How Last Minute Can You Book A Cruise?

[keishashadow]

We decided to buy a resale DVC (waiting for ROFR clearance). Paying cash, had to cancel 7 night L/S Cat #7 in February - Boo-Hoo.

We were really looking forward to experiencing a cruise; so, we booked a 3 night cruise for December hoping to coordinate last minute room availability & cruise to coincide. Probably will have to wait until end of May/early June to know exactly when we'll be able to get a room at WDW. Hope I made a good guess booking the cruise.

My question is:

how late can you book a cruise (2 months before?) I'm not thinking availability issues (already have seen cruise categories selling out for various dates this fall and prices rising) but, moreso, whether there is a general booking cut-off date or policy

Thanks.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

I think that you have book a cruise at least a week in advance, something to do with giving Immigration the passnger list. You can certainly book 2 months out. You would have to pay in full at the time of booking, but other than that, I think availability (and, of course, price) would be the only issues.

 

[keishashadow]

Thanks - I'm wondering if any "discounters", i.e., Expedia, offer last-minute sales? It seems as, other than the Magical Rates DCL offers, once you're out of the early booking period the rates slowly climb.

Guess I'm going to have to play it by ear.

 

[tvguy]

Lady at my daughter's Orthodontist's office lived in Miami until recently. Said she and her son were on a list with cruise lines for last minute trips. She said before 9-11 they sometimes would get a call on Wednesday wanting to know if they could go on Saturday.
After 9-11 they would get calls on Wednesday for departures a week from Saturday.
The cost was always the same, $199 per person for a 7 day cruise.

She said someone in the cruise industry said that it costs the cruise line about $75 per person for food for a week long cruise, so it's better at the last minute to only make $120 per person than have a cabin empty and make nothing.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

Thanks - I'm wondering if any "discounters", i.e., Expedia, offer last-minute sales? It seems as, other than the Magical Rates DCL offers, once you're out of the early booking period the rates slowly climb.

My understanding is that DCL prices their cruises in "tiers." The prices start at the lowest tier (which would be a higher price during the summer or for holidays), and then will increase when a certain number of cabins are booked for a given category. Since they only have two ships, they don't have the capacity issues that some lines have. The really good deals happen, as tvguy said, when the cruise is near and there are empty rooms. DCL usually doesn't have this problem.

I think it is worth looking at the various discount sites, such as Vacationstogo, Cruise411, Expedia, Travelocity, etc. They may buy up a block of rooms to resell, and if they haven't sold all of their rooms, they might give a good discount in order to unload them. Again, my personal experience with DCL is that the further out you book, the better the price, but you never know.

 

[2BoysMom]

Also, as I just mentioned in an another post, try allseastravel.com. We are sailing this August (last minute, high traffic time) and availability was an issue for us. I tried MANY sites and TA's and All Season Travel had the availability and GREAT rates, that other sites (including Disney-specialty travel agents) just didn't have.

 

[keishashadow]

Thanks again, I'm going to bookmark the sites mentioned for when my resale goes through.

 

[kcashner]

I actually booked a cruise on Thursday for a Saturday sailing. This was pre 9/11, so I'm not sure what the rules are now.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

I believe the mandatory one-week advance booking was implemented after 9/11/01, similar to the Immigration checks at ports such as St. Thomas and San Juan.

 

[ksjayhawks]

We booked our March 13 RCCL cruise on March 5 and I was told that I could have booked as late as 3 or 4 days before the cruise. It might vary by cruise line.

 

[nedleycan]

We were on the November 2002 cancelled cruise (Norwalk Virus) and we found out on Wednesday (I believe) that our Saturday cruise was cancelled. I rebooked the 4-day (leaving on Sunday) on Thursday. So, it was only 3 days before cruise day... no problem!
I don't think there are limitations.

 

[ericamanda01]

On this board I have read about a family that had a last minute family member who wanted to cruise and got a stateroom at the port on the day of the cruise. However I think that may be cutting it really close.

 

[RichNKatHolly]

Thanks - I'm wondering if any "discounters", i.e., Expedia, offer last-minute sales? It seems as, other than the Magical Rates DCL offers, once you're out of the early booking period the rates slowly climb.

Guess I'm going to have to play it by ear.

Just a note about Expedia. We booked our Jan '05 cruise (4 night $299pp) with them in November 2004. I had to pay in full within 7 days of booking and we had to have the late seating. I checked the site frequently before we left and by Dec the price went up $100, then $200 then the cruise disappeared all together. I don't recall if it was fully booked when we sailed.

That was our personal experience. Hope it helps.

 

[keishashadow]

Thanks - have a great trip.