junglecat Posted January 15, 2020 #1 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Has anyone booked a cruise 3 days before it set sails? If so, what, if any, advise can you give? I've posted to our situation before. In a nutshell the cruise we had originally been looking at just dropped below what we are paying for a week at a resort. Like, way below. We are now trying to decide what to do. It leaves Saturday the 18th! Like, THIS Saturday. It would be Royal picking our room as well. We've cruised a lot but with months of planning. This would be totally a last minute change, if we end up cruising. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljmandelbaum Posted January 15, 2020 #2 Share Posted January 15, 2020 I would do it! Last minute trips are fun. What Ship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted January 15, 2020 #3 Share Posted January 15, 2020 If you are on an Oasis or Quantum class ship, you may find that the shows are booked and you have to use the standby line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeywestK Posted January 15, 2020 #4 Share Posted January 15, 2020 You will have to be ok with whatever cabin you get assigned, and you might not have your preference for dining times. We did a last minute (about a month out, which is last minute for an over-planner like myself,) and it all worked out great. Cabin was actually fine, and the maitre 'd worked with us once we were on board the ship to rearrange our dining time. I say go for it. Flexibility is key in this situation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglecat Posted January 17, 2020 Author #5 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Rhapsody out of Tampa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LB_NJ Posted January 17, 2020 #6 Share Posted January 17, 2020 I hope you went for it. Nothing as good as a last minute vacation. I have done short notice vacations (2 weeks). Worked out fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwilk1129 Posted January 17, 2020 #7 Share Posted January 17, 2020 We tried to get on Rhapsody last Sat. and gave $500 to get waitlisted a week in advance. Did not get on so on Thurs we got booked on Brilliance instead and cancelled waitlist on Rhapsody. Since it was 2 days before sailing our cabin steward did not even have us listed on manifest. Had no Diamond info or stuff and stockholder obc. Went to guest services twice but never got obc on acct. Also Diamond host did not have us listed either. Went to lounge anyway and was told when past passenger reception was held. Also tried to get anytime dining on 1st day and was denied. Diamond lounge consierge was able to get it for us later in cruise. Learned last minute booking doesn't go so smoothly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal2008 Posted January 17, 2020 #8 Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) Have noticed that waiting until 7 days or less before departure - can result in ship getting sold out - do not leave enough time for preparatory research unless it is a repeat cruise About 24-36 hours before departure selling stops (even if there are cabins unsold) as they have to generate pax manifeto Otherwise last minute cruise (48-72 hours before departure) can yield some ridiculous bargains like 99 USD + tax and port fees for 7 day sailings on newer/larger ships albeit with inside GTY which can result in anything from lousy inside to upgrade to midhip balcony (no idea why they would give a midship balcony to soneone paying 16 usd per day pp) Edited January 17, 2020 by hal2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruiselvr04 Posted January 17, 2020 #9 Share Posted January 17, 2020 We booked 6 days out once. No glitches. Inside guarantee and got an outside. We had been to these ports before so just did beaches and relaxed . Great trip. It wasn't our cheapest cruise per day but not expensive either. I'd love to do it more after retirement if the price was right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted January 17, 2020 #10 Share Posted January 17, 2020 40 minutes ago, hal2008 said: Otherwise last minute cruise (48-72 hours before departure) can yield some ridiculous bargains like 99 USD + tax and port fees for 7 day sailings That has not happened in quite some time. There used to be some $99 threads here, but nowadays it’s tough to find much below $199 and that’s usually on shorter sailings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal2008 Posted January 17, 2020 #11 Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) Most recent data point is from May of 2019 (about 8 months ago) out of NYC (on one of main competitor of RCL) 7 nighter. 2 cabins, both GTY (one was assigned low floor midhip inside, the other one got midship high floor balcony - must be a last minute cancellation, guessing) Price dropped three times on Friday. Showed 199 on web in the morning (down from 249 previous evening) 149 on web around lunch when call was placed to book 99 when agent actually booked. (reservation showed 99, web showed NA) Not that 50-100 over a week make much difference compared to what you spend during the week. Edited January 17, 2020 by hal2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted January 17, 2020 #12 Share Posted January 17, 2020 3 minutes ago, hal2008 said: Most recent data point is from May of 2019 (about 8 months ago) out of NYC (on one of main competitor of RCL) 7 nighter. As I mentioned, that doesn’t seem to happen any more on RCI. The few really low priced sailings usually happen further out, like 30-60 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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