| Nothing makes cruise lines happier than convincing | | | | If you do book early, don't settle for token discounts |
| passengers that booking their cruise early is their | | | | or offers such as a "free bottle of wine!" or "free |
| best chance to land a great discount cruise deal. | | | | souvenir photo!" that don't amount to much at all. |
| Selling as many cabins as early as possible helps the | | | | Comb the Internet for the most attractive offers or |
| cruise lines in their planning and means they don't | | | | insist that your travel agent nail down the best |
| have to worry about whether or not a particular ship | | | | discount cruise deal you can get. |
| will fill up. | | | | Fifty percent off printed brochure rates is a good |
| So to encourage passengers to book cruises as far in | | | | target price, especially for the big mainstream cruise |
| advance as possible, cruise lines will often offer | | | | lines, which routinely offer huge discounts late in the |
| plenty of incentives, such as "two-for-one" deals with | | | | game if a cruise isn't selling fast enough. |
| "free" airfare for early bookers. | | | | Luxury lines or smaller expedition-style cruise ships |
| Besides taking advantage of such special offers, it | | | | may not offer as good a discount cruise deal for |
| makes sense to book early if you don't have much | | | | early booking, but many do sweeten the pot by |
| flexibility in your travel plans. | | | | offering cabin upgrades or other perks. |
| For instance, if you: | | | | On some voyages, kids go for free as the third or |
| **need to take your cruise during summer vacation | | | | fourth passengers in their parents' cabins. But like |
| when your kids are out of school, | | | | most early booking offers, it could be withdrawn at |
| **know you're going to need several nearby cabins | | | | any time. |
| to accommodate a group of friends traveling | | | | The bottom line is that if you know you want to |
| together, | | | | take a particular cruise at a particular time to a |
| **or want to travel to a popular destination such as | | | | particular place -- in short, if you don't have much |
| Alaska in the summer,then you might be out of luck | | | | flexibility in your travel plans -- then it generally pays |
| if you wait too long to choose your ship dates. | | | | to book your cruise as early as possible. |
| Also, the most desirable cabins (not necessarily the | | | | And in most cases, the cruise lines will offer a |
| most expensive) on the most popular routes and on | | | | discount cruise deal that makes it worth your while |
| the most popular ships tend to sell out early. | | | | to do just that. |