Cruises - Booking a cruise the day of departure

Has anyone booked a cruise the day it is scheduled to depart? I have heard that ships stock for 75% capacity regardless of passenger count, so they are willing to provide deep discounts to fill empty rooms. I live near Galveston, and have flexibility in my vacation schedule. Does anyone know the process? Do you show up at the dock a few hours before departure with your bags packed and try to work a deal? Also, is there any way to know a day or two in advance if a cruise is truly at capacity? That would be good information!

Those days are long gone now. Cruise ships (well, those departing from US ports) now are required to submit their manifests to DHS 72 hours in advance. Not sure how it works in other parts of the world.

In addition, a cruise ship would lose a massive amount of money if they only aim for 75% capacity. Almost all mainline cruise ships leave port at 100% occupancy (or a tiny percentage below that) year-round.

Those days are long gone now. Cruise ships (well, those departing from US ports) now are required to submit their manifests to DHS 72 hours in advance. Not sure how it works in other parts of the world.

In addition, a cruise ship would lose a massive amount of money if they only aim for 75% capacity. Almost all mainline cruise ships leave port at 100% occupancy (or a tiny percentage below that) year-round.

All correct. The days of showing up with a suitcase are over.

If you can go out a week or two, you may find a couple. I checked vacationstogo.com out of Galveston and there were a few for early February, as well as March or April. You may also want to find a good travel agent (There are plenty around here.) who can keep an eye on last-minute deals or cancellations for you.

Keep in mind that the term "discount" is relative with cruises. Cruises are always offering something, so YMMV.

Welcome to FT!

Mike

Cruises generally sail at over 100% occupancy. Shortly after the deadline for final payment cruise lines will slash fares, if necessary, to sell any remaining cabins.

Checking cruise.com (I've never used them and suggest you use whatever TA you're comfortable with) shows a 5 day Carnival cruise leaving Galveston 2/4 with an inside fare of $339 per passenger. Total fare (with taxes/port charges) for 2 passengers is 768.30.

You have to be prepared to book as soon as you see the deal. It may not last long.

Has anyone booked a cruise the day it is scheduled to depart? I have heard that ships stock for 75% capacity regardless of passenger count, so they are willing to provide deep discounts to fill empty rooms. I live near Galveston, and have flexibility in my vacation schedule. Does anyone know the process? Do you show up at the dock a few hours before departure with your bags packed and try to work a deal? Also, is there any way to know a day or two in advance if a cruise is truly at capacity? That would be good information!

You were told very wrong information. Many cruise ships oversell weeks, if not months before the cruise. They rely on cancellations or they "buy out" passengers much like an airline looks for volunteers. That happens in the weeks before a cruise, not the day of.

There are lists of last minute cruise deals, but last minute can mean up to 45 days. Orbitz for example lists cruises departing next week in their last minute special section.

I would suggest finding a good cruise agent and letting them know what you are interested in. They get the specials to offer their clients all the time and if something comes up they will let you know.

You were told very wrong information. Many cruise ships oversell weeks, if not months before the cruise. They rely on cancellations or they "buy out" passengers much like an airline looks for volunteers. That happens in the weeks before a cruise, not the day of.

There are lists of last minute cruise deals, but last minute can mean up to 45 days. Orbitz for example lists cruises departing next week in their last minute special section.

I would suggest finding a good cruise agent and letting them know what you are interested in. They get the specials to offer their clients all the time and if something comes up they will let you know.

You also need to have a good working relationship with a good cruise agent. A one shot cold call will not get you on the favourite customer list with any good cruise agent.

Thanks everyone! Great information!

Actually you can call the cruiselines morning of the cruise and if there is space available, purchase a fare. You won't really get a deal though. As said above most deals will be found in the weeks leading up to the cruise.

You cannot show up at the pier though and just buy an open cabin. You have to call. You won't gain access to the pier without a prior reservation.

Cruiselines only have to submit their manifests 60 minutes before sailing. They suggest you submit your information to them 72 hours in advance, but it is not required.

