What happens when a cruise is not selling well?

[Pirouette]

We are booked on a Caribbean Cruise out of Miami in February. I checked today and it appears that there are MANY cabins still available. The breakdown is as follows:B3:14, B2:39, B1:43, A4:3, A3:2, A2:12, A1:3, PH1:4, PH2:15, PH1:4, OS: 1. I am surprised that there is so much availability! O has offered free internet, free gratuities and shipboard credits. I realize that there is a lot of competition in the Caribbean market but I expected a higher occuapncy rate 60 days out. It can't be very profitable for O to sail with so many empty cabins.

[Andee]

On our recent Caribbean cruise on Insignia, there were 609 passengers; capacity is (I think) 684.

[Beachdad2]

Riviera on February 23?

 

 

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[COMBOY]

We are booked on a Caribbean Cruise out of Miami in February. I checked today and it appears that there are MANY cabins still available. The breakdown is as follows:B3:14, B2:39, B1:43, A4:3, A3:2, A2:12, A1:3, PH1:4, PH2:15, PH1:4, OS: 1. I am surprised that there is so much availability! O has offered free internet, free gratuities and shipboard credits. I realize that there is a lot of competition in the Caribbean market but I expected a higher occuapncy rate 60 days out. It can't be very profitable for O to sail with so many empty cabins.

 

You have no idea how many passengers are booked as GTY. Many of these cabins aren't berthed until 2-3 weeks before departure. All you are looking at is available assignable cabins. No one outside of Oceania would know actual inventory for competitive reasons. For all you know the ship could be at capacity or in an oversell. It's no different then then airlines. Tickets are sold for a specific flight; however, not all seats are assigned until the day of the flight. GTY or Guarantee space=Inventory is sold but actual cabin assignment is anywhere from the day you make a reservation until pier check-in. Many people book GTY hoping for the upgrade fairy. Sometimes certain categories are only sold as GTY allowing the cruise line to upgrade passengers to maximum occupancy selling more space then actual berths. Also group space isn't always assigned cabins until the group is finalized. Remember most website booking sites (including Oceania's site) are only selling tools for the cruise lines and only display what the cruise line wants to show and there may no relation to actual inventory. I bet most of those cabins will be assigned by departure date.

Edited December 15, 2014 by COMBOY

[S&G1968]

Your essentially 6-8 weeks out which at this point is plenty far away...

 

Online your only true gauge is when you see a category sold out. Open cabins and Guarantee Only Cabins will fluctuate as demand and supply dictates.

 

If a ship does have open inventory they have outlets where they can upgrade current bookings and sell cabins to those that can travel last minute for a reduced rate wherein they are still profiting, albeit at a lower percentage.

 

~Steve

[RetiredFL]

I have also found that, in talking with my TA, the web site is hopelessly out of date as far as cabins available. While it might be some indication of the status of the ship it is rarely if ever accurate.

[pinotlover]

I have retired friends in England that routinely get, via their TA, last minute offers for highly discounted cruises in Europe. They just need to have the ability to show up on short notice. They have, on occasion, even paid the discounted price and made arrangements to meet the ship on Day 2 of the cruise for logistical reasons.

 

I have seen this done in the US for cruises in the Carribe also, usually through either TA or bulk discounters, never directly from the cruise lines. The cruise lines maintain a very good working relationship with good TAs for a reason.;)

[Pirouette]

I checked the O website again this morning. Though my cabin category is only available on a guarantee basis, (we have an assigned cabin) there are many cabins available at A1-4, B1-3, and inside categories. There are several PH suites available as well.

 

At 45 days out, I had hoped for more cruise mates. I hope this will not be a snooze cruise!

 

On our most recent cruise we were offered a couple up-sells for our assigned OV cabin.

It does not seem likely this time when the ship is half empty!

[Jancruz]

I checked the O website again this morning. Though my cabin category is only available on a guarantee basis, (we have an assigned cabin) there are many cabins available at A1-4, B1-3, and inside categories. There are several PH suites available as well.

 

At 45 days out, I had hoped for more cruise mates. I hope this will not be a snooze cruise!

 

On our most recent cruise we were offered a couple up-sells for our assigned OV cabin.

It does not seem likely this time when the ship is half empty!

 

I can guarantee you the ship will not be half empty..you can stop worrying..

Jancruz1

[Thecat123]

Anybody know how the 19th July Nautica sailing is going?

[Travelcat2]

The easiest thing to do is to call your TA. They will have a general idea of how full the cruise is. If you are interested in a new booking or changing cabins, your TA can let you know what other cabins are available in the classification you are looking at.

 

Oceania cruises sail pretty full so I would not expect the ship to be less than 75% full - ever (usually the number is much higher). If the website has not been accurate lately, they are probably making some changes. Keep in mind that several categories can show "available" and there could be only 1 or 2 available cabins in a category.

 

Sometimes it is interest to chat with others on your cruise on Roll Call. Some of your fellow passengers may already have information that could be helpful. Most of us do not learn how many people are onboard until we are actually on the ship.

[rallydave]

I checked the O website again this morning. Though my cabin category is only available on a guarantee basis, (we have an assigned cabin) there are many cabins available at A1-4, B1-3, and inside categories. There are several PH suites available as well.

 

At 45 days out, I had hoped for more cruise mates. I hope this will not be a snooze cruise!

 

On our most recent cruise we were offered a couple up-sells for our assigned OV cabin.

It does not seem likely this time when the ship is half empty!

 

If the ship is truly have empty, would expect there to be many upsells since the more empty cabins, there is more revenue that can be generated by upsells.

