Our sailing isn't selling well, should I be worried

[singinglizzie]

We will sail the Star in mid-March to the Mexican Riviera, smack dab during spring break, but our ship isn't selling too well. In fact there is plenty of availability for all categories -and prices have dropped. - maybe those travel advisories are keeping folks away? We switched from the Sun/Carribbean itinerary, which has now gone up by over $200 PP? It seems that most of the other ships we originally looked at for our week have gone up in price, so they must be selling well. Should we be worried. What happens when a Ship sails with fewer than anticipated customers?? Will service suffer?

[BikerAl]

If anything, service will be better due to a higher crew to passenger ratio. That said, I doubt the ship will sail with available cabins. Booking may be slow right now, but there are a lot of folks who are waiting till last minute to book during these tough economic times.

 

Al

[singinglizzie]

If anything, service will be better due to a higher crew to passenger ratio. That said, I doubt the ship will sail with available cabins. Booking may be slow right now, but there are a lot of folks who are waiting till last minute to book during these tough economic times.

 

Al

 

Thanks for the reply - I've also been wondering how much the cruise line will discount after the final payment date, but I guess they have to do what they have to do. Those of us that book ahead at least get best cabin selection and comfort knowing we have a space, since it could also go the other way and rates could increase or sell-out. This is happening our week, just not on our ship???? I've also noticed that the Cruise lines really don't discount the suites much, but practically give away the inside cabins? They must have all their margins figured out.

[Got Tequila?]

Thanks for the reply - I've also been wondering how much the cruise line will discount after the final payment date, but I guess they have to do what they have to do. Those of us that book ahead at least get best cabin selection and comfort knowing we have a space, since it could also go the other way and rates could increase or sell-out. This is happening our week, just not on our ship???? I've also noticed that the Cruise lines really don't discount the suites much, but practically give away the inside cabins? They must have all their margins figured out.

 

Our 12/12 JEWEL cruise isn't selling well either...probably just because of the holiday time of year.

 

The cruise lines have a secret formula as to how much they discount, and what cabins get discounted....and when. We book early and keep an eye on prices, if they start really discounting towards the cruise date we try to upgrade our cabin type to take advatage of the new rate.

 

Since we started booking with a certain TA (group booking) we haven't received any upsell calls from the cruise line...so we really watch things ourselves to see what is selling and how the prices are doing.

 

The only problem with cabins not selling well for us, is that the roll call is usually quite quiet and lonely as well.

[camz]

No worries! We were on the Gem for the New Year's Eve cruise. We booked the cruise early, in Jan 2009 for Dec 28th sailing. Anyway, I thought since it was New Year's this cruise would fill up quickly. However, the ship really only started to book to capacity in about October. The ship ended up being over booked. Some people like waiting until the last minute to book, however, I like to be booked in advance and have the choice of cabins and knowing my plans are made. :)