What cruises are you waiting to book?

[Marc]

With the impending release of the 2017-18 cruise schedule, I know that I'm anxiously awaiting booking something for March 2018. I'm really hoping that I'll find something good on Harmony of the Seas.

 

Is anyone else waiting for cruises that they're interested in to be released?

[J_Keeble]

Interested to see what cruises they have in the UK, I'm guessing it will be indy again.

[KLA]

October 2017 for my honeymoon - a 4 day on Enchantment, followed immediately by 7 days on Harmony or Allure. SUPER excited for the schedule to come out so I can look up the itinerary options between those two... probably what that'll come down to.

[jticarruthers]

Thanksgiving 2017 - Hoping I can make Harmony make sense for that week by booking "on day one" but I have a feeling I am not going to like the price when I see it :( If not then hopefully something catches my eye as an alternate itinerary for that week or I will have to go look at other brands again.

 

I want to be loyal to royal ... really I do ....

[DocLC]

Looking for Northern Europe, hopefully British Isles, for summer 2017.

[Marc]

One other thing pushing my interest toward Harmony of the Seas is the EAT.DRINK.PLAY promotion that Royal Caribbean is offering on Central Park or Boardwalk balcony cabins (including a free dining option and a free beverage option, depending on your cabin choice). That little bonus may help make it slightly better, especially if I can combine it with the Diamond balcony discount.

[KLA]

One other thing pushing my interest toward Harmony of the Seas is the EAT.DRINK.PLAY promotion that Royal Caribbean is offering on Central Park or Boardwalk balcony cabins (including a free dining option and a free beverage option, depending on your cabin choice). That little bonus may help make it slightly better, especially if I can combine it with the Diamond balcony discount.

 

I'm definitely interested in the Central Park Balcony for my booking - especially after this Allure content from the Group Cruise. 

[FloatMe]

I am really hoping Navigator will still be doing the 9nt southern route out of Miami for spring 2018! We will also look to do Oasis or Freedom in the fall 2017.

[Adam P.]

We will be on Empress this April 9 nights B2B and then Navigator for 14 nights next April B2B 5 night then 9.  We really want to try Serenade hopefully between then.  Liberty is booked right now in Oct but hoping to change that to Serenade.  That ship just looks so classy with all of its new rooms and furniture/carpet ect.  I've never done Radiance class!!   We will be looking for something on Harmony as well with the new releases.  Looking for one of those can't pass up deals.  Im sure the itineraries for Harmony will be just as not exciting as Oasis and Allure though.  

[Michel]

Probably Eastern Caribbean on Oasis class ship in december 2017 or/and the 9nt southern route (same has FloatMe) january 2018 on Navigator

[jticarruthers]

I love/hate this time of year ... driving myself crazy trying to get the schedule information ahead of time so I am ready to book on day one (might be some obsessive disorder issues to address in my next cruise therapy session ... 17 days and counting).

 

Looks like Allure is doing the Western Caribbean Thanksgiving week which should mean Harmony is on the Eastern Run ... leaving Saturday 11/18 out of Ft Lauderdale with a sea day for Thanksgiving day which works out well.

 

So .... just need to see some pricing and I can start rounding up my crew to make reservations :) ... and then wait another year for the next schedule roll forward :(

[FloatMe]

impatiently waiting! probably won't come out until Thursday, so I guess I will just keep hitting refresh every hour for four days? :)

[Marc]

I know the feeling.

 

I had a bit of a scare this morning when I saw that someone at Cruise Critic had posted that the "Winter Caribbean" schedule wouldn't be out until the week of March 30. I really want to plan my March 2018 cruise in advance of my sailing on Freedom of the Seas next week so I can take advantage of onboard booking.

 

Then I figured out that they had incorrectly posted the 2016-2017 schedule.

 

Whew!

[KLA]

GUYS. Any day now.... :D

[FloatMe]

GUYS. Any day now.... :D

Crown & Anchor's FB page says Caribbean itineraries will be available to members tomorrow.

[Marc]

Woohoo!

 

I wonder how they'll enforce members-only bookings for tomorrow. Apparently they failed in that regarding for the previous two weeks' schedule releases.

[KLA]

SUPER excited. Might have to start going over the deck maps to get some rooms picked out this evening... or is that weird?

 

It's probably weird. Nevermind.

[FloatMe]

SUPER excited. Might have to start going over the deck maps to get some rooms picked out this evening... or is that weird?

 

It's probably weird. Nevermind.

Weird?? What do you think I am doing right now :)

[FloatMe]

Okay, so I would love to do Q-Class, but I am not really excited about sailing out of Cape Liberty in November and going to a relatively mild bermuda or the Bahamas. Would you do Anthem out of NJ or Allure out of FFL in early Nov, 2017??

[Matt]

SUPER excited. Might have to start going over the deck maps to get some rooms picked out this evening... or is that weird?

