How far out to book pre-cruise hotel?

[jabber]

We just booked a March '07 cruise out of Miami and was wondering how far in advance do we need to book a one night pre-cruise hotel room. We were thinking about getting a downtown Miami room.

[pmCruiser]

We always book as soon as possible – for our March ’06 cruise we booked in October right after we made our cruise reservation. Just don’t book something that can’t be cancelled. Then, we are always looking to see if we can find a better deal (either from a cost perspective, a location perspective, or whatever criteria we may consider important at the moment). If we find something that we like better, we book at the new location and cancel the original reservation (we’ve even re-booked at a lower rate at the original location). Just be sure that you’ve got a reservation that can be cancelled.

[Bequia]

March is prime time here in SoFla and rooms book up fast. Ask several of the cruisers on these boards trying to book for the upcoming March 06, it's slim pickings. I'd reserve a couple of hotels, you can cancel most up to a few days before your stay. At least with a reservation you can still look around as it gets closer, dabble with Priceline etc. trying to find that elusive discounted room on the beach. ;)

[TrentS]

Definitely book as soon as possible... As Bequia stated, March is PRIME TIME, the rooms are all filled at some of the highest prices of the year. If you want one of the decent less expensive hotels then you have to book very very early as those are the ones that go first!