RCIfan1912 Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 Been kinda eyeing this cruise for a few weeks now. It goes to a port we have before beeb to, Sydney Nova Scotia Canada. It's all the way out Oct 2024. Kinda strange to be booked so far in advance but the price was right and the different port stop for us. It's on Liberty in a spacious ocean view balcony. It was like 150 bucks more. Also never have had 3 cruises booked at one time. Liberty Oct this year, Anthem February 2024 and Liberty again October 2024. Is it crazy to book so far in advance? WAAAYTOOO, teddy, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweety Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 It’s normal. I am booked April 2025 on Adventure. USFFrank, teddy, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 The farther out you book, the better the price. More availability = lower prices It’s fun to have multiple booked. Nothing more depressing than showing 0 cruises upcoming. USFFrank, WannaCruise, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 3 others 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChessE4 Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 31 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said: Also never have had 3 cruises booked at one time. Liberty Oct this year, Anthem February 2024 and Liberty again October 2024. Is it crazy to book so far in advance? No, it's not crazy. We booked a Sep 24 cruise a couple of months ago in order to get a decent price. Fares go up as cruise dates become closer. We, however, make sure to book refundable deposit, and we secure travel insurance. Not everyone does this, but when booking so far in advance, it is hard to know what may happen. Whatever you choose, have a great cruise. RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 Since prices can be the best that they'll be when the newest schedule is opened for booking, plenty of people book two+ years in advance teddy and RCIfan1912 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjcruisers Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 Here’s my advice. If you can name all the future cruises you have booked, you haven’t booked enough FionaMG, RCIfan1912, FoxboroCruiser and 5 others 3 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted January 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 Oh wow, cool. Didn't know so many do this. It was the right price and itinerary. 618 days is tough to see on the countdown. fireclan, WannaCruise and Sweety 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddy Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 49 minutes ago, Sweety said: It’s normal. I am booked April 2025 on Adventure. We’re on her in March ‘25. Sweety, fireclan and RCIfan1912 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 I'm booked for Christmas 2024 already, so not weird at all teddy, RCIfan1912 and PPPJJ-GCVAB 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted January 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 14 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said: I'm booked for Christmas 2024 already, so not weird at all Very intrigued to do a Xmas cruise one day. New years also intriguing. Have a great cruise! AshleyDillo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted January 14, 2023 Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 14 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said: Very intrigued to do a Xmas cruise one day. New years also intriguing. Have a great cruise! I have done New Years before. Done close to Christmas (ended Christmas Eve) this year but never actually over Christmas. It was too good of a deal to pass up so I booked it..even better was it's refundable just in case! RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted January 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2023 15 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said: I have done New Years before. Done close to Christmas (ended Christmas Eve) this year but never actually over Christmas. It was too good of a deal to pass up so I booked it..even better was it's refundable just in case! I'll have to keep my eye on Xmas cruises. Never really looked too closely. Sounds like a great deal of a cruise you got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetPea Posted January 15, 2023 Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 I hear you. I live in NJ and booked Symphony for May 2024 out of Bayonne. Normally i would just look for minute deals but they do not seem to be happening lately. And as it turns out, it was good to book when i did, just after Christmas. I think i was the first to book a 2BRAT for that sailing and then the price shot up for those (both the last A1 and the rest of the A2s). In fact, a week after i booked, the A2 was 400$ more pp than what i paid for the A1. And now they're gone. I know because checking pricing and inventory is one of my unhealthy obsessions .... WannaCruise, RCIfan1912 and Sweety 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted January 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 19 minutes ago, SweetPea said: I hear you. I live in NJ and booked Symphony for May 2024 out of Bayonne. Normally i would just look for minute deals but they do not seem to be happening lately. And as it turns out, it was good to book when i did, just after Christmas. I think i was the first to book a 2BRAT for that sailing and then the price shot up for those (both the last A1 and the rest of the A2s). In fact, a week after i booked, the A2 was 400$ more pp than what i paid for the A1. And now they're gone. I know because checking pricing and inventory is one of my unhealthy obsessions .... Also in NJ and sail from here exclusively because of a serious fear of flying. SweetPea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetPea Posted January 15, 2023 Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 57 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said: Also in NJ and sail from here exclusively because of a serious fear of flying. I totally understand. I'm not afraid of flying, i just loathe it! But having watched my fair share of Air Disasters, I do feel your fear. And i refuse to fly for short, week-long cruises. Bayonne is super convenient from pretty much anywhere in our state, isn't it? I was so happy when Royal brought O class to us and I'm super excited to try Oasis and Symphony. RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted January 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 17 minutes ago, SweetPea said: I