One of the questions we receive most about cruising is when to book a cruise in order to get the lowest price. Like airfare prices, cruise prices also tend to fluctuate greatly and there’s no surefire way to guess exactly what they’re going to do. But based on past booking patterns, you can have a decent idea. Often booking early is best, while in other instances last-minute cruise deals are the way to go. Follow these tips when booking your next cruise and you’ll be sailing into an awesome deal.
1) Book Early but Keep Monitoring the Prices
It’s typically a safe bet to book a cruise as early as possible (more than a year in advance) to lock in the best price. But don’t stop there. If the price of the cruise changes or a better promotion springs up, then you can change your booking to take advantage of the new pricing or promotion. So keep a watchful eye on those prices and promotions. If you find a more attractive offer to the cruise you’ve booked, call your booking agent immediately to rebook the better deal.
Unlike airfares, cruises usually offer free cancelation as long as you do so before the cancelation period which varies by cruise line and itinerary. Typically the cancelation period is a month or two before the sailing date, so you should be able to cancel without penalty anytime before then, and book the better deal you’ve found.
Be diligent to check the price often or consider paying for a service to alert you of price drops. Sites like cruisefaremonitor. com will do this for you for a small fee.
2) Or Book a Last-Minute Cruise Deal Under the Right Circumstances
Only if all of the following circumstances apply, you can usually find some of the best deals by booking last-minute:
You are are flexible and don’t have a strong preference as to a specific itinerary, cruise line, or ship You are considering a cruise during a location’s off-seaason (see tip #4 below) You are comfortable booking a non-refundable cruise within a month or so from departure
September and October Caribbean sailings can often be a good bet to hold off until within 30-45 days prior to the cruise to book a fantastic last-minute cruise deal at a non-cancelable rate. Transatlantic and repositioning cruises can be another place to find incredible last-minute values. (See more on off-season bookings in Tip #4.)
Another major consideration for booking a last-minute cruise is if you happen to live within driving distance of the departure port. Because even if you score a great last-minute cruise deal, you’ll find that last-minute airfares are usually quite expensive which could completely cancel out your cruise savings. Yet if you can drive to the cruise port, this further capitalizes on the incredible last-minute deal that may await you.
3) Do Use a Travel Agent or Third Party
With most things travel, we usually always advocate booking directly with the company for the best price. Middlemen often take a cut and inflate your price. But this is absolutely NOT the case when booking a cruise. Always book with a third-party instead of the cruise line directly. You will often find perks, bonuses, and occasionally even lower prices. Be sure to check out our guide to on How to Book a Cruise Deal for Less Than $50 Per Day for detailed info what sites to check to score the best deal and our complete strategies for booking a last-minute cruise deal.
We’ve actually found the best deals on the last three cruises we’ve gone on by booking through Priceline. com (yup, they do cruises too). Be sure to book online and not over the phone. Because if you book with Priceline over the phone, they do charge an annoying $24.95 booking fee. However, even when booking over the phone we’ve found that they offer previous Priceline Cruise customers an additional $50 Priceline hotel voucher, which more than makes up for the booking fee if you’re able to use this voucher. Take a look and compare prices, just be sure to factor in all of those perks and bonuses that a third party, like Priceline, may be able to provide.
4) Book Against the Grain
Regardless of whether you’re going to book early or late, always consider off-peak cruise times to secure the best prices. If possible avoid Spring Break sailings. You’ll not only save money but will also save yourself sanity by avoiding hell-raising kids and drunk college partiers. Similarly it can be a wise call to avoid holiday sailings and summer sailings.
Some great cruise bargains can often be found in early Fall when kids go back to school. The weather is still warm but do beware that it’s still in the midst of hurricane season in the Atlantic. Still this makes it a great bet for last-minute cruises, because you’ll know if there’s a hurricane threat at the time. Another good bet is in between Thanksgiving and mid-December, particularly for Florida/Caribbean sailings. During this time, there tends to be an influx of ships that have been recently repositioned there, yet people tend to avoid traveling during this time. This brings about an excess supply of empty cabins which can often lead to prices being slashed.
5) Book a “Guaranteed Stateroom”
We’re big proponents of booking what’s called a “guaranteed stateroom” to get the absolute lowest price on whichever cabin type you’re interested in (inside, outside, balcony, suite). With a “guaranteed” cabin, you are guaranteed a room within that particular type of stateroom or higher. You don’t get to the choose the cabin’s location and it will be assigned to you at a date usually around a month or so prior to the cruise. It is a small gamble and naysayers will cite the potential of being placed in undesirable locations such as under a nightclub, galley, or in the ship’s bow. We always book “guaranteed and have never been assigned one of those locations. You stand a much greater chance to be placed in one of the many awesome locations on the ship and you could even score an elusive free upgrade. We always book “guaranteed” and have been extremely happy with our assigned stateroom locations.
The one thing to keep in mind is that these guaranteed cabins always have the absolute lowest price.