Booking early vs late.

[atate75]

Is there an advantage to booking a cruise, let's say a year in advance vs a couple of months? Are the rates cheaper?

 

 

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[xitappers2bx]

Is there an advantage to booking a cruise, let's say a year in advance vs a couple of months? Are the rates cheaper?

 

 

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It's really a crapshoot. There are so many variables that come into play. Are your dates flexible, are they set? Do you want to do Early Saver? Are you able to do Pack'n'go rates? (They're really the only last minute 'good' deals out there, but that's booking, packing and planning a cruise in mere days, and that's if the ship isn't sold out).

 

So many things go into the pricing of the cruise, capacity, rate of sales, overall sales of the company, and so much more. If you book well in advance, you know you're getting the room you want (if you pick a room and don't do a guarantee), and if you do the ES rate you can potentially get refunded any price drops that do occur. There's always the risk of a ship being near capacity or sold out much closer to the sail date, and if you wait until the very last minute you might snag a great deal from a pack'n'go but unless you live in the southeast where you can drive easily to a number of ports you might get left without a cruise, or seriously expensive airfare that would negate the cheaper cruise fare.

[lucy2mb]

The majority of our cruises we have booked about a year in advance. We like booking the early saver and getting shipboard credit when the rates go down. This year we upgraded when the rates went down.

[Ehpride]

I prefer booking early using the early saver rate. That way, I can still get price drops. However, by booking hotels and airfare early, I've saved a lot of money. My pre-cruise hotel has more than doubled in price since I booked it.

 

 

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[thistoo]

There's a huge advantage in booking early if you want a certain cabin or deck. Booking early is really the only way to ensure that you get your first choice.

 

That said, I am planning to visit my parents in Florida for Thanksgiving this year, unless my job circumstances change (I'm looking to change jobs at the moment) and if there is an open cabin at a reasonable price, I will try to hop on a cruise last minute. If my mom wants to tag along, fine. If not I'm hoping for some more 'no single supplement' sales at the end of the year.

[Eng23]

Good thing about booking way in advance is you have a lot of choice on cabins. I just booked a last minute cruise leaving in 8 days tonight and got a great price but, not very many choices of cabins.

[A2Mich]

I would also add that the early vs booking late also depends on your needs. If you need a cabin for 4 or more, you may want to book early, or if you need a handicap accessible room, or a suite, then I would recommend booking early. The last minute bookings are great for couples who don't care what cabin they are in. Every cabin on the ship will accommodate 2 people, but not all can accommodate 3, 4, or more, and there are also concerns with ship maximum occupancy rates and the cabin assignments.

[christyran1228]

From my own very limited experience, before we had to change cruises, we had originally booked Early Saver a 7 day eastern Caribbean on the Magic for the summer of 2013 when they first posted them in March of 2012 at $569/pp. By the time that cruise rolled around it was over $200 more pp.

 

I've noticed the summer/holiday cruises prices tend to go nowhere but up, at least out of Galveston ... so booking early seems to be the best way to go from that point.

 

I have also had to fork over $50/pp X 4 twice in administrative fees to make booking changes, so there's that lack of flexibility with ES to consider ...

 

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[maldenmusic]

We have booked more than a year in advance as well as just a few days before. On our quick cruise we got a great deal on the Triumph. Can't remember the prices but I guess they hadn't filled all the rooms so we ended up with a great interior cabin on Lido.

[richfret]

It all depends how you book. If you book Military, you can book a year earlier and take any price cuts until final payment which is normally 2 months before the sailing. If you take Early Saver, you can take any price cuts until you sail. Both are assigned cabins. It is easier to cancel a cruise with Military than Early Saver.

 

If you wait until late in the game, you may or may not get a better price. It all depends how filled the ship is. You won't have as much choice in cabin selection.

 

So pricing can be complicated and luck is a factor.