 

It's probably weird. Nevermind.

Totally normal!

[CitizenBlue]

Looking for fall17 or spring 18 trip for the entire family. Really want to take the kids to an oasis class ship in FL (loved Liberty with them this fall) but For the price of the travel to FL the wife and I can usually grab another full week in Galveston. TOO MANY decisions.

[Todd]

While I know everyone is different and handle bookings in their own way, these cruises are years away. Not looking at 2017, looking at can I add another cruise before my May 2016 cruise, and how about a early summer cruise in 2016. Do most poster here really book years out or are many looking for cruises within the next six months or so?

[Marc]

I like to book cruises as early as possible in order to attempt to get the best pricing possible. I've found that prices generally go up after the schedules are released. If they do go down, I can call Royal Caribbean and get my booking's price adjusted to the lower rate.

[DocLC]

I've been booking at least a year out for most of my cruises, sometimes more.  This is especially useful in Europe as it gives you more time to look for good air deals.  Because I had booked my cruise well in advance, I was able to snag airfare nearly a year out for less than $700 roundtrip from the West Coast to Sweden, returning from Denmark.  I paid nearly $500 for shorter flights last year.

[KLA]

YES! Just booked our honeymoon! 4 days on Enchantment (Aft balcony), followed by 7 days on Harmony (Hump balcony)! 

[jticarruthers]

I have been booking as far out as possible for several years now ... pricing on my cruise for this Thanksgiving (8+ months away still) is over double what it was when i booked a year ago for example.

 

Of course having woken up and looked at the Harmony Thanksgiving price this morning ..... holy %^$#&^

 

Time to switch to plan B .... not sure what that plan is yet but i am sure it is going to involve typing things like NCL and Carnival into my browser later today in addition to taking a look at the rest of the fleets plans for that week.

 

Some context:

 

Thanksgiving 2014 - IOTS, 8 night in a balcony $2830 for 3

Thanksgiving 2015 - FOTS, 7 night in a balcony $2665 for 3

Thanksgiving 2016 - AOTS, 7 night in a balcony $2375 for 3

Thanksgiving 2017 - HOTS, 7 night in an OCEANVIEW - $3795 for 3 !!!

 

Didnt care for Allure all that much, no way in heck i am paying that much to "try" Harmony 18 months after launch.

[Todd]

I have been booking as far out as possible for several years now ... pricing on my cruise for this Thanksgiving (8+ months away still) is over double what it was when i booked a year ago for example.

 

Of course having woken up and looked at the Harmony Thanksgiving price this morning ..... holy %^$#&^

 

Time to switch to plan B .... not sure what that plan is yet but i am sure it is going to involve typing things like NCL and Carnival into my browser later today in addition to taking a look at the rest of the fleets plans for that week.

 

Some context:

 

Thanksgiving 2014 - IOTS, 8 night in a balcony $2830 for 3

Thanksgiving 2015 - FOTS, 7 night in a balcony $2665 for 3

Thanksgiving 2016 - AOTS, 7 night in a balcony $2375 for 3

Thanksgiving 2017 - HOTS, 7 night in an OCEANVIEW - $3795 for 3 !!!

 

Didnt care for Allure all that much, no way in heck i am paying that much to "try" Harmony 18 months after launch.

 

 

I agree that is pricey, have you maybe thought about Oasis of the Seas   7 Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise ?

 

I know it is a Eastern and not Western and it leaves from Port Canaveral. But it is the same class of ship and a savings of $900 dollars  ?   

 

$2,903.83USD*

 

Just a idea which keeps you on Royal.

[jticarruthers]

I will consider Oasis along with the other options but frankly the only thing that had me considering Harmony was the upgraded options over Oasis and Allure, $3000 for an Oceanview on Oasis is still extremely high.

 

Seems like most of the fleet is still not rolled forward to Thanksgiving week so we shall see what is out there but RCI is making it harder and harder to stay loyal.

[jticarruthers]

So to complete the comparison, if for some reason I had wanted a balcony on HOTS that would run me $4400 .... seems to be overly inflated.

 

Did look at Oasis but the itinerary is bad ... stops in Puerto Rico for Thanksgiving day which (from experience two years ago) sucks because EVERYTHING is closed for the day.

 

Guess I am waiting to see the itineraries for the rest of the fleet ... AOTS looked slightly interesting on the cheap suites but its the identical ship/itinerary to this Thanksgiving and still a lot more expensive than this year.

[Todd]

Do you want to fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico and cruise on the Adventure of the Seas? You can have a Junior Suite for $2900 or a Grand Suite for $3500, with tax and port fees  3 passengers... 

[Matt]

Do you want to fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico and cruise on the Adventure of the Seas? You can have a Junior Suite for $2900 or a Grand Suite for $3500, with tax and port fees  3 passengers... 

