Book now or wait?

[cruiselovin'girl]

Hello All,

I'm thinking about booking a Mediterranean cruise for October 2019. I'm wondering if I should book now or wait to see if the price drops or any other special deals come up. When is the best time to book?

Thanks in advance!

[Iamcruzin]

It has been my experience to book an early refundable deposit with Royal Caribbean. If the price goes down you can get an adjustment as long as it's before final payment.  The sales they offer closer to the sail date tend to come out to more than if you book early. They like to lure people in with the 50% off for the second guest but what happens is the price of the first guest keeps going up so even though the second guest is 1/2 the price it's still more than what it would have been if you booked early. They run that promotion under different names but it's still the same. My son saw an add for 60% off the second guest but when he priced it out it was $500 more than what we had booked it for 8 months ago.

[Biker19]

Cabin inventory is the best predictor for price direction - look on RCI's UK site for that. 

[bouhunter]

There is a "sale" 24/7/365 and it's almost always pretty much meaningless.  Find a price you're comfortable with and book.  Maybe spend an extra 100.00 or so for refundable deposit.  Then keep watching prices you can always get a drop up until final payment.

[Tapi]

We just returned from the Mediterranean (sailed during November on another cruise line). We booked a year and 4 months in advance using a refundable deposit. Best decision. We could’ve canceled at any point until final payment, and if prices dropped we could’ve had our fare adjusted. But in our case, prices kept going up, and the specific category that we booked was sold out months before we even made our final payment. 

 

So based on our experience, I’d highly recommend that you book now if you have the option of booking a fare with a refundable deposit. You’ll have plenty of time to make changes, take advantage of other discounts if they become available, and even cancel if you choose to change your plans. 

[LB_NJ]

Try to book a refundable deposit now through a reliable travel agent who gives extras (e.g., extra OBC, or a cash card, or free gratuities).  As others have said after booking keep looking to see if the price drops and rebook at the lower price.  Also as was said before there is always a sale however the final price always seems to be around the same plus or minus a few dollars.  The only time prices seem to sometimes (not always as the ship can fill up on popular cruises) really drop is after final payment when existing passengers are locked in

 

Other things to think about at time of booking are travel insurance and the specific room you want.

 

Do some research on the specific cabin.  Booking this far in advance gives you a better opportunity to select the cabin you want.  Also, DO NOT COUNT ON FREE UPGRADES, they seem to be a thing of the past.  Book the cabin class you want now.

 

Another benefit of refundable deposit is this far in advance things can really change, refundable lets you adjust accordingly.

[Cinders411]

12 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

It has been my experience to book an early refundable deposit with Royal Caribbean. If the price goes down you can get an adjustment as long as it's before final payment.  The sales they offer closer to the sail date tend to come out to more than if you book early. They like to lure people in with the 50% off for the second guest but what happens is the price of the first guest keeps going up so even though the second guest is 1/2 the price it's still more than what it would have been if you booked early. They run that promotion under different names but it's still the same. My son saw an add for 60% off the second guest but when he priced it out it was $500 more than what we had booked it for 8 months ago.

 

I agree completely. I have yet to pay less than I do when I book early. 

[TheInnocentAge]

14 hours ago, cruiselovin'girl said:

Hello All,

I'm thinking about booking a Mediterranean cruise for October 2019. I'm wondering if I should book now or wait to see if the price drops or any other special deals come up. When is the best time to book?

Thanks in advance!

I agree with the others that have replied. Book early, and keep an eye out for price drops periodically. The last cruise I booked the day it went on sale (21 months before sail date). Two days later the price had gone up 60% for my cabin type, and it never fell below that again.

 

Good luck!

Edited December 5, 2018 by TheInnocentAge

[Ourusualbeach]

Look for a TA that has group space on that sailing.  Cheaper rate and refundable deposit 

[Bee Guy]

We have realized significant savings by booking as early as possible.  We are currently booked out to the spring of 2020 and are looking for a fall cruise for that year.

