Would like to be able to see ALL available cabins

[Lorabelle]

Is there a way to see all of the cabins available in a certain category on a sailing? The Princess website only shows 6 in any given category and other online agencies I have looked at also show the same 6.

 

I would like to be able to see all that is available before choosing my location.

 

Thanks,

Lori

[Princess Patches]

Not that I know of, but you can search for a specific cabin. There is a box on the page where they list the six cabins and you can type in a specific cabin number to see if it is available. You can also call Princess or your TA and find out what else is available.

[Coolmama_1]

You can go in to the cruise website and click on a cabin like you were going to book it. It will pull it out of inventory for a short while. Then when you go back in, it is no longer available and another will show up in its place. It is tedious but will allow you to see other rooms that are available.

[Toto2Kansas]

Is there a way to see all of the cabins available in a certain category on a sailing? The Princess website only shows 6 in any given category and other online agencies I have looked at also show the same 6.

 

I would like to be able to see all that is available before choosing my location.

 

Thanks,

Lori

Lori, for some reason Princess only shows 6 available cabins at a time, no matter how many are available. I have never actually understood why they do this. But there is no website I know of that will show more than 6 at a time for Princess ships. :(

[teacherman]

I have called Princess, and other travel web sites, and simply told them that I do not like any of those choices. They then tell me the other choices.

[KruzPrincess]

I do, too. I wish there was a site for that. This week I booked a Hawaii cruise way far out. I never book far enough out to get an aft balcony. I decided to give it a try and put in the cabins on the Princess site. They showed available and then, of course, they wouldn't let me get them back a few minutes later. I didn't know if they were held because I looked at them or if they were taken. I had to email my TA to have her check. Fortunately, the cabin I wanted was still available and I she put a hold on it for me. I wish I could just look at them all. I know they like to keep blocks of cabins open for groups, so maybe that has something to do with it.

[CruiseScrooge]

i don't think it would ever happen. i wouldn't want my potential customers, shareholders and competitors to know how full my ships are if i owned the company. these people would be telling me what they will pay instead of my telling them how much i want.

[Lorabelle]

i don't think it would ever happen. i wouldn't want my potential customers, shareholders and competitors to know how full my ships are if i owned the company. these people would be telling me what they will pay instead of my telling them how much i want.

 

That makes perfect sense, I hadn't thought of that.

 

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I guess I'll have to call Princess if I want to find out about more cabin locations. I'm not really looking for a specific cabin, but more interested in all the different cabin locations before making a choice. I did put in a few cabin numbers I was interested in, but they weren't available. I was just trying to avoid a phone call and be able to browse at my leisure.

[Toto2Kansas]

i don't think it would ever happen. i wouldn't want my potential customers, shareholders and competitors to know how full my ships are if i owned the company. these people would be telling me what they will pay instead of my telling them how much i want.

But I have seen this available for other cruise lines on some websites.

[Pam in CA]

But I have seen this available for other cruise lines on some websites.

True. Do TA's see all the available cabins?

[caribill]

Do TA's see all the available cabins?

 

Yes

[capecodder2]

Pick up or order a brochure, the full deck plans are in them and you can choose your category and stateroom and then put it in the box that comes up for a number on their website. I always like to have that full deck plan available to look over.

[Loonbeam]

There's a technical reason as well. When you have the page open with those cabin listings, they put a short term hold on those cabins, in case you choose to book (just a few minutes). Even though its a short hold, showing more cabins increases the amount locked down for other users.

[77Network]

There's a technical reason as well. When you have the page open with those cabin listings, they put a short term hold on those cabins, in case you choose to book (just a few minutes). Even though its a short hold, showing more cabins increases the amount locked down for other users.

 

 

But she is saying that no matter what website she goes to, she always sees the same 6 rooms. If they were really putting the 6 rooms on hold, how would they also show up on the other websites too?

[Loonbeam]

Unless there is a randomizer, the Princess GDS feed or whatever they are using will show the same 6 until someone books one (I THINK the ones that show are set by yield management but not sure. If the cruise is not being heavily searched at the time, those 6 could be up for quite a while.

 

But she is saying that no matter what website she goes to, she always sees the same 6 rooms. If they were really putting the 6 rooms on hold, how would they also show up on the other websites too?

