deep1 Posted January 19, 2023 Report Share Posted January 19, 2023 Through these pages we are often told to book early. Sometimes its ego, or just place procrastination. All too often I see people wait longer than they should have Bottom line? Delaying costs dearly. In my case I had to wait for my fiancé's work to approve a job shift. Should have been several weeks ago but only happened today. Four of the cruises I had considered were no longer available. A couple others were sold out of cabins we would have interest in. That left three, all of which had at least doubled in price since I first shopped them. I selected one and called her to make sure she could get the dates off. Just in the time it took to make that call and reload a booking it went up another $200 and three of six remaining rooms on board were gone. Today's one was something beyond my or her control but years ago I dragged my feet on a 3 night on Majesty. I should have been done at $500 or so. By waiting it cost me near triple that. So..... To those who ask when the "best" time to book? Listen to the ones who have been there done that and book as soon as possible. SebagoSue, Cactus527, teddy and 7 others 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
putinbay Posted January 19, 2023 Report Share Posted January 19, 2023 Agreed. I booked Icon for March of 2024 back in October of last year. It’s now $2,400 more expensive. Glad I booked when I did… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK6404 Posted January 19, 2023 Report Share Posted January 19, 2023 Emphatically agree too... Our OCT 2023 Wonder cabin was booked in MAR 2022 and is now $1,100 more... our MAY 2024 Icon cabin was booked last OCT 2022 and is now $1,800 more! Both OV balconies (traditional OV balcony on Icon) midship. Plus, just as important to us, we have a better choice of cabin category and location when you book early. We also like to book adjacent cabins (and open the balcony divider) when traveling with family/friends and when you wait too long your options are limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSUFAN Posted January 19, 2023 Report Share Posted January 19, 2023 Our sailing on the QOTS to Alaska this coming June is now >$2,900 more than when we booked back in March 2022. The overage is nearly what we paid. We also booked a HAL cruise out of Amsterdam in August (booked that trip back in Sept 2022). The price is up a few hundred bucks on that one. Plus, we got a bunch of perks during their "Best Sale Ever" event and that sale has not been repeated since then. Either way, I am glad we booked early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie M Posted January 19, 2023 Report Share Posted January 19, 2023 It seems to me that booking a year+ out is the best idea. I was price-searching last night for January 2024 cruises on Wonder/Symphony/Icon and they're all at least $500 more for a suite than when I was looking a few months ago at the same cruises. We try to always book a year in advance if we know our schedules but that's not always possible given many factors and next year we get new orders so who knows where in the US the Coast Guard will put us. Hopefully not too far from a major RC port! Definitely book early if you can! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK6404 Posted January 19, 2023 Report Share Posted January 19, 2023 Matt just posted a related article yesterday... https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/01/18/why-you-want-book-your-cruise-now-because-royal-caribbean-seeing-higher-cruise-prices Also, embedded in that article is this one by Jenna from last June... https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/06/16/pros-and-cons-of-booking-cruise-early-vs-last-minute deep1 and Matt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WannaCruise Posted January 19, 2023 Report Share Posted January 19, 2023 Totally agree. We booked Freedom right away for 2025 and our room is already gone (only a few). For other cruises, we have one that has gone up by over $1000 and our new years one is up $3500. Booked them right at opening. We always book right away for the reasons you state, but keep it refundable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep1 Posted January 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2023 Most everything sold out on several and even the one I did book... One more day I would have had serious problem just getting ship and itinerary we want... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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