It's that time of the year again where 2013 cruises go on Sale. Anybody familiar with the cruise industry will know that now is the time to start thinking about your 2013 cruise! Although it can be argued that sometimes it is cheaper to book late, early is usually better. Read on and follow a few simple rules to get the most out of your 2013 cruise holiday. Although, Fred Olsen cruises and NCL are already on sale, not all cruises are available to book yet. Royal Caribbean go on sale from the 19th March, and the rest, namely P and O, Princess and Cunard go on sale in April. We should have a heads up as to what the prices will be this Month for 2013, and it is highly recommend to get in really early. A few advantages of booking early are not missing out on free child places, getting on popular maiden voyages or popular itineraries.
Pre-registration, what is it? If there is a certain Itinerary that you really want to get on, and we are expecting it to be very busy (usually maiden voyages or free kids cruises), by pre registering we are essentially taking a pre-booking off you before the cruise goes on sale. To explain in a bit more detail, before the cruise goes on sale we will agree a price with you, ask you to choose maybe four cabin numbers ( just in case your first choice is already gone) and take your card details down to take the deposit once booked. The morning the cruise goes on sale, we will be here, usually at 8am and book the cruise as soon as it goes on sale. If for any reason we cannot get the cabin you were after or the cruise price has gone up, we will call you to ask if you would like a higher grade, etc. If not we will just take the deposit for the cruise and treat it as any other booking.
You may have seen that above I mentioned that the cruise may go up. The more a cruise sells, the higher the price increases. Supply and demand. If there is a sailing that everyone wants to do. You probably have to be flexible in terms of price. Both the QE2 final voyage and the Queen Elizabeth maiden voyage sold out top to bottom in under an hour. The short P&O cruises on the 175th Anniversary for this year, sold out in a few days. So for cases like this it is usually wise to give us a top limit on what you a willing to pay. You may think that this sounds like a bad idea, but in some specialised cases like the above, it is probably worth it. As by the time we have got hold of you, the cruise may have gone up even more or worst case sold out.
When to book early? With more and more late deals out there is it always wise to book early? The rules to decide this are simple. If you are in a big family group, with multiple 2, 3 and 4 berth cabins book early. If you are a smaller family in 3 or 4 berth cabins, still book early. Any peak date, School holidays, Christmas, Easter etc. book early. Any specific date or itinerary you are tied too, book early to avoid disappointment. Any unique itinerary, say to the Northern Lights in Feb, or to the Far East book early. Any specialised itinerary like, Maiden voyages or cruises with free kids places, always book early. If you are just looking for a med cruise, don’t mind who you travel with, do not have a specific date in mind, then it may be worth thinking about booking late.
Obviously any of the above rules are not always 100% accurate, there are always exceptions to the rule, but unless you are an expert at being in the right place at the right time, exceptions are very hard to predict. Ultimatly it is of course down to you as to when book your cruise, the above is just some gereral knowledge from my 5 years of experience. As normal any questions let me know!
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