4 those cruising in 2008

[iamtrustworthy]

Many reasons for booking early, for me.

 

- To get the travel insurance at the cheapest rate. It goes up the longer you wait.

 

Hi denb,

 

If the travel insurance you get goes up the longer you wait, I suggest you find different insurance. The only way the cost would go up assuming your trip cost & length doesn't change, is that if you get older & go into another price bracket.

[Jenna1983]

I do other vacations during the year. I make trips to the house in SC, trips to the beach in NJ, trips to FL and whatever else. The cruise is the "big" vacation. I just went in January so waiting until next January isn't that bad. I typically am fine with the anticipation until November!

[TennisLover]

Our friends were over this weekend so we could all decide on a cruise for 2008. Yay - they picked the one I wanted! Booking it when TA gets back tomorrow.

 

Why so far ahead? We have to cruise when our kids are off from school. And flights from NY to anywhere warm are hard to get that week. Plus the prices get ridiculous as it gets closer.

 

I may be planning maniac, but I got us flights to San Juan that are cheaper than our flights to Fort Lauderdale were this year. And the flight down was almost sold out already!

 

I love the planning process -- will be all over CC and the Internet looking for ideas on what to do in the great ports we will be visiting.

 

Having the cruise planned also makes working so much easier - I certainly know what I'm working towards!!

 

Made my countdown clock last night -- 315 days:eek: !!! Love watching that go down too.

 

I agree with one of the previous posters -- the anticipation is half the fun!!!

[Wildewoman]

So, where is everyone going???

 

We're going to Alaska - Sept. 17, 2008 on Carnival Spirit!!:D

 

Linda

[KMBSCD]

I can't! :D

 

Kathryn

[Jenna1983]

I'm going to San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola and Nassau on January 5th! I'm definitely ready right now considering it's APRIL and it was flurrying today.

[simkoreb]

I booked super early this time b/c I got a super sweet cabin on the Legend (7258 with the HUGE balcony)! I still can't believe it was available!

 

Now the wait until Feb....

[mysh442olds]

booking early is just one option or you can book more than one at a time so you are always planning your next

[familycruising4us]

Kurbanfan - I'm with you. I do not think I could ever pull it off :o . I would say something to blow the surprise the day I booked it..:eek:..LOL!

 

People that know me well, and know about my surprise, have little faith in me keeping it a secret, lol. BUT, I am determined to pull it off! The kids will get it as a Christmas 2008 gift. My hubby I may have to tell sooner, when I have to purchase our flights, bcuz I don't know if we should fly in one day, or 2, since it's in January, and we are in the Midwest...

Maybe I'll get advice from people on here when it comes time, so I can really surprise my hubby at Xmas too!

But, yes, I have had numerous times when I've had to stop myself from saying something! That's why I come here, to get it all out! :D

[stlrboo]

So, where is everyone going???

We're going to Alaska - Sept. 17, 2008 on Carnival Spirit!!:D

RCI Explorer of the Seas, Official CC Group Cruise from NYC on April 11, 2008!:)

 

We pick our cruises for Port of Departure and Itinerary, and altho' the Miracle also has an 8 day from NYC in this time period, we liked the 9 night on RCI as well as the 4 ports-of-call and 2 sea days on either end..! :p

 

DW and I really enjoy Carnival, and try our best to be loyal, but every now and then we 'sneak away' to RCI..:D

 

Happy Easter everyone..!!!:)

[Karshrimp]

We'll be on the Carnival Liberty-January 5, 2008

 

Already started buying my Funship Dollars! ;) :p

 

By the time of the cruise, we'll just need cash for when we do stuff in the ports and in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

To answer your question Lefty, when Halloween gets here, and Thanksgiving and Christmas are right behind it, 2008 will be here before you know it! I know because we cruise every January, and it's like that every year! Once you hit Halloween...BOOM...it's the New Year before you know it! The summer sometimes seems like it is never going to end though...lol!

[Cruizincuzin]

I have enjoyed "lurking" on the message boards as I am planning my first cruise. To all of you experienced cruisers, THANK YOU!! I may drive my family completely nuts before I go on my first cruise in February 2008. I am going with my best friend/cousin who is an experienced cruiser; she directed me to this website and boards. For many of the reasons already listed, we have planned our trip well in advance. She lives in South Texas and I live in North Louisiana, so coordinating our schedules/kids/finances, etc. was important.

