Booking Transatlantic

[IrishLassie]

How far in advance is it a good idea to book a transatlantic?  Thinking of going in 2020.

[Heidi13]

How far in advance depends on the cruise line. Our last transatlantic in 2014 with one of the mainstream cruise lines, they were still selling at fire sale prices a week before departure.

 

Just checked availability on our current premium cruise line and a departure in December has only a few cabins left and a departure Mar 2020 has many categories already sold and others with limited availability.

 

Personally, we are particular on cabin selection, looking for midships & lower deck, so we would book up to 1 yr in advance. If not particular on cabin location you can watch pricing and book just before departure.

[taglovestocruise]

2 hours ago, IrishLassie said:

How far in advance is it a good idea to book a transatlantic?  Thinking of going in 2020.

We have Allure of the seas booked for November 2020. Made our reservation about 1 year ago.  Even though the cruise is still 18 months away several decks no longer have balcony cabins available.  We also use Royal Caribbeans Air2Sea flight options and get oneway Ca. to Europe with prices under $400.00 pp. happy cruising

[evandbob]

We booked an NCL Epic 15 day TA that leaves at the end of this month about a year ago.  Some distinct balcony categories went pretty quickly.  If you just want an inside, you can wait longer.  TA's usually have more experienced cruisers who have done many shorter cruises and are retired or have lots of vacation time to spare.

 

We were watching a 44 day Holland cruise around all of South America that left from FLL and ended in San Diego for next March the last few months and now only guaranteed cabins are available.  I'll look at 2021 and pull the trigger quickly if that cruise itinerary comes around again.

 

TA's like any other cruise, are good to book when the time, itinerary and cost are all doable.

 

[TheOldBear]

We booked this year's transatlantic round trip [September 15th] as soon as Cunard bookings opened, back in November 2017. I also purchased the trip insurance policy the next day.

[shipgeeks]

Each time we've booked, we saw prices go down during the couple of months before sailing; balconies were lower than OV.  We prefer OV, so were quite content with sticking with what we had.

I see you are in Florida, so perhaps do not need to consider transportation to the port and/or pre-cruise hotel.  I would always book far enough ahead to be sure I had those.

Likewise, return flights (cruiseline partner) get booked as soon as we have the cruise, so we know we will have all the arrangements taken care of.

 

[IrishLassie]

Thanks everyone for all this info.  We would go out of Tampa as we live close & departing in Barcelona, then going down to Rota, Spain as our grandson & family are there so spending time with them then fly back to Tampa.  Really appreciate all the info as we've never done a trans, so it has really helped.

[Nebr.cruiser]

This is so hard to answer.  We've sailed on three TA's, all booked within a couple of months of departure and just booked one a few weeks ago that leaves April 28th.

 

For us this works out fine; we are not that particular as to cruise line, ship or cabin location and often book guarantees.  If you want a certain cabin type or location, then it is probably best to book earlier.  Many people book a year or more out; that's just not us.

 

So far, we have gotten great prices by booking late, but of course this can work just the opposite and prices could go up.  Figuring out flights has to be considered as well.

 

A lot of this depends on how flexible you are and how much you are willing to spend.

[navybankerteacher]

We’ve done 6 TA’s - each coming home from travel in Europe - which tended to require a fair amount of advance planning.  Early booking facilitated the planning and also gave better selection of accommodations.  In most cases prices tended to rise (at least a bit) - and only once was there a significant decrease as sailing date neared.

 

While I am sure that there are some cases where SIGNIFICANT savings can be realized by booking close to the last minute, what I have seen (regularly monitoring fares on cruises I’ve booked), the fact seems to be that you are as likely to pay more, as opposed to less, by booking late — while making your other atrangements: flights, hotels, etc. likely to cost more, possibly offsetting any cruise fare savings you MIGHT realize.

[LynnTTT]

The trick to getting the best deal on any cruise is simply doing your homework and checking up on prices every single day.. we’ve booked early and last minute. You look like you can be flexible on dates

i just looked at a discount website and found one RC ship leaving Barcelona to Tampa on November 7 2020 and its only $553 per person.  An inside, but on a November transatlantic you spend very little time on the balcony and you view mostly open sea. 

Sounds like you can work your timing for that

Someone  asked me one time how I got such great deals and I was tired and said” go to that little box at the top of the internet or just google “”cheap transatlantic cruises””,.  It’s not rocket science,

[IrishLassie]

LynTTT,  Thanks for the info.  There is only 1 date going over from Tampa, April 18th., so we don't have much choice as far as dates, but I always keep checking prices, so thanks again for your help.  I will also Google!

[Sailor_Sally]

I would book now and just monitor prices for a discount .I am going on the Brillance leaving from Tampa and I am already booked . Both TA's we did we booked early . You can wait and get better prices 90 days before sailing but then airfare is higher so it is a trade off .

[iancal]

Our experience on booking transatlantic flights, one way or return is identical to our experience in buying late booking cruises.......it depends. 

 

We have experienced very attractive and overpriced on both.  Just depends on the gateway and the destination.    Over the last few years we have actually found that when  booking transatlantic and transpacific fares 45 days out or so  we often get the same fare as we would 90 or 180 days out.  Sometimes even lower. 

 

 For those booking points fares, we were advised that some carriers like Lufthansa actually open up additional previously designated revenue seats for points tickets 60 days out IF bookings are weak.  We found this to be true on the one occasion that we needed them.

 

 

Edited April 10, 2019 by iancal