How last minute have you booked a last minute cruise?

[Wandering_star]

I'm eyeing a re-positioning cruise from LA to Vancouver on the Star (April 7-11) and have found a great package online that also includes a couple of days in Las Vegas before hand (flights, hotel and transfer to LA, and the cruise). We haven't booked anything yet and are wondering how late we could leave it before it's too late. I understand leaving it to the last minute may result in flights being full or not direct, etc. but we can't commit to booking something just yet and if we were to book the package, it is nonrefundable.

 

Just asking about the cruise - does Princess have some sort of cut off date ex. 2 weeks before the cruise?

 

Thanks in advance!

[SadieN]

Princess cuts off cruise bookings about two days before.

[Colo Cruiser]

We booked 48 hours prior.

[caribill]

If you finally decide to book this, the "great package" might no longer be available.

 

This could be because it has sold out or it could be because a deadline for booking it had passed.

[avcruz]

If you're referring to the package that's put together by a local TA, they block space with the airline, hotel, etc. as well as the cruise line. They usually have to release the unsold space a certain amount of time before departure or be on risk of having to pay for unsold seats. I think 2 weeks prior would be too late.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Got offer 2 weeks before the Jan 2016 CB cruise out of Houston. Booked few hours after.

[likeadisguise]

Assuming there's space, the latest you can book is usually the day before the cruise. You used to be able to book day-of, but that's tougher now because of port security requirements.

 

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[big aft]

Booked Thursday. ....left Saturday

[big aft]

Sorry....it was December 2016

[taxatty]

Booked on Tuesday night for a cruise that left Friday afternoon--it helps to live 20 minuted from a port.

[Wandering_star]

Booked on Tuesday night for a cruise that left Friday afternoon--it helps to live 20 minuted from a port.

 

 

 

So so true! Thanks for the responses everyone!

[DrivesLikeMario]

Good luck! I hope it works out for you! :)

[easyboy]

Booked on Tuesday night for a cruise that left Friday afternoon--it helps to live 20 minuted from a port.

.... and be retired? :)

[taxatty]

.... and be retired? :)

Not needed when the ship leaves Friday afternoon and is back by 7:00 AM Monday morning, allowing getting to work on time. If Princess did more of these out of South Florida (now, maybe one or two a year) I'd be on Princess much more often--we've done 12 of them on RCL. We've met some who have done more than 50 of the 3 day weekend RCL cruises.

[Colo Cruiser]

They can keep the 4 day party cruises.

[geoherb]

The latest we've booked is four weeks before a cruise. Now that we're both retired, I'm hoping we can get some great last-minute specials. We're close enough to Fort Lauderdale to drive if we have to.

 

One of the things I did before DH retired (and we had to plan cruises during his school breaks) was to track prices of cruises in a spreadsheet. I still do this for when we have a set window of opportunity to take a cruise. We just got off a HAL ship yesterday. I started tracking prices in early November of four different Princess cruises, this HAL one, and a Celebrity one. Three of the cruises sold out before we booked this cruise in the last week of December. Of the other three cruises, the prices of two of them came down substantially. The prices on the third cruise came down for some categories of cabins and went up on others. We ended up on HAL instead of Princess because the price was around $400 less per person for our type of cabin.

 

It's hard to predict if a specific cruise will sell well or not. If you wait, you could end up paying more or not going at all. There were several times when we did not take a cruise during DH's breaks because the prices never got to the point I was willing to pay.

[iancal]

We almost always book inside the final payment window. Closest has been within 3-4 days of sailing but more often 30-60 days. Three/four days out were Alaska and Caribbean.

 

We decide on a balcony target price and book if and when our price hits. We are usually watching two or three cruises/ships.

[easyboy]

Not needed when the ship leaves Friday afternoon and is back by 7:00 AM Monday morning, allowing getting to work on time. If Princess did more of these out of South Florida (now, maybe one or two a year) I'd be on Princess much more often--we've done 12 of them on RCL. We've met some who have done more than 50 of the 3 day weekend RCL cruises.

Right, 3 day weekend cruise can be decided at spur of the moment when price is good. Enjoy!

[tonit964]

My DH once booked a cruise on Wednesday night, called me from work and said, "can you be packed for a cruise this Saturday?"! Heck yeah! :DThat was a fun one.

[flamomo]

8 days out. It was a super cheap sort of last minute sale on an early Spring Alaska cruise found by a friend who called and asked if I wanted to go. I jumped on it, the air fare from FL to Seattle and back cost more than the cruise, but we had a great time. No tours or excursions, just relaxing wandering in the ports, impromptu lunches on shore. It was wonderful.