Booking Ahead

[squibs]

He, I notice some of you book a few cruises well ahead, ? is there any benefit to booking like that, do you get them cheaper?.:)

[Ela 2]

If you have kids and want to cruise in school holidays, booking ahead has the advantage that you can get places in the kids' clubs. When the number of places for the particular age group has closed, then families with kids in that age cannot book that particular cruise. The only other advantage in booking well ahead is that you have a choice of cabin.

 

A lot of people wait until about the last six months, or even closer to sailing date. Often specials become available, particularly from the on-line travel agents. Don't expect specials on the high-demand cruises (Xmas, New Year and school hols). If you can be flexible, you can sometimes get a good price, but usually this means booking an 'inside cabin' or an 'outside cabin' and not being able to choose a particular cabin.

 

Your choice. :):)

 

Evon.

[rugbypopsie]

Advantages: you never miss out on the cruise especially if it is in peak times like Christmas, school holidays etc. You get the pick of cabins///BUT

 

Price, price, price, I have never seen a early booking bargain!

 

Plenty of discussions on the board about this.

[LouLou28]

We've booked ahead (6 - 12 months) and our T/A has always been able to get us a great deal (usually by doing a 'bulk' booking on that cruise) - and offering OBC too ... I keep a close eye on the cruise prices around, and to date, we've never seen any of our cruises cheaper for the same cabin/grade, etc after we've booked.

 

Although ... there were some FANTASTIC bargains around at the end of 2008, if you were able to drop everything, book and cruise within a couple of weeks! Not that any of these were cruises we had considered.

[thied]

Advantages: you never miss out on the cruise especially if it is in peak times like Christmas, school holidays etc. You get the pick of cabins///BUT

 

Price, price, price, I have never seen a early booking bargain!

 

Plenty of discussions on the board about this.

We've booked ahead (6 - 12 months) and our T/A has always been able to get us a great deal (usually by doing a 'bulk' booking on that cruise) - and offering OBC too ... I keep a close eye on the cruise prices around, and to date, we've never seen any of our cruises cheaper for the same cabin/grade, etc after we've booked.

 

Although ... there were some FANTASTIC bargains around at the end of 2008, if you were able to drop everything, book and cruise within a couple of weeks! Not that any of these were cruises we had considered. these are quotes but as you can see we all ways book a year or more ahead, mind you if you are in the travel industry there are some cheeps seats but on a hole we get what we are looking for we have a great t/a that goes out of there way for us for all our hols not just cruises most of the time half price or close to it and dont forgwt to ask about obc.

[rugbypopsie]

One of the reasons you never see cheaper is that most printed information on cruises uses higher prices that nobody pays.

 

Flash sales or sales that a emarketed or sent as in the case of captains circle and others to a selected clientel. (Captains circle try very hard not to send another offer to a family when they are already booked, system falls down when a member of the family has a different name:p).

 

If you are happy with whatever price you pay that is great.

 

Personally I try not to look once I have booked it is much easier to stay happy that way.

 

I am sure that the cruise marketing department agonise over this question, they want you to book early, since in Australia that really locks you in. They also realise dropping prices to sell unfilled cabins will really annoy those who have already booked at a higher price.

 

As in anything, do your homework, shop around, have a price that you think is reasonable and affordable in mind.

It helps to have a good relationship with your T/A. They try to really look after their regulars and some have loyalty programs with extra OBC or discounts.

 

I can tell Theid you are an optimist! Jealous here wish I had some booked up already but DH cant take off any more time from work. I think I will sit back and see what happens later in the year...the dollar is getting stronger which makes some of the offers on cruises in USD more attractive.

[thied]

One of the reasons you never see cheaper is that most printed information on cruises uses higher prices that nobody pays.

 

Flash sales or sales that a emarketed or sent as in the case of captains circle and others to a selected clientel. (Captains circle try very hard not to send another offer to a family when they are already booked, system falls down when a member of the family has a different name:p).

 

If you are happy with whatever price you pay that is great.

 

Personally I try not to look once I have booked it is much easier to stay happy that way.

 

I am sure that the cruise marketing department agonise over this question, they want you to book early, since in Australia that really locks you in. They also realise dropping prices to sell unfilled cabins will really annoy those who have already booked at a higher price.

 

As in anything, do your homework, shop around, have a price that you think is reasonable and affordable in mind.

It helps to have a good relationship with your T/A. They try to really look after their regulars and some have loyalty programs with extra OBC or discounts.

 

I can tell Theid you are an optimist! Jealous here wish I had some booked up already but DH cant take off any more time from work. I think I will sit back and see what happens later in the year...the dollar is getting stronger which makes some of the offers on cruises in USD more attractive.

thank you i find fearly easy as i work from home and bring a house dad its all good

[Kinkacruiser]

Hi Squibs,

I'm with LouLou28 (Linda) re the TA and a group bookings. You also get some onboard credits that way. Other pluses in my opinion are that you get the suite you want (our TA puts in a request "not to be moved" and that works fine). Also, I like to know what I'm doing a year or so ahead and have all that time to come here and get excited.:D

Cheers,

Anna

[shellbell760_1]

Hi There

As previously mentioned we had to book earlier because of the need to get our kids into kids club:) It gave us 19 months once we had booked it to become excited:)

[MMDown Under]

One of the reasons you never see cheaper is that most printed information on cruises uses higher prices that nobody pays.

 

Flash sales or sales that a emarketed or sent as in the case of captains circle and others to a selected clientel. (Captains circle try very hard not to send another offer to a family when they are already booked, system falls down when a member of the family has a different name:p).

 

If you are happy with whatever price you pay that is great.

 

Personally I try not to look once I have booked it is much easier to stay happy that way.

 

I am sure that the cruise marketing department agonise over this question, they want you to book early, since in Australia that really locks you in. They also realise dropping prices to sell unfilled cabins will really annoy those who have already booked at a higher price.

 

As in anything, do your homework, shop around, have a price that you think is reasonable and affordable in mind.

It helps to have a good relationship with your T/A. They try to really look after their regulars and some have loyalty programs with extra OBC or discounts.

 

I can tell Theid you are an optimist! Jealous here wish I had some booked up already but DH cant take off any more time from work. I think I will sit back and see what happens later in the year...the dollar is getting stronger which makes some of the offers on cruises in USD more attractive.

 

We no longer book ahead. I choose not to be locked in with high insurance premiums and large deposits.

 

Just because I haven't booked, doesn't mean I don't have travel plans. I'm one of those people, who is already planning the trip, after the next trip. :) I usually have at least four options I'm considering, researching seasons, ports of call etc. Being retired, we can travel whenever we like for as long as we like. So we book late, with the best deal at the time. The other three options can wait until another time.

 

Cruising is a perishable product, so there will always be bargains out there.

[squibs]

Thanks everyone for all the info.

Looking forward to our first cruise

[lolabunny77]

I did that for my very first cruise.Booked in October 2006 for Christmas December 2007 on Pacific Dawn getting in Early to qualify for friendly four when that option was available to single travellers.Got a Good Price Too.I couldn't believe I got a Cruise with all meals,entertainment and a good level of care and attention to detail for less than the price of a good week in Hong Kong or Singapore Not Only that due to their inability to find me companions to share my cabin with I got upgraded to a Single Cabin for no extra charge which made me pleased.

Why Did I choose to cruise?I was looking for a nice way to celebrate my 30th Birthday and have a wonderful Christmas away from home plus a holiday where I don't have to deal with unwanted relatives showing up uninvited at the hotel(I still have terrible memories of that going back to Singapore 1998 and wish I had gone to Bali or the Gold Coast Instead)