Do I book now, 11 months in advance, or wait for price drops?

[Cornishrex1]

Hi, we are in the U.K. We just finished a cruise out of Miami on Seascape. We loved every minute of it (apart from a few shocking examples of a complete lack of organisation). We got a really good deal (booking directly through MSC U.K.) including premium drinks when booking in October ‘22 for that Feb ‘23 cruise - as a package  it was cheaper than even adding on the easy drinks package as a standalone.
 

We want to book our next MSC cruise for Feb 2024, out of Rio de Janeiro. I now have MSC Voyager club membership at silver level. Do I book now and take advantage of the 9-12 month in advance of cruise date discount pricing, or hold off? Are these 9-12 month advance discounts the best we are going to get, or do they drop in your experience? Or it is just anyone’s guess?
 

From what I can read, the view seems to be that prices are likely to go up, not down, due to increasing demand. Is that your experience? There don’t seem to be any drinks packages even available yet, so it will bump the price of the cruise up quite a bit if we lock in to the price now and book the drinks package later (we’d ideally want easy plus). Not in yacht club - looks lovely but we were happy with what we got at that price in our standard family balcony cabIn. And it looks like the deposits are not refundable, so we can’t book now and get the booking changed later if prices drop in 6 months time.

 

thanks for any thoughts - the seascape booking for feb 2023 was a last minute thought so I don’t have any longer term data on how MSC cruise prices tend to pan out across a year. 

[defbref]

I'm not sure if the price will go up or down but just want to head off the US cruisers who are probably going to tell you to book and then re price if it changes, although common in America, Its not done like that in the UK. 

 

 

[mackfam]

I think it will depend on how well the cruise is selling. Can you check a similar itinerary for this year and see how prices compare to those a year out?

 

[Markanddonna]

Check to see if that price is really not refundable. I would book it now if it is refundable. You will get an extra discount, and that cabin has a good chance of selling out.

[Cornishrex1]

Thank you all. Yes it is a real shame that we cannot get deposits back in the U.K. I have seen the talk of refundable deposits in the US. I’ve checked our Ts and C’s - we definitely  cannot. So unless I can book via a US travel agent benefiting from US terms, then we have to gamble. Very difficult to work out prices for this year as so few cruises heading out of Rio for the rest of this year with MSC. Plus this particular cruise kicks off mid way through the Rio carnival, so who knows, that might make it more popular.

 

Unless anyone else has specific experience of this problem, I guess I will have to close my eyes and jump and hope we don’t lose out on pricing.

[Beamafar]

UK (and Ireland) can’t get refunds for cancelling.

 

For cruises in that region, it’s very unlikely that cruise prices will drop (for UK bookings);  they’re more likely to increase.  Mind you, MSC could make a liar out of me on this one. 

[RandomUser123]

If the cruise is already at a price you are comfortable paying then book it. 

[8420PR]

I watched Brazil cruise prices for a couple of years:

- I didn't see any prices going down - they only went up as ships filled up.

- Ships did get booked up - there is quite a lot of demand from the local market there.  

- I didn't see any promotions on South America cruises - not even a drinks package included.

 

So my advice would be to book now.    I posted my experience of a cruise in Brazil here:  

 

 

For other destinations - e.g. Caribbean and European cruises - MSC do sometimes reduce the prices of shoulder and low season cruises closer to departure, depending on the booking situation; as well as sometimes increasing prices.   Personally I can think of more cruises I saw and wished I had booked (as the price later increased) than cruises I've booked and saw price decreases on.

[Cornishrex1]

Fantastic !!! Thank you so much for replying  - that’s exactly the know how I needed! I’ll book it now ….

[adam7392]

Hi, I'm in the UK and have done 2 MSC cuises and have 2 more booked - one this year one next and do check the prices of my booked cruises from time to time.  I can say that prices have definitely risen after booking, sometimes doubled.   I have done a very early booking for a cruise next year and that didn't have the option of the cheap drink package.  That cruise now is priced at a much greater value (with the cheap drink package) than it would be for me to add the premium drink package to the price I paid.

 

I imagine you can always get a bargain very close to departure if flexible with dates and location but from my experience booking earlier definitely seems to be the way to go with MSC.

[skittl1321]

Does your crystal ball say there will be price drops?  Because the prices could also go up. Cruises have been booking very full- because people are eager to take vacations they missed.  There is no guarantee waiting will get you a better price. 

 

So check the crystal ball, but otherwise, book when the price is comfortable for you, and know that if you wait, you might get a better deal, or might not get a vacation... 

[emmas gran]

Hi A cruise from Rio will be totally different to cruising from Florida especially as they are picking up in other Brazil ports a bit like buses here. We did Rio Carnival in 2011 and a Princess cruise after.

Brazilians want to party so it will be loud until late at night and they sleep late .you so could find dining hours changed to accommodate them.