Just did a B2B and one of the cruises were booked with a TA and the other as part of a group with TA.....we got really good deals on both- they were all booked like 400 days in advance and we ended up with OBC.   I missed out on putting money down towards my next cruise while onboard (cuz hubby said he didn't want to cruise again) but now he's reconsidering as we look into the 12-day Hawaii in 2010.... ANYWAYS.... is it adviseable to book through carnival now, wait and see if some type of group forms that we can jump in on, book via TA, book through carnival closer to the time????

any suggestions>>

You will be fine booking through Carnival as long as you are comfortable with that (some people don't like to book themselves).  In never hurts to book early as you can always get a rate decrease if the price goes down (OBC during penalty period), but if it goes up and you don't have it deposited you are just out of luck!  Keep checking for free upgrades or special sales.  Hope this helps.

gottagetaway:

is it adviseable to book through carnival now, wait and see if some type of group forms that we can jump in on, book via TA, book through carnival closer to the time????