I'll second wrp96. I have had a few occasions where clients call me up on the day of sailing for a cabin. It's not an easy process as the control of the cabins are now pier side (think airline seats that are under airport control). Reservations has to contact the pier coordinator who has final say.

You were told very wrong information. Many cruise ships oversell weeks, if not months before the cruise. They rely on cancellations or they "buy out" passengers much like an airline looks for volunteers. That happens in the weeks before a cruise, not the day of.

I actually had my first move over offer on the last cruise I took. Course, I got that phone call the day before we were due to fly out (and for us, we're not able to be as flexible as some people are). Kinda a shame, it was a pretty good offer: In exchange for getting bumped from our 14 day south american cruise, they were offering any cruise up to 30 days in length for no additional charge, an onboard credit for that cruise that I think basically amounted to what we'd paid for 1 person for the SA cruise, and help with change-fees to rebook the airfare. Unfortunately, if I took a 30 day cruise, I'd likely come back unemployed :), so it didn't really work for us. I'm guessing that if I'd called back on it, they were getting desperate enough for that cruise that they would have been willing to be a little flexible in their offer too.

there is a major poster on cruisecritic who talked about getting major discounts at last minute with top cruiselines including silversea, he was a regular single cruiser, who worked regularly with one agent at each cruiseline

i wish i was bumped off my seabourn cruise...

i got a pretty crazy onboard credit offer from regent i think it was. when amex published something incorrectly. they wouldnt honor, but offered credit basically making up difference. didnt take it.

The 72-hour rule is a common misconception. It's a cruise line "suggestion" to help streamline the check-in process. As wrp noted, they have to submit the final manifest at least 60 minutes before departure.

I don't think there are many dockside deals these days though, as cruise line yield management is as good as airline yield management these days, and ships rarely sail with empty cabins.

more likely on off season times

:cool:
I am the editor of CruiseMates - a cruise-only website with boards like these but only about cruising. We are owned by the same parent company as Flyertalk.

Here is some pretty mind-blowing stuff about ship capacity...

While it is true that most ships sail (on average) at 103% capacity, that is based upon berth capacity, which means the number equal to the two persons (or fares) per cabin minimum.

BUT - most cabins sleep an extra person, sometime two. So, if you take a ship like Disney Dream which has a "berth capacity" of 2500, but can carry 4000 people total, it is at 100% capacity when it has just 2500 bookings (and not necessarily at 2 per cabin).

But that is a ship that regularly carries a third and/or fourth person in every booked cabin. Dream regularly carries about 3800 people per cruise. So, it is sailing at a reported 150% capacity, but in reality it is 95% full.

So "capacity" at 103% hardly means the ship is "full" at all. Depending on how many kids are onboard as 3rds & 4ths, the ship could be over 100% capacity and still have a hundred empty cabins.

Most cruise corps. (Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean Intl.) report average capacity of 103% in the quarterly reports to Wall St. - but that can still mean several empty staterooms per ship per cruise. Or not. Some ships carry very few children (Celebrity, Holland America, luxury lines). But I'm just saying, don't be thinking every sails full+ cruise after cruise just because the cruise lines report 103% capacity in a quarterly report, the method they use to calculate those figures do not bear that out.

Very interesting stuff, cm! Thanks for posting.

We've done 10 cruises. Every one of them has appeared to be full. I say this because usually after dinner or after the evening show, for exercise, we'll circle a couple of floors just to check things out), and every stateroom has a nametag and flyers in the mailbox. Would the cruiseline put a nametag on an empty cabin just to make it look full?

You gave some information but didn't answer the question. How can a person book a cruise the day it sails? What kind of discount can they expect?

My understanding some of the ships, probably not the newer ships, are above maximum capacity if ever cabin which can accommodate 3 and 4 passengers are so booked. In other words a passenger might not be able to book 3 or 4 people in a cabin even if the cabin they're booking has room.





:cool:
I am the editor of CruiseMates - a cruise-only website with boards like these but only about cruising. We are owned by the same parent company as Flyertalk.

Here is some pretty mind-blowing stuff about ship capacity...

