Short December cruises

[travelin_nat]

We're taking a short cruise on Enchantment this weekend. I've been keeping an eye on pricing for our cruise and similar ones and the prices seem to keep going in one direction - down. I'm guessing these are harder to sell. I'm very tempted to do this very differently next time we want a similar cruise. I've thought about picking a cruise, buying airline tickets that can be changed with no penalty, and waiting for the last minute to buy the cruise tickets, taking advantage of the fire sale. Bad idea? Anyone else do this?

[Clarea]

If we didn't prefer to sail in a JS, I'd do the same. I've seen many price drops on a particular December cruise, but not in suite categories.

[travelin_nat]

If we didn't prefer to sail in a JS, I'd do the same. I've seen many price drops on a particular December cruise, but not in suite categories.

 

Bob - you should check out the pricing for our cruise. It seems quite bizarre to me. JS is only $30 more than inside. OV and Balcony are both less than interior. This will be our first time in a JS, so I'm excited about that, although I paid more than the current price (I know, I know....you shouldn't keep looking).

[setsail]

I have seen post on cc where people do this. I have noticed that if one books 18 to 24 months out that the last minute price rarely drops below that price. I have also priced last minute air fare and as a rule it's higher and could cancel out some/ all of the cruise savings.

 

Every booking can be different

Edited November 28, 2016 by setsail

[Clarea]

Bob - you should check out the pricing for our cruise. It seems quite bizarre to me. JS is only $30 more than inside. OV and Balcony are both less than interior. This will be our first time in a JS, so I'm excited about that, although I paid more than the current price (I know, I know....you shouldn't keep looking).

Incredible price, only $313 for a "W"! You don't often see suite prices near $100pp / per day. They must be having some of trouble with early December.

[travelin_nat]

Incredible price, only $313 for a "W"! You don't often see suite prices near $100pp / per day. They must be having some of trouble with early December.

 

Yeah - that was my point. What I don't know is if that is typical for early December, or it's an anomaly. Have seen similar prices on similar sailings. So my thinking was, book the air early to get the best price, then wait to book the cruise to get that best price. You'd have to be ok with it backfiring on you, which I'm sure could happen - meaning prices go up, not down.

[Clarea]

Yeah - that was my point. What I don't know is if that is typical for early December, or it's an anomaly. Have seen similar prices on similar sailings. So my thinking was, book the air early to get the best price, then wait to book the cruise to get that best price. You'd have to be ok with it backfiring on you, which I'm sure could happen - meaning prices go up, not down.

I've done this before, but in a different way. I've booked an OV stateroom so that at least we had a guaranteed space on the cruise. Then when prices went down, we moved up to a JS. It's also happened that prices didn't go down, so we took the cruise in the OV. We were fine with that.

[travelin_nat]

I've done this before, but in a different way. I've booked an OV stateroom so that at least we had a guaranteed space on the cruise. Then when prices went down, we moved up to a JS. It's also happened that prices didn't go down, so we took the cruise in the OV. We were fine with that.

 

I booked an OV on this cruise. I jumped the gun and paid for an upgrade to Balcony too soon, then converted to JS for "free." Lesson learned in patience. I just have to remind myself I paid what I was willing to spend and chalk it up to experience.

[travelin_nat]

I have seen post on cc where people do this. I have noticed that if one books 18 to 24 months out that the last minute price rarely drops below that price. I have also priced last minute air fare and as a rule it's higher and could cancel out some/ all of the cruise savings.

 

Every booking can be different

 

Yeah - this is usually the case with past cruises we have taken, but not with this one. I do take total cost into account - meaning airfare. I'm just wondering if a different strategy makes sense for short trips on smaller ships after Thanksgiving but well before Christmas. Our ship/sailing is not the only one I've seen with plummeting prices for this time frame.

[cruisinck]

We always cruise the first or second weekend of December. We are leaving on Indy on 12/8. We find the prices are really good the first or second week because families usually cruise for Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Years.

[travelin_nat]

We always cruise the first or second weekend of December. We are leaving on Indy on 12/8. We find the prices are really good the first or second week because families usually cruise for Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Years.

 

Do you book late to try to get the best price?