When is the Best Time to Book?

GoofTroop80

New Member
Hello all! I'm new to the forum and couldn't find any info on this, so I figured I would ask here. When does Royal typically offer their best deals to sail? I know a month or two ago they had a promotion for 60% off the second passenger and kids sail free. Do they typically offer their deals like that around the same time every year, or does it fluctuate without any true pattern? We didn't book with that promotion because they didnt have the sail dates we had in mind available yet and we don't want to overpay if we know we can wait for the deal to come back again. TIA for any information provided!
 

George C

Staff Captain
We have always found best thing is to book ASAP ,we normally book over a year before sailing date. But then keep watching the fare , if fare goes up you are locked in to original rate if fare goes down you can call and get new rate as long as its not past the final payment time.
 

GoofTroop80

New Member
We have always found best thing is to book ASAP ,we normally book over a year before sailing date. But then keep watching the fare , if fare goes up you are locked in to original rate if fare goes down you can call and get new rate as long as its not past the final payment time.

If I were to book something this week with 60% off second passenger and then next week they offer Kids Sail Free would I be able to switch to the kids sail free promo? If I'm able to, would I still be able to keep the 60% off the second passenger? We're new to cruising so I'm unsure how all of this works
 

BSeabob

Forum Manager
Staff member
The big thing about booking is to get your cruise date and the itinerary and then you can worry about other things. Generally booking way out ensures this. With kids school and work schedules this takes care of number one issue. Most main stream cruise lines do the same routes so there is were you can save some bucks. But as in most things in life these days you get what you pay for. Booking early gets you a price that you must be comfortable with as the cruise price may go up. Popular dates usually do. But if they do go down you can often pick up the difference as George says. Looking at the prices is a fairly complex job and I recommend a good travel agent who knows the industry.
If you have booked and a deal comes along for adding in pax or perks or what not, usually these will be for NEW Bookings only. But you may be able to rebook and gain with a completely new booking. You need to remember that you may not be able to get the same dates or cabin..thats the real issue. Take a bit of solace in the fact that most cruise Lines generally just raise the base price for a cabin and then they throw in the extras and your early booking gives you comfort knowing all this goes on without bothering you.
One off cruises need to be booked early as they seldom go down in pricing.
Holidays and School Holidays ...hardly ever go down. UNTIL after final payment date...usually 3 months before sailing. When ships that have not filled up will show way lower pricing. Not if they have basically sold out of course. But if there are lots of rooms left they will go down. Room choices will be limited etc. Of course no one really knows if this will happen and you as a booker must be real flexible on your dates.
Don't book really early on the most popular Itineraries as they WILL generally go down after all the bookers like George and I that want something specific get our bookings in and bookings slow down. Usually a few months after the booking open. That's when pricing goes down as cruise lines use their booking computer programs to ensure their ships are full at sailing some date well in the future.
It's a bit of a gamble here and there and like I said a Good TA> is almost essential to end up with the best pricing.
Been at it a while and I still sometimes miss out.

Best advice. Get TA. Book an Itinerary, price and time/room(s) you are comfortable with and sit back for a count down. #1. Advice. Don't sweat the small stuff. Ship happens no matter how much prep and thought you put into it. Most main stream cruise lines deal in huge numbers and people makes mistakes and weather and water are not controllable by man regardless and most of the time cruising is a fabulous experience.

This advice varies from country to country and esp. continent to continent. Above applies mainly to North America.
 
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