Yes, I've been watching the fares, close-in vs otherwise, and clearly you can get some pretty phenomenal deals on last-minute unfilled cabins. I've done pretty well with that strategy for organized tours, and generally don't know the location of our November vacation until about 6 weeks ahead of time. The killer deals for cruises appear to be a bit closer-in though.

Our initial cruise was booked early August for Oct 31 departure. I benefitted from full payment being required just 60 days prior to sailing and was able to get the pricing adjusted lower a couple times and ended up with a much nicer room than I'd thought possible (Aft Penthouse mini-suite, which, on the Jade, included Butler and Concierge service. I had no idea what to do with a Butler. Poor guy wanted to do things for us, but we had no expectations.

I've now got a $250 deposit on a Baltic cruise and debating between the "larger balcony" cabin I've booked mid-ship and upgrading a bit to an Aft, which have become available for about $150 p/p more ($2200 p/p). But what if I lose the 2 extra points per night? :-)