What's your booking strategy?

[OCruisers]

Have been using the same TA for a long time & they really have taken care of us!

 

Our long time TA has too! :)

 

LuLu

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[A2Mich]

Have been using the same TA for a long time & they really have taken care of us!

 

Same here!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[sail7seas]

Our long time brick and mortar TA was forced out of business from internet competition. :(

 

 

[Snorkel Dawg]

The Cruise Critic editors are working on a feature story about booking tips and strategies. Do you have a specific process or strategy for getting the best deal/value on a cruise? We'd love to hear your best advice and incorporate it into our story. Thanks!

 

 

 

My best advice is to book early & book often! :D

[biker@sea]

I hunt for last minute deals . Last cruise I booked 12 hrs before boarding ( $900 for two people ) 7 night .:):)

Next cruise I booked a 14 day repo last week ( about $1500 for two) with a 5 night stay post cruise @ Cheeca Lodge from Jetsetter ( $1300 ) and a one week one way rent a car . 21 days of vaca for 5k

[Warm Breezes]

Research, research, research. We are usually limited on the time period we can cruise (decided in Oct/Nov of the previous year when DH has to put in for his vacation for the next year) and usually book early in the year (Jan-Mar) for a vacation that year. My first step, once we decide we are cruising for our vacation, is to run a search on one of the big travel websites for all cruises available during the time period we can go. I then sort it by price per night low to high. If we have further wants out of this vacation (certain embarkation port, itinerary, ship), I filter my search by those criteria. I try to narrow it down to a couple choices. I research those choices more in depth and then discuss my findings with the family. We then choose the one the majority wants to do. If they are up in the air about which one they want we choose the lower price one. I then go to the site that competes for my bid and get quotes for our vacation. I compare the quotes to the cruiseline and other big sites and choose the TA that offers me the best value for my cruise.

[springfire]

Never use a travel agent, check online travel sites often and way before the sailing date.

 

This is also what I do!

[mrsd912]

Once we decide where we want to go, we pick the ship based on price and amenities. Once we've picked our sailing we book as early as we possibly can. After we've booked I divide our balance owed by how many weeks until final payment is due, and make weekly payments of at least that much to make it more manageable.

Then I watch for price drops like a hawk or course!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We book ASAP ...

[Lionesss]

We pick our weeks vacation in September, and once confirmed we call our TA.

We tell her what are plans are and she does all the bookings.

From - air - to hotels - to ships -

This time we booked we got free dinners at Chops for our upcoming Allure sailing.

We also have gotten champagne sent to our suite even when it wasn't a C & A level benefit.

 

We also use their travel insurance, a little pricey, but covers everything.

Sea Ya

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have been using the same TA for a long time & they really have taken care of us!

 

 

We have been using the same TA for over 24 years and she takes care of us.

[vivian02]

I like taking cruise vacations to places like Europe, Alaska, Hawaii, and Australia. The first thing I do will be to check what ships are sailing the areas that interest me. I prefer ships with a inside pool area in case the weather is cool. I make sure there are plenty of activities to keep the wife busy. Next I start looking at airfares six to nine months out. Once I see a airfare that is cheaper than the price of the cruise I will start the booking process. I usually plan on flying in one to two days prior to the sailing to recover from any jet lag. Once I have booked the cruise and airfare I book the hotels. Our next cruise to Hawaii next month was a no brainier. Bargain price 15 day cruise out of the west coast. No airfare since I can drive to the port. Sure I have to park the car but the hotel I booked has a park and cruise package. The fifteen days for parking the car have been taken care of. Now once I am back from that cruise I can plan a cruise for May 2014....Alaska or Europe? I'll be watching for those great airfare bargains. Tim

[mikehn]

The best strategy is to consider both cruise fare and air fare in tandem. Thats the real challenge.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I monitor various online cruise agencies and cruise line sites for cruises we might be interested in so that I have a handle on prices. We usually have several itineraries and/or dates in mind but we aren't usually set on one particular date or itinerary.

 

Since I know what the 'going' price for a particular cruise is, when I see a great reduction on a cruise, we book, usually from 2-4 months out. I also coordinate it with airfare; we usually use FF miles, especially for long flights, so if none are available, then we move on to a different cruise.

 

Using this strategy we usually get a cabin at a very good price; example, balcony cabin on Princess to Hawaii last year for $1299; that was the lowest price I had seen all year, and it was a great cabin. We have a 'benchmark' of no more than $100 pp per night for a balcony cabin (base price) and usually get one for much less. We'd only pay more for a truly exotic or bucket-list type cruise, like the South Pacific.

 

You do need to be flexible about when to travel, as some times of the year have much greater bargains than others, and also flexible as to cabins. We always get a balcony, but are not too particular as to location, and sometimes do guarantees. We also are flexible as to cruise line.

 

I book both with the cruise line or with a TA (online) and have used Cruise Compete before as well. It just depends on price and what other amenities are offered.

[jewopaho]

We're all over the place on this one.

 

We booked a magnificent cruise from Dubai about three weeks in advance, and were able to get a great flight. Living in Houston, with its oil and gas connections, two airlines fly there nonstop ... Emirates and Qatar ... and fares are much lower than the more "traditional" airlines. The cruise itself was $350/pp for 7 nights in an outside stateroom; airfare was just over $900. We couldn't afford to stay home at those prices.

