advantage of booking early...

[Coco421]

Besides being able to get ajoining rooms which we would really like or other room requests are there any other advantages to booking early. TA said we could book now for 2010. I'm afraid some special rate, code or other discount might come out and then we won't be able to apply it to reservation. We know exactly when we want to go and also know Itinerary we'd like.

 

Should we wait to book or book now since we know when we want to go?

[AFAMILY]

Besides being able to get ajoining rooms which we would really like or other room requests are there any other advantages to booking early. TA said we could book now for 2010. I'm afraid some special rate, code or other discount might come out and then we won't be able to apply it to reservation. We know exactly when we want to go and also know Itinerary we'd like.

 

Should we wait to book or book now since we know when we want to go?

 

If you want a specific cabin or cabins, you should book as early as possible. You may still get price reductions or OBC's if the price drops, as long as final payment has not been made.

 

There's a few TA's on these boards who will probably give you some good advice.

 

Enjoy your cruise! :)

[travelingirl70]

I booked my Alaska cruise for August '09 back in April '08 - just days after the itineraries were posted. I booked directly on the NCL website and had no discounts available. I checked the rates the other day and found our total price for 4 ppl had gone up by almost $2k!!!!! With the cost of everything going up, up, up, I say book now to lock in the price.

 

I'm not sure how NCL works, but on Carnival, you can call and get a price adjustment. I would think NCL would do the same - at least before final payment.... if not, you can always cancel and rebook.

[DMH15]

Aft cabins go fast. If I had waited for specials I could have saved money but would not be in my sweet (and suite) aft cabin. It's a tradeoff and what is important to you.

[watchdiva]

We like to book early because we're pretty specific about the cabin we want (AD or A3) and since there's so few on them on each ship if we want one, we grab it. I booked our Pearl 09 cruise back in June and do keep an eye on prices - if I see a decent drop, I contact my TA who contacts NCL and I get the lower price or an OBC (this has happened twice so far in the last 3 months).

 

I'm not a gambling kind of gal - if I see a cruise that we want with the cabin we want, I book it....

[Coco421]

Why does everyone like aft cabins? I've read a lot of positive comments about aft cabins. Why wouldn't middle of ship be better? We do plan on booking cabin w/balcony and have read here aft balcony is best.

Sorry for all the questions.......

 

Thanks for all the info so far!

[FIRELT5]

Why does everyone like aft cabins? I've read a lot of positive comments about aft cabins. Why wouldn't middle of ship be better? We do plan on booking cabin w/balcony and have read here aft balcony is best.

Sorry for all the questions.......

 

Thanks for all the info so far!

 

 

Larger Balcony's in your BA Catg. Nice view of the wake, Quiet corridors and less foot traffic by cabin. Only negative would be greater motion in adverse Sea conditions.

 

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1526993906083216447CjjMmt

[brovol]

i have wondered whether ncl representatives consider how early passengers book when they decide who they should offer up-sales. if i was making that decision for a cruise line i would let it be known to travel agents that early bookers are more likely to receive an up-sale. it rewards those who are willing to make the early commitment. does anyone know if that is considered?

[mylesf]

i have wondered whether ncl representatives consider how early passengers book when they decide who they should offer up-sales. if i was making that decision for a cruise line i would let it be known to travel agents that early bookers are more likely to receive an up-sale. it rewards those who are willing to make the early commitment. does anyone know if that is considered?

 

Who gets the calls depends first on the need to move cabins. If you happen to be in a cabin they need and there are upsells available you will get the call before others. Beyond that it is totally random on who gets the call when they start to work the list.

[meaclasact2]

We book our cruises directly through NCL - now we have a PCC and we book everything through him. If I find that the price has dropped, I shoot off an email to him and he takes care of the adjustment on our bill. We can continue to do that until we've made final payment.

 

The big advantage to booking early is that you have the pick of the rooms.

 

Regarding the aft balconies - a lot of folks love them because of the view. I'd love to stay in one but my husband is prone to motion sickness. I don't feel any extra motion in the back but he does so we stay to the sides, mid ship.

[watchdiva]

Interesting - we felt more "motion of the ocean" when we had an AB on the Dawn than we did in our AD (also on the Dawn). The biggest advantage IMO to the AFT suites are the absolutely huge balconies - large enough for 2 full-sized loungers and cocktail tesable with room to spare. The view is mesmerizing at night - the moon turns the wake to silver.....

 

Depending upon the ship, some AFT BA balconies are just slightly smaller than the balconies for the AE and AD suites (which are over 80+ SF). This was our first AD and it certainly won't be our last - we have one booked for next year. The AFT BA's tend to book up very quickly - the word has gotten out about the huge balconies! My advice to anyone - when choosing your cabin, if you see one of these AFT BA balconies available on your cruise (and it's between the AE and AD suites) grab it - you'll never want to go back..........

[melligene]

Besides being able to get ajoining rooms which we would really like or other room requests are there any other advantages to booking early. TA said we could book now for 2010. I'm afraid some special rate, code or other discount might come out and then we won't be able to apply it to reservation. We know exactly when we want to go and also know Itinerary we'd like.

