How much lead time to get a veranda ?

[Old Salty Dog]

How far in advance have you found you have to book to be sure of getting a veranda? We have trouble booking a year ahead, usually for medical reasons. So we often are within 4-6 months of sailing. At our age we are reluctant to buy green bananas, but we're not ready to give up traveling. Been on the Westerdam to Baltic last Sept. and scheduled for the Rotterdam Oct. 10 to Black Sea, Adriatic, etc.

[jhannah]

That's really hard to say. The more popular itineraries will sell out of verandahs relatively quickly. If you see a cruise you want, grab your reservation as soon as it's available. Remember, you can cancel without penalty right up until final payment time and receive a full refund. So you really have nothing to lose. Good luck!

[Nasmas]

If you're time is flexible you can wait almost til last minute. We booked our 04/22 cruise at the end of December and there were lots of verandahs left, but that is not always the case, but we looked at what was available and weren't dead set on a paticular date, so we didn't have trouble getting one. They are all gone now, but you can still find some on other dates.

[eldercruser]

The veranda mini-suites on the non-Vista clas ships are oftentimes sold out 8-10 months in advance. You will see this category sold out first on most cruises, followed quickly by the regular suites. The advice posted above is sound. You can always cancel up to the payment date and get a full refund.

 

Verandahs on the newer and larger Vista ships are much more numerous and may not sell out as quickly.

[grannynurse]

It will depend on the frequency and the popularity of the itinerary. The 30 day Europe and South Pacific cruise cabins (all categories) are gone almost as soon as fares are published but the large variety of Alaska and Caribbean cruises will not book as fast in the A and B categories. The BB and BC go almost immediately on most cruises as they are the least expensive veranda cabins. The C's go next along with the inside cabins. NE/Canada is a toss-up as the season runs from May to October, We booked a suite on the Maasdam in February for a June 17 sailing in 2005 but noticed the July sailings were full at that time.

I would guess that the 10 and 12 day in-Europe sailings have a lot of availability as we're getting specials brochures on them now.

 

I'm quoting from our experience with HAL over the last 4 years. I would suggest you start looking 9 to 12 months out so you don't miss out on something you'd really want.

GN

[Krazy Kruizers]

To get the suite we want, we book anywhere from 1 year to 18 months in advance. We also have to worry about health issues. But we know that we can always cancel before final payment is due - just about the same time we send in for cruise insurance in case sometime happens after we make final payment.

[Randyk47]

I'd agree with the posts above, there is no absolute way to know which cruises will fill up early or late. While we don't have health consideration per se right now we do have other obligations that enfluence or could enfluence our vacation plans. We found that if we don't book or plan our vacations 12 to 18 months out we miss out on the rooms/cabins. Better to book ahead and then back out at final payment than to wait too long and not get the cabin or cabin category of your choice. Of course, the downside is that you have to pay a deposit and tie up those funds for the 12 to 18 months.