Final payment for my Caribbean cruise was yesterday. Last week, the 11-day cruise and one of the longer B2Bs that included it were sold out. The other B2B had a few insides and one Neptune. This morning, my cruise has plenty of cabins in the lower categories--inside, OV, veranda. No suites.
So how much of this is due to agencies having to release blocks they've held? Can an agency hold cabins as late as final payment, or must they release the block earlier than that?
And how much of this is due to people with $1 deposits deciding to let it go? I hate those $1 sales. People book cabins thinking, maybe I'll go, maybe not. What the hell, it's only $1. Not much risk. But for people who genuinely intend to sail, the choice of cabins is reduced. For my cruise, there were just a handful of verandah cabins available since summer. Now there are plenty.