totally understand. I'm not afraid of flying, i just loathe it! But having watched my fair share of Air Disasters, I do feel your fear. And i refuse to fly for short, week-long cruises. Bayonne is super convenient from pretty much anywhere in our state, isn't it? I was so happy when Royal brought O class to us and I'm super excited to try Oasis and Symphony. Yes, too much watching of Air disaster shows. I try and psych myself up to do it, I want tons of YouTube videos on first flights and getting over you fear of flying but I just can't do it. It's more the claustrophobic than anything. Also yeah we were so excited when Oasis was announced to be coming here! So excited I booked the first cruise from NJ and freaking Covid hit and it took us years to finally sail on her. Symphony is incredible it's coming here but it seems much more expensive than Oasis. I do want to sail here at some point but now I'm booked all the way out to Oct 2024 so it's gonna be a while. SweetPea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetPea Posted January 15, 2023 Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 Oh i totally understand the claustrophobia aspect of flying. I will only fly in an aisle seat but that said, i haven't flown since 10/2019. I can't wear face masks for the same reason so that limited my travel for a few years. Ironically, we're paying less for Symphony than Oasis, but I'm sure it's because we failed to book Oasis close to booking open. RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted January 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 16 minutes ago, SweetPea said: Oh i totally understand the claustrophobia aspect of flying. I will only fly in an aisle seat but that said, i haven't flown since 10/2019. I can't wear face masks for the same reason so that limited my travel for a few years. Ironically, we're paying less for Symphony than Oasis, but I'm sure it's because we failed to book Oasis close to booking open. Yeah I shouldn't judge Symphony prices I only looked once very quickly. I will check daily until I can't control myself and book. SweetPea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted January 15, 2023 Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 I pretty much book between 14-20 months ahead. I get the best deals and I can save better. I rarely do last min or 6 months or less with any vacation. I like having something to look forward to. I am cruising today and plan to book my 2025 cruises at Next cruise so I can do reduced deposits. Sweety, teddy and RCIfan1912 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianB Posted January 15, 2023 Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 I try to book as far out as I can…usually the best prices and I have no problem picking the rooms I want. I do lots of back to backs so I want the same room on each leg. Then, I check the booking very frequently by doing mock bookings and look for the price to drop. Usually the price rises as the cruise gets closer, but sometimes the price drops during sales or sometimes for no apparent reason…so I call and reprice. Or sometimes a suite category may drop in price just enough for me to decide to pay a little more and grab it. I do my own bookings so I can control the reservations and call for repricing as soon as I see a drop. The only issue I have is sometimes the website only shows a small sample of cabins available in the category I want. But, if I didn’t have the time to monitor my cruises, I would definitely use a good travel agent to do it for me. Plus, the TA would have more access to available cabins. I also try to book through NextCruise when I’m aboard. I save lots at the time of booking on the reduced deposit and get the OBC which pretty much returns my deposit…or more. Plus, an additional benefit is if I do use a travel agent, I can transfer the NextCruise booking to them when I get back on land. Also, for the b2b, the NextCruise agent can look at both cruises at the same time to see which cabins are available on both. A TA could do that too. I have lots of future bookings and those furthest out are the Icon in September 2024 and then the Symphony in October 2024. Just my opinion, but….never worry that you may have cruises booked too far away…or too many…lots of flexibility and pricing opportunities between time of booking and time of sailing. Enjoy the anticipation! Enjoy your cruise! teddy, RCIfan1912 and WannaCruise 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted January 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 I always use a travel agent, just makes things easier and they can change things right away when I ask. I'm thinking of changing actually to traditional dining because royal seemed to get changed things with it that you can only dine kinda late. It was a total disaster on Oasis. My TA also has a program that monitors all pricing and when it drops it applies right away. This has happened several times now. I have 3 booked with this TA and it's been great so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WannaCruise Posted January 15, 2023 Report Share Posted January 15, 2023 We too recently booked for March 2025, which means we currently have 5 Royal bookings. Anyone that doesn't cruise like us (and "us" as some on here on Royal Caribbean Blog) may think we're nuts and don't get it. But...we know school dates far in advance, we know we want to cruise and this is how you get the best price. I find, especially these days, cruise bookings only go up. I have one that has gone up by $1000, another by $3500, and even our Icon booking has already gone up by $500 and it was only booked just over 2 months ago. So definitely good to book as soon as you know your dates. Also, for our March 2025, we booked one of those staterooms where there are only a few and they are already no more available, so always good to book earlier rather than later if you want a specific room. We do book refundable though so as it gets closer, there is no harm (aside from sadness and disappointment) if we need to cancel. P.S. - OP, DH and I were just on Liberty. Great ship! RCIfan1912, teddy and FoxboroCruiser 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSUFAN Posted January 16, 2023 Report Share Posted January 16, 2023 I booked an Alaskan trip more than a year ago (4 balcony rooms). I've been price watching for a drop and have seen nothing but higher prices. The rooms are now going for about $2,000 more than we paid. WAAAYTOOO and RCIfan1912 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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