How far out do you book?

[dcappa]

I'm obviously new to this (our first cruise)...and think I might have already made the mistake of waiting too long. :o We were hoping to book a Dec '08 Western Caribbean cruise on RCI (Freedom of the Seas). But in just looking at the rooms (on the RCI site), I see there's already slim pickin's.

 

How far in advance is the best time to book? If we've already waited too long to get a good spot for December '08.....what about February '09? I see a few more rooms, but still it doesn't seem like a lot of choices.

 

We definitely will want a balcony room.

 

I feel like such a novice at this....and I'm actually an extremely organized person otherwise.

 

Thanks!

[GTO-Girl]

I don't think there's any good "rule of thumb" for this. We usually book about 10-12 months early and then check the website everyday hoping for a price drop. We like to pick our cabin and that gives us the better choice of cabins.

 

But on the otherhand I have seen some really good last minute specials, so I guess I haven't really answered your question :o

 

Happy Sailing

Dianne

[newbiecruiser09]

I am new this cruising stuff but I booked our April 09 trip back in Feb 08. I know that the RCI website only shows a few cabins in each category-doesn't mean that those are the only ones but they may be. I would say if you are sure of the dates (and know you can swing the expenses) go ahead and book now. I believe that RCI honors price drops even after you have made a ressie (unless it is a specific new booking promo). Especially if it is around the holidays, I would book early.

[dstar96920]

I'm different, I guess. I don't think I have never booked a cruise earlier than 30 days prior to leaving. With our schedules, that's about as far in advance as I can safely book. Of course, by then, most balcony cabins are gone, but WOW are the cruises CHEAP! :D I do agree with the above posters, if you want a balcony, you should try to book early. Some of these guys/gals are professionals! They know the good cabins and snap them up early! If you don't care about what cabin you get, last minute is no problem.

[cruiser2101]

We have always booked a year in advance to make sure we get everything we want. Plus, we enjoy having something to look forward to. Just keep watching for price drops or savings certificates and give them a call. That far out we always take the insurance coverage.

[GORDONCHICK]

It varies by itinerary and time of year. Alaska books very early. I think the Med does as well. Especially for balconies on both of those. If you are planning on cruising close to holidays or any school breaks, not only will those be booked up, but the prices will likely be higher as well (that old supply and demand thing....). We generally book a year out or more, but we did book 5 weeks out once. That led to a horrid cabin location and dining that we didn't like, but we have to have a thrid berth for our DS. Those cabins are even harder to come by.

 

But booking a year out gives you time to plan and read, and let's not forget shopping!

[lady_cruiser]

Right now we book 1 year in advance. Before we leave the ship we are booking our next cruise for the following year. Once we retire we are thinking of trying to book last minute cruises to get the good deals we keep reading about here.

[sail7seas]

We often book a year or more in advance. If we know what cruise we want, we see no reason to wait. We would just be risking being shut out from what we want.

 

The longest in advance we ever booked was Rotterdam for Christmas and Millenium New Years Eve back-to-back cruises. We wanted the same cabin for both cruises and wanted to ring in 2000 aboard an HAL ship. I think it was about 2 1/2 years ahead we went on what they called a 'future cruise request' list. We had an actual booking about 17 months in advance.

[serene56]

by looking online at cruises-- youwont see ALL availaibity on any site- you will ONLY see 7-9 cabins available in any categi=ory-- doesnt mean thats all you get to chose from.

Agents hold group space. cancellations, etc.

 

Some sites allow you to plug in a cabin # to see if its available.

 

We booked our February 2009 cruise in July 2007 when pricing came available. I grabbed group space so my prices are now cheaper then whats available today. I wanted a specified cabin and if i dont grab it when it comes available i will be screwed from gettin git

The longer you wait to book a cruise-- the more you will pay for the cruise.

I have a BB for 1199 on the crown princess. Today that same cabin is almsot 1300.

[dcappa]

Thanks everyone. Perhaps one of my problems is I'm either trying to book a couple weeks before Christmas, or during my husband and my Birthday (we have the same Bday, just days after Valentine's Day). So definitely around holidays. I think I might need to rethink that idea. :rolleyes:

 

What is the best time to cruise the Western Caribbean? I was thinking Nov- Feb might be best....though, I'm up for advice, as dates aren't that big of deal for us.

[serene56]

Thanks everyone. Perhaps one of my problems is I'm either trying to book a couple weeks before Christmas, or during my husband and my Birthday (we have the same Bday, just days after Valentine's Day). So definitely around holidays. I think I might need to rethink that idea. :rolleyes:

 

What is the best time to cruise the Western Caribbean? I was thinking Nov- Feb might be best....though, I'm up for advice, as dates aren't that big of deal for us.

 

 

well- you can cruise with our group for Valentines day.

 

You want to avoid high weeks- christmas, thanksgiving, Presidents Week.

the week after thanksgiving to the week before Christmas should be cheaper== as should Janaury- minus the Martin Luther king week.

[PurpleCow]

3 times we've booked on the day the itinerary became available. We knew we wanted those cruises and wanted to make sure we got the cabins we wanted.

[Cruising89143]

For me it depends on the popularity of the itinerary and ship. I booked a cruise for next June due to the fact that I wanted a certain cabin and knew it would go soon along with higher prices.

[JoKen1]

I've booked all my trips about a year ahead of time. However, I think my next time I book I'm going to wait until the last month. You can get some great deals on booking last minute.

 

I'm easy to please too. I don't care what type of cabin I get or where it is located. So I don't mind waiting.