[stlrboo]

I have enjoyed "lurking" on the message boards as I am planning my first cruise. To all of you experienced cruisers, THANK YOU!! I may drive my family completely nuts before I go on my first cruise in February 2008. I am going with my best friend/cousin who is an experienced cruiser; she directed me to this website and boards. For many of the reasons already listed, we have planned our trip well in advance. She lives in South Texas and I live in North Louisiana, so coordinating our schedules/kids/finances, etc. was important.

WELCOME!:D

 

Many people book early for different reasons, but any reason to book is OK!:p I just wish my cousins/family would cruise with us, but they still say "it's just not our cup of tea"!

 

Again, WELCOME to the CC boards.. Great to have you onboard!!:)

[martek]

I also finally got tired of just looking and booked a May 2008 cruise on Celebration. My mom and I just did the Fascination in Feb. and I have been cruise crazy since! I figure I have plenty of time now to see if price goes down and to adjust and also love seeing my countdown! We are true cruise junkies

[djbillyd007]

Have to wait til 8/14/2008 Celebration with a balcony

[new2cruising2008]

But I am having a hard time waiting for January 2008 (over MLK Holiday). I book ahead because I'm a planner. I love researching everything ahead of time. It helps me relax on the actual vacation (you'd think the opposite would be true). I also need to put down some money to make that committment. There's always reasons to NOT go on a vacation, and the least of which is money. We are budgeting for our vacation monthly. We also have a allowance/savings plan with our 2 oldest kids (7 &9 yo). They can do extra chores to "bank" money. They can spend on some day trips/overnights we'll do before the cruise, but if they wait until to cruise, we will double their money. The catch is- this is all the money they are getting to buy all the souviners and watchmacallits that they normally beg us for. This is a great oppty to teach them about saving money, all we get some extra jobs donw around the house too. Finally, we plan to research the ports of call during the summer so that the cities will be more meaningful and hopefully, this will make the time go faster. For instance, we love to cook, so we plan to try out some recipes native to the countries we'll visit. We're going to make a poster or display fo the countries so my girls will be able to add a little after the cruise & can do a presentation to their classrooms. My husband and I will do a weekend getaway before the cruise, but it's difficult to do a cruise because we have to fly & that can be more expensive than the actual cruise.

[Avril]

omg, the wait.... how can you stand it????? :eek:

 

I can't!! :D It will be my 9th cruise and I'm taking my boyfriend Chris on his very 1st cruise ever!! I'm going on a CC group cruise on Carnival's Conquest on February 10th, 2008!! It'll be a blast!! :D

 

book one in between:D

 

I did. I'm sailing with my Mom on Carnival's Pride to Mexico on September 30th, 2007. It will be my 8th cruise and my 1st aft balcony (5268 I think). I'm so excited!!!! :D

[Imalismom]

omg, the wait.... how can you stand it????? :eek:

 

 

We (DD and I) are just counting from Holiday to Holiday

 

Just finished Easter

Now:

 

Easter to End of School (May 25)

End of School to 4th of July

4th of July to First day of High School (August 22rd)

First Day of High School to Halloween

Halloween to Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving to Christmas

Christmas to Valentines Day

Valentines Day to Cruise (March 16th)

 

 

See this way its not long at all...

 

Ali's Mom

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

We have been waiting for our sping 2008 cruise since the spring of '05 :( . We felt we needed to wait till after our son graduates and flies the coupe :rolleyes: ; but also felt if we had to wait 3 years, we would reward ourselves with a BTB:D.

My goodness, it has been hard. It has included a lot of time in the cruise books and magazines and on-line. Our old pictures and video have been reviewed many times.

Finally, we finally could not wait any longer, so in November we booked :) an "in-between" cruise for September. We had to lower our expectations a bit :p , such as no balcony, no shore excursions that cost more than a taxi fare to a beach, etc., but we are finding a way to do it. We also may need to cut back a bit on our shore excursions on our '08 cruise. Now waiting has been cut in half - 5 months to September, then just 8 months to May (sure is better now than the original "3 years").