A New Cruise Booking Strategy

There has been a notable imbalance between cruise ship stateroom supply and demand in most peak season markets that has resulted in huge "last-minute" sales this year. At least in the U.S., booked cruises must be paid in full (and the fare is mostly or totally non-refundable depending on how close your cruise is) by the final payment date, which is typically 70 days prior to your sailing.

I believe the cruise industry is having trouble selling staterooms due to a number of factors: (1) industry overbuilding has resulted in too many ships and staterooms saturating specific popular markets in Alaska and Europe as just two examples, (2) the global economic recession/slow-down, and (3) an airline industry at or near full capacity that has resulted in full planes and high airfares. The result this 2013 summer cruise season has been large and substantial post-final-payment price drops in cruise fares. And there is an increase in sales promotions including stateroom upgrades, free gratuities, free beverage packages, onboard credits to spend, travel agency discounts and other perks. This season, you can even get two or more of these perks!

So I now recommend the following cruise booking strategy for peak season cruises. First make one or more bookings within the travel window you desire. This is to ensure you have something in the event that the cruise should sell well, stateroom inventory decline and prices slowly rise. Then follow cruise pricing and sales carefully in the 70-120 days prior to each sailing you are following. Check common cruise booking web sites for stateroom availability and prices. As the final payment date nears, determine if your sailing is indeed selling well or not. If it is selling well (which was highly unlikely in most of 2013's Alaska or Europe summer itineraries), cancel the original booking(s) and wait until the final payment date has passed for the inevitable fare sale!

In my opinion, it is much rather to change sailings, book an alternative land vacation, or not go at all, than to risk taking a huge hit on the cruise fare. The lowest post-final-payment prices paid by many for most 2013 peak summer sailings were less than half of what many early bookers paid for the same staterooms! In addition, I've learned that the best way to secure a better stateroom, i.e. suites, CC or AC, is to wait. Of my over a dozen cruises, the only two times I've had a suite were both last-minute deals whereby I got a suite for a good deal because nobody would pay the advance booking premium over the preceding 18 months. And finally, the best air fare these days is often about 60 days out so that's after final payment anyhow. This strategy has worked great for our last two Celebrity cruises AND they were/are both peak season too!