How Early To Book For Holiday Cruise?

[Samanthac25]

I am interested in a December 2020 cruise over Christmas and/or New Years. I know prices fluctuate throughout the year and like everyone, I am trying to find the best price. How early do you think I should pull the trigger and book? Are there consistent times throughout the year for sales that are worth waiting for? Is there a time frame before a specific sailing when prices typically go up and not down?  

[Ashland]

Book as soon as they open and then continue to monitor prices.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Ashland

[Septemberbride07]

We are booked on a New Years 2020 cruise. The price has continued to rise since we booked. I'd book sooner than later.

[Clarea]

1 hour ago, Samanthac25 said:

I am interested in a December 2020 cruise over Christmas and/or New Years. I know prices fluctuate throughout the year and like everyone, I am trying to find the best price. How early do you think I should pull the trigger and book? Are there consistent times throughout the year for sales that are worth waiting for? Is there a time frame before a specific sailing when prices typically go up and not down?  

 

Prices vary all the time, there's no "best" time to buy.

[KelSny1011]

I book then just watch the prices.  I saved almost $500 on our Easter break cruise by just checking to see what RCL has up their sleeves 😉

[RSLeesburg]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

Book as soon as they open and then continue to monitor prices.

^^^

This.  We have booked two cruises over Christmas (2019 and 2020), and have always found the best prices were had the closer we booked to these cruises getting released.   At the moment, our cabin category is sold out for our 2019 cruise, but the next lower category is about $3,000 more than we paid for our cabin.  For our previous Christmas cruise, we saw the price of our cabin double between when we booked and final payment.  

 

I had read here many times, if you see a price you can afford and live with, book it.  If prices go down between now and final payment, you can call to get the price drop - lucky you.  If prices go up, you got a better deal.  But at the end of the day, if you booked at a price that was acceptable to you, then you got what you wanted - a wonderful vacation over the holidays. 🙂  

 

[acpalmer]

We booked a New Year's cruise for 2020/2021 and currently prices are up about $400 per person from when we booked it in July of this year (so we were about 18 months out).  So I'd say book as soon as you are able and then just keep watching.  Ours has just steadily increased since we booked so far.

[AshleyDillo]

Agree to book early and watch for price drops.  Don't make final payment until the 90-day out mark because this will make it easier to take advantage of price drops.  If you can't deal with the lengthy commitment make sure you book it with a refundable deposit if possible.  Then you won't be out anything for cancelling or changing.

 

My booking for this NYE was locked in early on when prices were released.

 

For example:

2D oceanview balcony - $2671.18 for 2 people

Current pricing is $5645.02 for 2 people.

 

I can't compare my inside GTY with anything right now as inside and even ocean view are sold out..but last time I saw them available the price was more than 2x what I paid.

[lovescats5]

I would book as soon as you can as I have only seen prices go up.