 

On the other hand, our cruise through the Norwegian Fjords from Copenhagen was booked almost a year in advance ... excellent price, which was never reduced (in fact, it went up considerably). Air was just over $1000, also the lowest we saw.

 

Locally, we sail out of Galveston (and now Houston), and whenever a deal comes up, we generally jump on it ... we've cruised for under $400/pp several times (we booked the last one three days prior to sailing). Since we can drive to the ports in under an hour, it's pretty much a no-brainer.

 

We've used the same individual at our online agency for several years, and always receive some sort of perk, generally onboard credit, which we usually use to offset gratuities. With fewer cruise lines offering discounts, we count on him to come through ... and he always does. It's simply not worth our time and effort to spend hours at the computer looking to save $20. Besides, he treats us with the dignity and respect we deserve ... not always the case these days.

 

So the plan is ... there is no plan. We have four booked right now ... December (got it last week), March (booked it five months ago; prices are up), September, and Feb., 2015 (one-time Asian itinerary that we wanted to make sure we could get). Of course, we're keeping an eye on the last two, although they're excellent deals as they stand. We should have sufficient points on our credit cards to purchase at least one ticket on each flight.

[pris993]

We decide where we want to go next. Check out itineraries on various lines. We book cruises directly with the lines, so that if we wish to change our booking we do not pay any TA cancellations fees, since we book a year or more in advance.

 

We often purchase future booking credits while on board and use them to book reservations.

 

When we get close to final payment we transfer our booking to our TA. Then we have the benefits of booking with the TA in addition to whatever benefits we have with the cruise line in terms of OBCs. We also purchase insurance for health emergencies at the time of final payment.

 

We always check the price before final payment and request any price drops.

 

We book our own air and hotels. We look for the most direct flights and use frequent flyer miles when available.

 

We use CC for recommendations on car services for international cruise transfers from airport to ship. We have found CC is excellent for this type of information... i.e., Romecabs and Smithtotheairport are two that we have used repeatedly after finding recommendations on CC.

[jewopaho]

We decide where we want to go next. Check out itineraries on various lines. We book cruises directly with the lines, so that if we wish to change our booking we do not pay any TA cancellations fees, since we book a year or more in advance.

 

We often purchase future booking credits while on board and use them to book reservations.

 

When we get close to final payment we transfer our booking to our TA. Then we have the benefits of booking with the TA in addition to whatever benefits we have with the cruise line in terms of OBCs. We also purchase insurance for health emergencies at the time of final payment.

 

We always check the price before final payment and request any price drops.

 

We book our own air and hotels. We look for the most direct flights and use frequent flyer miles when available.

 

We use CC for recommendations on car services for international cruise transfers from airport to ship. We have found CC is excellent for this type of information... i.e., Romecabs and Smithtotheairport are two that we have used repeatedly after finding recommendations on CC.

Well thought out ... always makes for a better experience. Since our TA doesn't charge a cancellation fee, we let him do the work ... and we've never had an issue with price drops. He's really on top of things. We haven't lost a benefit in all the years we've been working with him.

 

Generally, our first stop after muster drill is the future cruise desk ... we always book something, even if we change it down the line (which we do as often as not). We have a bucket list of trips ... and depending on the deal, we opt for the one that works best for us. Final payment also serves us as a reminder to purchase insurance. The best place to do so is http://www.insuremytrip.com.

 

We also book our own air and hotels, as well as any excursions ... always do better, and can literally customize our trip. We've never had a problem in the dozens of cruises we've taken.

 

Cruise Critic is our resource of choice for many options ... wouldn't plan a trip without looking here.

[PunkiC]

We are retired and want to go everywhere, but not in any particular order, which makes it pretty easy. ;) We also have lots and lots of airline miles and hotel points, which helps a lot in making pre-cruise and post-cruise travel arrangements.

 

So, we we look around for a deal we can live with, and contact our TA when we find a price that is $100 or less pp in a balcony, at a time that coincides with available air awards. Amazingly, there are often saver air awards that pop up at the last minute, making it possible to snag last minute cruise deals without breaking the bank on air fare.

 

I then monitor our booked cruises and let our TA know if there are significant price drops so she can negotiate either an upgrade or more OBC.

 

OBC can be a big deal so we tend to ship with Carnival owned lines to take advantage of our stockholder credit and go with either Princess or Cunard were we also both receive military OBC.

 

We were leaning toward HAL as our retirement cruise line because they always have an onboard Catholic priest, until they changed their carry-on wine policy. That put the kabosh on HAL for us.

[Putterdude]

As DW has MS and travels in a wheelchair we need an accessible cabin. We cruise only on Princess and Celebrity and we need to book as soon as the itinerary is released to ensure that we get a accessible cabin. We book with an agent who works for a very large agency so we get the advantages of their "group" fares and perks. We mutually watch fares and if they drop....and they often do, our TA gets them for us. As a matter of fact last month Princess announced a promotion while we were on a cruise...by the time I contacted our TA he and his company were already rebooking all there clients under the new promo. :)

[jocap]

We begin mulling over the itineraries months ahead- at present we're thinking of a stay/ cruise from near to Orlando (much helped by CC), and now the idea of South Africa, where OH was raised, has arisen. We like to go with a different line where possible, and our present new choices are Carnival, RCI's Oasis Class or Queen Mary.

If possible, we also like a fly/cruise package, and look for a TA who offers that, or else a sailing from the UK which we can book on line.