Alaska - book late or now for 2020?

[flashy09]

I am trying to figure out my Alaska cruise in 2020, but am noticing a 40% sale with many Alaska dates and sailings for 2019.  Does this happen every year?  Is it better to wait until this time next year to book?  Thank you!

[cruzrbachoua]

depends if you are picky as to what type of cabin and where it is, if you prefer 1 ship over the other, north or southbound and if you have flexible times and can drop and go...we like to plan as we like a certain type of cabin and sadly still work so we have to know ahead of time to make plans so we already have our June 2020 cruise booked to Alaska.  Also if you want to do a land tour with the cruise those book up quick I have heard...

[CATGUY7]

I also like to choose our cabin as soon as it's available, and then watch prices (obsessively, I admit) until final payment.

[flashy09]

21 minutes ago, cruzrbachoua said:

depends if you are picky as to what type of cabin and where it is, if you prefer 1 ship over the other, north or southbound and if you have flexible times and can drop and go...we like to plan as we like a certain type of cabin and sadly still work so we have to know ahead of time to make plans so we already have our June 2020 cruise booked to Alaska.  Also if you want to do a land tour with the cruise those book up quick I have heard...

That is good to know because I am just learning about the land and sea tours and pretty sure that is what I would like to do.  

[flashy09]

8 minutes ago, CATGUY7 said:

I also like to choose our cabin as soon as it's available, and then watch prices (obsessively, I admit) until final payment.

So can you switch cruises if a sale happens on another ship?  Or do you mean "lock in" the sale price if your booked cruise happens to go on sale?  Sorry for these silly questions!  

[CATGUY7]

 

9 minutes ago, flashy09 said:

So can you switch cruises if a sale happens on another ship?  Or do you mean "lock in" the sale price if your booked cruise happens to go on sale?  Sorry for these silly questions!  

 

No questions are silly.  For our July 2020 Alaska cruise, I wanted a particular cabin and booked it under the $1.00 deposit day on 2/14/19.  I hope to find better perks before final payment is due, and will call to switch to that offer.

[cruzrbachoua]

We are doing a southbound cruise so we can do the land tour first.  Reading others posts on here the land tour can be go go...with up for food out for tours, then on the bus or train to the next lodge so then we can settle on the ship and relax there.  We chose the option of the connoisseur one which is guided and most food is included that way I don't have to do as much planning as I am the trip planner in the family/group.  This way we just let the guide worry about getting us here and there and we just show up when told to.

 

Catguy7 does the same I do...get the cabin we want on the ship and date we want...then we watch (obsessively as well) for price drops and then we get a "refare" to get the price drop...if it is better.  some times they do the sales  like 3 for free but then raise the price...so we weigh out what we get for "free" vs the price of the cruise and if we think its worth it or will use the freebies we will switch sales...cant switch ships or dates... 

[Colo Cruiser]

58 minutes ago, flashy09 said:

I am trying to figure out my Alaska cruise in 2020, but am noticing a 40% sale with many Alaska dates and sailings for 2019.  Does this happen every year?  Is it better to wait until this time next year to book?  Thank you!

Alaska can be a gamble.

Book now and refare with the new promo when it comes out.

[Colo Cruiser]

27 minutes ago, flashy09 said:

So can you switch cruises if a sale happens on another ship?  Or do you mean "lock in" the sale price if your booked cruise happens to go on sale?  Sorry for these silly questions!  

You cannot switch cruises unless you make a new booking on the cruise you want.

[flashy09]

So can you refare only if the price drops before final payment?  What happens if a last minute deal happens and you have fully paid?

[CATGUY7]

7 minutes ago, flashy09 said:

So can you refare only if the price drops before final payment?  What happens if a last minute deal happens and you have fully paid?

 

I guess that’s the chance you take.  I try to decide what I think is a good price, and not beat myself up if the price lowers after final payment.  (I like knowing where my cabin will be, and don’t like to leave anything to chance).  But if you’ll be happy with any cabin on the ship, it might in your best interest to wait until very close to sailing.  

[GloriaF]

For what it's worth:  We have had good luck booking last minute on 'Drop & Go' or 'Standby' deals for many cruise itineraries.  We are retired, and flexible as to cabins.

 

 

[WVHillbilly]

For what it's worth, we booked Alaska for May 2020, when our TA was calling Princess, they commented that their 2020 cruises were selling better than the 2019 cruises.  This may be the reason for the sales for 2019 being so good.  I agree with the others book what you want now and reprice if things go down.

