Book as far out as you can!

[SoCalYeags]

I know this is a common cruise tip among the cruising community but with cruise prices getting higher and higher I thought I would share a real example from yesterday.

TLDR: Spoke to my travel agent and booked a sailing 690 days out and saved a ton of money. 

Context if you want it:

My wife and I have set dates we can travel with little to no flexibility due to her line of work in education. The one benefit we have is her district publishes the calendars for a couple years at a time so we know when the breaks will be. 

Typically we are book within 6-18 month people. Unless we get a casino cruise and find a way to squeeze them in.

We are currently booked next year for Thanksgiving 2027 that we had the hopes of being able to go to Perfect Day Mexico. With the recent news about the delay, that cruise will most likely not see it at all, or just get the "soft opening" whatever that means. Disappointing, but a valid reason to book another cruise in 2028 right!? 

I looked at sailings for her spring break in 2028 and called my travel agent. If you aren't using one, you are booking your cruises wrong in my opinion. There are tons of recommendations on this site. I have a long standing relationship with ours and she knows our preferences. The whole process is so much more seamless.

I was able to jump on a group rate for my preferred cabin type for THOUSANDS less than I have paid for that same ship, room, and itinerary in the past.

Get a travel agent and plan as far out as you are able to!

Happy Cruising!

[ScottD]

I booked a NYE cruise for December 2027 into jan 2028 about a month ago. I checked today to see if the price dropped, not only is it already close to sold out, it went up almost $1200 already. 

[Eric Extreme]

The day cruises drop my wife and me (typically having previously brainstormed what we are looking for), review what's available, and book immediately using the nextcruise prepaid deposits we purchased on a prior cruise. I have 8 cruises booked currently with the last one in May 2028 on Celebrity Edge.

[PhillyLady]

I think this is decent advice, but mainly only if one is doing NATIONAL cruises--that means cruises out of a U.S. port somewhere. Yes, the itinerary or the ship itself may change, but most likely one can end up on something similar, flights are pretty reliable, and the safety is a stable situation. 

I used to book my international cruise and other travel at least two years in advance, but for the past six years or so due to world events I have gotten "burned" a little by booking that way.  I lost my China tour and river cruise (booked for 2020, and then tried again for 2021), my Israel tour (booked for 2024), my Brazil/Argentina tour (booked for 2025--the country decided to require visas and bank statements).  Thank goodness I had not yet finalized the air for any of those trips, so I did not have to worry about trying to get flight refunds! Last year I booked my high season Celebrity cruise to Iceland less than six months ahead, and I think I obtained a fair cruise price, a good cabin location, and decent air cost. 

Last year I also booked an ABC cruise for this November, and the itinerary changed this past Winter as the islands decided to limit cruise ship visits.  I many cancel that one even though my price is quite low compared to the current price, because I am not that thrilled about the new ports. 

I was planning a return cruise to Istanbul in 2016, but due to the attempted coup cruise ships stopped traveling there for many years. I was finally able to cruise there again in 2023! That is a fabulous area of the world to see, but unfortunately much of the Black Sea is off limits due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. 

I am hoping to cruise around Japan next year, but I have been hesitating to confirm since it was not my first choice, and right now the airfare is almost more than the cruise! I have had my Nile river cruise all picked out for the past three years, but due to instability in the Middle East I refuse to book it. 

Since I have cruised a lot out of the U.S., it is no longer as much of a necessity for me to book as far out as possible--I am doing less than a year  (or even a half year) on many trips these days, and I can be somewhat flexible on dates to see the best prices. 

I think as long as the deposits can be returned or applied to another cruise the advance booking practice is a good strategy, but many tour companies are not as lenient, and even some cruise lines are becoming more strict.  

Of course I strongly support the use of an expert travel agent to help keep track of all of these changes!

 

 

 

[teddy]

13 hours ago, PhillyLady said:

Of course I strongly support the use of an expert travel agent to help keep track of all of these changes!

We are so thankful for our travel agent.  Over the past couple years we've had to move cruises due to health issues, and our travel agent has been a rock star in facilitating everything.