[77Network]

Unless there is a randomizer, the Princess GDS feed or whatever they are using will show the same 6 until someone books one (I THINK the ones that show are set by yield management but not sure. If the cruise is not being heavily searched at the time, those 6 could be up for quite a while.

 

 

Can you explain this a little more? I still don't undstand how the 6 rooms would be the same on each website if the first search puts them on hold for a short while.

[Loonbeam]

The hold is for about 2 minutes. What will happen is that the other site will generate a query very much the same as when one is done via the Princess site (it has to be real time). So, if you generate the next quote within 2 minutes of the prior, you should see different options, but in general by the time you work through options on the other side, the cabins are back in the assignment pool and being stacked by yield management (which is why the same 6 appear, those are the ones the system wants to 'push'.

 

It's possible the lock time is even variable based on whether its a class inquiry, specific inquiry, TA etc, thats a piece of info I don't have.

 

Can you explain this a little more? I still don't undstand how the 6 rooms would be the same on each website if the first search puts them on hold for a short while.

[77Network]

The hold is for about 2 minutes. What will happen is that the other site will generate a query very much the same as when one is done via the Princess site (it has to be real time). So, if you generate the next quote within 2 minutes of the prior, you should see different options, but in general by the time you work through options on the other side, the cabins are back in the assignment pool and being stacked by yield management (which is why the same 6 appear, those are the ones the system wants to 'push'.

 

It's possible the lock time is even variable based on whether its a class inquiry, specific inquiry, TA etc, thats a piece of info I don't have.

 

Oh, I think that is the opposite problem then. The poster said she always sees the same options.

[Loonbeam]

That was my point. Unless she institutes a new query within the 1-2 minute window, she will get the same choices on another site, IF that site is using the same web service.

 

TAs come in a different way, and the locking mechanism is really meant for them.

 

Oh, I think that is the opposite problem then. The poster said she always sees the same options.

[robtulipe]

The hold is for about 2 minutes. What will happen is that the other site will generate a query very much the same as when one is done via the Princess site (it has to be real time). So, if you generate the next quote within 2 minutes of the prior, you should see different options, but in general by the time you work through options on the other side, the cabins are back in the assignment pool and being stacked by yield management (which is why the same 6 appear, those are the ones the system wants to 'push'.

 

It's possible the lock time is even variable based on whether its a class inquiry, specific inquiry, TA etc, thats a piece of info I don't have.

 

That was my point. Unless she institutes a new query within the 1-2 minute window, she will get the same choices on another site, IF that site is using the same web service.

 

TAs come in a different way, and the locking mechanism is really meant for them.

It doesn't work that way.

I did an inquiry at Princess and another site within 15-20 seconds of each other as all I had to do is select the cabin category as each was set up to do so for the same cruise and date on a different web page and I got the same cabins offered on both.

Now if I actually selected a cabin on Princess and then immediately checked the availability on the other site, only the cabin I selected did not show available and was replaced by another cabin but the five cabins not selected were the same as the non selected cabins on the Princess site.

[caribill]

Now if I actually selected a cabin on Princess and then immediately checked the availability on the other site, only the cabin I selected did not show available and was replaced by another cabin but the five cabins not selected were the same as the non selected cabins on the Princess site.

 

Agree. And it might be an hour until that cabin is released back into inventory.

 

So if you do select a cabin and then call Princess (or a TA) to book it, it may show as unavailable until that hour is up.

[Loonbeam]

Okay, then they removed the lockout at some point. Very possible its all being handled by the yield management software now.

 

The original reason there was 6 shown as opposed to all was due to the lockout, if that's gone technically they could show all of them, but there are business reasons why not to when it gets to the yield management part (and possibly resource issues, its been a while since I actually worked with any part of that particular system, the last thing I did before I changed companies was on the logistics and accounting sides)..

 

It doesn't work that way.

I did an inquiry at Princess and another site within 15-20 seconds of each other as all I had to do is select the cabin category as each was set up to do so for the same cruise and date on a different web page and I got the same cabins offered on both.

Now if I actually selected a cabin on Princess and then immediately checked the availability on the other site, only the cabin I selected did not show available and was replaced by another cabin but the five cabins not selected were the same as the non selected cabins on the Princess site.