Best Time to Get Last Minute Price

[leinhto]

For the first time I am price watching. Waiting for the right price to book. When can I anticipate the lowest price drop so I can be poised to strike? How many weeks before departure do the rock bottom prices show up?

 

I am even willing to do it the day of as I'll be in the departure port that week.

 

The cruise in particular is the BOS out of Tampa Jan 22, 2015.

 

Can I expect further price drops from where it is at now?

[marci22]

There is no way to know when the price will be 'lowest'. If you have been watching, you should know what a 'good' price is. Then you just have to take a gamble.

 

On our last cruise, I kept wanting to upgrade and my husband kept saying 'no wait'. I waited till 3 days before sailing and actually that turned out to be the lowest price I saw.

 

But you never know.

[Clarea]

...When can I anticipate the lowest price drop so I can be poised to strike? ...

This is something everyone on this board would love to know.:)

[leinhto]

I looked up price history on this route for the 5 day sailing and noticed the priced dropped the lowest one week out...that can be nerve racking...but I am willing to take a chance this time...also the first time I am doing the interior stateroom, unless of course a higher category goes rock bottom...is the same day purchase still available? I recall some post about this no longer being possible. Is that accurate?

[Clarea]

I looked up price history on this route for the 5 day sailing and noticed the priced dropped the lowest one week out...that can be nerve racking...but I am willing to take a chance this time...also the first time I am doing the interior stateroom, unless of course a higher category goes rock bottom...is the same day purchase still available? I recall some post about this no longer being possible. Is that accurate?

Are you asking if you can book the cruise on the day it sails? If so, I don't believe you can do that anymore. Has to be 24 hours (or so) in advance. In other words, they might close bookings at 1pm the day before sailing, even though they sail at 5pm the next day.

[leinhto]

Are you asking if you can book the cruise on the day it sails? If so, I don't believe you can do that anymore. Has to be 24 hours (or so) in advance. In other words, they might close bookings at 1pm the day before sailing, even though they sail at 5pm the next day.

Thanks. Then I will make my decision the latest 2 days in advance of sailing.

[jewopaho]

... wouldn't everyone wait to book at that time? It's a total crapshoot. I've gotten some nice last-minute deals (not actually glued to the computer, just by e-mail from my TA) ... thankfully we're pretty much able to travel at a moment's notice. But I've also booked cruises a year or so away, and prices turned out to be the lowest. Over time, it all evens out, and we've got much better things to do than stalk our computer in an effort to save a few bucks ... our time is worth more to us than that.

 

Al

[jticarruthers]

Generally speaking its a game of chicken, the price is going to go down after payment. The more cabins that are open the faster its going to drop, suddenly a bunch of cabins are going to sell and the drop is done.

 

I cruise every Thanksgiving so I have watched them for several years.

 

Inside/Outside rooms for next week (On Indy, I am not tracking every ship) are lower now than they have been in the 18 months since I started tracking. Inside Cabin for 2 including T&F is under $1000 for the 8 night cruise, Oceanview just over $1000.

 

Balcony was sky high at final payment date, dropped from over $4000 for 3 to just under $3000 for 3 immediately after payment date. Dropped about $200 2 weeks later, dropped another $200 another 2 weeks later. Dropped another $200 (to just under what I originally booked at 18 months ago) another 2 weeks later and now seems to be climbing slightly.

 

My recommendation has always been if you know you want to be on board buy whenever the price gets comfortable for you, if you want to play for every dollar you can save wait until the last second but be prepared to stay home if they sell out before you blink and pull the trigger.

 

Watch the available inventory and if there are a lot of open cabins, maybe wait a day, but if the cabins start disappearing you may want to blink :)

 

Definitely an art not a science though in terms of "when is the right time"

[manders175]

How do you watch the available inventory?

[leinhto]

How do you watch the available inventory?

 

I wrote a little program to screen scrape and check rate changes. It runs every 15min at sends me an email when the rate changes. It is not perfect but just something I enjoyed coding more than for the benefit it provides.

 

My waiting for this sailing is over. I found a balcony cabin at a nice rate $100 more than a category K interior. Couldn't pass that up. Monitor sometimes tell you spending a little more for an upgrade is worth it!!:D

[jticarruthers]

How do you watch the available inventory?

 

I am sure there is a better way, I just do a mock booking and look to see if it gives me 20 cabins to pick from or 2-3.

 

20 means there is plenty of inventory still, 2-3 means by it if you want it :)