While it is true that most ships sail (on average) at 103% capacity, that is based upon berth capacity, which means the number equal to the two persons (or fares) per cabin minimum.

BUT - most cabins sleep an extra person, sometime two. So, if you take a ship like Disney Dream which has a "berth capacity" of 2500, but can carry 4000 people total, it is at 100% capacity when it has just 2500 bookings (and not necessarily at 2 per cabin).

But that is a ship that regularly carries a third and/or fourth person in every booked cabin. Dream regularly carries about 3800 people per cruise. So, it is sailing at a reported 150% capacity, but in reality it is 95% full.

So "capacity" at 103% hardly means the ship is "full" at all. Depending on how many kids are onboard as 3rds & 4ths, the ship could be over 100% capacity and still have a hundred empty cabins.

Most cruise corps. (Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean Intl.) report average capacity of 103% in the quarterly reports to Wall St. - but that can still mean several empty staterooms per ship per cruise. Or not. Some ships carry very few children (Celebrity, Holland America, luxury lines). But I'm just saying, don't be thinking every sails full+ cruise after cruise just because the cruise lines report 103% capacity in a quarterly report, the method they use to calculate those figures do not bear that out.

Would the cruiseline put a nametag on an empty cabin just to make it look full?

I've actually heard of cruiselines doing this. Then there are also those that remove the nametag so people can't know who's in teh cabin.

I personally have not heard of anyone getting a "last minute" cruise anymore. security has become very strict sine 9/11.

I was under the impression the cruise lines needed 24 hours to finalize the manifest before the ship sailed, and I have not had anyone tell me they booked the same day since before 2001.

That manifest is taken very seriously and the FBI has arrested several people who came up as being wanted as a result of scrutinizing that manifest (they have all been arrested coming off the ship, however, not before getting onboard).

I am not a travel agent, so I do not know when the window closes. But it is not something I really care much about anyway since a cruise is a pretty significant investment and most people like to plan them out well in advance.

See, people who think a cruise line will sell a cheap cabin at any price at the last minute rather than let it go empty are missing the big picture.

The cruise lines are not stupid about public perception - they manage their "booking window" very carefully. The last thing they would ever do is admit that there are (literal) last minute bargains available on cruises. Their goal is to move bookings out as far as possible so they have visibility on their future income.

They do all they can to incentivize people to book 6 to 12 months out.

A cruise ship will often get cheaper right after final payment is due (60-75 days out) - but as a ship fills up, it can actually become far more expensive at the last minute - even if there are empty cabins. This is because they know that anyone who wants to be on that cruise at the last minute has a reason for it (to join a friend or family onboard, for example) and so they will pay more to go.

Only if a ship is VERY empty will you see it get very cheap within the last two weeks before it sails. Alaska cruises in May when the region is over-capacity are sometimes like this, but not much else.

I only said what I said (about berth capacity, etc. above) to let people know that what the cruise lines say about all sailings being full is not entirely accurate - however, they may as well be full as far as cruise line policy is concerned. The line will act as if the ship is full, even if there are empty spaces. Will they put name tags on doors? I doubt that.

And in fact - most cabins are probably full on most sailings. I have been on many sailings where it was obvious the ship was well over berth capacity. As I said, Disney typically sells 95% full including third & fourth beds.

A Celebrity cruise will have very few kids onboard, so it may be less full, but almost every cabin may be inhabited.

I am sorry if this does not answer your question. All I am trying to say is that cruise lines are not transparent about these matters. They guard such information very carefully, and that has been a very successful approach for them.

You may be thinking of cruise company employees, travel professionals, or other industry insiders who standby on a "space available" basis after the paying customers are taken care of.

Sort of like an airline offering non-rev seats.

Only if a ship is VERY empty will you see it get very cheap within the last two weeks before it sails. Alaska cruises in May when the region is over-capacity are sometimes like this, but not much else.


Back in 2007/8 they were selling room on the morning of departure for Alaska cruise in May and late Sept from Vancouver.
We scored one by lining up at one of these Cruise clearance TA Sat morning while visiting the west coast. Line up, buy and head to pier with bags. The total for two was around $620 ai before gratuities.

