How can I book the best cruise price last minute?
Question by JenMarie: How can I book the best cruise price last minute?
I’ve always been told that waiting til the last minute brings you amazing deals. But online, the prices for a carnival cruise have gone up almost 0 in only a month. So I was wondering if anyone has had experience with this? Do Carnival traveling agents price match? Are they willing to negotiate price if there are so many cabins left? I know standby isn’t an option due to security reasons, but what’s the best way? Thank you
Best answer:
Answer by Mopar Muscle Gal
the best way to get a good deal on a cruise is to book it way in advance
What do you think? Answer below!
For sure, you should adopt the specific standby
Comment by Katrin — June 28, 2010 @ 10:42 am
Book in advance and keep checking the price.
Yes- you can get a last minute deal but space must be available.
Good luck.
Comment by 1Cheapcruise — June 28, 2010 @ 11:04 am
It is a myth that the best prices for a cruise are when you wait last minute. The very best prices for a cruise are when you book way in advance like 1 year. But the web site vacationstogo have what they call the 90 day ticker which is in cruise terminology last minute. So check there or talk to a regular Travel agent and see what they can do.
Comment by timetravler — June 28, 2010 @ 11:33 am
Whether you get the best price booking far in advance or at the last minute depends on how well the cruise lines have estimated demand for the particular sailing. Here’s how it works:
The cruise lines look at how popular similar sailings have been in the past, and they consider current factors like the state of the economy and changes in capacity. Then, they make a guess as to how high they can prices the various cabin categories on a particular sailing and still sell out the ship.
Next, the lines wait to see what happens. If they’ve guessed too low and a particular sail date is filling up faster than expected, they raise the prices. If bookings are slow, then they lower prices or add incentives like onboard credits or reduced deposits to try to stimulate demand.
The closer it gets to the sail date, the harder it is sell a given number of cabins-even with reduced prices. So if there’s a lot of unsold inventory after final payments are due (usually 65-75 days prior to sailing) then prices will drop. If the ship is nearly full, prices will go up.
To get the best rate, look for listings of “last minute specials” like this one:
Once you’ve identified a sailing with a good price, shop around. You will need to contact agents directly and ask for custom price quotes (they can’t advertise their lowest rates online) and/or use a site like CruiseCompete.com () where you select a sailing then let agents compete to offer you the best deal.
Good luck!
Comment by mssharon — June 28, 2010 @ 11:49 am
ok well what you really need to do is find the dates you want. december is usually the cheapest. so once you do that you need to look at every cruise line. look at the prices and make sure that you are happy with the ship and everything. what you want is the cheapest price right? look on travel planning websites and look at the different prices. dont just loook at the popular travel companies but type in on google cheap cruises and you will find some hidden companies that might give you a better price just because they need help in ther company. make sure that it is legit by looking at the reviews because you dont want to be scammed. when booking things to do on the island you dont have to boook it through the cruise line. also the bahamas are sooo pretty so you can walk around the island. can you please answer my question
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Comment by Best deals — June 28, 2010 @ 1:14 pm