How late would you dare to book?

[cGypsy]

Am curious as to whether anyone knows what is the cutoff for a last-minute booking (one day? two?), and have you ever dared to book right at that point? How crazy was it? :eek:

 

Yes, I am considering pulling the trigger (so to speak) on a last-minute adventure though it would require some scrambling to get the laundry done, find the warm weather shoes, etc. Maybe I will need a vacation just to recover from getting ready for a vacation...?

 

Thanks for any insight. Happy sailing!

[sparks1093]

As much as we'd love to pull the trigger on a last minute booking the reality of our lives prevents this. I believe that cruises may be booked up until 48 hours before departure because the ship needs to provide the manifest to CBP, but each cruise line might be different (and I am sure they all hope they are sold out by that point). I know that there are a lot of people that wait until the last minute because the cruise lines will often slash prices in order to fill the ships, so from a money saving standpoint it may be a good strategy if you can do it.

[Krazy Kruizers]

If we lived in Florida and didn't have to fly, we might consider a last minute cruise.

There wouldn't be any flights left by booking late.

Plus we are particular about the cabin type we book.

[Essiesmom]

On Carnival, you can call in the morning and sail in the afternoon. but chances are it will not be a bargain rate. You have to call, cannot do it online nor will you be able to fill out online checkin. So you have to leave extra time at the port. Other lines you can book the evening before and sail the next day. There is a myth that persists on these boards that a manifest must be submitted 72 hours before sailing, but this is not true. the manifest goes in 60 minutes before sailing. EM

Edited November 21, 2015 by Essiesmom

[sparks1093]

On Carnival, you can call in the morning and sail in the afternoon. but chances are it will not be a bargain rate. You have to call, cannot do it online nor will you be able to fill out online checkin. So you have to leave extra time at the port. Other lines you can book the evening before and sail the next day. There is a myth that persists on these boards that a manifest must be submitted 72 hours before sailing, but this is not true. the manifest goes in 60 minutes before sailing. EM

 

Thanks for the info.

[biker@sea]

I have booked in as little as 12 hrs before sailing when I saw a cruise price cut in Half.

A half dozen other times I booked within a couple of days when the dropping price of a cruise hit my number. :)

 

I have also had some sell out abruptly leaving me to sadly stayed home.

Edited November 21, 2015 by biker@sea

[xlxo]

My job workload is unpredictable and I like to plan my cruises in good weather. As a result, I book my cruises a week before departure after confirming the forecast. Yep I may pay more or less depending on the itinery.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I could definitely handle a very last-minute cruise except for air. Probably either very expensive or impossible from Omaha at the last minute.

[iancal]

Closest we have come is six days.

 

But when we are doing land trips (we keep them very flexible) we often watch for cruise specials.

 

It would not be an issue for us to book/board on a Caribbean or a Med cruise within 48hrs or less sailing. Providing of course that we were not tied to any other significant prepaid hotel or other travel expenses.

 

We are going to Southeast Asia in early Feb for a few months. We may snag a cruise. If we are in the embarkation city we can be ready to go ASAP with one exception. We travel light, with carry on. DW would probably want to do some shopping to pick up one or two things. That would be it.

[Treven]

At the other end of this continuum, my cut off time is probably one year before departure, and that's cutting it pretty tight.

I need an accessible cabin so I tend to book a cruise as soon as it opens. I generally book about 18 months in advance which gives me a good selection of cabins from which to choose - not that there's a big difference in those cabins, besides interior, ocean view or balcony.

[SadieN]

Princess's cut off is 2 days ahead. Our closest has been 4 days.

[YubaSutter]

When I lived in Long Beach, I would call Carnival on the morning of sailing several times. About 25% of the time, there would be some cabins available. Booked at 10 am and onboard at 2 pm.

[Velvetwater]

If I lived near a cruise port and had the time and money I would book on the day...

 

...although I think you have to book ta least 2 days before now?

[Shmoo here]

Am curious as to whether anyone knows what is the cutoff for a last-minute booking (one day? two?), and have you ever dared to book right at that point? How crazy was it? :eek:

 

Yes, I am considering pulling the trigger (so to speak) on a last-minute adventure though it would require some scrambling to get the laundry done, find the warm weather shoes, etc. Maybe I will need a vacation just to recover from getting ready for a vacation...?

 

Thanks for any insight. Happy sailing!

 

The shortest we've booked was on a Thursday night for a Sunday departure (2-3 days). We booked online. I've read that you can pretty much do it up until the morning of the cruise, but I believe you must call the cruise line directly if it's within a day or two of the cruise.

