrl]

Unlike GLrounds, I'm a "wage slave," and need to plan vacations 6-12 months out to get coverage for my case load while I'm away. We like the ES rates, but we LOVE picking our cabin (aft balcony) and having lots of time to pay off the cruise and build up OBC and pocket cash. We also use future booking credits. We booked our 2/26/12 Glory cruise (almost there!) on 5/15/11. With all the changes we've had at work, I don't think they'd let me get away now if I couldn't say "but I booked this (and you approved it) nine months ago"! But SOMEDAY, I hope to be free & easy (i.e., retired!) and cruise last-minute too. Something to look forward to... :D