 

Should we wait to book or book now since we know when we want to go?

 

 

 

We are going on our first Cruise this November. I have gleaned much info from this site. If'n I were to do this again.....and prepared to go at any time.....(since final payment is due within 75 days of sailing) I would look for a discount, by any cruise line, to happen within that time frame. I could have saved another $400.00 ($200.00/pp by waiting). Bottom line, as I understand and financially prudent, they have to fill the ship up.

You may have to get what you get....... but they want the ship full....right...?just sayin......

[neverthought]

We book our cruises directly through NCL - now we have a PCC and we book everything through him. If I find that the price has dropped, I shoot off an email to him and he takes care of the adjustment on our bill. We can continue to do that until we've made final payment.

 

The big advantage to booking early is that you have the pick of the rooms.

 

We do the same thing. Our PCC is great, she is about the 5th one we've had...don't know why that don't last to long???? But all we need to do is point out what we have found, and she takes care of it for us. As long as final payment hasn't been made, NCL will honor and correct any lower fare that comes up, well at least that's what we have found. We're booked for 9/09 and I requested she check a price reduction for us, and we wound up saving almost $500!

Happy cruisin'

Neverthought

[melligene]

O.K. I'm new here. What's a PCC...? My head is full of acryonms. I get kinda tired of talking to people in contractions and so forth. Can anyone here carry on a coversation in a full sentence,,,,? (boy do I miss my Dog)

[cadmille]

PCC= Personnel Cruise Consultant

 

Our PCC saved us over $500.00 over the best TA (Travel Agent) price I could find, when we booked our cruise (she found all kinds of discounts and sales for us, some of it was OBC (On Board Credit)) and then saved us close to additional $500.00 after we booked with discounts and more OBC.

 

A good PPC can be worth there weight in OBC to ya, so be nice to them and they will return it to you in spades.

 

I would love to tell you her name so you could all use her except for two things, one it's against the board rules as I understand them and the second one is if I did she would be spending all her time finding more OBC for you and not finding the extra specials for me....:rolleyes:

[melligene]

PCC= Personnel Cruise Consultant

 

Our PCC saved us over $500.00 over the best TA (Travel Agent) price I could find, when we booked our cruise (she found all kinds of discounts and sales for us, some of it was OBC (On Board Credit)) and then saved us close to additional $500.00 after we booked with discounts and more OBC.

 

A good PPC can be worth there weight in OBC to ya, so be nice to them and they will return it to you in spades.

 

I would love to tell you her name so you could all use her except for two things, one it's against the board rules as I understand them and the second one is if I did she would be spending all her time finding more OBC for you and not finding the extra specials for me....:rolleyes:

 

 

 

Thanks for your reply. Now I know what a PCC is. What a great site CC is. Lotsa great info here. Almost feel like I've been on a cruise and I still have 2 months to go. Thank you all.

[brunolvr]

PCC= Personnel Cruise Consultant

 

Our PCC saved us over $500.00 over the best TA (Travel Agent) price I could find, when we booked our cruise (she found all kinds of discounts and sales for us, some of it was OBC (On Board Credit)) and then saved us close to additional $500.00 after we booked with discounts and more OBC.

 

A good PPC can be worth there weight in OBC to ya, so be nice to them and they will return it to you in spades.

 

I would love to tell you her name so you could all use her except for two things, one it's against the board rules as I understand them and the second one is if I did she would be spending all her time finding more OBC for you and not finding the extra specials for me....:rolleyes:

 

It sounds like we may have the same PCC.;) Our PCC got us a free upgrade on this year's cruise (from an AE to an AD) and also got us a $200 onboard credit because of some problems we had with our previous PCC (who was not very good and didn't respond to any of our questions).

 

For next year's cruise, she found that we qualified for the "military discount" which saved us about $800 for the AB we booked.:)

[Gingee]

For our cruise in January (booked in April 08), the price has gone up five hundred for the three of us (total). Alaska was similiar when we booked that but the amount went up tremendously. We really lucked out on that one. Like they say, usually the early bird gets the worm.

[Coco421]

I just booked today for July '10. We were able to get the exact stateroom we requested!!

[KULPN]

I just booked today for July '10. We were able to get the exact stateroom we requested!!

I booked for April 2010 already. I know that there will be resident & senior discounts down the road that I can apply for. I like to have something to Dream about!

(Carnival Dream 4/10!!!!)

[Suni99]

its very simple...book early get the exact cabin and sailing date you want.

When a sail pops up , call and get the adjustment

[cacj]

.....

I'm not sure how NCL works, but on Carnival, you can call and get a price adjustment. I would think NCL would do the same - at least before final payment.... if not, you can always cancel and rebook.

 

From what I have read, no price adjustments are made with NCL after final payment, is this correct?

 

But what does it mean when you say "rebook"....if you have made final payment, won't you lose part or all of your $$$$?