How do you take advantage of OBB without missing opening day prices?

[Elizakapeka]

So I am cruising for the first time June 2017. I am thinking about doing a placeholder. I can really only cruise when kids are out of school. so since summer 2019 will be past my 2 years then I am down to summer 2018. The way it looks though is if I wait till im on the ship I will have already missed opening day prices? if they repeat the past they will open summer 2018 itineraries in march/april 2017? Am I thinking this through correctly? How do people take advantage of the OBB or placeholder without missing out on opening day prices?

 

[jk and ek]

my best guess is they don't. you're kind of at the whim of your 24 month window, for better or worse. :/

(we just had to give up our discount/a cruise booked with it due to a pregnancy that has a due date a week before the sail date and a resulting baby that will likely only reach 6 months old a couple of weeks after the 24 month expiration. it sucks, but what can you do?)

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So I am cruising for the first time June 2017. I am thinking about doing a placeholder. I can really only cruise when kids are out of school. so since summer 2019 will be past my 2 years then I am down to summer 2018. The way it looks though is if I wait till im on the ship I will have already missed opening day prices? if they repeat the past they will open summer 2018 itineraries in march/april 2017? Am I thinking this through correctly? How do people take advantage of the OBB or placeholder without missing out on opening day prices?

If the new itineraries come out before your cruise, go ahead and book what you want. That way you're locked into the opening day prices.

Once onboard your cruise (if it's later), you can reshop the cruise. The onboard booking perks are applicable to the prevailing prices the day you want to book while onboard. If the price hasn't risen enough since your original booking to negate the savings, you can cancel your original booking, and do an onboard booking.

If the prices have risen too much, you're paying the lowest price you can with the original booking.

 

[KristiMc]

If you are cruising June 2017 you could still possibly use a placeholder for June 2019. The cruise has to start before the end of the 2 years so wait till the end of your June '17 cruise to book the placeholder.

If you are going to go with 2018 instead book it on opening day and then check to see if the price has increased while onboard.

 

[Shanti]

So I am cruising for the first time June 2017. I am thinking about doing a placeholder. I can really only cruise when kids are out of school. so since summer 2019 will be past my 2 years then I am down to summer 2018. The way it looks though is if I wait till im on the ship I will have already missed opening day prices? if they repeat the past they will open summer 2018 itineraries in march/april 2017? Am I thinking this through correctly? How do people take advantage of the OBB or placeholder without missing out on opening day prices?

One thing to consider is that DCL pricing has lately been trending more stable than it used to. Prices used to start moderately high, then progressively get higher & higher from opening day up until the cruise. If you've followed pricing for the last year or two, you'll notice an emerging trend of prices starting quite high, staying the same for several months, then inching a little higher during the last several months before the cruise. This is not the case for all cruises (not for Alaska, for example), but I've checked price increase patterns for enough recent & upcoming cruises to consider this a trend, in which opening day prices often aren't the deal they once were. Book on opening day to be safe, then reshop onboard. You might actually find that there has been no price increase at all by the time you sail.

 

[Elizakapeka]

thank you everyone. I love these boards. I think I will book opening day like you suggested and reshop onboard. I can not cruise any later june 2019 due to kids school. I am pulling them out of the last 2 days for the 2017 cruise. Shanti, I noticed the same thing about prices. My cruise started high, sick to my stomach high. They have only gone up maybe $300. not much. Thank you everyone for your advice