very late deal

[scottie2]

Has anyone had experience of contacting cruise lines and seeing whats available at the last minute, we will be in Florida for 3 weeks in the summer and last time we had our cruise booked but heard a few people on board who had just turned up prior to boarding and had got great deals:)

[lady_cruiser]

I know in the Louisiana and Texas that the closer the cruise date comes the higher the prices. Maybe Florida has greater deals because of all the cruise ships that leave from there.

 

As for booking a cruise right before boarding I can tell you that is long gone. We were sitting at the Loyalty Desk on the last day of our last cruise when the person helping us received a phone call. The part of the conversation we heard went something like this. "No, we are sailing full next week so we don't have any cabins available. But even if I had cabins since we have to hand in a manifest 48 hours before we sail I wouldn't be able to sale you one. "

 

Good luck though finding that perfect cruise.

[Karysa]

Has anyone had experience of contacting cruise lines and seeing whats available at the last minute, we will be in Florida for 3 weeks in the summer and last time we had our cruise booked but heard a few people on board who had just turned up prior to boarding and had got great deals:)

 

I think that in Sept or Oct you could get great last minute Caribbean cruises for great prices but not in the summer out of Florida. It's all about supply and demand. Demand is high in the summer and the supply of ships in the Caribbean at that time is low.

[Essiesmom]

Go to the websites of all the cruise lines that interest you. sign up for their email notifications of special deals. Princess often has some incredible 'Standby' deals (that does not mean standby as in airline...). As for very last minute, you can call Carnival in the morning and sail in the afternoon. But it does not mean you get a great deal. You will pay the going rate. I believe the other cruise lines you have to call a day in advance. You can't just show up at the port, because the people at checkin do not know what is available, and do not have the facilities to sell it to you. EM

[ducklite]

I thought the the new DHS rules made it impossible to book day of as passenger manifests had to be submitted to DHS 24-48 hours in advance.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[Essiesmom]

Manifest has to be submitted 60 minutes before departure. That's why you have to be checked in by then. EM