Planning Timeline

[A_perfect_Storm]

I am new here.  I have booked a cruise for our family of 4 (kids 20 and 8) for March 2021 on Symphony.  Can anyone direct me to a planning timeline, so I know what I need to plan and  should be booked beforehand, what can wait until we are onboard, and what can only be booked once on the ship?

Thanks!

[JLMoran]

Hi there, @A_perfect_Storm, welcome to the message boards!

I'm not aware of any specific planning timelines like you mention, but here are some general guidelines I think work for any cruise. I'm sure I've missed some things, others here will fill in the gaps

• Starting right now
  • Think about making monthly payments towards your cruise balance; this is a great way to spread out the cost over as much time as possible
  • Put a reminder in your calendar for 3 days ahead of your final payment date, and make sure the cruise is paid off then -- if you miss final payment, you lose your cruise! No backsies, no mulligans, no second chances!
• About 12 months before sailing -- start checking your Cruise Planner for any items you may be interested in purchasing, like shore excursions, internet packages, beverage packages (alcoholic or non), specialty dining, etc.
  • @Matt, who runs the site, is very good about posting in the main blog when new sales start in the Cruise Planner; you can re-check for things each time a new sale / promotion is announced
  • Try to space out your purchases, to spread out the payments and avoid having a painful credit card bill in any one month
  • Know that you can always cancel something you bought, and then re-purchase it, if you find later on that the price has dropped
• 8-9 months before sailing -- check your passports and make sure they will still be valid for at least 6 months after your cruise ends; if not, get them renewed now so they're in effect for about 6 months prior to sailing
  • Also apply for passports for any family members who don't yet have them; while you can sail with just a drivers license and birth certificate, having a passport is generally better
• 90 days before sail date
  • You had that reminder fire off and you took care of final payment, right? If not, do it on this day or lose your cruise!
  • Do your online checkin and complete all forms, print your set sail pass
• 45 days before sail date -- start checking for your eDocuments on the web site (available under the View More Details link for your sailing after you log in)
  • When you have your documents, you can also print your luggage tags
• 1 week before sail date
  • Get all documents and papers together; passports, set sail passes, luggage tags, etc.
  • If you haven't yet, put a travel alert on all credit cards you expect to use abroad
• 2+ days before sail date -- get cash for tips and other small expenses, souvenirs if you don't want to use your credit card, etc.
• 1+ day before sail date -- fly down to the port; never do this the day you sail away!!

Hope this helps! The next year and two months is going to be a blast as you prepare and plan and eagerly await your vacation!

[Brobbins246]

One thing to do right now if you haven't already is check into getting a travel agent.  Even if you booked your cruise directly with RC, if it's been less than (I believe 60) days, you can still have your trip assigned to the TA so you'll have a knowledgeable planning partner at no cost to you.  A lot of us on this site use MEI Travel, and you can reach out to them for an agent.  

Also start doing research on your ports of call to get an idea of what activities you might like to do for shore excursions.  Some islands have better beaches than others, some are good for self-exploring, where others are advised to stick with something more organized, etc.  You might see some excursions already available for booking in your cruise planner, but others will definitely be added later, so you can keep checking back for more options.  Don't be afraid of independent excursion operators either - just do your homework to make sure they're reputable and offers refunds if your ship docks late or has to route to another island, things like that.  

In my experience, RC seems to offer the best discounts overall on Black Friday, so definitely watch for those and reprice any purchases you've already made that are cheaper then.  

Have fun!!!!

[SpeedNoodles]

2 hours ago, Brobbins246 said:

One thing to do right now if you haven't already is check into getting a travel agent.  Even if you booked your cruise directly with RC, if it's been less than (I believe 60) days, you can still have your trip assigned to the TA so you'll have a knowledgeable planning partner at no cost to you.  A lot of us on this site use MEI Travel, and you can reach out to them for an agent.  

 

Be sure to check to make sure your travel agent doesn't charge you. While possibly not the majority, some agents/agencies DO charge a service fee (I got stuck with a $100 service fee for booking my cruise with a local travel agent - she offered last week to book my flight for another $50 service fee - needless to say I've booked my next cruise with an MEI agent).

[JLMoran]

One thing I realized I missed last night:

If you need to fly to the port, start checking airfares about 9 months out, when they first become available. When they’re at a price you’re comfortable with, book them. And make sure to fly in at least the day before sail date so you don’t risk getting delayed or having your flight canceled and missing your sailing.

If you use a low-cost carrier like Southwest or Jet Blue, my personal experience is that the fares are lowest when they’re first announced and just get more expensive as the seats fill up; others here have seen differently, so watch them regularly for a bit and be ready to book when you see a price you’re good with. The bigger carriers are more likely to fluctuate; @Lovetocruise2002 and I (and several others since) have done some experimenting by tracking prices every day for our trips, even after booking, and found there seem to be two sweet spots: One around the 90 day mark, the other I believe around 180 days but @Lovetocruise2002 can confirm that.

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

One around the 90 day mark

Most definitely at this mark.  The only exceptions that I have seen to that are March break and Christmas/New Years.  Those two times of the year do not seem to follow that trend.