[melodyina]

11 hours ago, CATGUY7 said:

I also like to choose our cabin as soon as it's available, and then watch prices (obsessively, I admit) until final payment.

We do the same, we are booked for 2020 and though the price is "omg - i won't pay that'  we booked it and will and wait for the promos and get a repricing.  We've grabbed our room that is what counts. 

 

[schlogee]

We booked our 2019 Alaska cruise in early 2018 - wanted a specific deck and a few cabins together.  I've been watching prices for the past year, and they haven't gone done for our room, so I'm happy I did it early!

[ErLee]

49 minutes ago, schlogee said:

We booked our 2019 Alaska cruise in early 2018 - wanted a specific deck and a few cabins together.  I've been watching prices for the past year, and they haven't gone done for our room, so I'm happy I did it early!

 

This has been exactly my experience - we booked a connoisseur land/sea trip for June 2019 way back on Jan 2, 2018.  I got an amazing deal for a minisuite, and a week later it was $1200 more pp and that’s where it’s been ever since, and I check it weekly!  Maybe it’s different if it’s cruise only, and maybe it’ll drop for last minute, but no way could I plan a trip that long at the last minute!!!

[disneyochem]

WE booked a 2020 Alaskan connoisseur tour as well as a 2019 Alaskan Cruise this year.  The 2019 cruise was a great deal—haven’t seen the prices go lower than what we got back in early February.  

 

Question—do the land tours ever go down in price?  I’m thinking that maybe the cruise portion might decrease but can’t imagin3 that the guided land tour will.

Edited March 14, 2019 by disneyochem
Grammar

[deliver42]

I would never wait till the last minute for Alaska. Book early, pick your cabin, and then watch for sales. If a new deal comes up with different perks, and the total price is better, you can always rebook without penalty as long as it's before final payment. Booking late will probably leave a very limited cabin choice.

[flashy09]

Thanks everyone!  So the deal I am seeing is about $5,500 for a balcony room for 4 in middle of June.  Is that just a normal discount "good deal" or something unusual I should jump on?  

[TheRabbit]

On 3/13/2019 at 2:47 PM, flashy09 said:

So can you refare only if the price drops before final payment?  What happens if a last minute deal happens and you have fully paid?

You can refare after final payment. We have done this before just recently for a May 2019 sailing.

[ErLee]

10 hours ago, disneyochem said:

WE booked a 2020 Alaskan connoisseur tour as well as a 2019 Alaskan Cruise this year.  The 2019 cruise was a great deal—haven’t seen the prices go lower than what we got back in early February.  

 

Question—do the land tours ever go down in price?  I’m thinking that maybe the cruise portion might decrease but can’t imagin3 that the guided land tour will.

 

Our June 2019 Connoisseur Tour hasn't gone down since we booked it in Jan 2018.  But I've checked it weekly just in case!

[TravelingEA]

We have ours booked for August 2020. We have a group of 8 and needed 3 adjacent rooms. We will watch for specials and refare if it is worthwhile and watch for the 3 for free promotion.

 

[TheRabbit]

14 minutes ago, TravelingEA said:

We have ours booked for August 2020. We have a group of 8 and needed 3 adjacent rooms. We will watch for specials and refare if it is worthwhile and watch for the 3 for free promotion.

 

As your cruise is in the Summer, I think you will have a shot at the three for free. If it was in the spring, it would not be available usually. We have waited for the 3 for free and found the price on our room was higher (3 to 4 hundred more) than when we booked and did not save us anything. Just be a wise shopper. 

 

For our May cruise, we gave up Sip and Sail for a steep discount and then refared again less than two weeks later when the price fell another $180 or so each. All together it was about a $800 price drop. Last year around this time we refared our Coral cruise for last fall and saved $4000 (yes that is 3 zeros) each, after giving up $500 each in OBC. Again, just be a wise shopper and keep checking for discounts.

[cruzrbachoua]

Any of you that have done the land tour...especially the connoisseur one..were you ever able to take advantage of the sale where they give you free spending money for the land portion...I saw that recently and have been keeping an eye out for that 1.

[Coral]

34 minutes ago, cruzrbachoua said:

Any of you that have done the land tour...especially the connoisseur one..were you ever able to take advantage of the sale where they give you free spending money for the land portion...I saw that recently and have been keeping an eye out for that 1.

This is fairly new for Princess for their land tours (free spending money).