[NMLady]

If we lived within a day's drive of port we'd book a few days before if the savings was worth settling for a less desirable cabin. But last minute flights from our southwest desert area are too expensive.

Edited November 21, 2015 by NMLady

[SuiteTraveler]

I booked our Carnival Magic cruise less than a week before sailing for our 4th of July cruise. The ship had been sold out, but a spa balcony showed up and I grabbed it. Luckily it was out of Galveston - easy to get to from out home.

[spookwife]

Am curious as to whether anyone knows what is the cutoff for a last-minute booking (one day? two?), and have you ever dared to book right at that point? How crazy was it? :eek:

 

Yes, I am considering pulling the trigger (so to speak) on a last-minute adventure though it would require some scrambling to get the laundry done, find the warm weather shoes, etc. Maybe I will need a vacation just to recover from getting ready for a vacation...?

 

Thanks for any insight. Happy sailing!

 

closest we got was just under 30 days, living 15 minutes from port and him having a shore duty assignment that was , shall we say... liberal... with granting leave.

 

now that he is retired, but not yet found a civilian job, we have to be very careful.

 

if he ends up getting a 'real' job here in San Antonio, we still have easy options as his sister lives in Houston so we could easily grab a trip out of Bayport or Galveston wit little notice. ( I do want to cruise out of N'awlins though at some point.)

 

but..I wanna point out that I have a bag pretty much packed wth toiletries at all times so it's just a matter of packing clothes to match the itinerary. which can be done in an afternoon.

[snowskier]

Princess's cut off is 2 days ahead. Our closest has been 4 days.

 

I've booked Princess morning of the cruise.

[YubaSutter]

If I lived near a cruise port and had the time and money I would book on the day...

 

...although I think you have to book ta least 2 days before now?

 

Nope. Still same day.

[Scrapnana]

In April I played trivia with a lady that was doing a one day cruise from Vancouver to Seattle because she needed one day to go to the next loyalty level (on HAL). She said she booked Thursday night after 5 pm online. She took a bus to Vancouver the next morning and was on board by 3 pm Friday. She said she paid $99 for the one night.

[Keith1010]

I would not book late for many reasons including airfare, choice of room and not being able to plan excursions and the like.

 

Keith

[4x4bob]

We booked Friday Evening and boarded the ship Monday.

 

Friday evening the Wife ran into the living room and asked if I wanted to go on a cruise. I said yes, when and where?

 

She answered Mon out of San Pedro. She ran back to computer room where she had Princess on hold while I used my cell phone to make reservations at the Crown Plaza hotel which is next to the port which offered a park and sail program.

 

Next, we are in the guest bedroom tossing stuff into our suitcases. Needless to say we left home without a few small items we normally take. Flip flops, alarm clock, cellphone cord, etc. Nothing that we really needed. Just enough to take notice. I had my camera, so what else did I need? :D

 

When we returned home and emptied the suitcase we put a printed check list into it for next time.

 

Bob

[iancal]

We do not care if it is four weeks, four days, or four hours.

 

As long as we are near the port, or can get to it for a reasonable price, and get at balcony gty we are happy. And in some circumstances, certain cruises, an oceanview gty would be just fine as well. A number of years ago we did an Alaska cruise with three days notice....but we were living in Vancouver at the time so it was a no brainer.

[Lerin]

The most last minute we've done for a cruise was about a month.

Other vacations we have done on a whim.

 

A way to make it easier is this:

-Have a bag partially packed with summer vacation stuff at all times. When you return from 1 trip, wash those clothes and put them right back in the bag. Include everything from shorts, tanks and even socks and undergarments. Ditto for formal wear-don't forget the shoes!

-Keep a toiletry bag with travel items, use only for travel and nothing else. After each trip-refill as needed. This includes first aid, make-up, and some jewelry.

-Same goes for items you use on every vacation/ cruise. For us we have a bag with magnets, post its, luggage tag holders, phone chargers, etc...

-Finally keep a Google doc or printout checklist of items to take on a trip (passports, laundry detergent, sunglasses...) as well as things to do before the trip (water plants, board dog, pause mail, etc...) That way when you are in a hurry you can quickly go down the list to be sure nothing is forgot.

 

So the key is to plan ahead for your last minute get-away. If you do the heavy lifting now, the 24 hours before you leave will be quite simple.

[iancal]

We have booked an AI 48 hours prior to departure. The nice thing with AI's is that they include air. We just need to go to the airport.

 

Planned to go drive to the Oregon coast. Rain was forecast. Got an offer for 7 day AI trip to Cuba.

 

We grabbed it....at it was less expensive than our Oregon coast trip and we had sun every day, all day except for a 20 minute light shower in the afternoons.