Advantage to booking super early?

[cjwhistle]

I'm looking into a Eastern Mediterranean cruise for next June or July on Connie. This will be a multi-generation cruise celebrating two milestone birthdays. Since its a port intensive itinerary we would likely be booking interior or ocean view cabins, with 3 people per cabin.

I have been looking at prices and they seem rather high. I've also been visiting a cruise price website that recommends I wait as the prices are likely to come down.

My question is: is there any advantage to booking this early? There seems to be many interior and OV cabins still available. There are no special promotions that I see would be applicable to us right now, other than Go Big (if we book OV). I guess one risk to not booking now is that Go Big could disappear in the future.

 

Any comments would be appreciated!

[Jim_Iain]

Main advantage to booking early is selection availability. Booking early may allow you to book connecting cabins or other amenities you may desire.

 

At least in the U.S. if there is a price drop you can call y our agent or Celebrity and get the discounted price up until final payment date.

[Duanerice1]

If you are looking at interior or ocean view then booking this early doesn't buy much unless there is a good deal. If you want a particular cabin then yes it's worth it.

 

You can also book now and usually get the price reductions along the way. But, you might be giving up a chance for a good deal with all the perks. It's a gamble either way.

 

The only time I book early is if I am on a ship and they are offering a good deal

[TMLAalum]

We book as soon as we decide on a cruise, on a couple of occasions an OV. Then the fun begins....we monitor pricing for all cabin categories and change when prices go below what we started at. Only once did we actually stay in an OV.

 

For an example on our upcoming Reflection cruise, we booked a 2B on board. I missed out on a reduction for that category but- voila! a few weeks later the pricing of a concierge cabin fell way below (@$750pp) the 2B. And there were subsequent reductions on the concierge cabins so that our final cost is @$1100 less per person. Of course, we made sure that we maintain the perks we received initially- and, just before final payment, my DBiL, on this cruise but not booked onboard, told me that the warehouse TA we use gave him a $100 dining credit. So I called them, and by upping our $200 deposit to the normal $700, we became part of a group booking and snagged that credit!

 

The site I use for price monitoring can't be named here, but it costs a mere 99 cents to track the cruise you want. Another great source of learning about price reductions is your roll call where helpful posters are likely to share that information.

[2theship]

I agree that the biggest advantage of booking early is cabin selection. If you're planning for a large group and having nearby cabins is important, booking early could make a difference. We booked the Connie in Europe in 2016 very early because the cabin we wanted was available and we didn't want to risk losing the opportunity.

 

I booked the Summit to Bermuda the day it went on sale for 2018 itineraries because we were a group of 8 and I wanted 4 specific cabins. Since then, a "Summer Sale" came along and the price went down $300 per cabin. I emailed my TA and we have the lower price but we're still in my preferred cabins.

[NantahalaCruiser]

If you are looking at interior or ocean view then booking this early doesn't buy much unless there is a good deal. If you want a particular cabin then yes it's worth it.

 

You can also book now and usually get the price reductions along the way. But, you might be giving up a chance for a good deal with all the perks. It's a gamble either way.

 

The only time I book early is if I am on a ship and they are offering a good deal

Don't know Canadian rules, but in the US there is absolutely no downside to booking early since you can always cancel an existing reservation (prior to final payment date) and rebook to get "a good deal with all the perks." That's why in most cases Celebrity just gives you the new good deal to avoid the cancel and rebook work.

[sanger727]

As long as you can cancel without losing your deposit, agree you can't go wrong with early booking.

 

We are cruising to Hawaii in April 2018. We booked sept of 2016. The prices were higher than we really wanted to pay at $2,499. But we wanted to lock in since when we decided to do Hawaii several months earlier, we were too late for April 2017.

 

We use a price monitoring website and were lucky to catch a price drop (that lasted less than a day) for an upgraded cabin at $1,999.

 

Shortly after that prices jumped to $3,700 and haven't come back down; so we are ecstatic with the price we ended up with.

 

 

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[OCruisers]

As others have said ... Cabin Selection! (y)

[Work2cruz!]

A tip if you book onboard Celebrity is not to transfer to a travel agent right away - you have 60 days to transfer booking. I come home and start shopping TA's. I booked a 14 nights 2018 cruise onboard - got the extra perk and 250 OBC. I ended up getting a better cabin at a lower price , All 3 perks and a total of 700 OBC. I'm also Canadian but I book in US funds as the Canadian TA's can't offer the same as the bigger Online TA's.

 

 

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[eandj]

As others have said ... Cabin Selection! (y)

 

I agree. In your case with more people, being nearby each other is an advantage. No other reason to book this early.

[NantahalaCruiser]

I agree. In your case with more people, being nearby each other is an advantage. No other reason to book this early.

I respectfully disagree - although cabin choice is one of the reasons for booking early it is not the only one. The other major reason is PRICE/PERKS.

 

In December of 2014, my wife and I booked an Asian B2B in Aqua Class for cruises in Oct/Nov of 2016. Perks never increased and prices never decreased - in fact, by the time of final payment, prices had increased by 40% and perks had decreased from 3 to only 1! And had prices instead decreased at any time prior to final payment date, I would have been able to rebook at that lower price just as if I had waited until then to book.

 

So booking early in the US gives you the best of both worlds.

[NantahalaCruiser]

If you are looking at interior or ocean view then booking this early doesn't buy much unless there is a good deal. If you want a particular cabin then yes it's worth it.

 

You can also book now and usually get the price reductions along the way. But, you might be giving up a chance for a good deal with all the perks. It's a gamble either way.

 

Sorry, but this is not correct. In the US - prior to final payment date - you can always cancel your reservation and book a new reservation to get a deal - so there is NO gamble.