As noted in the other thread, that is a deal!

[Marc]

My hopes for a Harmony of the Seas cruise in 2018 seem to be dashed. The pricing seems to be unrealistic.

 

Oasis of the Seas out of Port Canaveral was tolerable, running about $1,000/person for a balcony cabin. It's higher than I'd normally pay for a Freedom class cruise, but Oasis class has always commanded a premium. Plus, if history repeats itself, I might get a price drop in the next several months.

[jticarruthers]

Doing the Adventure this Thanksgiving and although the prices are comparatively better they are still significantly higher than this year and for the exact same itinerary again.

 

Nothing on the current offering is really working for me ... It looks RCI decided to implement super-premium pricing for Thanksgiving week as every cruise for that week is significantly higher than the surrounding weeks. I am sure they will still fill the ships and sail happy but It doesn't work for me, especially if I am trying to convince 20-30 family members to do it.

[Matt]

My hopes for a Harmony of the Seas cruise in 2018 seem to be dashed. The pricing seems to be unrealistic.

 

Oasis of the Seas out of Port Canaveral was tolerable, running about $1,000/person for a balcony cabin. It's higher than I'd normally pay for a Freedom class cruise, but Oasis class has always commanded a premium. Plus, if history repeats itself, I might get a price drop in the next several months.

As you noted, new ships command a premium.  

 

Would there be much risk in booking Harmony and then seeing how the prices change between now and final payment?  Or is cancelling a cruise, expensive or not, too heartbreaking to tolerate? :P

[WAAAYTOOO]

My hopes for a Harmony of the Seas cruise in 2018 seem to be dashed. The pricing seems to be unrealistic.

 

Oasis of the Seas out of Port Canaveral was tolerable, running about $1,000/person for a balcony cabin. It's higher than I'd normally pay for a Freedom class cruise, but Oasis class has always commanded a premium. Plus, if history repeats itself, I might get a price drop in the next several months.

Marc, have you called Club Royale and gotten their price for the cruise you're interested in ?  While high prices are high prices, the CR discount really helps !

[Marc]

As you noted, new ships command a premium.  

 

Would there be much risk in booking Harmony and then seeing how the prices change between now and final payment?  Or is cancelling a cruise, expensive or not, too heartbreaking to tolerate? :P

That's certainly a possibility, but given the $300/person price difference now between Oasis and Harmony cruises during the same week, I'm hesitant to believe that it's going to drop sufficiently. Plus, I'm coordinating this cruise with another family, so it's better to pick something and stick with it since it affects others as well.

 

(Since there are seven of us total, that's over $2,000 extra which could be better spent on drinks and excursions. :))

[Marc]

Marc, have you called Club Royale and gotten their price for the cruise you're interested in ?  While high prices are high prices, the CR discount really helps !

I didn't try today because in my experience, casino rates aren't released for some time after the schedule is published.

 

Have you had luck booking cruises through them this soon after they're released?

 

Edited to add... I just saw your other post where you booked a 2017 cruise with them. I'll have to give them a call and see what options are available.

[WAAAYTOOO]

I didn't try today because in my experience, casino rates aren't released for some time after the schedule is published.

 

Have you had luck booking cruises through them this soon after they're released?

 

Edited to add... I just saw your other post where you booked a 2017 cruise with them. I'll have to give them a call and see what options are available.

 

 

Good luck.  As you saw, I was able to get a good CR price today for the brand newly released itineraries.  46% overall, so an additional 16% on top of the 30% they are offering everyone.  Of course, that doesn't really help the rest of those in your group...so it might still price them out even if it helps you !

 

BTW...I wanted to let you know that we were able to get a free cruise certificate, earned on our recent Allure cruise, converted to OBC for a future cruise (which we had previously booked).  I know that you had gotten a certificate when we were together on the Liberty back in October, which you were unable to use.  So even though they tell you that the certificates are only good for one of the [extremely limited and unappealing] list of cruises on the back of the certificate, they will work with you if you catch a good CS agent.  We were able to get $1000 OBC on our upcoming Empress (April 11) in lieu of the free cruise.  I think the fact that there were only a few cruises left to choose from helped convince them, but it was a very very favorable outcome to what was essentially a useless piece of paper.

[Marc]

Congratulations on getting value out of that dubious free cruise certificate!

 

I did call Club Royale to find out what pricing was available for the Oasis cruise I'm considering. There was a discounted rate available, but it ends up being a wash with what I had already. The problem is that the casino rate is not combinable with the Crown & Anchor Diamond balcony discount and the NextCruise onboard credit. Using rough numbers, the casino rate was a discount of $325, while the balcony discount is $225 and I get $100 in onboard credit.

 

For right now, I'll go with the Crown & Anchor rates since I can reuse my NextCruise booking which has the deposit already paid.