If you suddenly had the idea to plan a spring break cruise, it's probably too late by now.
As we're just a few weeks away from the start of Spring Break vacations, many families are gearing up to escape to a warm, sunny cruise in the Caribbean.
While there are still some cabins left on select ships, you're probably in for a rude awakening when you get a quote.
"It's expensive and limited availability," is what Sharla Manglass, a travel advisor with MEI Travel, said about spring break options.
She, and many travel agents, are getting swamped with new requests for a spring break cruise.
Families that are trying to book a cruise with just weeks left until their sail date are running into the reality of the nature of the cruise industry today. Cruise vacations are seeing record demand that have resulted in higher prices across the board.
Royal Caribbean Group President and CEO Jason Liberty told Wall Street analysts recently, "We're seeing really good demand trends from Europe, as well as obviously the U.S."
While Ms. Manglass is happy to price out what's left, she knows before the quote is generated it's probably not what the client is looking for.
"It's not to say there is nothing available, but picky cruisers might not be happy with what is out there."
She gave an example of what many families are looking for in their quote, "If you have a family of 4 or 5, a single room isn't likely going to be available, nor will connecting rooms."
Compounding the problem is going to be logistical considerations to get to and from the cruise.
"Another consideration is that flights are going to be expensive this late in the game," Ms. Manglass explained. "The cost of both flights as well as paying for a cruise in full at the same time won't work for most people's budget."
Start planning spring break next year instead
If you're locked out of a spring break cruise this year, now is the perfect time to get avoid this problem next year.
"If someone contacted me asking to book a cruise for this year's Spring Break, I’d offer to look, but it might be better to look for the summer or spring break next year."
The single best strategy for getting on the ship you want at a price you like is to book as early as you can.
The mistake new cruisers make is waiting too long to plan a cruise, and the result are few ships and high prices.
Booking a cruise in 2026 now, means you'll have so many more choices in the ship, stateroom, itinerary, and almost certainly lower prices.
With demand so high for cruises, prices are only going up from here. Booking now locks in the price and gives you much more time to pay it off before the final payment date.
As an example, a cruise booked for March or April 2025 would require full payment of the cruise immediately because it's past the final payment window of 90 days. So even if you found a spring break cruise for this year, you'd have to shell out the entire cost up front.
But if you booked a 2026 spring break cruise, you could reserve one with just a deposit. Then you could make payments between now and 90 days prior to the sail date, or pay it all later when you reach the final payment date.
Big savings if you book next year's cruise now
An example of the pricing difference if you book this year or next year can be found in looking at Adventure of the Seas.
Adventure sails from Port Canaveral on March 14 in both 2025 and 2026, offering a 6-night Caribbean cruise in both years.
If you tried to book an inside cabin for 4 people in 2025, there are no inside cabins left that can accommodate that size.
For comparison, two adults in an inside cabin on the March 14, 2025 sailing of Adventure of the Seas starts at $2,135 if you book a guarantee cabin or $2,509 if you choose a specific cabin.
Even if you select your own cabin, there are just five rooms left to book and the price goes up if you don't want a room on deck 2.
However, if you opt for the same cruise on Adventure of the Seas on March 14, 2026, the options are much better.
There are still inside cabins left for 4 people in a single room, plus many other cabin categories.
For that two adults in an inside cabin idea, the price starts at $1,463 if you let Royal Caribbean pick the room location, or $1,657 if you pick the room location.
That's over 50% less to book a spring break next year compared to this year. With that $852 in savings, you could use it to pay for airfare or a host of other vacation costs.