For March/Spring break, when I look back at my records, the price (for Delta) was actually the lowest at first release.  I might just do that for next spring break and save myself all the stress of watching it rise.

[Todd W]

10 hours ago, JLMoran said:

.If you haven't yet, put a travel alert on all credit cards you expect to use abroad

I absolutely agree with this one (as well as all of @JLMoran suggestions he mentioned).   This is an often missed step and there's nothing worse than being on vacation out of the country and needing to use your credit card only to find it has been temporarily blocked for "suspicious activity"  .   Seems to be common practice for most of the larger CC companies and/or bank cards to flag sudden overseas activity as suspect.     

[melski94]

I will add that at 90-120 days check your cruise planner to book entertainment.  (Oasis/Quantum classes only)

I will also add that if you are like me and don't want to make monthly payments to RC, open a savings account exclusively for vacations and make monthly payments to yourself. Then you'll have the $$ you need to make the final payment without a huge shock.  You can also add expected airfare to your monthly savings to have the money for that too.

One final thing is to look at is trip insurance.  Some plans require you to purchase it within 30 days of your deposit to cover pre-existing conditions.  You can buy it later but it may exclude certain things.

[Brobbins246]

10 hours ago, JLMoran said:

If you use a low-cost carrier like Southwest or Jet Blue, my personal experience is that the fares are lowest when they’re first announced and just get more expensive as the seats fill up; others here have seen differently, so watch them regularly for a bit and be ready to book when you see a price you’re good with.

Yep, this is a good tip too.  For Southwest, you can Google "Southwest release dates" and be directed to their site where it shows the travel dates they're currently selling for.  Read the second statement that provides the release date for the next window of travel dates (usually about 6 months out), and watch for your window to be announced.  Then literally set a reminder on your calendar to book seats that morning to snag one of cheap rates - often called "Gotta Get Away" rates, or something like that.  They sell out of seats at this rate quickly.  I like booking this way to get great rates (even if they might be a little cheaper at 90 days out), but more importantly, to get your pick of flight times.

[A_perfect_Storm]

Thank you all so much!!!  I haven't had the chance to read through yet, but wanted to say thanks for being so welcoming!!  Looking forward to learning all about royal and planning our vacation

[A_perfect_Storm]

10 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Most definitely at this mark.  The only exceptions that I have seen to that are March break and Christmas/New Years.  Those two times of the year do not seem to follow that trend.

For March/Spring break, when I look back at my records, the price (for Delta) was actually the lowest at first release.  I might just do that for next spring break and save myself all the stress of watching it rise.

Thank you for this tip, since we are going in March during our daughter's college spring break, this may be helpful.  We are typically Disney World travelers, and we always drive, so flight booking is new to us.  Thanks again

[A_perfect_Storm]

10 hours ago, melski94 said:

I will add that at 90-120 days check your cruise planner to book entertainment.  (Oasis/Quantum classes only)

I will also add that if you are like me and don't want to make monthly payments to RC, open a savings account exclusively for vacations and make monthly payments to yourself. Then you'll have the $$ you need to make the final payment without a huge shock.  You can also add expected airfare to your monthly savings to have the money for that too.

One final thing is to look at is trip insurance.  Some plans require you to purchase it within 30 days of your deposit to cover pre-existing conditions.  You can buy it later but it may exclude certain things.

Thank you!  I had heard the tip about trip insurance, and we decided to buy it, so I checked this one off of the list!  Woohoo!

[A_perfect_Storm]

Thank you @Brobbins246 I will definitely check this out.  We live in central Illinois and would normally drive, but since our daughter only has a week for spring break, flying will be a must.  Thanks again!!

[Brobbins246]

1 hour ago, A_perfect_Storm said:

Thank you @Brobbins246 I will definitely check this out.  We live in central Illinois and would normally drive, but since our daughter only has a week for spring break, flying will be a must.  Thanks again!!

Southwest flies nonstop from Chicago Midway to Ft. Lauderdale if those cities work for you.  That's what we're doing for traveling from our home in SW Michigan to Miami. 

[Brobbins246]

12 hours ago, Todd W said:

I absolutely agree with this one (as well as all of @JLMoran suggestions he mentioned).   This is an often missed step and there's nothing worse than being on vacation out of the country and needing to use your credit card only to find it has been temporarily blocked for "suspicious activity"  .   Seems to be common practice for most of the larger CC companies and/or bank cards to flag sudden overseas activity as suspect.     

Also if you book any 3rd party shore excursions during the planning process, I recommend doing the credit card foreign authorization thing before charging your deposits as well.  Find out what country the charges will come from (for example Cayman Islands for Island Marketing Ltd charges) and give your cc company their name, country of origin and amount you'll be charging. I didn't do this before putting three deposits down on the same day, and as the charges started hitting my account, my cc rejected them and sent me an alert to call and authorize them.  I then had to contact the excursion company again and have them resubmit the charges.  Major pain in the a$$ that could have easily been avoided. 

[mom2mybugs]

2 hours ago, A_perfect_Storm said:

Thank you @Brobbins246 I will definitely check this out.  We live in central Illinois and would normally drive, but since our daughter only has a week for spring break, flying will be a must.  Thanks again!!

