What time of year has the best deals?

bdiddy

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 12, 2008
DH and I have been on two RC cruises. We actually got married on our first in Charlotte Amalie in 1999 and our second was two years later in 2001. We loved cruising so much and always meant to do more but life and kids and other vacations and Disney got in the way! Lol....We actually had a RC cruise booked for our 10th in 2009 but a last minute medical issue with our daughter caused us to cancel a month out.

Anyway....we are finally going to cruise again and are planning on late June or early July 2018. I wish we could go at a better/cheaper time but I'm a teacher and because of our schedules we just can't. Plus we like to stretch our trips out over 2 wks or more if we can and do some other stuff too.

So...it's obviously been awhile since we've cruised and I know so much has changed. I've been checking the couple of cruises we are interested in over the last few months but the price seems to not change much. If I am remembering right, do they still offer a great deal at the beginning of December or sometime around then? Just wondering when would be the best time to book in terms of deals RC offers?

Also for you long time cruisers. I'd love to know what has changed the most in the last 15-20 yrs since you've cruised. I know obviously the ships! The ships we went on were the Monarch and the Grandeur which I know are the "small" ones now right? And dining I think is another thing that has changed right? When we went you just picked early or late dining. Anything else that is very different from when you started cruising?

Thanks!
 
I would book one now, don't wait. The prices will rise, and if they do run a sale you can rebook at the lower rate. Also the trend recently, according to more seasoned RCL cruisers I know, is that the line is trying to move away from the last-minute deals and trying to lock people in early by offering better discounts early on. Kind of taking the DCL approach of rarely going below the opening day pricing.

I speak more from recent research and outdated experience here as well, but not a whole lot has changed significantly since '01. Some things that were included before are now premium but that varies by line. There is now wifi on the ships (for a fee) and RCL has a pretty good package and actual usable speeds. You can still pick from Early and Late dining, but now also My Time Dining (MTD), where you can either reserve a specific time or show up and wait for a table whenever you feel like eating between specific times.
 
I would book one now, don't wait. The prices will rise, and if they do run a sale you can rebook at the lower rate. Also the trend recently, according to more seasoned RCL cruisers I know, is that the line is trying to move away from the last-minute deals and trying to lock people in early by offering better discounts early on. Kind of taking the DCL approach of rarely going below the opening day pricing.

I speak more from recent research and outdated experience here as well, but not a whole lot has changed significantly since '01. Some things that were included before are now premium but that varies by line. There is now wifi on the ships (for a fee) and RCL has a pretty good package and actual usable speeds. You can still pick from Early and Late dining, but now also My Time Dining (MTD), where you can either reserve a specific time or show up and wait for a table whenever you feel like eating between specific times.

Thank you! I plan to dig in with research soon. I don't want to book last minute, maybe by Christmas at the latest? It's hard sometimes to commit a whole year or more out when we aren't sure about DH's bonus and that kind of thing. I'm going to keep stalking prices though in the meantime and hope for a deal but if not that's ok too!
 
The best time for cruise booking still seems to be during wave season which is end of December through middle of January or within 60 days of sail date. During these times you will see buy one get on 60% off or kids sail free or other very good amenities. Remember, you are unable to rebook after final payment which varies based upon sail length. The biggest changes are ship design and size as well as constant up charging.
 



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