They Say Three is the Magic Number….???

When it comes to cruising, is three or even four or five really the magic number?

In the travel industry we are firmly within what we call the ‘lates season’, where as we approach the summer and the summer holidays, more people are getting in touch where they would like to travel within a short space of time.  Historically this has often been a good way to secure a lower price as the cruise lines al scramble to sell off their cabins at reduced prices as departure dates get ever so close.  I have been speaking with a number of clients these last few weeks who have been trying to do exactly this and there are deals out there to be found, its sometimes just a matter of finding the right one at the right time.

As I have mentioned above, one of the benefits of waiting for a late deal is the lure of the potential lower prices, but to get to this lower price quite often some sacrifices have to be made.  When it comes to the late season, often these cruises have been on general sale for 18 months plus, and throughout that time the cruise lines will have generated a number of different promotions to attract people to their cruises with some examples being free on board credit or free drinks packages.  At a late stage when the cruise lines would look to potentially reduce their cruise price, these benefits are often taken away in favour of the price.  In addition to this, the availability is never as open as people would like it to be, so cabin numbers are often restricted or the customers often struggle to get the dining time they would like which can often be frustrating.

The problem that I have been finding lately is that when it comes to finding a cabin for more than two people, more than normal the availability becomes extremely sparse.  Last week I had a family of three with an eight-year-old child wanting to travel on P&O’s Britannia in the summer holidays, and we found the perfect cruise for them for the right price and there seemed to be the availability there for them to book.  When I did some further investigating the cruise wouldn’t accept any more children within her age bracket.  After ringing the cruise line to find out the reasoning behind this, I was told it was all down to the guest experience, as the children’s clubs are spilt by age brackets they don’t want them oversubscribed and so they only allow each cruise to take so many children within these brackets.  Further to my pleading with them, telling them that this would be a confirmed booking if we could work something out for the guests, I was told that there was nothing that could be done for them to be able to book the cruise.

Now for the above example I can sympathise with the cruise lines point of view partially on this, as they don’t want the children’s clubs oversubscribed which can have a negative impact on the holiday of both the parents and the children.  But I have been dealing extensively with another one of my clients who can only travel within certain dates in the summer due to work, who are three adults travelling together in one cabin, who again we have been struggling to find the right cruise for them.  The problem here, is nothing to do with the age bracket, but down to finding a cruise where there is allocation for 3 people in a cabin.  The clients are extremely restricted to dates when they can travel and so there are only a small selection of cruises we can look at and none of these cruises have availability for 3 people in a cabin, yet they all have plenty of cabins when it comes to just two of them, many of them with a pulldown bed or sofa bed, but the cruise lines will refuse to let the customers book them.  Again after speaking with the cruise line, the problem here is down to lifeboat allocation.  They will have enough lifeboat space for two people in every cabin, there is then extra allocation for cabins to berth 3 or more people, but when this allocation is full then the cruise lines will not then allow any more cabins to berth this way.

The point that I am trying to explain here is that yes, sometimes it can be beneficial for people to wait until the last minute to try and grab a bargain on their cruise holiday, but if you have any special requirements, such as cabin number, dinning time or you want to travel in peak family time with 3 or more people in the cabin sometimes it pay to book earlier rather than later.  The earlier you book, the more choice you will have as sometimes waiting until later you play the gamble of if you will get exactly what you would like.  It’s about making the right decision for your holiday at the right time.