Another Illinois resident here!  We are a Disney family as well who loves crossing...we went on our first spring break cruise 4 years ago and are hooked.  Unfortunately our spring breaks don't sign so we are only taking 1 if the 3 kids this year.  Have a wonderful trip!!!! I'm counting days to escape the snow here lol!  Jane

[Sweety]

Just brought my air fare on Southwest for my August cruises. Fare are up until October 1st.

[Sweety]

I live in Chicago. Fare was less than 600 for two people.

[baltodave]

On 1/16/2019 at 5:48 PM, Brobbins246 said:

Yep, this is a good tip too.  For Southwest, you can Google "Southwest release dates" and be directed to their site where it shows the travel dates they're currently selling for.  Read the second statement that provides the release date for the next window of travel dates (usually about 6 months out), and watch for your window to be announced.  Then literally set a reminder on your calendar to book seats that morning to snag one of cheap rates - often called "Gotta Get Away" rates, or something like that.  They sell out of seats at this rate quickly.  I like booking this way to get great rates (even if they might be a little cheaper at 90 days out), but more importantly, to get your pick of flight times.

Or..  If you don't want to use Google, just go to southwest.com, scroll to the bottom and click the "Flight Schedules" link (bottom of 2nd column).  I agree that the day flights open up on SWA, you'll find the best prices (whether using $$ or points).  Typically, you can start booking flights between 6:30 and 7:30 ET the morning that flights are released.  If they don't appear online, just call reservations.

[Vacation Crazy]

1 hour ago, Sweety said:

Just brought my air fare on Southwest for my August cruises. Fare are up until October 1st.

Thanks so much for the tip!!  I had the release date of 2/7/19 circled on my calendar to book our Southwest flights.  I just booked our flights to Seattle for August.   So excited for our Alaskan cruise!  Having your flights booked just makes it feel so much closer. 

[Kyle]

To add on to this thread with a question about timing show reservations. How early do people typically reserve them? Do I need to reserve shows for Ovation of the Seas before I get on the ship or can I wait. How often do they "sell out"?

[tiny260]

26 minutes ago, Kyle said:

To add on to this thread with a question about timing show reservations. How early do people typically reserve them? Do I need to reserve shows for Ovation of the Seas before I get on the ship or can I wait. How often do they "sell out"?

The timing of when they open varies, start looking between 90-45 days out. They don't sell out because they are not assigned seats, your reservation gets you in the door ahead of all the people that didn't make reservations, at 15 minutes before the show they open the doors for everyone, reservation or not.

I preface this with everything I'm saying holds true for Caribbean cruises, not sure if it changes for Asia or you may be referencing when Ovation reposition to Alaska (I think).

[Rose City Cruiser]

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 8:57 AM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

For March/Spring break, when I look back at my records, the price (for Delta) was actually the lowest at first release. 

Do you book "Basic Economy" or "Main Cabin" tickets?  Have you experienced being bumped off the scheduled flight and wait on standby for the next available flight with a basic economy ticket?

[Kyle]

16 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

The timing of when they open varies, start looking between 90-45 days out. They don't sell out because they are not assigned seats, your reservation gets you in the door ahead of all the people that didn't make reservations, at 15 minutes before the show they open the doors for everyone, reservation or not.

I preface this with everything I'm saying holds true for Caribbean cruises, not sure if it changes for Asia or you may be referencing when Ovation reposition to Alaska (I think).

Yeah this is for the Alaska cruise in July. We bought The Key for this trip as well but know we still need to make reservations for shows just didn't know exactly how far out we should look to do it. Thanks!

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, jurrjurr said:

Do you book "Basic Economy" or "Main Cabin" tickets?  Have you experienced being bumped off the scheduled flight and wait on standby for the next available flight with a basic economy ticket?

I only booked Basic Economy once and that was by accident.  Did not get bumped that time.  We book Main Cabin with Delta, especially with the kids because I don't want to chance not being able to sit with them.  Also, we have pretty set preferences over where we like to sit on a plane.

[Tdoner]

On 1/15/2019 at 9:39 PM, Brobbins246 said:

have your trip assigned to the TA so you'll have a knowledgeable planning partner at no cost to you.

Hello,

I have never used a TA. I booked in dec for my March cruise. What exactly are the perks to using a TA?

Thanks!

[Fuzzywuzzy]

See.You shouldn't have brought your question here. These people know nothing and are no help at all.

[mom2mybugs]

On 1/16/2019 at 6:32 PM, A_perfect_Storm said:

Thank you for this tip, since we are going in March during our daughter's college spring break, this may be helpful.  We are typically Disney World travelers, and we always drive, so flight booking is new to us.  Thanks again

Yep... Sounds like us.  We always drive Disney in the summer but spring break and 7 day cruises don't mesh well with driving from Chicago! Flights add a whole new amount to the trip!!  Jane

[Brobbins246]

Here's a good timeline I found:

http://cruisediva.com/things_to_do.htm

 

[markinct]

@Brobbins246 - off topic, but if your cruise on Allure is anything like my experience on Oasis a few years ago, you are going to absolutely love it.