I was under the impression the cruise lines needed 24 hours to finalize the manifest before the ship sailed, and I have not had anyone tell me they booked the same day since before 2001.
.....
See, people who think a cruise line will sell a cheap cabin at any price at the last minute rather than let it go empty are missing the big picture.

The cruise lines are not stupid about public perception - they manage their "booking window" very carefully. The last thing they would ever do is admit that there are (literal) last minute bargains available on cruises. Their goal is to move bookings out as far as possible so they have visibility on their future income.

A cruise ship will often get cheaper right after final payment is due (60-75 days out) - but as a ship fills up, it can actually become far more expensive at the last minute - even if there are empty cabins. This is because they know that anyone who wants to be on that cruise at the last minute has a reason for it (to join a friend or family onboard, for example) and so they will pay more to go.



The manifest has to be submitted at least 60 minutes before sailing. Passengers who didn't complete the passport information online are required to check in early in order to allow time to enter the information at the pier.

People who live near the embarkation port might be interested in a last minute "deal" but may not have any other reason to sail on that cruise. I know people who book on short notice (30-60 days). They live near the embarkation port. The said the "flash" fare is less then what they'd spend in restaurants if they stayed home.

Some cruislines feel any fare greater then the cost of food (few hundred dollars) and port fees makes sense. The cruise line hope to make $$$ on the extras. It's possible the real last minute shoppers have done this before and won't be spending $$$ on photos, excursions, spa treatments etc.

Back in 2007/8 they were selling room on the morning of departure for Alaska cruise in May and late Sept from Vancouver.
We scored one by lining up at one of these Cruise clearance TA Sat morning while visiting the west coast. Line up, buy and head to pier with bags. The total for two was around $620 ai before gratuities.

And that was a year when Alaska was notoriously over saturated with cruise berths. 2008/9 were the years that broke the back of the Alaska legislature when the cruise lines said "if we don't start getting some breaks we are pulling ships out." and they did.

And that was a year when Alaska was notoriously over saturated with cruise berths. 2008/9 were the years that broke the back of the Alaska legislature when the cruise lines said "if we don't start getting some breaks we are pulling ships out." and they did.

It was good that there are less ships Sept 2011 and we really got to see many of the stops that was too crowded back in 2008 due to too many ships doing this sailing.

cruisemates, I have friends that have called up both Carnival and Royal Caribbean day of cruise in the last year and booked cruises, so it is definitely still possible. Usually more likely to happen in off seasons, like the fall for the Caribbean.

The only requirement is that they submit their manifests to the government 60 minutes before sailing. The only reason they ask for the information in advance is so that they have more time to prepare the manifest, but it is not required to provide the info in advance.

Okay - so it is possible, good to know.

What kinds of deals did they get in exchange for being so flexible. I think that is the original question.

The cruise industry has gone out of their way to make it appear by booking early such as a year in advance is the cheapest method. RCL on all of their lines such as Royal Carib, Celeb, Azam, etc has been a leader in doing so and going out of the their way to push this imho misinformation even going so far as to publish "news articles" stating this is the way to highest savings.

The industry goes out of their way not sell last minute cruises at a published discount. That being said you can still find discounts but the industry tries and limit availability or the notice to the general public.

Princes who owns Princess and Carnival started a program some time back for people to sign up for last minute offers..Not sure what happened to the program.

Typically, when I hear the term "last minute" in the cruise world it is referring to cruises next month, not the next day. I got an email today from Hotmail about last minute cruises, and they were all in March.

Just to check I set up a question in our forum at CruiseMates to ask if anyone has ever, or truly knows anyone who has ever for a fact, booked and sailed on a cruise the same day.

So far no one has replied in the affirmative, except one person who apparently did it with one day out on Cunard...

.... in 1973.

But I will let you know when I hear something.

kay...

I am letting you know. TWO people have said they have booked on the same day - and that the price was about $60/day. In one case they waived the singles supplement fee. These cruises were in 2010 or so.

