Any advantage to booking late?

[DisneyNewbie76]

I work as a PO here in NY. One disadvantage I have is not being able to pick my vacation for the next calendar year until roughly November of the current year. I am also not the Senior guy in my squad so when I pick roughly half the year is already taken. That being said, is there a way to score a deal or does the price just continue to creep up based on Supply and Demand. My main focus each year is to try and get a week of vacation in around February and a week in late August/early September before school starts. So we are looking at a leeway of as little as three months to as much as only 9-10 months.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I work as a PO here in NY. One disadvantage I have is not being able to pick my vacation for the next calendar year until roughly November of the current year. I am also not the Senior guy in my squad so when I pick roughly half the year is already taken. That being said, is there a way to score a deal or does the price just continue to creep up based on Supply and Demand. My main focus each year is to try and get a week of vacation in around February and a week in late August/early September before school starts. So we are looking at a leeway of as little as three months to as much as only 9-10 months.

The lowest prices are typically on the day the itineraries are released. As the space onboard starts filling up, the prices rise. Sometimes slowly, sometimes quite dramatically (within hours).

On occasion, if a cruise isn't selling well, DCL may offer last minute rates/FL resident/military rates. These are usually offered after the Paid in Full date for a given cruise, don't last long, and are generally (but not always) still higher than opening day prices. But can be a substantial savings over the prevailing rates.

 

[Msmit002]

Also, depending on your sailing, DIsney may offer 'last minute' IGT/OGT/VGT rates. My last cruise on the Fantasy I booked that way. Booked my trip 39 days before departure (for an August sailing, no less) and paid a really excellent price for our verandah.

So in other words, if you have to book last minute it's not the end of the world.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

If your dates are flexible and you are cruising off peak, then you may score a really good deal booking IGT/OGT/VGT. These are restricted rates released usually within 70 days of sailing.
I know a lot of people say that opening day prices are best, but we have booked the GT rates about 4 times now and paid less than opening day prices. On one sailing we actually paid about 10% less for verandah then the inside room was on opening day. We booked about 60 days out and we sailed in October, December, January and May. All those months had GT rates. Nothing is guaranteed though so it pays to be flexible.

 

[lspst8]

I'm leaving on Sunday for my third *GT cruise, and all of the rates have been less than opening day, at least according to Cruisefish. Our other last minute cruises were in January 2015 and April 2015.

 

[cruiser21]

Fall cruises go up very little if it all. You should be fine booking first week of Sept in November. The Dream usually has discounts in Feb. Not sure about the Fantasy. The Caribbean is more popular then the Bahamas in the winter months. I personally have never seen a cruise rise by the hour. Disney prices are so high now think they've run out of room to raise them.

 

[DisneyNewbie76]

Also, depending on your sailing, DIsney may offer 'last minute' IGT/OGT/VGT rates. My last cruise on the Fantasy I booked that way. Booked my trip 39 days before departure (for an August sailing, no less) and paid a really excellent price for our verandah.

Thanks for all the great info everyone!

 

[xlxo]

Due to work commitments.... I need to book a few days before a trip....

• I may pay more for the hotel, plane and cruise... but I save on the cancellation insurance. Sometimes I get real lucky when there are unsold cabins needing to be filled, especially with other cruise lines during low season.
• I can see what the weather forecast is for the coming days. Who wants to pay good money to see rain? I'm not a storm chaser.
• I'm indecisive on my cabins... I usually just pick a category and say "surprise me".