How far in advance cruises planned?

[crystalspin]

By the company that is.

 

I'm having so much fun planning this pre-Christmas trip I'm already starting to think about NYE 2015... which will be our 25th anniversary.

 

If NCL shows a schedule that far out, what are the chances it will change? It appears (looking at the N.Star's schedule only) they aren't scheduling that far out anyway, latest shown cruise is April'15. (HAL is also 'capped' at April'15.)

 

Also people talk about scheduling 14-15 months early to get the good prices, but it looks to me that far-out prices are about double what they are for cruises leaving in a few months... of course, stateroom selection may not be the best if you wait...

 

Any thoughts or direct me to older posts on this?

 

and ^June 7 2009^

Edited November 18, 2013 by crystalspin
Tickers!

[Ilovesailing]

Very rare as the cruise lines have to secure their ports stops which they had negotiated long before by committing x number of stops and in doing so negotiating port fees.

Not saying that there could be the odd error which I have seen once and it was on POA was booked to tender in Kona the same day as the triathlon. The other would be if the ship gets chartered at a later date and there is no guarantee that it won't happen.

[Ilovesailing]

As for pricing we have always booked a year out and watched for any price drops on a weekly basis, but because of the cabin catagory that we book we rarely ever see any price drops in fact the aft cabins usually sell out first.

It's all about supply and demand, an example of late would be Greek Island/Turkey and other European ports were there has been political unrest add to that a market that is presently saturated with cruise ships can equal some pretty good deals, however for some it means higher air fares for booking flights so close into cruise so it means a lot of weighing the pros and cons and cost factors.

But book early and just stay on top of prices and you won't go wrong.

Presently our Panama cruise is up $600 pp from when we booked and aft PH cabins are pretty well sold out.

[singinglizzie]

I like booking ahead and booking directly with NCL, so if prices drop they adjust accordingly. I have found that some categories sell quicker than others, so if you have a particular location or category - the early bird gets the worm. The early bird also gets the best OBC too!

[mugtech]

Also if you book more than 9 months ahead of time you can qualify for the AARP 5% discount plus you will receive an extra point per night to get your Latitudes status to Platinum twice as fast. Next month we should see the full 2015 schedule, great time to book b2b cruises.