What's the closest you've book to sail date?

[Sunsailor]

Booked on a Friday night to sail Sunday on a Princess 7 day Caribbean.

We called Friday morning to see if any Balcony cabins were available but we were told it was sold out. At about 10 pm we decided to try again and got it!

WE live in south Florida and it's an easy drive to the port. (Lucky us)

[Cruisepucks]

7 days out for a mediterranean cruise last spring.

It was a replacement trip arranged after the earthquake struck in Nepal while we were enroute to do a 19 day trek. Long story short, we flew as far as Philly on the day of the earthquake and could go no further so spent Sat night in Philly, flew home to Toronto Sunday. Booked the cruise Mon and were lucky enough to find an available flt from Toronto to Venice and 2 nights hotel precruise in Venice without breaking the bank. Repacked from trekking to cruise wear, flew to Venice on Friday and set sail Monday.

 

Our son left even sooner-3 hrs after we booked the cruise he was enroute to Iceland for a 4 day stay prior to meeting us in Venice. He had no opportunity to repack as he lives in western Canada and was in Toronto before the planned trip to Nepal so he came with his trekking clothes!!!

[wldflr]

Years ago when we were booked to sail on Carnival Paradise (when it was non-smoking), it had engine problems 10 days prior to our cruise. Cruise cancelled. Yikes! TA called and we both looked for alternatives. I had recalled looking at a Windjammer Legacy cruise months beforehand but could not afford it.

 

Well... now that it was so close to sailing, it was buy one cruise, get one FREE! Airfare was a bit more since we had to add on a flight from our original cruise port in FL to St. Lucia to catch the ship but oh, what a neat experience. So sorry that Windjammer went out of business a few years later.

[ExpatBride]

About 4 weeks out. The Copenhagen season is very short and most of the sailings on lines we're interested in sail full, so there aren't many super last minute deals. Costa and Norwegian tend to have really good last minute deals, but they don't interest me.

 

I generally pick a sailing or two and set a target price, if it hits the target or lower, I book. Train fare to the port is the same whether I book months in advance or 10 minutes before I board the train.

 

After watching prices for a few months, I have an idea of what's 'good' and I've gotten some good deals, but nothing amazing.

[Minoushka]

Last

Xmas i gotan offer for acruise on Summit .We had 3 days to get flights and pack ...very exciting very unexpected

With Hal itwas on Eurodam 10 days prior to cruise which was wonderful Venice to Istanbul before all hell broke loose there ....wonderful ship .wonderful itinerary ..so glad we went now Istanbul is anogo

Have funeven if ladt minute ...To pack wisely make lists ...use packing cubes ...love those

 

Michele

[blizzardboy]

4 weeks out for our honeymoon after a 2-week, whirlwind romance that's lasted 35 years come Oct 2. Got one of 8 suites on the NCL MS Skyward at half price. Spent the last 35 years continuing to gladly spoil my bride.

[Randyk47]

I think the closest we've gotten was probably our honeymoon. We had gotten engaged in August but hadn't set a date. At Christmas we had time to sit down and seriously look at the calendar. Decided we'd like to take a Caribbean cruise for our honeymoon so called my longtime TA. Long story short we were married on March 21 and boarded the Ryndam on March 24. That makes our shortest planning, booking, and sailing around 90 days. Subsequently I'd say our shortest has been 9 months and as long as nearly two years. Our average is probably about a year from first notion to actually boarding.

[DeepWaterMariner]

The shortest was 2 days. Booked on a Thursday for a Saturday sailing out of San Juan transatlantic. We booked because we had a Hawaii cruise canceled due to the bankruptcy of the cruise line. It was going to be a 25th anniversary cruise so we switched oceans and cruise lines. That was 21 years ago. The deal was good for the ship but I'm sure the airfare wasn't. Our ID card on the ship was hand written. This summer I booked an Alaska collectors cruise on the Noordam about two weeks before sailing. I was on a bus tour of the national parks at the time, booked the cruise in about 10 minutes over the phone at a rest stop. Came home from the 20 day bus tour a week before flying to Vancouver to start the Alaska cruise. I used FF miles for the flight and the got a veranda cabin cheap.

[Sequim88]

Due to the need for a wheelchair accessible cabin we've never been able to book much less than a year from the sailing date. :( Any closer and the chance of one being available is slim. Next cruise was 320 days out so I guess that's as close as we've done.

 

But...

We live near Seattle, so we often take advantage of the Port to sail last minute to Alaska. We've gotten some good deals this way.

 

Now that we live in Western Washington state we would like to do this too. Our first HAL cruise we had a non-accessible balcony and could fold the chair to get it through the door. We got a drop & go offer a while back for Alaska R/T for $499 on Princess and would like to do that sometime when I have more vacation time on the new job. Or after I retire in 7 years.

