The Fire Sale

I do one cruise a year and am happy to have that much; many people can’t. Due to circumstances, my last two were six months apart and the next one is eighteen months off. When I think of the early Christian martyrs, I know enough not to complain about having to wait longer for my next trip; I won’t get much sympathy.

But my travel agent and I are trying to see what we can do to work one in at about the nine month point. Sure, we can just book one – but that would take all the fun out of it. I want something at maybe 20% off, more if possible. We might have to wait and see if there is a fire sale.

Cruise lines hope their ships sail full, as close to sticker price as possible. Cruisers hope that the ships have unsold cabins as the sailing date approaches. If so, the fire sale starts and the pitiless buyers start pushing and shoving to get what they want.

As of this writing, there’s nothing that even comes close. As we get close to the October, November and January sailings, there may be nothing. Or, I may get a call: “Hi, Tom. This is Marilyn and I’ve got good news for you.”

So we wait and look and wait and look again. When will I know? Quite possibly a week or so before the ship leaves the dock.

You just can’t beat a good travel agent. She will keep an eye on things for me every month and perhaps find a good deal. Maybe I should start packing.