How far in Advance???

[detroitgirl]

I was just wondering how far in advance do people book their cruises? We want to take one in April 2007 and was wondering if it was to early to book.

 

Any info would be great....

 

Thanks,

Beth

[Barbee524]

I have booked up as much as a year in advance and as little as three months before. If you know what cruise you want to take I recommend you book it now and keep an eye out for price drops.

 

I procrastinated booking by one week and paid a higher price than if I had booked earlier. Though this was for an Alaska cruise which continued to rise in price.

 

You can always change the cruise and/or cancel if you need to. Just pay attention to the penalty dates for the cruise line.

[clm101798]

I've already booked my cruise for April 2007. I would recommend what the above post did - book early and watch for drops....especially if you are looking to cruise during April vacation.

[Roz]

I booked my upcoming April, 2007 cruise in December, 2005!

[newmexicoNita]

With the exception of our granddaughters wedding, we have booked as far out as 6 months and as close as about 2 or 3 weeks. NMNita

[molly361]

I booked my April 2007 cruise as soon as it became available, booked my December one in 2005 and have another booked for October 2007

[detroitgirl]

I have booked up as much as a year in advance and as little as three months before. If you know what cruise you want to take I recommend you book it now and keep an eye out for price drops.

 

I procrastinated booking by one week and paid a higher price than if I had booked earlier. Though this was for an Alaska cruise which continued to rise in price.

 

You can always change the cruise and/or cancel if you need to. Just pay attention to the penalty dates for the cruise line.

 

 

What Happens when the price drops? Do you get some money back? How does that work????

[nparmelee]

So far we've booked 12, 9, 14 and 16 months in advance on our cruises. We've never had a price drop occur, just seen them go up. The earlier you book the best choice of cabins is available, usually.

[barbarah33]

I have booked at all different times. For one I actually tried to book so early that the cruise line wouldn't accept a reservation yet and I took a cruise two years ago where I literally booked on a Friday afternoon for a Sunday sailing: 48 hours.

 

I would certainly go ahead and book your April cruise now - I would have booked it earlier. Here in the east April is school vacation month so we have lots of New Englanders who vacation then and can fill ships. The earlier you book the more options you have on cabins. If you book with a good travel agent they can watch the price for you in case it comes down at all if that's what you're worried about.

[w8ing2cruz]

Wow - I'm thinking of booking our cruise for April 2008. I went through the process on RC site and the jr suites and hump cabins are already gone. Do they only put so many cabins out there for you to choose from? I can't believe so many cabins would be gone for an 2008 cruise.

[caribbean dreams]

This year we booked our cruise 10 mo. in advance, we normally only book 4 mo. out but the ship was filling up fast and we wanted certain cabins so we went ahead and booked earily, I hate the 4 mo. wait so this looooong wait is going to be way worse.

[cruisinbuddy]

Personally I do it a year in advance. I don't book gauranty, I book specific. This way I won't be upset at the cabin location cause I picked it.

However for my next cruise in '09 I'm thinking of 1 1/2 years in advance. It's a smaller ship and a popular Itinerary.:)

[DonLou]

On our latest cruise, we booked about 14 months in advance because it was somewhat of a unique itinerary in Europe and we wanted a specific cabin. This was also the first time we got insurance for the trip mainly because it was so far out in the future.

[DonLou]

Wow - I'm thinking of booking our cruise for April 2008. I went through the process on RC site and the jr suites and hump cabins are already gone. Do they only put so many cabins out there for you to choose from? I can't believe so many cabins would be gone for an 2008 cruise.

 

I'm not saying the cruise lines play games with their cabins but they do shift around or limit what is "truly" available. If you check back periodically, you may find different cabins becoming available.

[detroitgirl]

Is there a way to check how booked up a cruise is?

[wrp96]

Wow - I'm thinking of booking our cruise for April 2008. I went through the process on RC site and the jr suites and hump cabins are already gone. Do they only put so many cabins out there for you to choose from? I can't believe so many cabins would be gone for an 2008 cruise.

 

The websites only show 5 - 7 cabins available in each category at a time. If you call RCCL, you will probably find that there are more cabins available.

 

That being said, I booked my January 2008 cruise in May, the first day bookings opened. By the time a friend booked later in the day, all the corner aft cabins were booked.

[parody]

According to CLIA's 2006 Market Profile Study, Most cruisers (67%) plan their cruises between four months and one year before sailing.

[parody]

Duplicate

[CaptData]

I have a Jan 2008 cruise booked. I usually book at least one year in advance to get the H/C room.

[vacation fool]

I booked an April 2008 Panama Canal cruise 3 weeks ago-18 months out. Got my choice of aft mini-suite on the deck I wanted. I have heard that you can book 2-3 years in advance, although personally have not done that. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain by being an early bird!

[molly361]

Wow - I'm thinking of booking our cruise for April 2008. I went through the process on RC site and the jr suites and hump cabins are already gone. Do they only put so many cabins out there for you to choose from? I can't believe so many cabins would be gone for an 2008 cruise.

Yes whenever you look online on any website there is only a sampling of available cabins, usually around 10- I would go ahead and call the cruise company to see what is available