How far in advance do you book your vacations?
I love vacations. When it was just me and my son, and my husband was in the Navy, we use to go back to Chicago a couple of times a year. As we the years passed, vacations are only one time a year around here.
Since we just got back from Disney, I am already looking forward to the next trip which wont be until Aug 2008 when we go on a cruise.
When you vacation, how far in advance is it planned?
For us, its a matter of saving the money to go. Cruises are expensive, and with a one income family it takes awhile to get the money.
We have credit cards, but we do not use them to pay for the cruise, that would be way too easy.
So now we have 14 months to wait...how will I make it LOL

By Vicki on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 08:25 am:

For me, it depends on the vacation. Our cruise and all inclusive resort type of vacations we book way in advance because they could sell out. When we are just heading to a general area, not as far in advance because there are many hotels etc to choose from and less of a chance they would all be booked.

By Sandysmom on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 09:14 am:

Depending on where we were going, anywhere from 1 month to 6 months in advance. If we were just going camping, or to the beach for the weekend, 1 month. For the vacations where the whole family went, up to 6 months. I have never been to Disney really because my older DD never really showed an interest in Disney. My little DD loves Disney movies and cartoons. She's 2 now. So, since you just came back from there, what would be a good age to take her to Disney? I want to go before my older DD is too old. She's 13 now. I'd love to have your input.

By Karen~admin on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 09:23 am:

Ditto Vicki - it depends on the type of vacation. We have booked cruises 14-16 months in advance. Sometimes, when you book really early or at the last minute for cruises, you get great prices.

Also, in certain areas, you need to book months in advance due to *high season*, I'm talking about beach vacations.

As for airfare, often when you are booking very early, sometimes you can't book a flight that far in advance.

Places like Disney, etc., it's not necessary to book 8 months in advance.

We have booked most of our cruise at LEAST 12 months in advance - 2 of them we booked 14 to 16 months in advance - one of them was due to the particular stateroom we wanted (aft balcony cabin - they sell out quickly) and the other is the upcoming trip to the Galapagos (very small ship, only accommodates 92 (?) passengers).

So, it's all relative to where you are going/what type of vacation it is.

By Sandysmom on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 09:35 am:

I should have mentioned that we only go to the beach during off season. It's too hot and crowded during high season. During off season, it's easier to get reservations.

By Happynerdmom on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 10:34 am:

Ditto others. "High season" vacations get booked early, but we are also know for our last-minute "let's get away next week" vacations, too! I know what you mean, Jackie. I LOVE to have a vacation to look forward to!

By Pamt on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 11:23 am:

Depends on where we go, how we are getting there, etc. Lots of variable come into play. When we went to England for our 10th anniversary I started planning a year in advance and bought place tickets 9 months early. It saved me a ton of money! This year we are going to TN in August and it was booked last month.

By Reds9298 on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 12:07 pm:

Always about a year in advance when DH and I took big vacations before Natalie was born.

By Yjja123 on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 09:14 pm:

Big vacations are planned over a year in advance.
Long weekends or hot deals vacations sometimes just a few weeks in advance.

By Marcia on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 10:15 pm:

I just booked a cruise for Feb, today. Yippee!!

By Karen~admin on Saturday, June 30, 2007 - 09:22 am:

Marcia, which cruise did you book? What are your ports?

By Marcia on Saturday, June 30, 2007 - 07:20 pm:

We're going on the Carnival Freedom, which is their newest ship. We leave from Miami, and stop at San Juan, St. Maarten and St. Thomas. We have more than 20 people going, so it's going to be a blast!!

By Dawnk777 on Sunday, July 1, 2007 - 01:26 am:

Sandy's mom, the one and only time I got to go to Disney World, I was 19. My soon-to-be 18yo went with her band 2 years ago and would love to go back sometime. I don't know if you ever really get to to be too old.

We are going to be exploring the Lake Superior Shore, this year, in northern WI and northern MN this year. We just booked our hotels today! Hotels are expensive up there! Yikes! I've lived in WI my whole life and not really spent much time up by Lake Superior. I drove up there and spent the night once, when I was still single. I stayed right on the lakeshore, in a hotel. It got windy that night and waves were crashing against my windows! LOL! So, we are still going away, but just going north instead of east or west! (well a little bit west!)

Our last night will be in a mom and pop motel, up in Grand Marais, MN. That motel is near the lake, too. Our hotel room doesn't have a good view of the lake, but we didn't really care. We can go outside to see it! Outpost Motel (We must be in the back, huh? Oh well. We didn't have a fallsview room in Niagara Falls, either!)

I'm looking forward to driving on the North Shore Highway, at the end of July!

By Karen~admin on Sunday, July 1, 2007 - 10:22 am:

Marcia, as I said in another thread, there are some absolutely BEAUTIFUL beaches and the water is just gorgeous in St. Maarten. The locals on the French side of the island are rude and nasty, but there are some beautiful areas. St. Thomas, we did a snorkeling excursion - again, beautiful water, beaches, it's actually a port I'd love to spend a few days in, as opposed to the 8 - 12 hours you get when you cruise there. I found that San Juan was my *least* favorite port on that cruise. We just walked around the city, there's a fort we *toured*, the view was really nice, we took lots of pics. Be aware though, in San Juan, withing walking distance of the pier, it's totally geared for tourists, major shopping, some *outlet* stores, which we briefly went in, and trust me, the prices WEREN'T great! But in fairness, we didn't research the excursions available there. When you are leaving the port of Miami, there's some pretty homes, etc. you can see from the ship. Just a thought - see how *the others* live! LOL

Geez, I've taken this thread in another direction - sorry!

By Yjja123 on Sunday, July 1, 2007 - 10:37 am:

We did the rain forest tour in San Jaun and loved it!

By Marcia on Sunday, July 1, 2007 - 11:55 am:

We'll only be in San Juan from 5pm - midnight, which is odd. I'm not sure we'll be doing much of anything there. Lots of pics though, of course!
We cruised out of Miami last time, and took lots of pics as we left the port. Yes, very pretty, but certainly way out of our reach!!

By Kaye on Monday, July 2, 2007 - 01:42 pm:

I am a last minute gal, mostly. I book vacations somewhere between 1 and 2 months out. Last year I booked the end of april for a week in colorado the last week of may. This year we are booked to go to nm, we planned it about a month ago, I don't have any plans yet, just a place to stay.

I am going to vegas sometime in sept/oct, we haven't firmed that up at all, probably won't anytime soon.

By Sunny on Monday, July 2, 2007 - 03:18 pm:

Depends on where we are going.

Since we are a big family, going away for any longer than a long weekend requires advanced planning. "Big" (read: expensive!) vacations like Disney are planned once we settle on the date, and since we only get to go every 3- 4 years (and that's a maybe), we'll set the date about a year in advance. For smaller trips like a long weekend, I wait until a couple of months to a few weeks beforehand. Next month we are going to a wedding out of state and decided to make it a mini-vacation. Although we've known about it since May (and decided then that we were going), I just booked our rooms last week. Unfortunately, it will be the only vacation we take this year and my 18 year old has decided he would rather stay home.