Last Minute Travel

[JMHappy]

I have some flexibility with travel and live in Florida. Can I walk up and purchase a cabin without advance booking if I have a passport? Is it cheaper? I'm just looking for a cheap quick getaway!

[wwinfl91]

You used to be able to do this, pre-9-11 but no longer. Cruise lines have to turn in passenger lists 4 days before the cruise and can no longer sell tickets after the list has been turned in.

 

You can check some of the web based cruise agencies and watch for deals that occur the week before a cruise that hasn't been fully booked and sometimes you can get a deal but usually the cabins available are the least desirable (inside, bad location, etc.). Also the prices are not that much lower than you can get if you plan ahead 5 or more months.

 

Anyway good luck finding one that you want to go on and have a great next cruise.

[jlp20]

Once upon a time this was correct. Here in Los Angeles, quite a few years ago, there was a radio show on cruising. Very low budget and depended on a live audience. They came up with a great gimmick. Each couple arrived at the show with a packed suitcase. Whatever cruise line does basically an info commercial for an hour. At the end of the show there’s a drawing and the winners are taken directly to a ship and hits the waves.

 

The 72 hour deadline is used since they cruise line must compile a manifest of all crew and passengers on any given ship before it sails. The 72 hours is used so that the cubicle people have plenty of time to be sure all the paper work is correct before it is delivered.

 

As an example, past cruisers of any line have their information on file with that company. No need to double check anything, hit one key and all the information is updated. As an example, I was offered a last minute deal from Princess. Using the time stamp of the email when it was sent, I had a maximum of 56 hours to reply with a yes if I had been sitting at the computer. In short I am guessing the actual time frame is 48 hours.

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[mrgabriel]

We're in Florida too - about 10 minutes from the Port. It is pretty convenient to just decide to take a break!

 

We booked our last cruise just 18 days out and got a great deal. I watched the prices after we booked, and they stayed the same for about another week, then they went up. However, if it was just a few days out I wonder if you could get a fabulous deal by calling Royal Caribbean or one of the web brokers directly?

 

We booked on *************, but I know there are many different companies that do the same thing. You could also check in your town and see if there are agents that specialize in cruises. They may very well have contacts that could get you a great last-minute deal.

 

Good luck!