Question about a cruise in Aug

[uvasag]

I've been researching my trip to Alaska and as of now plan to cruise next year. I was just looking up cruise rates and came across a cruise in Aug. It's a Norwegian cruise leaving Whittier on Aug. 11th covering Hubbard Glacier,

Icy Strait ,Juneau, Sawyer Glacier , Skagway &Ketchikan

 

Price for a balcony is $949 which I think is a great price. My question are

 

1. When is the best time to book a cruise to get the cheapest fares.

2. If I book the one sailing in a month, how likely are the shore excursions full ? I'm planning on taking the ones that other guests have used and have excellent reviews. I don't want to take the ones offered by the cruise as they are costlier.

 

Thanks.

[SparkleBee]

if there is a price available that you think is great for something you want I would grab it immediately. the price could go up or the cabins could sell out. I'd also book the excursions early, as they do get full.

[CruiserBruce]

Check on the NCL board to:

 

1- see if NCL has the policy of giving new, lower fares to already booked pax. Most cruise lines do this up to final payment, and you might also get some benefit of a price drop after final payment.

 

2- when their excursions come out. Excursions do sell out, particularly ones with small numbers of seats. I wouldn't wait until the last minute, many will sell out.

 

FYI- there is no "best" time to book your cruise. If there was, everyone would book then, and you wouldn't be able to get to them on online, or via phone.

Edited July 14, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[uvasag]

Thanks @CruiserBruce for your reply. I can check and see if there are fares with price guarantee. I had once booked ocean view room thru Carnival for my cruise to Bahamas with price guarantee. I kept checking the fares and each time the fares were listed at a lower price for an same ocean view and I called up for price match they said it was on different floor/different category etc. They always found a way to weasel out of the price match :(

 

Booking shore excursions at a cheaper price is also a risk while booking last minute to that is something to think about too.

 

Thanks once again for your input.

[nukesubsailor]

Thanks @CruiserBruce for your reply. I can check and see if there are fares with price guarantee. I had once booked ocean view room thru Carnival for my cruise to Bahamas with price guarantee. I kept checking the fares and each time the fares were listed at a lower price for an same ocean view and I called up for price match they said it was on different floor/different category etc. They always found a way to weasel out of the price match :(

 

Booking shore excursions at a cheaper price is also a risk while booking last minute to that is something to think about too.

 

Thanks once again for your input.

 

I can only speak about Princess Cruises so other lines may be different.

The advertised price is for the least expensive, (least desirable), cabin of that type. With the Princess website you can begin the process of doing an online booking and learn the price on a cabin of the type you want and in the location category that you are interested in. You can see the price for each available cabin. That is the price you want to go by in making a comparison between that and the original price you saw. If it is a better deal than the one you got when you booked then ask for that price.

[sept10dsm]

We booked a 14 day on Princess last summer on June 1 for a July 22 cruise for 629 pp. All depends on the cabins they have not sold yet I think. We booked a guarantee inside and were assigned an obstructed OV about 2 weeks after booking. Some of the one way were going as low as 199 pp for a 7 day for insides.

[mapleleaves]

For the past several years Princess has offered INSIDE rooms for $399 for the SB sailing out of Whittier. I've seen it every May for July sailings.

Are you gambler?

 

 

Actually there was a thread about this recently. I'll see if I can find it.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2049172