When shouldI book October 2014 Cruise

[TinkerBrie]

Hi! I'm looking into a cruise for October 2014 out of Port Canaveral. The current prices are good, but I'm wondering when would be the best time to book? When would "better" prices or discounts be available for that time of year? We wouldn't be eligible for military or Florida resident discounts. Thanks for any newbie cruise info

 

[lauti]

Now is the best time to at least put a deposit down.

There's a chance last minute rates will come out but you have to be willing to take the chance if you're set on your dates/itineraries etc...

 

[boogabuzz]

If you're flexible with dates and where your room assignment is, I would wait. We were thinking about cruising 10/5 eastern on Fantasy this year. The price for inside was $2900 and lowest cat veranda was $3200 for 2a 1c. We ended up booking for Nov on a Military rate instead. Out of curiosity, I kept watching that 10/5 cruise. I noticed in the middle of Sept there was a IGT rate and it would have been $1790 for the three of us and a VGT rate at $1950.

Same thing happened with our Fantasy cruise in fall of 2012. We paid full price. After the PIF time....some great GT rates and other discounts became available.

If there is a specific cruise I'm looking at, I stalk it. Figure out when the PIF date is and check availability. If all categories appear to be available, give it a week or two and continue to check daily. If they still have a lot available, chances are, there will be a GT rate that will show up. I check rates frequently and this has been what I've found with any cruise that appears to not be selling all categories.

 

[VS85]

I booked my 10/4/14 cruise in May of this year. The price I paid for my 5D hasn't changed since I booked. But like the PP said, if you're sure you want to go, at least put the deposit down sooner rather than later.

 

[TinkerBrie]

Figure out when the PIF date is and check availability. If all categories appear to be available, give it a week or two and continue to check daily. If they still have a lot available, chances are, there will be a GT rate that will show up. I check rates frequently and this has been what I've found with any cruise that appears to not be selling all categories.

I swear I did look up the dis speak for GT rate, and PIF date, but I cant find the meaning!

Can you tell me what that means, lol!

 

[Partridge4ever]

PIF is Paid in Full and GT is guarantee...that means you get at least the category you select but not a choice of specific cabin.

 

[boogabuzz]

I swear I did look up the dis speak for GT rate, and PIF date, but I cant find the meaning!

Can you tell me what that means, lol!

PIF is paid in full date. 60 days. Castaway club members will usually PIF by 75 days when they can check in and book activities. Gold is 90 days, platinum 120.

GT rates are restricted rates. There will be IGT, OGT or VGT. Inside, oceanview or veranda. When you book these, they mean you are guaranteed either an I, O, or V room depending on which one you booked. You cannot change your room assignment and you may not know your room number until you arrive at the port. These rates must be PIF within an hour of reserving them. You can not change anything about your reservation. if you are unhappy with your room assignment, when you get to the port, if there are other rooms available, you can do a port upgrade. We upgraded from a VGT rate(assigned a 5B cat) to a one bedroom concierge suite for $825 at the port on a 3n Dream cruise. We lucked out. Prebooking that cruise for the 3 of us would have been $6700. We paid $2050 VGT plus $825. Excellent discount....but it was luck!

 

[Ofinn]

Hi! I'm looking into a cruise for October 2014 out of Port Canaveral. The current prices are good, but I'm wondering when would be the best time to book? When would "better" prices or discounts be available for that time of year? We wouldn't be eligible for military or Florida resident discounts. Thanks for any newbie cruise info

The VGT's for October this year were somewhere between 3200-3500 for 2 adults and 2 kids. Price out some of the Nov and Dec cruises on the Fantasy this year. You will get an idea of what the VGT rates are. You have to wait until about 2 months out to get these rates, but you could possibly save more than a thousand dollars off the fare. The fall cruises generally don't go up in price.

 

[gilsan]

If you're flexible with dates and where your room assignment is, I would wait. We were thinking about cruising 10/5 eastern on Fantasy this year. The price for inside was $2900 and lowest cat veranda was $3200 for 2a 1c. We ended up booking for Nov on a Military rate instead. Out of curiosity, I kept watching that 10/5 cruise. I noticed in the middle of Sept there was a IGT rate and it would have been $1790 for the three of us and a VGT rate at $1950.

