book 2006 cruise now or while on board this summer?

[cepmom]

We are cruising on the 8/28/2005 Wonder 4 night cruise and I'm already thinking about booking a 3 night for just DH and I for next September for our 10 year anniversary . We have never been on any cruise, much less a Disney cruise, but I am already in love with it! DH thinks we should wait to see if we like it, but I think we should book now before the price goes up and then if for some reason we don't really like it we can cancel and get our deposit back (as if we won't like it )

What type of discount/onboard credit can you get for booking while onboard? I know for the 7 day cruises you can get a % discount and $200 onboard credit, but I'm not sure if you get anything for the 3 night. TIA!

 

[Mommy Poppins]

We are booked for May, 2006 with our kids and I am already thinking of booking a 3 nite for DH and I over New Year's for December, 2006. My DH is deployed and won't be home until next spring. So, anyway, I am interested in hearing the answers to your questions as well. Although, my feeling is I need to book now because it is during the holidays, but when we cruise next May, we will still be six months out from our December cruise so if we would hate it ( ) then we could cancel the December one and get a full refund.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

I think it's a $50. room credit for the shorter cruises, don't know about % off. But i do know that the longer you wait the more it will cost as the prices go up everymonth until the cruise sails. we booked ahead of time, then once on board we talked to the person handles the on board bookings and she cancelled our next cruise and rebooked it so we could get our credit. The hard part is you are refunded your deposit and then rebilled to your credit card, so make sure you have enough room on it as the refunds can take a couple of weeks to post to your account. Also by the time you get on board to rebook the price may of gone up enough that it would cost more to rebook at the current rate, even after taking off the room credit, so know your numbers before you go.
mom x4,grandma x4

 

[Stinasmom]

I do know that the longer you wait the more it will cost as the prices go up everymonth until the cruise sails. we booked ahead of time, then once on board we talked to the person handles the on board bookings and she cancelled our next cruise and rebooked it so we could get our credit. By the time you get on board to rebook the price may of gone up enough that it would cost more to rebook at the current rate, even after taking off the room credit, so know your numbers before you go.
mom x4,grandma x4

To the OP: This is EXACTLY the decision I have had to make...even before cruising the first time I was so convinved this was going to be the perfect vacation that I wanted to take advantage of early booking rates for a second. I went ahead and booked for 12/06 and have been watching the price go up slowly above what I booked at...question is, will it be up so much that when we sail in June it wouldn't be worth rebooking for credits & discounts? I am guessing so but as the above quote mentions, I think it is really no big deal to check with Guest Services while cruising, do the math and rebook if it is in your favor.
One other consideration that I discovered, however, is that the TA I booked #2cruise through will NOT refund the entire deposit but will apply the held back portion to a future cruise. I don't think I will be out any $$, but the refund policy is something to check out.

 

[BigAl]

I think for the 7 day cruise the discount is only 10%.