Booking Canada/New England last minute

[Grannycb]

What are the chances there will be inside or ocean view cabins available in May for a June sailing, either from Boston or Quebec City? Do people cancel close to final payment?

 

Thanks for your observations.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Grannycb

[CruiserBruce]

Who knows? That would be impossible to predict without inside knowledge.

[RMLincoln]

What are the chances there will be inside or ocean view cabins available in May for a June sailing, either from Boston or Quebec City? Do people cancel close to final payment?

 

Thanks for your observations.

 

Yes, Sometimes there are cancellations around final payment time but that would be before May for a June cruise, usually 75 days before sailing.

 

Sometimes prices drop and sometimes prices rise. If you book before final payment you may be able to get an upgrade or some OBC if the price drops after Final Payment date. If the ship is sold out or the prices rise you will be out of luck. But it's usually easier to get an Inside closer to sailing because early bookings for insides may get upgraded.

 

A lot depends on how flexible you can be. The Canada/New England itinerary is not as competitive as, say, the Caribbean. Happy planning. m--

[RuthC]

I think your chances of an open cabin that close to sailing would be remote, at best.

The NE/Canada itinerary commands high per diems because it is popular; it tends to sell out.

Unless someone booked has an emergency and has to cancel, you are unlikely to get a cabin. No one can predict how many, if any, would have to cancel---or what category of cabin they had booked.

Edited January 28, 2015 by RuthC

[Folk Singer]

Thanks Ruth.

[sail7seas]

I have taken the Maasdam Boston to Montreal to Boston b-to-b many times and I think there is a chance you could get a cabin. It may not be the best location or category but I think 30 days out from sailing it is possible. Of course, you wouldn't be asking if you didn't know there is no promise there will be any vacant cabins. It's a great cruise. :)

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

There have been times when many of us here have read where a few of the Canada/New England cruises were oversold.

You may be lucky and get something a month out as long as you don't care about what type of cabin you get.

[mskaufman]

We did this cruise last June. It seemed that they were still selling cabins 30 - 60 days out.

[mudscraper]

We did this cruise last June. It seemed that they were still selling cabins 30 - 60 days out.

 

So did we. Low prices and several empty cabins on our B2B on the Veendam.

[PathfinderEss]

I would think you have a good chance of getting an inside cabin last minute.

[CruiseM1018]

Our family of four is in the same boat and we would also like to book the May 31st Maasdam sailing last minute. It's even harder for us because we want a single stateroom that can accommodate 4. I've been closely watching price trends over the past 3 summers and have found that some have completely sold out while others hit incredible prices during promotional periods. The rates right now look pretty tempting, our TA is offering 200obc and a few other extras.

[lazey1]

Our family of four is in the same boat and we would also like to book the May 31st Maasdam sailing last minute. It's even harder for us because we want a single stateroom that can accommodate 4. I've been closely watching price trends over the past 3 summers and have found that some have completely sold out while others hit incredible prices during promotional periods. The rates right now look pretty tempting, our TA is offering 200obc and a few other extras.

 

Just a suggestion, grab it now while it is available. If the price drops, which is unlikely, you can ask to be refared or ask for obc.:eek:

[Folk Singer]

I have taken the Maasdam Boston to Montreal to Boston b-to-b many times and I think there is a chance you could get a cabin. It may not be the best location or category but I think 30 days out from sailing it is possible. Of course, you wouldn't be asking if you didn't know there is no promise there will be any vacant cabins. It's a great cruise. :)

 

 

 

We like this trip as well. Good luck.

[DaveOKC]

Our family of four is in the same boat and we would also like to book the May 31st Maasdam sailing last minute. It's even harder for us because we want a single stateroom that can accommodate 4. I've been closely watching price trends over the past 3 summers and have found that some have completely sold out while others hit incredible prices during promotional periods. The rates right now look pretty tempting, our TA is offering 200obc and a few other extras.

 

Since you want a single cabin to accommodate 4, I would book now if you see a decent price. As others have stated, if the price drops later, HAL is pretty good about giving you some OBC or an upgrade to compensate you.

 

When I see a "decent" price on a cruise I want (you have to do some research to see what a decent price is of course), I book it and continue to watch pricing. On my upcoming cruise, I rebooked it twice later to get better pricing and/or perks and finally did an upsell about 30 days out.

 

DaveOKC

[Grannycb]

I'm just about ready to book the Veendam for May 23rd. It looks like the price has dropped for that date fairly recently. Wish there was a way to see the history of pricing on a particular cruise. It would make decision making much easier.

 

Our biggest concern is that it's too early in the season to go to Canada the end of May. We've gone to Alaska at the beginning of May so this should be warmer, right?

 

Does HAL have a cruise air program? Would they have a discount on flying two one way legs as some of the other cruise lines? Regular fares are less than we expected but would like to pick the best available.

 

We will be talking to our travel agent in the morning. He should be able to answer some of these questions. Any observations you have are appreciated.

[Laurino]

Not wanting to hi-jack the thread, but I've been asking myself the same question as OP. We would like to get the June 27 Montreal or (preferably not) the June 20 Boston sailing, onboard Maasdam. But I find the European pricing of those salings a bit unappealing right now, they've been increasing slightly every weak since Christmas. We'd really like to be able to get two cruises this year :cool:

 

It's probably even more difficult to get a last-minute late June sailing, compared to May? We've already booked transatlantic return flights to Newark, so a bit nervous now, wondering what sort of trip we'll get :o

[POA1]

Not wanting to hi-jack the thread, but I've been asking myself the same question as OP. We would like to get the June 27 Montreal or (preferably not) the June 20 Boston sailing, onboard Maasdam. But I find the European pricing of those salings a bit unappealing right now, they've been increasing slightly every weak since Christmas. We'd really like to be able to get two cruises this year :cool:

 

It's probably even more difficult to get a last-minute late June sailing, compared to May? We've already booked transatlantic return flights to Newark, so a bit nervous now, wondering what sort of trip we'll get :o

The week of the 27th cruise will have the 4th of July holiday in it. Because Independence Day falls on a Saturday, the work holiday will be on Friday, July 3rd.

[sail7seas]

The shoulder seasons cruises are usually priced lower than the high season. Late April and most of May are usually less desirable weather, thus the lower prices. Same for mid September into October. For leaf peepers, it seems they are willing to risk cooler/colder and possibly rainy weather. It's a trade off each of us has to decide. Better price or better weather and then again, no guarantees it won't rain the whole summer. :eek:

 

[lazey1]

 

Does HAL have a cruise air program? Would they have a discount on flying two one way legs as some of the other cruise lines? Regular fares are less than we expected but would like to pick the best available.

 

Yes HAL does have a cruise air program. On our next cruise with two one way legs the HAL price is almost $600 less p.p. than we found on the internet. (This is for 1st class, don't know if regular or econo flights would save as much.)

[Grannycb]

I figured it would be nice to come back and let you know what we decided. We called two travel agents. One, a brick and mortar business, had slightly better perks so we went there. There was ONE cabin left in our category so we booked now instead of waiting. Some categories were closed, others had very limited availablity. Who knew these early season sailings would be so popular?

[sail7seas]

Happy you made your booking.

 

Thanks for coming back to share with us. I always like to know what the poster decides to do. :)

 

Look forward to a wonderful cruise.