 

I always booked early because then I would just make payments as the time went by. It seemed like by the time the cruise was here I didn't really feel like I was paying anything because I just made small payments here and there.

 

I sell stuff on eBay and then use that money to make payments. It's been great.

 

But I think I'm going to try holding on to the money in a savings account then book last minute and see how that works. I want a good deal.

 

I travel solo most of the time so I never get a good price on a cruise. But I'm thinking with the deals for last minute even the solo price would seem like a bargain.

[Putterdude]

We book a year out or more and watch for price reductions. Cruises can get filled up over holidays, spring break and periods like that.

[grandmato4]

Thanks everyone. Perhaps one of my problems is I'm either trying to book a couple weeks before Christmas, or during my husband and my Birthday (we have the same Bday, just days after Valentine's Day). So definitely around holidays. I think I might need to rethink that idea. :rolleyes:

 

What is the best time to cruise the Western Caribbean? I was thinking Nov- Feb might be best....though, I'm up for advice, as dates aren't that big of deal for us.

 

Again, if you're looking on line for what rooms are open you are only going to ever see a few listed as they only ever show a few at a time- call the cruiseline and ask- I would bet that both the times you're talking about still have lots of rooms available on most of the ships. We like to cruise in February. Gets us out of the snow and cold and into the warm Caribbean! Did Western this past Feb and was about 84 degrees all day with a few degrees cooler at night-pure heaven !!:)

 

Years ago we booked as close to cruise as 2 months out but now we've been booking much further as we have the money to invest in the deposits- Aug 07 cruise we booked in Nov 06, Feb 08 cruise we booked in Aug 07, Oct 08 cruise I booked in Oct 07, and Feb 09 cruise I booked in Oct 07. I'm working on my 2010 cruise now. Nice to sit back and watch for price drops if they happen and call and recieve them and even nicer to sit back and watch the price go up knowing we're paying so much less ! ;) While not extremely picky about my room, I don't want extreme forward or extreme aft or any inside so I also get to pick exactly what I know I'll be happy with by booking early even though there's still lots of room available until much closer to sailing time.

[codyboy]

We booked our trip for next year on August 2009 Mexican Rievera for Marier of the Seas. We reserved in late Jan 2008. This gave us the time to look for room and etc.. now everything is paid off for next year so all we have left now is airline tickets.

 

We picket PR room , as we wanted to see if we like it or not. We did go on Freedom of the Seas and had deck. Now want to see PR is good or not. 2nd reason is price was less than others. Did not want Inside room.

 

Good luck...:o

[KimS.]

We booked our Feb 09 cruise on Liberty this past January. There are 8 of us couples traveling together. We were able to book all the rooms on the back of the ship together. The price as gone up 200.00 pp. since we booked. I've also starting making monthly payments to pay off the our cruise so I don't get hit with a big lump sum due come December. It just makes everything easier. We've already got all of our hotel rooms booked pre cruise-now we're working on our airlines tickets.:)

[onceagain]

There will be 26 of us on the Victory mid Jan. 09. We booked several months ago. We booked early so we were able to get rooms near each other and we did great. Six OV's right in a row! Insides right near us and balcony a few decks up. We got great price too and were able to get a great group air rate with NWA. DD called NWA the other day to see if pricing has changed and they no longer have a group rate flying to San Juan on that day - all seats are gone. The sooner the better. Good luck.

[retiredonthesea]

We just booked our July "09" Alaska cruise a couple of weeks ago. We love the Penthouse stern cabins and they have very few of them and are always in demand. Then we watch for price reductions ( never happens price always goes up.) Sometimes we are lucky to get a stern cabin by way of a cancellation. Our wonderful TA has even called us with such news.

 

Retiredonthesea

[suezyq50]

Just booked for May '09. That is the furthest out we have booked. I like to pick out cabins and than call. I always have a few options.

[TanIslandGirl]

:) We usually get off the ship, get home and then long to be back out at sea. Usually we start planning again right away so we seem to always be booked about a year in advance.

[glgolfer]

As far out as the minute the booking opened to 2 weeks before.

Booked the 46 day Mariner repositioning cruise the minute it opened so we could get the cabin we wanted for all 3 legs.

We've been to the Caribbean so many times, we're booking cruises that tend to be very popular (one time cruises and repositioning) and in order to get the cabin we want, we book as soon as the books open.

[dcappa]

Thanks everyone! There's so much to learn about the best way to cruise!

 

I'm going to call our TA right away about the first or second week in December. If it's too late to get a good cabin, we'll just keep moving out the date.

 

I'm pretty sure we want the Western Caribbean, RCI Freedom 7 day cruise. So hopefully, we'll get the cabin we want too, and then I'll have a hundred other questions to start asking. :rolleyes:

 

I do have a couple of other quick questions. I went to the US Passport website and it appears that you don't need a passport for the Caribbean, as long as you have a driver's license/ID and a birth cert. This sound right? We can certainly get passports if that's the best way to go. I assume we still have plenty of time for that.

 

One the one and only cruise I went on (16 years ago), all our drinks and extras purchased on the trip, went on our room number. At the end of the week, we paid off of one bill. I see a lot of posts here about using your CC to purchase food/drinks on the ship. Is it pay as you go on cruiselines now?

 

Thanks again for all your help!

[Janan]

Usually we only book a year in advance, when we get back from our cruise...this year I've booked one in december and the for the following April ('09), but usually a year suffices.

 

Andy