Same thing happened with our Fantasy cruise in fall of 2012. We paid full price. After the PIF time....some great GT rates and other discounts became available.

If there is a specific cruise I'm looking at, I stalk it. Figure out when the PIF date is and check availability. If all categories appear to be available, give it a week or two and continue to check daily. If they still have a lot available, chances are, there will be a GT rate that will show up. I check rates frequently and this has been what I've found with any cruise that appears to not be selling all categories.

We were booked for a cruise next October. The VGT prices for the same cruise this year was $1400 less than our early booked 2014 cruise. I cancelled the cruise and am willing to take the risk of waiting for VGT next year. The VGT was available for nearly a week and I checked the airfare and it was still reasonable.

 

[Twinprincesses]

I went ahead and booked our Conceirge room for 10/14. I just wanted to get it done. I was sick of checking the rates.

 

[su_A_ve]

Best time to book a cruise is opening day. This was last Feb. Slow season doesn't go up too quickly, but the sooner the better as prices only go up.

The only thing is that within 75 days, you might see special last minute rates - sometimes these are better than opening date, sometimes not.

 

[mschaber]

I just booked out October 2014 cruise - knew what we wanted and pulled the trigger. I was worried the prices would go up.

 

[bumbershoot]

I booked for 2014 (what was a November cruise which then got changed to October) in March of this year. I wanted a very specific room so it was totally worth it to me to book that far out.

If I were more easygoing about it all I'd wait until the last minute. But I'm not. Know thyself*!



*and your traveling companions, too

 

[slzer0]

I booked this August or September for 10/19/2014

 

[FiveForFun]

I would say book and go on a cruise right now.

Then, book the Oct cruise while on board so you can get a discount and onboard credit

 

[bumbershoot]

I would say book and go on a cruise right now.

Then, book the Oct cruise while on board so you can get a discount and onboard credit

I love Disney math.


In addition, the OP would then be Silver for the October cruise, and would be able to book stuff earlier.

 

[dsnydaddy]

October is a great time to cruise. Weather is usually great and the prices are really good. I say place a deposit as soon as you can. You'll lock in the current prices. Best time is always opening day but with October, you often don't see the prices climb much.

 

[Cilantro]

I have taken one GT cruise and I'm about to go on another. GT rates/discounts do pop up a lot in the fall and winter. If you have some flexibility with your dates, desired itinerary and room then you can find a great deal if you wait. I'm taking a cruise to the southern caribbean in Oct 2014 for my anniversary. For that cruise I'm not flexible on the date or room cat/location. I also did not want to risk it selling out as there are only 4 cruises with that itinerary. I booked right when it was released(using a dummy booking from my 1st GT cruise) and was glad I did as the price has gone up a lot.
As a pp said, wait til the PIF date then start checking everyday for discounted rates. If you do see one you want be ready to book asap as they can disappear quickly.

 

[HsvTeacher]

We just booked an October 2014 cruise. The rates were too good to pass up, and I was able to book midship.

On our first cruise, we booked a year and a half in advance and got a decent rate. On our last cruise, we booked about a month in advance and got an outstanding rate. That was a DVC deal to fill the Fantasy during its inaugural year so I don't expect to see many more deals like that one.

 

[cruizincathi]

We are booked on the Oct 25,2014 sailing. I originally booked a cat 4a and recently changed to concierge. I checked a week after making the switch and the concierge rooms were now almost $1800 more! The 4a is still the same amount. I had read here long ago that you can check Costco's website and it shows available rooms for each cat. Sure enough...there are only a couple concierge rooms left on deck 11 and none on deck 12. This equals a reason to raise the price. I'm sure the same will happen as any category gets close to full. Moral of the story...if you have a particular cat or room you want, book early. If you just want to cruise and don't care where you end up on the ship, hold out for discounts.