[karena1]

I always book early and then watch prices. We book non refundable all the time for the lower price.  We know we will go unless something major happens and then I have insurance.  I have cruises booked through April 2020.  95% of the time the prices go up, not down from our experience and I check my 16 booked cruises pretty daily.  If they do go down, I get the price break or an upgrade to a better cabin.  I plan to book our Oct 2020 B2B on Freedom next week while on Allure so that I get the best price and also want the same cabin for both weeks.

[molly361]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Look for a TA that has group space on that sailing.  Cheaper rate and refundable deposit 

 

Good idea😇

[Bee Guy]

4 minutes ago, karena1 said:

I always book early and then watch prices. We book non refundable all the time for the lower price.  We know we will go unless something major happens and then I have insurance.  I have cruises booked through April 2020.  95% of the time the prices go up, not down from our experience and I check my 16 booked cruises pretty daily.  If they do go down, I get the price break or an upgrade to a better cabin.  I plan to book our Oct 2020 B2B on Freedom next week while on Allure so that I get the best price and also want the same cabin for both weeks.

Do you book directly with RCC or us a travel agent?  If TA do they get the lower price for you, or do you have to contact RCC directly?

 

 

[karena1]

1 hour ago, Bee Guy said:

Do you book directly with RCC or us a travel agent?  If TA do they get the lower price for you, or do you have to contact RCC directly?

 

 

Cannot really talk about it but I am my own TA.  My real job is a CPA but since we cruise so much I now do travel myself.  So no, I don't get anything special except my own commissions.  Big travel agencies may give you some perks but they don't check prices every day like I do and that is what I have to offer

[George C]

We always book asap, if price goes up your locked in , if price goes down just call and get new rate , my recent cruise went down a few times never had issue getting new rate.

[Bee Guy]

2 hours ago, George C said:

We always book asap, if price goes up your locked in , if price goes down just call and get new rate , my recent cruise went down a few times never had issue getting new rate.

Did you call RCC directly or did you call your travel agent?

[Iamcruzin]

33 minutes ago, Bee Guy said:

Did you call RCC directly or did you call your travel agent?

I mostly book directly with the cruise line. If there is a price drop I can call myself. If you book with a travel agent the cruise line won't speak with you. You have to go directly through the travel agent and hope that by the time you get through to inform them of the lower price that the price is still valid. I have seen price drops at early hours of the morning like 1:00am. No travel agent is around then. I had booked with Celebrity and I saved myself $400 by calling when I saw the price drop. That doesn't happen often but it does happen. I booked my current booking with my big box warehouse club travel agency. They were offering $250 obc which is a lot for a standard balcony room on a 9 day cruise. They also offer to fund the deposit. They do charge $100 dollar cancelation fee but I know we are going unless something major comes up and then insurance will cover that. As I said earlier I have never seen a price drop on Royal Caribbean cruises like I do with Princess or Celebrity. If it wasn't for the large OBC from the agency I would have booked direct. 

[George C]

49 minutes ago, Bee Guy said:

Did you call RCC directly or did you call your travel agent?

I call rccl for almost everything, had booked grand suite that went down a total of 500, so switched to a owners suite for original cost of grand suite 

[springfire]

We always try to book early and never ever book directly with the cruise line as they offer no perks.   We shop around and compare TA's and get the most OBC and free perks that we can.

[Bee Guy]

We always book early and use the same travel agent as they also have a loyalty program with perks. 

[LB_NJ]

FYI, travel insurance does not let you cancel except for VERY specific things (eg, death, hospitalization, etc.) unless you buy "cancel for any reason" insurance.  Read the fine print.

 

So you have to be positive about going before putting down a non-refundable deposit.

 

Other than the caveat about non-refundable I think always book as early as possible and buy travel insurance from a reputable company within their period of covering pre-existing conditions.