I would be interested to know if anyone has had any luck getting last minute discounted fares from the cruise lines, especially for the unsold cabins during "slow" cruise times, that do not involve air arrangements . If so, how close to the desired departure date should one call, and is it better to go through our local cruise agency, or speak directly to the cruise line. Is there someone of higher authority at the cruise line other than the general reservationists that I should speak to. I am not picky about cabin location , and would be willing to have a cabin assignment made at check in if necessary, and if the price was at a significant reduction.

An acquaintance in the cruise industry told me once that the idea of walking up to the pier and getting some killer deal is pretty much an urban myth. At some point, assuming that there is unsold inventory, adding additional cheap pax might trigger some cascading of upgrades, the overhead for which would be a lot for the ship to absorb.

But trying doesn't cost anything; if you're okay with a guarantee cabin, interior, etc., maybe you can score.

There is barely such things now as "slow" cruise times and last minutes bargains, as demand is huge and prices are high almost all year.

SusieKay,
I haven't booked any last minute discounted cruises but I have recently gotten emails announcing last-minute deals.

I signed up to be on an email list for travel deals from vacationstogo.com and I think cruisecritic.com

Just yesterday, I got notified of last-minute deals where you have to book that day or within the week to get the rates. Royal Caribbean calls them "Happy Hour" specials. The price were lower than ANYWHERE I've seen. If I hadn't just booked a land based trip to Puerto Rico, I definitely would've jumped on some of the deals.

Short notice for airfare can be a problem if you need to fly to a port.

I have found some good deals but the airfare was a killer!

I've heard you can't just walk up for a last minute cheap trip because the passenger manifest needs to be run for security purposes, something like 24 or 48 hours prior to sailing?