Booking early vs last minute deals?

[tkline]

So it seems like if you book a cruise soon after it is announced you have a better chance of finding the cabin you want, on the deck you want, and can book dining options and other things before they sell out.

 

But, there’s also lots of good last minute deals out there, but there are usually just a handful of “good” rooms left on those.

 

Just curious, what is your preference? Do you book a cruise far in advance, or do you prefer to do last minute deals?

[mom says]

Well I don't know if I'll even be alive 2 years from now, let alone where I want to be travelling, so booking early is out for me. And I'm not paying the ridiculous prices for last minute airfare to get to the embarkation ports and settlling for the leftover, less desirable cabins for last minute cruises. So we'll continue to split the difference and take what we can get 9-10 months out.

[iancal]

Some of our best airline prices for transatlantic and transpacific fares have been those booked 2-5 weeks out.  Recently did this for a Europe flight next month.

 

Most of our cruises have been last minute.  Often when we were in the middle of a land trip.

Edited August 8, 2019 by iancal

[tkline]

I always thought that the best prices for flights are when they are first announced.. I think 10-11 months away?And the prices go up the closer you get to the date? That's why we like to book farther in advance, but since NYC is only a 2 hour drive for us we've been looking into more last minute deals lately leaving from there.

 

But we really like being able to select the exact cabin we want (usually aft and up high) one thing we also like about booking farther in advance is if the price of the cruise goes down we can get the cruise line to give us the new lower rate or apply any new sale that comes up

[SRF]

Airfares, like cruise fares can go up or they can go down.

 

Sometimes there are great last minute deals.  And other times, last minute gets you stupidly high fares.

 

No way to tell

[Sea Hag]

I like to book early to get the cabin I want and then watch for price reductions. Sometimes I can get the cruise refared for less money, but other times the price only goes up until after final payment. I haven't found a last minute cruise where the price and cabins available were all that attractive, but I do keep any eye on that.

[George C]

We always fly so like booking early then monitor cruise fare checking to see if they go down. 

[iancal]

We had one cruise where we booked early.  We were re-fared twice. Then we cancelled just prior to final payment because we felt the cruise was underbooked.  We booked again 45 days or so out and saved another significant chunk of change.

 

When we are shopping for late booking cruises we follow air, if needed, at the same time.

[Ashland]

Best pricing for me has been when the schedule is released..as far as 2 years out. For me booking 6 months out is last minute.

As far as airfare I've found about a month or two after the air has become available has been the best pricing for us.

[pris993]

We always book early, directly with cruise line, then re fare if price drops before final payment.   Well over 60 cruises, only once did we book last minute, because we saw a good deal. 

[cabin4three]

We are restricted to school holidays, so we book early, usually 18 months out.  Not the best in terms of cost but we find that family cabins and mini-suites sell out very quickly for school holiday cruises.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Recently booked the first of our 2021 cruises....

[SantaFeFan]

21 hours ago, SRF said:

Airfares, like cruise fares can go up or they can go down.

 

Sometimes there are great last minute deals.  And other times, last minute gets you stupidly high fares.

 

No way to tell

 

The problem with last minute deals on airlines is the same problem as on cruise ships - only the worst seats (cabins) are available. We live on the West coast so almost every cruise we take will need a long flight, especially internationally. Sitting for hours and hours in a middle seat on an international flight is not something I would voluntarily do to save a few bucks. 😉

Edited August 9, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[Ashland]

4 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Recently booked the first of our 2021 cruises....

I booked our B2B in January '19 for April 2021...that was the farthest out the RCI schedule would allow at that point.

[CPT Trips]

On 8/8/2019 at 11:57 AM, tkline said:

So it seems like if you book a cruise soon after it is announced you have a better chance of finding the cabin you want, on the deck you want, and can book dining options and other things before they sell out.

 

But, there’s also lots of good last minute deals out there, but there are usually just a handful of “good” rooms left on those.

 

Just curious, what is your preference? Do you book a cruise far in advance, or do you prefer to do last minute deals?

 

Yes. 

We do both, but these days we are more likely to book early. 

[crystalspin]

In the past we have had to book all vacations pretty far out to make sure Dr'Spin could get the time off. When he retires at the end of this year, we will have more freedom to think about last-minute cruises from LA/San Pedro or San Diego... as far as last minute flights, I haven't seen the low prices @iancal mentioned! But maybe I wasn't looking in the right place.

[lenquixote66]

On 8/8/2019 at 12:24 PM, mom says said:

Well I don't know if I'll even be alive 2 years from now, let alone where I want to be travelling, so booking early is out for me. And I'm not paying the ridiculous prices for last minute airfare to get to the embarkation ports and settlling for the leftover, less desirable cabins for last minute cruises. So we'll continue to split the difference and take what we can get 9-10 months out.