Edited August 29, 2016 by Sequim88
spel typo

[iancal]

Thanks to the Oz forum on CC we discovered the pricing on short notice cruises can be very different based upon where you actually buy the cruise. The Oz folks on CC put us on to this. As a result we saves about 30 percent by booking our short notice AUS/NZ cruise in Australia vs booking it where we live in North America. The saving was substantial.

[voyageur9]

3 days out to Alaska, northbound from Vancouver. $349/pp ... for an interior, upgraded to a OV on boarding.

 

flew to VCR and home from ANC, both on mileage. fabulous weather.

 

Can't live at home that inexpensively. (Sincere gratitude to those who book a year earlier and/or pay over the top to get a particular cabin for because, I know, they are subsidizing that sort of last-minute bargain.)

[donaldsc]

A Thursday night for a Sunday cruise. But I was 600 km away from home and had to fly on Friday as Saturday flights were looking full. I had about one hour to pack my suitcase.bgood thing most my cruise clothes are all in a separate closet.

 

That is only 372 miles. Why didn't you drive.

 

DON

[cruisin deb]

Yes, I booked a five day cruise on celebrity out of Miami for $199 balcony. Three days before !! We joined another couple already booked and they couldn't believe the deal. We live in south Florida so always available for last minute cruises! Obviously we had a great time!!

[Valley Girl of VA]

Last year we booked 9 days out for the partial transit of the Panama Canal, had partially obstructed stateroom and paid $800.. This year we booked 2 1/2 week out on a southern 10 day cruise, we paid $800 for obstructed stateroom but a few days before sailing we were offered an upsell to a balcony for $100 each.

[jp2001]

That is only 372 miles. Why didn't you drive.

 

DON

 

I admit, I wasn't clear. I booked while I was in Chibougamau (have a look at Google map and you'll see that it is in a remote location over 500 km from Québec City area (my home) - sorry, thought it was 600 but Google it again and it's ''only'' 500 km). I booked at night, slept a few hours and then dbf and I drove home early in the morning.

 

I arrived home just after 10 am and we had to leave at 11:15 for the airport. The cruise was from the port of New Orleans (2900 km away from home or 3400 km away from Chibougamau where I booked the cruise) so flying was my only option.

[jp2001]

We always book well in advance so these stories are so interesting to me. I think the one about having one hour to pack for the cruise scared me the most though. I have nightmares about forgetting to pack and having to rush to do it all in an hour or so, then get right to the airport! Yep, that's a nightmare, alright!:D

 

You made me laugh. I am the one who had an hour to pack. It was not my first cruise so I knew what to bring. I am also used to pack light as I fly stand-by so I prefer to only have a carry-on with me (still able to bring - for a 7 day cruise : 5 dresses that can be dressed up down, 2 skirts, a few tops and cardignans, swimwear, underwear and 3 pairs of shoes). It helps that I was sailing NCL which is more casual but I still like to dress up a little for dinner (NO jeans, shorts or logo t-shirt at any time for me and for dinner it is usually a cute dress with a cardignan or wrap and classic jewellery- I will rewear the dress for port day two-three days later, without cardignan paired with more funky costume jewellery).

 

However, I DID make a packing mistake that time (the only one I remember from all my years of travels/cruises). I brought 2 different flat black sandals, instead of a pair!!! I was debating which ones to bring and then realised I had enough room for both but I thought I already had the other two in the suitcase but I didn't. I laughed when I unpacked my suitcase. I still had two pairs of sandals that could work for day or evening + my amphibian shoes for travel/gym/water activities. I was just missing flat sandals for the beach and ended up not really needing them (I could have bought a pair of cheap flip flops if I had to).

 

Best thing about this cruise? I booked an GTY oceanview for 503$ total including taxes for SOLO occupancy with my 2 prepaid 250$ NCL vouchers (that I would have lost if not used that year) so actually paid 3$ out of Pocket for the cruise AND got upgraded to a mini suite (big balcony when you're all by yourself).

[shealea]

I am LOVING reading all of your stories!!

Keep them coming!!!

[iancal]

Two years ago we did an eight week land trip ending in Sicily for the final three weeks. We went over on a one way points ticket.

 

Halfway through our Sicily trip we found a deal on an RCI cruise from Rome to Barcelona. The kicker was the very attractive fare and the one way cruise air home from Barcelona. We flew from Palermo to Rome for 35E on Vueling and boarded he ship.

 

This is one of the reasons why we alway skip formal nights in the MDR. We never pack clothes for just in case. No room for them in our carry on.

Edited August 30, 2016 by iancal