Advice Needed About Last Minute Cruises

[jlnprt]

This board was so helpful when dh and I took our first HAL cruise this summer, I'm coming back for more advice!! We would love to take another HAL cruise this summer. However, we won't know our summer availability for quite a while. We aren't set on a particular itinerary (a day on a cruise ship is better than a day at home, right? :)). What are the chances that we would be able to book a cruise with only a few weeks notice? Anyway to know what cruises are usually very popular/sell out? Is there a decent chance that we could find a good deal at the last minute? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

If you are flexible as to itinerary and cabin type, you have an excellent chance of finding a deal in the last few weeks.

 

In the summer - Alaska will be in more demand than the Caribbean.

 

If you can travel in May or Sept / there are usually good deals on Alaska repositioning cruises.

 

 

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[Roz]

Do you live near a cruise port? That makes a big difference. Sometimes you can find last minute cruise deals, but the last minute airfare negates the savings.

 

Roz

[easyboy]

You can also subscribe to HAL’s email alerts on its website.

 

 

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[Krazy Kruizers]

Since you have done the 14 day Alaskan cruise, I don't think that you want to go back there again.

If you are able to do another 14 day cruise, you have choices of round trips out of Boston doing Canada/New England.

If you have the time to fly -- there is the Baltic, Med, etc. -- quite a few itineraries for these places.

[G&G]

Do you live near a cruise port? That makes a big difference. Sometimes you can find last minute cruise deals, but the last minute airfare negates the savings.

 

Roz

 

Absolutely correct. But I would suggest that you don't limit yourself to HAL. I receive emails from other cruise lines that I sign up on that have great last minute deals. For the summer you may be limited to Alaska due to cost of airfare. I have seen HAL drop a few of their Alaska cruises as low as $399 per person. You may have better luck on Caribbean cruises in late Fall or late Spring.

 

Recent last minute deals we experienced were a $499 for a 10'day Caribbean cruise 5 days prior to sailing on Princess (we live in Florida); and a 15 day HAL cruise in the Caribbean in a Vista Suite for $800 seven days prior to sailing.

[geoherb]

I booked our cruise on Princess for this past August seven weeks before we left. I was amazed that we were able to get a great price on our airline tickets through Princess. The cruise itself was also a bargain--more than half off the price than the same time period and itinerary next year is currently priced.

 

Many people want to wait until the very last minute, but I've found the best prices can be from six to eight weeks before a cruise. I booked our cruise for next month eight weeks before sailing date.

[Kenito]

But I would suggest that you don't limit yourself to HAL. I receive emails from other cruise lines that I sign up on that have great last minute deals. For the summer you may be limited to Alaska due to cost of airfare. I have seen HAL drop a few of their Alaska cruises as low as $399 per person. You may have better luck on Caribbean cruises in late Fall or late Spring.

 

Recent last minute deals we experienced were a $499 for a 10'day Caribbean cruise 5 days prior to sailing on Princess (we live in Florida); and a 15 day HAL cruise in the Caribbean in a Vista Suite for $800 seven days prior to sailing.

 

No real 'proof' but from my observation, HAL does do late price drops more often than some other lines. I snagged a $399 7 day Alaska RT out of Seattle deal a few years ago that I thought was great.

My advice is to haunt the website and focus on a port you can drive to, or fly an airline like Southwest that does not charge you a fee if you cancel a reservation, and you can apply the cost toward another flight.

Reservations need to be made far enough in advance for security clearances.

After watching the website and focusing on a destination, you will know the details as well as anyone... if you see a deal, go for it! Good deals come and go every day. Be diligent!

[jlnprt]

Thanks so much for all of the pearls of wisdom! The only port within a reasonable drive is Baltimore. We took a cruise on the Carnival Pride from Baltimore during the summer 2016. It was a nice cruise and we enjoyed it, but we sure liked HAL a lot more. Hopefully, we'll know are schedule before too long. We are limited to cruising during the summer months at this point because of work. I can't wait till we retire and have more flexibility. I'll be diligently checking the website.

[adrift@sea]

No real 'proof' but from my observation, HAL does do late price drops more often than some other lines. I snagged a $399 7 day Alaska RT out of Seattle deal a few years ago that I thought was great.

Reservations need to be made far enough in advance for security clearances.

 

Unless there has been a change in policy within the last year, HAL will accept bookings right up to the day of sailing. We have booked several cruises 24-48 hours prior to sailing. In one instance, we were on a waiting list for a cruise and contacted late the afternoon before the sailing and told if we were still interested, we could be accommodated. We accepted and sailed the next day.

We did have to complete the check-in and provide credit card information at the pier--not a big deal.