Europe - when did you book

[suec12]

I am seeing a Europe 2009 crusie that looks very nice - Solstice, 11 night - its a long time until departure! How far ahead of time did you book a Europe crusie - how did it go price wise? I would have jumped on a X Gurantee cabin but they are all sold out now. I know if the price goes down, Celebrity will do a credit - just not sure I want to book at this time or wait until I am more certain that is what I want to do. But I would hate to wait and have to pay more $$$$. It seems to me considering the current disaster of the $ that the cruise prices are not bad. Thanks for you advice!

[Sparky333]

I booked a May 2009 11 nt. Solstice cruise the first day they opened the itinerary for sale. It would be nice if the price dropped between now & then but I'm not counting on it. On our last cruise the price kept rising over the course of the year after I booked -- I was very happy to have gotten in early.

 

Also, I booked early to have time to plan our excursions and make sure I could get the exact tours I wanted (not through the ship). And to have a full year (or more!) to be excited and in the anticipatory phase.

Sometimes the planning seems more fun than the actual trip :D

[LMKohler]

All you have to do in put down a refundable deposit to hold a cabin. Yes, Celebrity has your deposit for over a year -- but it's not going to get much interest in a savings accoount these days. I'd find a cabin and book the cruise.

[hajekfam]

I am seeing a Europe 2009 crusie that looks very nice - Solstice, 11 night - its a long time until departure! How far ahead of time did you book a Europe crusie - how did it go price wise? I would have jumped on a X Gurantee cabin but they are all sold out now. I know if the price goes down, Celebrity will do a credit - just not sure I want to book at this time or wait until I am more certain that is what I want to do. But I would hate to wait and have to pay more $$$$. It seems to me considering the current disaster of the $ that the cruise prices are not bad. Thanks for you advice!

 

The Guarantee cabin category is not available on all cruises - especially in the beginning. They will usually open guarantees as cabin categories and sailings fill up. I have never seen a guarantee open for booking at the beginning of bookings.

[mahdnc]

We booked our Jun 2007 Med cruise in Apr 2006--pretty much when Europe 2007 season opened for booking. This was to ensure our choice of cabin for our family of 4.

 

Cruise fare for our sailing slowly climbed as time went by and it virtually never dropped.

[halbfl2]

I agree with LMKohler, there is no reason to wait because the deposit is refundable and by the time you have to make your decision, you will know for sure. If cabins seem to be a bargain, that's another reason to jump on the one you want right away i.e. the least expensive balcony cabins on an Alsaska cruise on the correct right of the ship (depending on a N or S sailing). We booked our Alaska cruise 13 mo in advance and the cabins all around ours were gone in a matter of days. Also, it was good to read on these boards, that if the price should go down (which rarely seems to happen), you can request a refund.;)

[richsea]

We booked our May Galaxy TA in Aug. '07 & our Sept. Galaxy Med cruise in July 07 last & both have gone up in price (outside) between $1200 & $1500 total for 2. You can't go wrong with booking now - if the sailing goes up, good for you, & if it goes down, they will honor the lower price.

[Hootsie]

We booked last September for our cruise the end of this May. We have two cabins because we are taking our 3 daughters so we wanted to make sure to get cabins next to each other.

 

Since we've booked, the prices have dropped at least 3 times. In fact, they dropped after we made our final payment last week and we got another $400 back on our debit card today! I was thrilled! The price is down $1900 between the two cabins since we booked.

[TIMONEY]

In our opinion the earlier the better! We tend to book early and dream. Half the fun of a cruise is the anticipation of it. Once we have booked we enjoy going back and viewing the iternary, reading the boards, watching travel dvd's on the area, planning what to take, planning what we are going to do once we arrive. If the price happens to go down Celebrity will always match it. The anticipation is half the trip for us.

[agabbymama]

I booked in July '07 for an October '08 cruise. I started looking at prices, decided I wanted a specific cabin and when Princess had a special of $100 per person deposit, I decided to book it. That same category cabin is now $750 higher than when I booked it.

 

I don't cruise the same Caribbean ports year after year, I tend to book longer more exotic ports, and I haven't found the prices to go down at all. They have always gone up from the time I booked. Alaska cruisetour, New England/Canada and now the Med cruise.

 

If you aren't particular on which cabin you want it might not make much difference, but if you want a particular deck or cabin, you have to do it early.

[Cruisenouvelle]

We booked Eastern Med. cruise, Solstice May 2009, last month. It can't hurt, and you get a better choice of cabins the sooner you book.

[Napili]

We always book early, we have already booked the TA on Solstice next April. (hello there, Timoney) We love all the planning, reading about the ports comparing shore excursions. It is all fun; even though the cruise is over a year away.

[Kathie44]

I learned the hard way to book early. In Oct. '04, I discovered the N. European cruise we wanted for June '05 was almost booked up and the only cabins left were the pricey suites. So the following May ('05), as soon as the booking started, we booked Jewel of the Seas Brit. Isles/Nor.Fjords for June '06. 13 months ahead of time.

Just today I booked a Summit Classical Med. for June 3 '09, 14 mos ahead. It started booking less than two weeks ago and the prices are lower than they will be in a few months.

Don't wait if you know what you want. The time goes by faster than you think it will. :D We have a Galaxy S. Carib booked for Jan. '09, only 9 1/2 mos. away. We booked it on our recent Mercury cruise in Jan. On that cruise we also did a Passages enrollment toward a future cruise giving us $200 OBC, even though we were not on the ship today when we booked it.

The $100 pp for the Passages program willl be applied to our final payment.

It's exciting, and a first for us, to have two cruises booked ahead. Time flies when you have something to look forward to. :D

[Schplinky]

We went to Europe on Brilliance. It sold for $2600 when we booked (this was a balcony room for 12 nights) on the first day of bookings, 17 months before the cruise. Then, it went up about a thousand dollars by that summer and by the time we sailed, it was $5800 per person for the same room.

[Spurs Fans]

We just booked our Baltic Cruise on Century for June 2009. By booking early, we got the cabin we wanted and locked in our price. If prices should drop, we can get a credit for the reduced amount. If prices jump, then we pay the lower price. No reason to wait.

[Texed]

How far ahead of time did you book a Europe crusie!

 

We booked Solstice for June 15, 2009 to Europe about a month ago. I heard they had great waffles. :cool:

[terrydtx]

We booked our Century cruise for this September last November 28th and the price for a 2A cabin is now $250 more per person.:eek: In fact the 2A cabin is now selling for what the CC cabins were when we booked. The other factor was we watched what airfares were doing to Barcelona and at that same time Delta had a great RT fare from Birmingham through Atlanta for less than $900 per person. The same seats now are almost $200 more per person.

[raymac46]

I always want to get a midships cabin because my wife gets motion sickness pretty easily. So I book well ahead.

We booked a June 2006 Baltic cruise in April 2005, and a November 2007 Med cruise on the Baltic one.

We are going on the British Isles Constellation cruise at the end of this month, and I got that one on the books in July last year.

[chickaroonie]

Only have 1 cruise total behind us, but 3 are booked-2 of those were very early-on bookings. So the Repo Connie for Oct.08 has gone up $1100pp!! & our 1st TA is Sept 09. Agreeing with all others about planning & investigating all the possibilities to have the most enjoyable experience once that date arrives....not to mention the fun of roll calls....well worth letting them hold onto our refundable deposit for several months. Should also mention we were able to get an aft deck on the TA.;)