While it is true that most ships sail (on average) at 103% capacity, that is based upon berth capacity, which means the number equal to the two persons (or fares) per cabin minimum.

BUT - most cabins sleep an extra person, sometime two. So, if you take a ship like Disney Dream which has a "berth capacity" of 2500, but can carry 4000 people total, it is at 100% capacity when it has just 2500 bookings (and not necessarily at 2 per cabin).

But that is a ship that regularly carries a third and/or fourth person in every booked cabin. Dream regularly carries about 3800 people per cruise. So, it is sailing at a reported 150% capacity, but in reality it is 95% full.

So "capacity" at 103% hardly means the ship is "full" at all. Depending on how many kids are onboard as 3rds & 4ths, the ship could be over 100% capacity and still have a hundred empty cabins.

Most cruise corps. (Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean Intl.) report average capacity of 103% in the quarterly reports to Wall St. - but that can still mean several empty staterooms per ship per cruise. Or not. Some ships carry very few children (Celebrity, Holland America, luxury lines). But I'm just saying, don't be thinking every sails full+ cruise after cruise just because the cruise lines report 103% capacity in a quarterly report, the method they use to calculate those figures do not bear that out.


very interesting. that all said, i was denied a booking during the holidays (even though they were advertising incentives, availability, and deals) b/c i wanted to take my grandson (2) and my teen (17) on the same cruise. we could have booked the 3 and 4 person cabins we wanted, they would not let us b/c they were over capacity for the kids. :rolleyes: we could have stuffed the rooms with 4 adults each but the deal breaker was the kids. the cruise line insisted it was over capacity for children and no more were allowed on the ship. what was even dumber, was i doubt the kids would have even been in the children's programs at all. but that is the reason they denied us the booking. </end rant> LOL!

so when you see the statistics up there, they are not really giving you the full picture for what the cruise line will allow on each sailing.

but back on topic, i would love to be able to decide to take a cruise a couple of days before sailing and get a wonderful, cheap deal.

very interesting. that all said, i was denied a booking during the holidays (even though they were advertising incentives, availability, and deals) b/c i wanted to take my grandson (2) and my teen (17) on the same cruise. we could have booked the 3 and 4 person cabins we wanted, they would not let us b/c they were over capacity for the kids. :rolleyes: we could have stuffed the rooms with 4 adults each but the deal breaker was the kids. the cruise line insisted it was over capacity for children and no more were allowed on the ship. what was even dumber, was i doubt the kids would have even been in the children's programs at all. but that is the reason they denied us the booking. </end rant> LOL!

so when you see the statistics up there, they are not really giving you the full picture for what the cruise line will allow on each sailing.

but back on topic, i would love to be able to decide to take a cruise a couple of days before sailing and get a wonderful, cheap deal.

Was that on Princess by any chance?

Was that on Princess by any chance?

yes, why? do the other lines (aside from the obvious, Disney) not do that?

yes, why? do the other lines (aside from the obvious, Disney) not do that?

Most lines do not do this. All have restrictions on number of 3rd & 4th passenger berths that can be sold (Coast Guard/SOLAS regulations - the number of actual berths on board is actually more than the regulation limit, so especially in popular times they may not be able to sell any more 3rd & 4th passenger berths), but it has nothing to with the number of children. Princess is one of the few major cruise lines, if not the only one, that restricts the number of children onboard each sailings.

Most lines do not do this. All have restrictions on number of 3rd & 4th passenger berths that can be sold (Coast Guard/SOLAS regulations - the number of actual berths on board is actually more than the regulation limit, so especially in popular times they may not be able to sell any more 3rd & 4th passenger berths), but it has nothing to with the number of children. Princess is one of the few major cruise lines, if not the only one, that restricts the number of children onboard each sailings.

very interesting. i was not aware of that. thanks for the info. i just found it odd that they would allow us to book several cabins with 3 or 4 people but not the same cabins with 2 adults/1 child in them. to me, it was the thought that yes, there could be a limit on passengers, regardless of what room was available, but never occurred to me they would limit kids.

i won't have to worry about the kid thing much longer as the teenager turns 18 in June. will have to keep that in mind should we ever convince the grandkid's parents to join us. ;)

yes, why? do the other lines (aside from the obvious, Disney) not do that?

