Princess doesn't post availability in the same way that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity do, so can't give you a best guess on Flash fares there. But happy to help on the Equinox and Independence.

For the Equinox, I'd say right now it's a 40/60 chance it will go on Happy Hour after final payment date. It's showing as selling right on track, which tends not to go on Happy Hour, but sometimes does. We're still a bit more than a month early for that determination to be made, so it will depend on January bookings, which is traditionally the busiest month of the year in the cruise business for new bookings.

On the Independence of the Seas, it is also showing the same status indication, so odds are also just a bit less than 50/50 for that. Of course the Independence being a larger ship, there are more cabins to be sold, and on average, Royal Caribbean tends to put sailings on Happy Hour specials more readily than Celebrity does, so I'd estimate your chances are better with the Independence.

I have no idea if Delta Vacations accesses Happy Hour fares for their clients or not or if they're familiar with them. They're not cruise specialists But of course I understand the desire for more RDMs!

too late unfortunately, prices have been going up some. revenues last summer were great IIRC.

make sure to check every cruiseline. for example there are some itins where regent is slightly more expensive than silversea.

Recently Costa has great rates for Caribbean sailings.

Since Carnival came up with the Early Saver program, that seems to be the best deal so far. It has very good rate, and if the rate goes down up to just before sailing, you can get the difference in OBC. They no longer give OBC for non-ES rates after final payment.

Having just done the inaugural transatlantic on Equinox from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale, it doesn't just "look" nice -- we think it is a beautiful ship! Although the sailing was really pretty full, we never had the feeling that it was crowded. It's not a "gaudy" ship, but oozes a lot of elegance. Great public spaces and seating. Hot glass show was wonderful. Cabins are really comfortable (we had a 1A balcony), but don't offer a lot of storage for clothes (luggage itself fits easily under the beds). The bathrooms are much improved from then M class of Celebrity. We found the dining room seating to be a bit packed -- tables too close to each other. Select dining has finally been adopted by Celebrity, but is still having quite a few "hiccups". You can make your reservations online in advance, but those appearing without reservations will be seated anyway (and you, with your reservations, may have to wait -- especially if you want to have dinner at around 7:30.)

My suggestion would be to keep checking. There will be some great prices in April.

Thanks for sharing your insight. We, too, have been "monitorting", from a public perspective, the Equinox April Transatlantic. This is one of those sailings that, for the right price, we will jump on. If it doesn't go on Happy Hour, we'll just sit back and wait for another opportunity. The November 2009 westbound TATL had some juicy Happy Hour rates, however both Solstice and Equinox sailed this route whereas only Equinox will do a spring TATL.

I, too, have noticed what seems to be space galore on Constellation Spring TATL, so perhaps that will go on Happy Hour?

I'd rate that one as highly likely to go on Happy Hour at this time. Probably in about 3 weeks or so.

Do know there is one downside to that sailing, however, and that is that I believe she is going into dry dock for refurbishment immediately following. Passengers often complain about work starting during the sailing, shops not being fully stocked, etc., in that type of situation. Probably one of the reasons she's not booking as quickly as the other TATLs this spring.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me

Thanks, Burbunny. The last cruise prior to refurbishment thing doesn't bother us at all. We are seasoned cruisers and sailed Summit TATL in Mar 08 just prior to her dry dock upon arrival in Europe. No worries!

How do you know that? For which cruiseline or ship or itinerary?

Thanks to all of you for your help.

I'll continue to check various sites for great rates. If I find a great rate, I'll post it, and the site you can find it. If any of the rest of you would do the same, we can pool our efforts. Hope you'll be willing to share info about good deals to.

In advance, let's hope the spring sailing will be smooth. If any of you play bridge, we'll probably cross paths at sea.

I would book the cruise you want now, and then if the rates go down, have them change the rate. I booked a cruise last May at $1,040 per person, today the rate was adjusted down to $590 per person.

The reason to book early is many categories are already sold out, leaving only the higher priced cabins available. A good agent can work to get your rate lowered with some of the cruise lines, so ask what their experiences have been in doing that.

If you wait too long, you may be shut out, and if you book early on a line that lets you keep adjusting your cost as the price drops, you have nothing to lose.

just missed out on travelocity price of $229 for the Voyager sailing on April 18th. It's a transatlantic sailing, 14 days, we did it last year but not for $229. I called to book and was told the price was right but there were no more available. The agent advised me to keep watching it may post another sale. I never booked with Travelocity before. Does anyone know if they are honest to work with or is it just a "come-on" to sell you more expensive rooms? Last year we paid almost $500 for a balcony room (E1 category, nice aft balcony room) so $229 for a balcony room (x catagory guarantee) seems suspect. What do you think???

Very suspect as the category X cabins are still available for $990 plus tax (as of this very moment). The lowest inside is a category L for $579 plus tax.

just called RCCL and they said the price is real. They work directly with Travelocity and if the price is on the Yahoo travel site it's real. However, they do not match or offer the same price deals. RCCL says it was Travelocity's "happy hour" promotions. I called travelocity this morning as it was still listed at $229 and they told me it stays on the site for 24 hours but that they are all sold out at that price. I guess I'll keep watching. RCCL assured me if the cruise is booked through Travelocity it will be as guaranteed as f I booked with RCCL. My fears are now gone and I will be checking yahoo travel throughout the day, everyday. Would really love to do this trip again. Thanks for your advice and reply.

A Happy Hour promo would explain the big price difference, but they are only on Tuesdays. So I'm still a little surprised that the web site would still show it a few days later. I was just looking what was current and not past promos. Saying that, looking at the availability of the ship, I wouldn't be surprised to see it go on another Happy Hour (it isn't listed for this week's however). So the moral is keep checking.