Book now or wait until last minute ?

[ste1200]

Hi, the wife and I are thinking of booking a cruise for April/May this year. There is one in particular we have got our eye on that is pretty reasonable. We only have to give 2 weeks notice to our work to book the time off, but I was wondering if we should book now to guarantee it, or wait until near the time to try and get a better deal. With all the trouble with Costa, are people being put off cruising and prices will come down if they aren't anywhere near sold out ?

 

On our last cruise last year a family of 3 waited until last minute and got 2 weeks in the med for £600 each, whereas we booked as soon as we were able to (as we were getting married on board) and it cost us more than double that.

 

Thanks in advance.

Ste

[CruiserBruce]

There are many variables here, but I don't think the Costa incident plays in yet.

 

Reasons for booking relatively early- cabin level, location or type is a priority. If none of these apply, moving on.

 

Other reasons- airfares start to climb- usually- as you get closer to flight date. What you save on the cruise IF you happen to get a good fare (which is not an absolute), might be eaten up by a last minute airfare.

 

If you are totally flexible, it works sometimes. But not always. By the way, if you read around the boards, you will see this topic discussed pretty regularly.

[ste1200]

Thanks for the reply, we would be driving to the port so that wouldn't be an issue.

[trish1c]

If you have your heart set on that ship & that cruise book now. If you are flexible & happy to sail that week with the lowest provider, you can risk waiting. Understand, the law of supply & demand sometimes drives prices up.

For example on our last cruise I spent months watching 2 particular trips. One left from NYC; the other from San Juan. I couldn't book b/c I had to wait to see how a few other matters fell into place. The NYC cruise practically tripled in price & the San Juan cruise came down several hundred dollars so that's the one we took. The price drop almost made up for the high air fare.

[paul929207]

Other considerations:

 

How set are you for a specific cruise. If you wait the cruise could sell out (most sail virtually full) or the price could rise on the few remaining cabins.

 

How picky are you about your cabin? As the cabins are booked, people take the ones they think are the best. The less desireable cabins are available at the end. The type cabin you want may completely sell out.

[aohkay]

Pay the price that you are comfortable paying.

 

If they happen to go down a little, then "oh well." If they happen to go up a little then, "Whew!"

[marco]

If you have a specific cruise in mind, I'd book it now. If you would consider "any" sailing for a specific time period, you could wait and see if a better deal comes along. Last year we went on a cruise and friends wanted to come along and kept saying, "Ya...we gotta' book soon". The procrastinated just a little bit too long as when they finally went to book, the ship was sold out. They were wait listed, but did not get on. So if the cruise you have your eye on is the one and only you want to go on, and the current price is acceptable to you....book it now.

[francesam]

We booked last April 2011 for a cruise to Venice in Sept 2012. We were assured that we wouldn't get a better price by waiting. Guess what ! the cruise is now on offer at £80 less and has been for some weeks.:mad: Same happened last year. Last minute bookings for me in future.

Of course if it is a particular cruise that you are after then best to book early.

[Happy ks]

Since you have waited this late already, just wait until after final payment has been made for the cruises you have in mind...to see if the price comes down. Our April cruise had a final payment due a week or two ago, the price is slightly higher now than what we paid in November.

 

The cruise did come down slightly just recently, for a couple weeks before final payment, about $80 total, for new bookings only. Then, right after final payment was due it went up back up again, now $20 more than what we paid.

 

The truth is, you just never know. Some pricing may come down, some may go up. Availability may become scarce, you typically won't have your choice of cabin waiting this long. It's a gamble.

 

Most of the cruises we have taken have been booked more than a year out. There have been price drops for many of them, but by the time final payment comes around the price has gone up significantly. Yes at times it comes down, but we generally have paid less than even the last minute deals.

[griffy116]

We always book early to be able to pick the specific cruise, ship, and cabin. If the price goes down, then RCI gets notified and we get the lower price. Easy decision for us.

[boogs]

I book early to get the best cabins, the best airfares, and the best pre and post hotel rates, then until final payment I watch the prices. If they go down I contact the cruise line or my TA and I always get the fare adjusted. After final payment, I NEVER check prices again. No need to torture myself by discovering the occasional lower price that I can't do anything about. I figure if I was satisfied enough with the price at final payment to still go ahead and pay it, then I don't need to do anything more.

[ste1200]

Thanks for all the replies, as there are about 6 or 7 cruises to the canaries sailing from the UK in April/May I am going to take a chance and leave it another month or 2. The cruise I have been looking at still has lots of cabins left and I have expressed interest with a couple of agents who are going to contact me if prices come down before then, otherwise I wll check in March and see what I can find.

[navybankerteacher]

If you arre a gambler, it is tempting to wait and see if prices drop. The upside is that you might save a fair amount of money. The downside is that fares might go up or the accomodations you want might not be available. If your vacation timing is flexible, waiting might make sense -- you can always look at a later date if things don't pan out ---but, if you have to schedule your time off in advance, you are probably better off booking when you see a cruise you want at a price which seems right -- if it happens that prices then go up, you will feel like a genius.

[Worm61]

I will definatley wait next time to book a cruise ..iv'e lost £100 each so far on booking early :(