Of the mainstream U.S. cruise lines, only Princess puts a cap on the number of kids allowed. I've never been given a good reason, although my assumption is of course that it has to do with staffing the kids program (although other lines seem to be able to add staff when they need to).

thanks for the great information shared by you

Haha, I wish! I don't think you are able to do that anymore. There are now so many different security measures, paperwork, and other details to take care of that in just one day, let alone the same day that the ship is due to take off. Good luck though, if you try to do this sometime!

Princess is one of the few major cruise lines, if not the only one, that restricts the number of children onboard each sailings.

They also restrict by age group. I think NCL started to do this as well a few years back, not sure if they are still doing it.

my assumption is of course that it has to do with staffing the kids program (although other lines seem to be able to add staff when they need to).

Yes, staffing for the kids' programs and capacity requirement in the kids club rooms.

Personally I think that a lot of the advertising about travelling at full capacity is to avoid the throngs of people trying to score a free upgrade on day 1 of the cruise- I doubt that every cabin is always full.

When working on ships we often would utilize PAX cabins during periods of staff turnover (when there were more crew onboard handing over key depts).

Also, my last cruise I upgraded 24hrs before departure - I was on the manifest already of course, but there were a selection of cabins for me to choose from, and that was on the EPIC for New Years Eve.

By picking the day before I upgraded from inside cabin to Aft Balcony B1 for $600 total (2 Pax).

Its worth a call to see if they can do that if you are interested in upgrading but the prices seem too high too far out.

In that case 3 months out and 1 month out the same upgrade was $1300...

Also, my last cruise I upgraded 24hrs before departure - I was on the manifest already of course, but there were a selection of cabins for me to choose from, and that was on the EPIC for New Years Eve.

By picking the day before I upgraded from inside cabin to Aft Balcony B1 for $600 total (2 Pax).

Its worth a call to see if they can do that if you are interested in upgrading but the prices seem too high too far out.

In that case 3 months out and 1 month out the same upgrade was $1300...

But that's NCL and their wonderful "reassignment" desk (I've taken advantage of that desk multiple times). Most of the other major cruise lines haven't figured out that revenue source yet.

But that's NCL and their wonderful "reassignment" desk (I've taken advantage of that desk multiple times). Most of the other major cruise lines haven't figured out that revenue source yet.

Carnival certainly has. It's very common with them to get a call (or calls) in the weeks leading up to a cruise to try to upsell. Princess on the other hand is more known for the "move over" calls, where they are oversold and trying to get people to move to a lesser selling cruise, and they make some really nice offers for it.

Carnival certainly has. It's very common with them to get a call (or calls) in the weeks leading up to a cruise to try to upsell. Princess on the other hand is more known for the "move over" calls, where they are oversold and trying to get people to move to a lesser selling cruise, and they make some really nice offers for it.

Yes, Carnival and Holland America are the other two that promote low cost upsells. I understand that Royal Caribbean has recently started as well.

Personally I think that a lot of the advertising about travelling at full capacity is to avoid the throngs of people trying to score a free upgrade on day 1 of the cruise- I doubt that every cabin is always full.


A ship can be considered at full capacity if all the spaces on the life boats are filled due to thirds and fourths in the cabins.

A ship can be considered at full capacity if all the spaces PLUS RESERVE on the life boats are filled due to thirds and fourths in the cabins.

A ship can be considered at full capacity if all the spaces on the life boats are filled due to thirds and fourths in the cabins.

Exactly (or exactly plus reserve perhaps - I don't know really..)

My point is then that the statement 'Ship is travelling at full capacity - no stateroom changes are available' that you see on the Front Desk is a crock.

Cabins for the most part do seem available even when they say they are chock full - by seeing through their nonsense and timing it right you can score a cheap upgrade.

I'll be upgrading my next cruise like this - but not using the desk mentioned above, by using CAS who hooked me up last time around.

