New to Waitlist - How does it work?

[RMM34667]

My sister (who lives across the street) had company this weekend and her best friend (Karen) wants them to join us on the Royal 10/29 cruise. Things are not going great for either of them and only the inside is within reason. I told her I would just keep my eye out for any insides coming available. But with the new booking system when you go in to mock book a balcony only a few of the insides say sold.

 

I thought I would call today and see about getting them on the waitlist. When I called the rep said there were actually some insides available. I thought cool I'll just book it for them. When we get to the end she say OH there seems to be a glitch and puts me on hold. (she actually told me there were a lot of glitches lately with the new system. but working in application support that is no surprise!)

 

Of course there are no insides available to book but we can waitlist them. She actually suggested just booking them in a balcony and waiting for insides to open. I passed on that as I know the difference between the inside and balcony is the difference between cruising or not. It's an almost $300 difference for a five day cruise.

 

So I did it and put down the required waitlist deposit. I did try to use the credit my friend got for the BVE we did in November but that can be used after the deposit.

 

She also quoted me a price that I think is for an IB. It's not bad, only $25 more than the IA GTY I booked three months ago. But seeing it's not a confirmed booking, can that price change? I would think if one of the lower categories become available it might go down, but CAN it go up?

 

They are #20 on the list with 10 months to go so I think they have a good chance of getting on. Is that a reasonable expectation? When I read the booking info it said we would be notified by fax if a cabin became available, but they never asked for a fax number? Princess has my email and my cell phone number so I guess they would just call me. How long do they have to accept? I'm just thinking logistics of getting in touch with Karen at that point.

 

It is crazy. I can't tell my sister - it's her friend job to talk her into it. I can't tell my mother as she might forget it's a secret. But I'm so excited. We all cruise together when it's Carnival (price point and all) but on Princess it's always just mom and me. It would be sooo awesome if they joined us.

 

Then again I still haven't told anyone my mother and I are also cruising the following 7 day cruise - that will be a birthday present in July!

[Nebr.cruiser]

We've only been on a waitlist once, with the cruise leaving in a couple of months. We did clear the waitlist, but chose not to go on the cruise because the price had increased so much--close to double.

 

They may (probably will) clear the waitlist, since the cruise is a ways off, but there is no guarantee that the price will be the same as when you got on the list.

[Pam in CA]

I booked the Royal 10/9 cruise last June and there was already a waitlist for every balcony cabin. I was #104. A week later, my TA called to say she was on the phone with Princess and a cabin was available at $X and would I take it? Yup. I grabbed it. Two months later, my sister was medically cleared to leave home and by then, the waitlist was about 450 for ANY balcony. After several months, she was down to about 375. I asked my TA about an inside for her and one was available immediately. So, my sister is confirmed in an inside and still waitlisted for a balcony.

 

At #20, she should make it off the waitlist. It's a waiting game but I would suggest calling every few days or having your TA check. You never know when you might hit the right time and something's available.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I had waitlisted all the inside and OV categories for the cruise we finally got a cabin for. We would get an email everytime a cabin became available in a category, but the first four or five offers were for cabins that weren't in good spots as far as we were concerned so we decided to risk turning them down (which meant getting shut out of those categories -- and yes, there were some cabins in those categories we would have accepted, just not those).

 

On the email would be a deadline for calling Princess, which was basically closing time for Princess the next day. So you would need to keep checking your emails. We actually did get a phone call from Princess on one of those. But I think I had call almost immediately on the other ones, so I don't know if we would have gotten calls on those.

 

Do you know if your sister wants to go on the cruise? Or if that date is good for her (works for her work schedule, etc)?

 

I would imagine they would clear the waitlist ten months ahead unless that's a special sailing (like the inaugural one).

[RMM34667]

Do you know if your sister wants to go on the cruise? Or if that date is good for her (works for her work schedule' date=' etc)?[/quote']

 

I am sure my sister would love to go. And I think my sister NEEDs to go. Seems like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders these days. I've been thinking all night and I think I'll let my deposit go toward her fare if things are still rough this summer. It's only 5 days. If it comes down to just money I am pretty sure my mother and I would cover her. She is a great sister and we have all had a very hard year.

 

The time I'm sure she can get. The hard part will be convincing her that she should do it. For herself. (Meaning leaving her 11 year old home with his father). She deserves it.

[jagoffee]

She also quoted me a price that I think is for an IB. It's not bad, only $25 more than the IA GTY I booked three months ago. But seeing it's not a confirmed booking, can that price change? I would think if one of the lower categories become available it might go down, but CAN it go up?

 

Yes, it can go up. Based on my experience when your waitlist clears Princess will tell you the price and you can either accept it or decline. The price is not set when you go on the waitlist.

 

Good luck. I would certainly think that you will clear in the next 10 months.