Thread: When are cruise schedules released?

To decide which cruise I want to take and still get the cabin I want to sleep in, I want to get the itineraries and dates ASAP. Do cruise lines release schedules before tickets go on sale? I am planning on sailing in May 2013 on Princess - probably a 7-day CANE cruise but hopefully a 12-night Western Mediterranean cruise. No itineraries for either destination are scheduled by Princess this far in advance.

MOST cruiselines release one years worth in the spring thru mid April of the year after the next one. So, this spring - ish, Princess would have released thru mid April 2013 a few months ago.

Next spring the following year would be released which will include the dates you want, May of 2013. You have 8 to 10 months to wait. No TA will have these ahead of time, you have to wait until the itineraries are released by the cruiseline next spring.

OK, so I am searching cruises just to see what Princess has already scheduled for May 2013 (any destination). What I found was two Pacific Coastal itineraries - one to Canada and one to Mexi co, both starting inv Los Angeles. Although the round-trip cruise has no sea days, I noticed it costs the same as the one to Vancouver, which has one sea day. Figure that out. They are a week apart, both on the Sapphire Princess.

So now I want to know if Princess is already selling cruises for May 11, 2013 or just showing us what to expect when those cruises go on sale. (The other one embarks on May 4, 2013.) Although I had never heard of Astoria or been interested in going to Oregon, I can't resist a trip that includes Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Seattle if my mom and sister agree to a Pacific Coastal itinerary.

It really does depend on the cruise line - some are better than others in releasing their itineraries and the same cruise line may release an itinerary to one place alot sooner than an itinerary to another place.

For example, I have a group who wanted to go on the Rhapsody of the Seas in Australia next year for Christmas. RCCL has had several itineraries available for many months, but this particular itinerary did not open up for sales until a few days ago. RCCL told us this would be available weeks ago, but they didn't finalize it until last week, so sometimes itineraries can be released early or late depending on a multitude of circumstances.

Sometimes, the larger agencies (like Cruise Planners) are privy to selling an itinerary prior to it being offered to the general public. They may also be advised as to new itineraries prior to them being publicly advertised. Also, past guest may be offered the opportunity to purchase prior to release to the public. Again, this all depends on the cruise line, the agency, the past guest program/level, and the itinerary.

For Princess, they have released alot of itineraries for April 2013 and some for May 2013. You may very well see them release more within the next month or so.

Best thing is to talk with your agent and let them know what you're interested in and let them watch for you.

Pete

What Cruise Planner says is true. For instance they released Oasis early for those in loyalty programs to book first at early pricing.. then released them to the general public... early. .. and released dates further into the future than usual.

A cruiseline might release just one or two itinerarys early before the usual dates. ..

Disney I believe releases dates twice a year, not once as most other lines do. Their early pricing is usually the best and prices only seem to go up.

How will I know when the sales for a particular cruise start for the newbie cruisers?