"If I book my cruise now, and later the price goes down, will I be able to get the lower price?"

This week’s blog, I'll try to answer one of the most common questions our customers ask: "If I book my cruise now, and later the price goes down, will I be able to get the lower price?"

Unfortunately, the decision of whether to allow a customer to re-ticket at a lower rate is not made by Cruise Planners. It is made by the cruise line, and we must abide by the cruise line's policy when this situation arises. To help you make an informed decision, I'd like to share the three main types of price-protection policies that are currently enforced by the cruise lines. All are subject to change.

Of all the world's major cruise lines, only Crystal offers an unconditional price-protection policy. If you book a Crystal cruise, and at a later time the price is reduced for the category you reserved, Crystal will automatically adjust the price for your cruise to the lower rate. Congratulations to Crystal for having such a customer-friendly policy.

Next, there are several cruise lines that will, in most cases, adjust the price for your cruise if a lower rate becomes available for the category you've reserved, but only upon request, and only if the lower price is still being offered for new bookings at the time of the request. These cruise lines do not notify their already-booked customers of price reductions, but if you find on our Web site that the price for the category you reserved has been reduced, our cruise counselor can request the new price on your behalf. Cruise lines that fall into this category include Azamara, Celebrity, Cruise West, Cunard, Disney, P&O, Princess, Regent (Radisson), Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, SeaDream, Silversea, Star Clippers, Windstar and Voyages of Discovery. Please note that exceptions occasionally apply when a cruise line introduces a promotion that they specifically state is for new bookings only.

Finally, many cruise lines have gone the way of the major airlines, which do not reduce the fares of ticketed passengers when they cut the price for new bookings. On these lines, prices are locked in at the time of booking, and if the price subsequently falls, the new lower rate applies to new bookings only. If prices are reduced outside of the penalty period, which typically begins 75 to 90 days in advance of departure, these cruise lines may let us cancel your reservation and rebook you at the lower rate, although in some cases a nominal rebooking fee may apply. But if you are within the penalty period, you would have to pay the applicable cancellation penalties before rebooking, and the penalties almost always outweigh the savings. Cruise lines that fall into this category include Carnival, Costa, Fred. Olsen, Holland America, Hurtigruten, Majestic America (American West & Delta Queen), MSC Cruises, Norwegian, Oceania, Peter Deilmann, Uniworld, and Viking River Cruises.

From the time a cruise itinerary is first released until the ship actually sails, there may be several price fluctuations and therefore several opportunities to snap up a bargain on any specific cruise.