Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals

[jlt123]

Looking to book a family cruise in June. Should I book now or wait until Black Friday for the best deals?

[BlueRiband]

Yes you might get a better deal by waiting but that's highly speculative. Pricing is driven by supply and demand.

 

You said "family cruise" - can you be more specific? Does this mean that you need a 4-berth cabin for young children? Those sell fast. Are you looking for several cabins together? "Deals" are often category guarantee and your family can be split over different decks.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Looking to book a family cruise in June. Should I book now or wait until Black Friday for the best deals?

 

 

Not really. A few months ago I booked a long 2018 transpacific (5 weeks) the day after it was posted. The price has already jumped by more than $1000/person. I've had similar price rise results on other shorter though very popular itineraries. By contrast, I recently had our TA arrange a price match for a booked spring 2017 cruise with a price that just dropped approx. 15%.

As mentioned by a previous poster, there is no magic day that beats all others when it comes to cruises.

Significant research will get you a far better idea of which cruise itineraries and cabin classes have price increase/drop trends and when they usually occur. Even then, when to "pull the trigger" is still a gamble.

 

In any case, if you see the "perfect cruise" (based on your needs, preferences and means) jump on it.

Finally, since it appears that you are interested in value, DO NOT use cabin price as the sole determinant of your choice. "Net daily rate" of your vacation (door to door) is a far better measure. For example, premium/luxury lines' cabin prices may seem high until you realize that things like airfare, excursions, beverages, gratuities, specialty restaurants, etc. may be included.

 

OP: do your homework and get a good TA (also a daunting research task fraught with many worthless/unknowledgeable wannabes).