Cruise for Honeymoon... When is the best time to look for a deal? - The PASH Wedding Forums and Message Boards

Yelycrazygirl · #1 01-22-2007, 08:57 PM

Ok, this is the thing. We decided that we are going to do a Cruise for our honeymoon. Will be December... so I have never done a cruise before. I do know exactly with what company and what ship. My question is when should I start looking for the best price???? I have no idea.... I know how to look for airfare but not for a cruise. Right now the price is $1439.00 per person. I know that is because of the time of the year, is too soon to try to book a cruise for December but when is the perfect time to get a good deal? Help!!! Anybody?!?!?!?

justnmary · #2 01-22-2007, 09:04 PM

Hurricane season!

Sorry I have no clue!

Yelycrazygirl · #3 01-22-2007, 09:05 PM

ja ja ja...

is not hurricane season.... Thanks to God.... that's one of the reasons the wedding will be in December instead of Summer time.....

ohh well thanks anyway.....

whiddle · #4 01-22-2007, 09:06 PM

Which port are you leaving from and what cruise line?

I know that Carnival does last minute specials. I have seen them as low as $129 for a 5 day cruise. Where are you cruising to?

Yelycrazygirl · #5 01-22-2007, 09:10 PM

Is with Royal Caribbean, The ship is Adventure of the Seas and will be leaving from San Juan, PR on December 23, 2007... Well this is the one I want to go....

ladedah · #6 01-22-2007, 09:20 PM

Anything over the holidays are going to be expensive....to be honest...if you want the cheapest price it's probably going to be right now. I know when we booked our cruise...we were pricing packages and airfare and within a week the cabin level that we wanted sold out and we had to go with the higher price point (this was five months before the cruise)....I would think that it's just like airfare...the more people that book, the higher the price goes...plus lots of people are going to be planning next years christmas vacation....

Good Luck.

Yelycrazygirl · #7 01-22-2007, 09:31 PM

That's pretty much what I was thinking... when I go home for the holidays (December) I start looking for airfare in September and most of the time I do get a decent price. But I don't know if September is too far for the cruise......

ladedah · #8 01-22-2007, 09:58 PM

Well, last time we flew over the holidays....we booked in July...so

I'm just anal about that kind of thing....

Steph · #9 01-23-2007, 01:44 AM

I have been on Royal Carribean and it is a family atmosphere type ship. I am going on Carnival next month. I heard Carnival is for a younger crowd. I can let you know how it was when I get back. I did have a great time on Royal Carribean too.

Yelycrazygirl · #10 01-23-2007, 01:59 PM

Oh yeah let me know......

imstilldreaming · #11 01-23-2007, 02:31 PM

We went on Carnival last summer. I wouldn't say it's more for the 'younger' crowd necessarily. There are lots of kids activities, but lots for adults too. There are some cheesy things but all in all the food is great, most of the entertainment is great, and our room was clean and nice and we had a little towel animal and mints on our bed every night

. I know they go to San Juan because we went there! We only paid $700 each for a 7 night but that was in hurricane season. I know for sure Carnival does lots of last minute stuff, I get an email from them every month or so. If you can stand to wait last minute, that's my recommendation since they are trying to fill up any last minute rooms and sell them for cheaper. That might make you nervous though, I don't know. We haven't booked anything for our honeymoon though and it's a little over two months away.

Cirig · #12 01-23-2007, 02:36 PM

I think you should be on the constant look out. You never know when the best rate is going to be. Could be a change in one day. I went to Mexico the week before Christmas with another couple (my cousin). We booked about 3 weeks apart & I got $300 better rate for the same thing. So I would just look every couple days.

I just advise that you don't wait until last minute, you don't want it to be sold out! Have fun!!!!!!!

Kelley · #13 01-25-2007, 12:51 AM

I have been on both Royal Carribean and Carnival and I really enjoyed myself much more on Carnival. My advice also is to get in contact with a travel agent. Each time I went on a cruise I ended up getting a great deal through the agent. She would call me and tell me when there were going to be specials and when we would have to book. Sometimes I only paid $200-300 for a 4 day cruise to Mexico because my travel agent got me a special deal.
I hope it works out for you. I'm also looking for cruises in December and so far I haven't found any spectacular deals. I'm hopping something will come up soon.

jatchue · #14 02-26-2007, 08:17 PM

The reason that cruise is so expensive is because of christmas week, it's only $809pp the week before. If you are flexible you can find a much cheaper cruise.

Voyager of the seas from Galveston Texas Dec 23 1199pp
Jewel of the seaa from Ft Lauderdale Dec 23 1199pp only 6 nights
Vision of the seas from LA Dec 23 1099pp

Carnival is cheaper
Carnival Victory from Miami Dec 23 799pp
Carnival Pride from Long Beach CA Dec 23 999pp
Carnival Destiny from San Juan Dec 23 749pp
Carnival Conquest from Galveston Texas Dec 23 899pp

As you can see there are many cruises available, more than I listed here.

Good Luck

Yelycrazygirl · #15 02-26-2007, 08:24 PM

Thanks for the info...

Armyfiance24 · #16 03-18-2007, 02:44 PM

I just booked our cruise about a month ago using this site: http://www.cruisecompete.com/

It may be a good idea for you since you already know what cruise you want to take. All you do is you write out what cruise you want to take, and a current quote that you have on it, then travel agents will post deals that they have and you can compare them. Also, when you get a good quote, repost your request back onto cruisecompete.com with the new price, until you can get the best deal. I got about $400 off of our cruise by doing it this way.

Also a little tip, most travel agents have a free 24 hour hold on reservations, so if someone asks you for a refundable deposit, don't do it.

It can be up to $500 and it can take up to two months to get your refund back (I learned that the hard way)

I love looking for deals for vacations for some odd reason, and let me know if you would like any help! I'd be a travel agent if it wasn't a career being taken over by computers!

Steph · #17 03-19-2007, 12:44 AM

I recently got back from a cruise on Carnival. I had so much more fun on Carnival than I did on Royal Carribean a few years back.

Did you book your cruise yet?

SpanishBride · #18 09-17-2007, 05:47 PM

Hi there! Whatever cruise you choose, go to CruiseCritic.com to view reviews and ratings. I wish I would have viewed this before booking my 2 week honeymoon cruise to Hawaii. Luckily, my cruise has very good reviews, but I think I would have probably chosen differently. Hope that helps...

Spanish Bride