You can never book too early when what you want is the top suite

I often talk to people who are hesitant when it comes to booking their cruise.

Book too early, and what happens if the cruise line subsequently drop their prices? Will you get reimbursed, or what? This is a real concern and I can fully understand why come people are not ready to commit.

Book too late, and will you get on the cruise at all? That’s a real concern too.

So, I’m going to be fairly diplomatic here, and answer as follows. There are occasions when it could never be too early to book…  and, there are occasions when it might, but that’s not a certainty, be better to wait to see if the price reduces.One of the times when you could simply never ever book too early is when you want that top suite. There might only be the one. Often there are a small handful of the ultimate suite on every cruise ship. Do you have time to deliberate on these decisions? Not a chance.

Some might not agree with me but it’s a given in this cruise business that the top accommodation on all ships is nearly always the first to sell.

I should know.

I ran my own cruise business for many years and it was a leading producer for the ultra luxury cruise lines and also did very well when it came to selling top suites with almost every line.Top suites are always harder to find the longer you leave it.

Now aside from the top suites, if you are looking for specific cabins, in particular positions, then you’re never too early to book. Travelling as a family and want either interconnecting or adjacent cabins and again, you must book early. Want a particular itinerary that is unique is another reason. Limited dates that you can travel to fit with work, personal commitments, and here’s yet more reasons as to why early booking is essential. I can think of many more reasons but I will let you think here for yourself.

River cruises tend to book more than a year in advance so, if you are wanting to cruise almost any of the well known rivers you could never be too early. Okay, before I move on to reasons why a late booking could suit you, let me cover a rather frequent comment I have heard for years.The price has gone down since you made a booking. Why is this point relevant I sometimes ask myself. If you went out and bought items from your local high street shops, and months later, those same items went on sale, you could not expect to return to the shops and ask for a refund…   so, if the price drops, so what. Book at a time when you are happy to do so and do price watch after you have booked.

Sometimes making a late booking may be beneficial. Think of the opposite to all those reasons I gave to book early. Guarantee cabins are banded around a lot. This is simply when you agree to buy at a vastly reduced price, a specific grade of accommodation. The cruise line will then assign the cabin for you and it could be anywhere on the ship, at least of the grade chosen. You have no comebacks if you don’t like the cabin offered, so beware!! Also guarantees often mean the cruise line will decide when you will dine and you’ll get no other incentives like onboard spend, car parking.

My final message. Book as early as you can and that’s it. Cruise sorted and you will be happier for it.