How much do you save by booking ahead?

[Wdwdreamer101]

How much do you save by booking cruises ahead?
What blackout date are there, is there anything else to know?
Thanks for the help!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

How much do you save by booking cruises ahead?
What blackout date are there, is there anything else to know?
Thanks for the help!

Hard to say how much you'll save, as you don't know the final price the room is going for until embarkation day. But, typically, the lowest cost for a room will be on opening day for any given itinerary.

You can find blackout dates on the http://disneycruiselineblog.com/ by searching for the block of itineraries (example "summer 2018") and scrolling down to the bottom of the page there. There's a "Block out dates" section.

 

[jrabbit]

Typically the closer you book to the date that the cruises were released to the market, the less expensive the cruise will be. So for Disney, that is 15-18 months in advance. Because pricing is based on how the sales are going, the more rooms they sell, the higher the price goes.

At the other end of the spectrum - after the Pay In Full date - as people cancelled their ressies (before the PIF) DCL will sometimes offer "category guaranteed rooms" at a reduced cost - compared to the final prices charged for the cruise. They may more or less expensive than "Opening Day" pricing.

If you live in Florida, they often give last minute discounts, sometimes they give discounts to the Military.

If price is important, then booking a cruise while kids are in school will save money. Spring Break, Summers and even 3 day weekends are more expensive. To me it seems like early September might provide some of the least expensive prices.

TransAtlantic and Panama Canal cruise are also typically less expensive per day since they are two week cruises, during school time, and many people cannot take two weeks off at one time from work.

 

[saxmangeoff]

As one example, my Alaska cruise for this summer is currently going for about $1000 more than I paid. I booked shortly after opening day (and still at the opening day price).

 

[havaneselover]

In 2013 our Easter Fantasy cruise doubled before it sold out. 2015 Dream 4-day Easter week increased about 40%. 2016 Fantasy the week before Labor Day was up about 30%.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

My 4-nt this August that I booked 10 months out is now $1000 more and there's still 5 months to go.

 

[AngelDisney]

I booked my Alaskan 2015 cruise on opening day at $4000 Deck 6 forward deluxe oceanview verandah room with OBB discount for 2 adults. Two months before sailing the same category room was about $7000 for 2 adults. Yes, I checked the prices periodically to see where I stood. I was definitely glad that I booked on opening day. The prices for Alaskan cruises have been high up since then.

 

[Malibustyle23]

Is there a way to see what the price was on opening day? I am looking a booking a Magic cruise for 4/2018 but not sure if the price has already risen?

 

[Msmit002]

Provided this link doesn't get blocked: https://www.cruisefish.net/finder.md

 

[rcchello]

Depends on the cruise and the category. some high demand cruises can go up by $1000 a person in one category and $100 in another. Some cruises go up within a couple days of being released and other stay at opening price for months.

Check cruisefish.net for similar sailings to see the progression. Also remember season has an effect. Carribean sailing that are when kids are in school are usually less expensive to begin with and go up slower than one when school is not in session.

 

[For the love of Pooh]

I booked my upcoming cruise a year in advance while onboard the Wonder. I am getting ready to take that cruise in May and was wondering if I'm better off waiting until I can book a cruise the first day out versus any savings I might get if I book a future cruise while onboard.

 

[cruiser21]

I booked my upcoming cruise a year in advance while onboard the Wonder. I am getting ready to take that cruise in May and was wondering if I'm better off waiting until I can book a cruise the first day out versus any savings I might get if I book a future cruise while onboard.

If you find a cruise you want to take and your happy with the price I wouldn't worry about it. You can always book a placeholder onboard.

 

[WeLoveDisneyAlways]

Booked 2 weeks ago for $3094, today it's $3250 so already jumped quite a bit

 

[cruiser21]

The cruises vary a lot. I just booked a cruise for this May the price had only gone up 75.00 pp since opening day. The Carribbean cruises in the Fall don't really rise that much sometimes waiting for restricted rates is better. Alaska is very popular prices go up fast. It seems like every cruise line is pretty expensive in Alaska. The European cruises early June and early Sept seem to stay pretty flat. I think there were some discounts on those. The Bahamas cruises in Jan and Feb are not big sellers. It's really not that warm in the Bahamas that time of year. Cruises out of San Juan and Galveston are not that popular. They just discounted the 11 night Southern on the Fantasy. That was a really expensive cruise, and it's still really expensive. So to answer your question it really varies. If you said what cruise your interested in I think people could give you a better idea. Booking early is always a good plan, but I know it's not always feasible.

 

[seacruise]

We used a future cruise credit and booked on opening day for Presidents Day week 2018 (Wonder Caribbean). It's now going for about 2k more than we paid.

 

[Dug720]

A lot of the savings - and how quickly you see them and how much they are - depend on what category you booked. I booked for the Wonder Presidents' Week cruise while on the Magic a couple of weeks ago, and my Deck 2 9C Ocean View cabin was just over $2000 - so that absolutely has not gone up $2000 because they do not "sell" them for $0.

 

[seacruise]

Depends on the category and also the number of passengers in the cabin. Just looked again and our deck 7 balcony cabin on the Wonder for Presidents day week is now going for $7,100 (3 people) which is 2k more than we paid on opening day. When you say 2,000 are you talking about per person? The least expensive cabin I see on that sailing appears to be $3,800 for two people.

 

[cruiser21]

A lot of the savings - and how quickly you see them and how much they are - depend on what category you booked. I booked for the Wonder Presidents' Week cruise while on the Magic a couple of weeks ago, and my Deck 2 9C Ocean View cabin was just over $2000 - so that absolutely has not gone up $2000 because they do not "sell" them for $0.

It could be that they booked a room for 4 or 5. Kids being out of school might make those rooms go up faster. Just throwing that out there.

 

[Dug720]

It could be that they booked a room for 4 or 5. Kids being out of school might make those rooms go up faster. Just throwing that out there.

I *did* say that a lot depends on the type of room - that would include for how many people.

But still there were no cabins going for $0 on opening day.