[RWolver672]

It all depends how you book. If you book Military, you can book a year earlier and take any price cuts until final payment which is normally 2 months before the sailing. If you take Early Saver, you can take any price cuts until you sail. Both are assigned cabins. It is easier to cancel a cruise with Military than Early Saver.

 

If you wait until late in the game, you may or may not get a better price. It all depends how filled the ship is. You won't have as much choice in cabin selection.

 

So pricing can be complicated and luck is a factor.

 

You can do that with any booking rate, not just military.

[mpcaruth]

I typically book 10-12 months out, with the exception of one last minute IS-guarantee deal.

 

I watch the cruise price of my bookings almost daily, and have never seen the price go down. Please understand, we typically book off-season cruises, so the prices are already low. We sail every January. However, I do have a summer cruise booked this years, and the price of this cruise has gone up too. By the way, I have never booked early saver, and so far, it would not have helped me.

[BigRed93]

There are advantages to both depending on what you want out of your vacation.

 

Booking early - choice of ship, choice of cabin, early saver possible price drops, making periodic payments towards fare, getting better price of airfare and lodging.

 

Booking last minute - especially good if you have flexible vacation time and live within driving distance of port. or have a decent amount of flight into an area, like say Mia/Fll, where the flight prices don't jack up too high. Also good if you don't care about the ship, itin. or cabin so much, just want to get away.

 

We do last minute trips when it is just the 2 of use, because we can be flexible and just want to get away. when we are with a larger group we tend to book 8-10 mos out or more depending.

[PCHENG]

If you are talking about the entire vacation package including air, hotel, cruise and maybe even a rental car, I recommend booking early because airline tickets almost without fail get more expensive the closer you get to sailing date.

 

If you are just talking about the cruise itself, then it is a total crapshoot as there are too many variables. Your destination, time of travel, your cabin category, and even the cruise line you chose all have an impact on the final cruise fare. I have seen prices skyrocket as it gets closer due to popular demand, but I have also seen last minute promotions significantly less than what I paid as cruise lines try to clear inventory. Unfortunately it was past final payment, and the cruise line refused to give me OBC.

Edited March 9, 2014 by PCHENG

[BettyGiggles]

I prefer booking early sometimes up to 14 months out :) Can pick my cabin and location, which now happens to be Aft balcony all the way, this next trip is an Aft wrap. Had to try it at least once.

 

Gives us something to really look forward to in those dragging on work weeks ;)

[jmcancruise]

We like to book early to get rooms we want. We like to sail in different rooms, often ones there are only a few of, so in order to accomplish this we book early.

[timbom]

Depends on time of year you are cruising if you are cruising a popular time of year book way out.

 

In non popular time of year (Sep. till xmas and Jan to March) book at last minute you can usually save close to 50%

 

I am always happy to see people booking way out as they are paying for my cruise as without them cruise lines would go out of business.

[JohnSpo]

If going with family, we will sometimes book a year or more out. Now with the no single supplement deals, I have started booking last minute solo cruises.:cool:

[vwrestler171]

We book as early as we can so we can get the cabins we want. Gives us time to plan ahead and research excursions, while saving more money.

 

 

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[Island Crazed]

4 cruises

1-15 months early (DCL 2 connecting cabins)

2-18 months early (DCL-the day they were released 2 connecting cabins.)

3 - 6 months

4 - 11 months.

 

 

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[Island Crazed]

BUT SOMEDAY I WANT TO BOOK IN 14 DAYS OR LESS!!

 

 

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[vwrestler171]

BUT SOMEDAY I WANT TO BOOK IN 14 DAYS OR LESS!!

 

 

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Someday I do too, would be nice to just get online and decide to go on a cruise this weekend.

 

 

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[Caribbeanqueen03]

This is the first time I book 11 months in advance and have already called and changed to a balcony room because they are now less than an outside ocean view was when I booked, plus, if i had waited I could have gotten $400 off plus OBC!

 

 

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