Exactly (or exactly plus reserve perhaps - I don't know really..)

My point is then that the statement 'Ship is travelling at full capacity - no stateroom changes are available' that you see on the Front Desk is a crock.

Cabins for the most part do seem available even when they say they are chock full - by seeing through their nonsense and timing it right you can score a cheap upgrade.

I'll be upgrading my next cruise like this - but not using the desk mentioned above, by using CAS who hooked me up last time around.

IME upgrades are best scored, if truely available, is via your TA or CAS the day before.

Walt Disney Cruise programs are specially planned for children are creative and equipped with science games for babies, labs, activity shows for children a personal club which is pleasurable for teens with video games, MP3 stations etc. It always seems full because everyone looks advance for it and immediately enrolls in castaway club for surprised activities. The adults can devote the time with their families doing interesting activities on the cruise.

Not day of departure but my wife and booked a cruise Sunday for a cruise which departed on Friday. A really cheap rate of $ 63 pppd inc taxes,fees & gratuities. The low rate was available on several websites but not the cruise line's. The cruise was still salable at least 2-3 days before departure.

What's the best time for cruising? I wanna plan to make a tour with cruises. Can anybody have idea what is the best time of cruising? & where to go for fun & adventure.

Where do you want to go?

Summer for cold climates (Alaska, Baltic), winter for warm climates (Carribean, South America, Australia).

All depends on what you want.

What's the best time for cruising? I wanna plan to make a tour with cruises. Can anybody have idea what is the best time of cruising? & where to go for fun & adventure.As mentioned above, it all depends on when you want to go. Cruises operate all year long.

I went on several cruises and covered most of the Caribbean ports. If that's something you might like, I suggest going to the South Caribbean cruise where they cover all the Saints...(St. Kitts, St. Marteen, St. Thomas, etc.). I booked this through Carnival about 2 years ago and they had the most stops (meaning less days in the sea just wandering). Lots to do in most of the ports. I'm also from NY and went in December. Had to fly to Puerto Rico (which I also stayed for a few days to make the plane ticket worth it ;)) and take the cruise there.

Not day of departure but my wife and booked a cruise Sunday for a cruise which departed on Friday. A really cheap rate of $ 63 pppd inc taxes,fees & gratuities. The low rate was available on several websites but not the cruise line's. The cruise was still salable at least 2-3 days before departure.
What have you found to be the best sites to see this information?
The cruise lines' sites' last minute rates are too high in most instances.
I've scoured cruise, vacationstogo, lastminutecruises but nothing ever *really* jumps out as a screaming hot deal.

What have you found to be the best sites to see this information?

It varies but the usual suspects. In my stated case, Hotwire though other sites had it too (used Hotwire only on the promise of click-through rebates), as did many agencies at Cruise Compete (who offered slightly less than what I paid but pretty hard to beat a base fare of $199).


The cruise lines' sites' last minute rates are too high in most instances.
I've scoured cruise, vacationstogo, lastminutecruises but nothing ever *really* jumps out as a screaming hot deal.

It all depends but it would appear repo cruises (such as my LAX-YVR trip) are the cheapest on a pppd basis and, apparently this year, some in Europe as high air fares seem to be suppressing bookings. Out and back cruises from U.S ports, or even from one U.S port to another (e.g., Panama transit) seem to be particular poor value too.

For example, either Princess or Holland America (or maybe even both) had 2 week Alaska cruises last month ex-YVR for $499++ for an inside cabin. I suspect the OW Alaska cruises are not popular in the early season as air fares to/from ANC are high so the lines were selling 2 OW 7 day trips as back-to-back cheap. By comparison, fares in equivalent cabins on the same lines for 7 day RT ex-SEA or ex-YVR were going for $200-300 more.


If you have 3 weeks to spare, the Princess cruise in December from Barcelona to Galveston seems to be good value now and may even be better value as the times approaches (about $66 PPPD a/i). A Holland America one I am booked on right now for late October TATL is going for $86 PPPD a/i. A bit steep but it is a balcony cabin. Might bet cheaper still but one wonders how much room they have to lower.