We book a year in advance or more for the best cabin selection.

[Robinsoncruiseso]

Prices are “usually” less the day fares are released than they are between final payment and sailing. Exception is for the really short one to two day cruises.

[iancal]

Our experience after taking advantage of numerous late booking deals is that there are no rules either on price, timing of the buy, cabin selection or seat selection on late booking air.  Nor are there any rules on buying air.  We have just as much luck buying 30 (sometimes less)-60 days out as we have buying 60-180 days out.  It is all based on supply/demand and the vendors load max. algorithms. 

 

We also found (and been advised) that when travelling on airline points, some airlines release more point seats 30 days out if loads are lighter.  So a points seat that is unattainable 90-180 days out may well be available 30 days or less from take off.  Only economy seats though.  That was certainly the case when we booked a one to Bangkok on Delta points last winter.

 

 We have passed over some late booking offers because of air.  We have had wonderfully priced, well located last minute balcony cabins on a last minute book just as we have had good fortune getting good aisle or window seats on a last minute flight.    The latter seems easier to do on transatlantic or transpacific flights in our experience.

 

It is folly to make assumptions.  The best way to find out for certain is to forget all that and do your shopping.

Edited August 10, 2019 by iancal

[CruiseGal999]

On 8/8/2019 at 9:57 AM, tkline said:

So it seems like if you book a cruise soon after it is announced you have a better chance of finding the cabin you want, on the deck you want, and can book dining options and other things before they sell out.

 

But, there’s also lots of good last minute deals out there, but there are usually just a handful of “good” rooms left on those.

 

Just curious, what is your preference? Do you book a cruise far in advance, or do you prefer to do last minute deals?

 

Well ... my personal experience last Sept. was a FANTASTIC last minute deal.  I booked about 10 days before sailing ... booked 2 cruises back to back ... for $399 each before taxes/port fees & before grats, of course.  Solo supplement fee was waived ... so it was truly $399 each cruise.  It was guarantee cabin, first cruise cabin on was on deck 5 ... had THE BEST steward .... and 2nd cruise cabin was deck 8.  Great experience.  LOVED this deal. 

Edited August 10, 2019 by CruiseGal999

[iancal]

One of our best balcony cabins was purchased on a gty three days from Miami sailing.  Go figure.  Don't understand it but there you are.  We had two very good late booking balcony cabins at Christmastime. One on NCL, the other on Celebrity.  Both were 10 day sailings at greatly reduced fares.

[Smmessineo]

Both. I have a cruise coming up in a few weeks that I booked at a great price after final payment date. The usual 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Equinox guaranteed inside stateroom.

Then I have one  in February that I booked as soon as it opened. Sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale, 3 nights docked in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Wanted one of the  "hump cabins"  which have oversized balconies. I have watched the price range go up anywhere from 1200-2500 since I booked it. 

So a unique itinerary or special occasion may be worth booking early . 

One tip  for early bookings on Celebrity .... I always book a random cruise onboard for the reduced deposits and then if a new  itinerary comes up that I like, I change over to that itinerary and keep the reduced deposit. It less painful that way than paying the full deposit 2 years out.

[ger_77]

We normally book well in advance (usually 8 - 12 months) of our sailing date, but last year we took advantage of a last minute deal.  We booked on Monday, flew to Tampa on Wednesday, sailed on Friday.  We weren't able to get a balcony cabin, but took an obstructed ocean view, which was fine, as we just wanted to escape the frigid cold on the "frozen tundra".  We could see past the tender outside our window to determine what the weather was like, and that's all we needed.  Fortunately, there was a sale on air fare and we were able to take advantage of that as well, so the savings from the cruise weren't eaten up by the airlines.  I guess it was meant to be!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[iancal]

We do lots of last minute bookings.  Cruises, airlines, hotels, AI's...whatever.    Prior to retirement we envied fellow travelers who could do this.  We do it when we are in the middle of extended trips.  It is one of the reasons we are spontaneous travelers.   Makes a change from years of structured business travel. 

 

[geoherb]

11 hours ago, Robinsoncruiseso said:

Prices are “usually” less the day fares are released than they are between final payment and sailing. Exception is for the really short one to two day cruises.

 

This is wrong. I have booked plenty of last-minute cruises after the final payment date. I booked back-to-back 7-day cruises this summer on a Princess ship. The price for the same itinerary, same general dates next summer is four times more than I paid.

 

Back when DH taught at a community college, we could take cruises only during his school breaks. I'd frequently watch prices of cruises and even kept spreadsheets of how the prices changed. Most years I could find us a last-minute bargain because I wasn't picky about cabin location. One spring break, though, the prices all went up, and we ended up not going that year.