 

The only time I book early is if I am on a ship and they are offering a good deal

Happy Cruising

[lienf]

A tip if you book onboard Celebrity is not to transfer to a travel agent right away - you have 60 days to transfer booking. I come home and start shopping TA's. I booked a 14 nights 2018 cruise onboard - got the extra perk and 250 OBC. I ended up getting a better cabin at a lower price , All 3 perks and a total of 700 OBC. I'm also Canadian but I book in US funds as the Canadian TA's can't offer the same as the bigger Online TA's.

 

 

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Many US and Canadian TA's accept bookings in both funds. I do agree that I get better OBC from my US TA. It is worth looking at prices in both funds. We have always come out ahead booking early. Most of our cruises have gone up in price, but a few others have come down and have been adjusted.

[CanuckCFAN]

Constellation Europe 2018- I would consider booking as soon as you find a price that can be stomached.

 

We experienced serious sticker shock when looking at European cruises for 2017 and 2018.

 

After checking prices for months we decided to forgo Europe completely for 2017 and booked the Equinox (Carribean), however, while on that sailing we bit the bullet and booked the July 7th/2018 Adriatic sailing on Connie.

 

Even at that time (April 2017), there were very few OV cabins available.

 

And now?

 

Believe it or not, despite the very high price tag for a seven (7) day cruise there are very few rooms left to be had, most categories are booking guaranty rooms only.

 

Book now... As others have mentioned If the price drops you can always apply for the price reduction, if you decide later on the price is just too high, you can always cancel before final payment.

 

Good luck!

[cjwhistle]

Constellation Europe 2018- I would consider booking as soon as you find a price that can be stomached.

 

We experienced serious sticker shock when looking at European cruises for 2017 and 2018.

 

After checking prices for months we decided to forgo Europe completely for 2017 and booked the Equinox (Carribean), however, while on that sailing we bit the bullet and booked the July 7th/2018 Adriatic sailing on Connie.

 

Even at that time (April 2017), there were very few OV cabins available.

 

And now?

 

Believe it or not, despite the very high price tag for a seven (7) day cruise there are very few rooms left to be had, most categories are booking guaranty rooms only.

 

Book now... As others have mentioned If the price drops you can always apply for the price reduction, if you decide later on the price is just too high, you can always cancel before final payment.

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks for your response. Your sailing is actually the one that I have my eye on. I'm surprised that you say there are few rooms left. I was checking today and I can see quite a few Interior (95) and OV (71) cabins available. Overall I think there is 22% cabins still available. I'm curious to know where you are getting your information. My information is based on the celebrity uk website that shows all cabins available. The celebrity US website does show minimal cabins available but I wonder if that's just a glitch.

[CanuckCFAN]

Thanks for your response. Your sailing is actually the one that I have my eye on. I'm surprised that you say there are few rooms left. I was checking today and I can see quite a few Interior (95) and OV (71) cabins available. Overall I think there is 22% cabins still available. I'm curious to know where you are getting your information. My information is based on the celebrity uk website that shows all cabins available. The celebrity US website does show minimal cabins available but I wonder if that's just a glitch.

 

Cj,

 

CC rules would prevent me from providing the website I use, however, I can tell you that I am using a German Cruise Specialist site which has always been VERY accurate and used by many on this board for tracking.

 

You can try googling German Cruise Scanner (hope that's not too specific) really not trying to break rules :o

 

The only categories that are available for booking specific cabins are: A2, A1, S2, S1, CS

 

All OV and Inside categories are being sold as guarantee state rooms only.

C2 (Balcony) can be booked as a Guarantee only.

ALL Concierge Class staterooms can be booked as a Guarantee

 

We have been tracking with this site since we booked and yes, the ship is selling out.

[davekathy]

The excitement and anticipation of the cruise starts earlier. ;)

[lienf]

the excitement and anticipation of the cruise starts earlier. ;)

 

👍👍👍

[NantahalaCruiser]

The excitement and anticipation of the cruise starts earlier. ;)

Agreed! I find the planning and anticipation very enjoyable. Currently looking at booking a January 2019 New Zealand cruise while on board our Caribbean cruise in three weeks.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I of course can't see into the future, but I can share my own experience. Last October/November, we booked a Celebrity Med cruise in an Inside stateroom for a good price. We then were able to take advantage of 2 price drops in November AND received an upgrade to a higher category Inside. After that point, the price just climbed all the way up to departure and ended up being double what we paid! So, based on our experience, I would book early and hope for price drops.

 

 

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[hcat]

For AQ class, we book early, often the day itins are posted.

 

Reasons for us are best cabin selection, perks and prices often the best booking early..Most of our prices have gone up not down...sometimes perks offers improve but if we get the Classic alc, that's all we need...

 

With the cabins OP is seeking, early booking would give best opp to get the insides across from or nearby the OV...would also be nice if OP could get a balc or two in the mix,.

[Banjo]

On all my upcoming cruises, except the RCCL cruise, I booked early. Landed hump cabins, good perks & up to now a good price (all have went up).

 

Since you can get out of it up till final payment, recommend to go for it.

[fshagan]

Just make sure there are no cancellation of change fees if you are using a TA.

[boscobeans]

We never book a cruise EXPECTING to get a lower price or additional perks somewhere down the line.

 

When we book it is for a specific stateroom and we usually book as soon as the cruise we want is offered.

 

We also use a trusted agent that has been great for many years.

 

Many times the prices have gone down, or additional perks are added and our agent takes care of it. But there are times when perks are added and are only for new bookings and if you rebook for the added perks you have to go with the current cruise price which often negates any benefit for making the change.

 

We have a cruise booked for Feb. 2018 that was set up one year in advance. which if we were to book now would cost us over $600 more.

 

Book what you want and if you can get a better deal all the better, but be satisfied if you don't.

 

bosco