When to book your cruise is one of those million-dollar questions. Do you book as soon as the cruise is announced and get a decent early-booking discount or wait until the last minute in the hpe of a better deal.
It's a question that has been taxing Mr Walsh, one of Reader Offers' clients after he went on Queen Mary 2. He had a great cruise but was "disappointed" to meet others on board, in the same type of cabin, who had booked late and paid several hundred pounds less than he and his wife and received $200 on-board credit into the bargain.
He asks Reader Offers' managing director Peter Beadles when he should book the Queen Victoria cruise he wants to do next year, which is almost unanswerable. There may be some great late deals, but who knows? And what's the use of a great deal anyway if it's for a cruise you don't want or an inside cabin when you want a balcony?
But now Saga has come to the rescue of people like Mr Walsh with a new price promise. If the price of a cruise comes down, the lower price will also apply to everyone, including those already booked. Saga also promises there will be no fuel or currency surcharges once a cruise is booked.
It's about as fair as it gets, but not a huge help for Readers Offers, as Saga sells direct to its clients, not through travel agents.
Maybe others could follow its lead though? It would make it so much easier for Peter and I to give proper advice to people who ask - and get those early bookings rolling in.
Jane Archer