 

While it is true that the offers from a cruise line would be larger the more the cruise is full, with a cruise less than full there is always room for upsells so even if your estimate of half full is not correct, upsells should be expected the less full the ship is and the upsells could be extremely reasonable as any additional revenue is good for the cruise line.

[pinotlover]

For the OP:

 

Look at the bright side, the ship will sail, and one can get all the reservations, once on board, for the specialty restaurants that they choose!:)

 

Chill out and enjoy your cruise, the boat won't be anywhere near empty come sail date!

[Thecat123]

Found out that if I went from Oceania's New Zealand page which only gives me the option for a quote to Oceania's USA page it gives a list of what is available for our cruise with prices

I did notice that from the Brochure Fares to the Special Promotions the price seemed to be about half of the listed brochure price

Is there a story here that one should book last minute to get cheaper fares?

Is this only a American offer?

We have only paid the deposit but the final payment due end of January

The last cruise we did our TA found that we had a price drop. Would that be the case here or have I got it all wrong like I usually do? :)

Just looked at the price we are paying and it seems we are on the cheaper price

Edited January 8, 2015 by Thecat123

[LHT28]

Found out that if I went from Oceania's New Zealand page which only gives me the option for a quote to Oceania's USA page it gives a list of what is available for our cruise with prices

I did notice that from the Brochure Fares to the Special Promotions the price seemed to be about half of the listed brochure price

Is there a story here that one should book last minute to get cheaper fares?

Is this only a American offer?

We have only paid the deposit but the final payment due end of January

The last cruise we did our TA found that we had a price drop. Would that be the case here or have I got it all wrong like I usually do? :)

Just looked at the price we are paying and it seems we are on the cheaper price

 

Not many people pay the brochure rate .... it is marketing

The 2 for one or Promotion rate is the basic fare

If there are other deals with price drops I have not seen them ;)

 

Lyn

Edited January 8, 2015 by LHT28

[StanandJim]

Not many people pay the brochure rate .... it is marketing

The 2 for one or Promotion rate is the basic fare

If there are other deals with price drops I have not seen them ;)

 

Lyn

 

This person appears to be from New Zealand. The rules are different there.

It does not do any good to quote North American policy to him.

[LHT28]

This person appears to be from New Zealand. The rules are different there.

It does not do any good to quote North American policy to him.

 

put the martini down & read the post again :D

 

I was answering the question on rates shown on the USA site

[Thecat123]

Not many people pay the brochure rate .... it is marketing

The 2 for one or Promotion rate is the basic fare

If there are other deals with price drops I have not seen them ;)

 

Lyn

 

Lyn I just found Oceania's book for NZ and they only list the cheaper prices and I think we got a special fare on that

I wonder why we can't get the same information from the NZ site as other sites like the US one?

I would presume further cabins will open up after final payment is due? When we booked the cheapest we could get was the Concierge level which probably isn't worth it but that will do us. In NZ we lose our deposit if we pull out

Looking forward to try Oceania in July as we have done MSC to Seabourn and a few others :)

[LHT28]

Lyn I just found Oceania's book for NZ and they only list the cheaper prices and I think we got a special fare on that

I wonder why we can't get the same information from the NZ site as other sites like the US one?

I would presume further cabins will open up after final payment is due? When we booked the cheapest we could get was the Concierge level which probably isn't worth it but that will do us. In NZ we lose our deposit if we pull out

Looking forward to try Oceania in July as we have done MSC to Seabourn and a few others :)

 

it is called Regional pricing ...in other Countries they give different brochures & prices in local currency ( I am guessing on this point)

The UK seem to get prices in GBP

Australians get prices in AUD

 

Maybe the laws outside of North America have to show the real price & not the marketing games that go on here

 

Looking at your cruise on the US site it appears all cat below A3 have some availability not sure how it works there but if you want a lower Cat maybe you can request it ????

Edited January 8, 2015 by LHT28

[Thecat123]

 

Looking at your cruise on the US site it appears all cat below A3 have some availability not sure how it works there but if you want a lower Cat maybe you can request it ????

 

Nah Not worried about that :)

I think we have an A2 guarantee

Re my first question about how full the ship is, the NZ site doesn't give the availability and prices like the Canada, USA Australia sites do as I never thought to look and change my country of residence

New Zealand does exist :D

Edited January 8, 2015 by Thecat123

[kiawahdon]

it is called Regional pricing ...in other Countries they give different brochures & prices in local currency ( I am guessing on this point)

The UK seem to get prices in GBP

Australians get prices in AUD

 

Maybe the laws outside of North America have to show the real price & not the marketing games that go on here

 

Looking at your cruise on the US site it appears all cat below A3 have some availability not sure how it works there but if you want a lower Cat maybe you can request it ????

 

It is well past the time for the "big 3" RCL, CCL and NCL, to exercise their collective muscle and push hard for uniform pricing and policies within the industry and client home countries. The current state of affairs is crazy and really doesn't add dollars to the lines bottom line. Except for converting pounds to dollars, UK clients should have the same pricing and policies as those of us in the U.S. enjoy. Travel agents and arcain laws should not be allowed to put non- US clients in a non- competitive position. It is time for some hutspuh to be used.

[Travelcat2]

It is well past the time for the "big 3" RCL, CCL and NCL, to exercise their collective muscle and push hard for uniform pricing and policies within the industry and client home countries. The current state of affairs is crazy and really doesn't add dollars to the lines bottom line. Except for converting pounds to dollars, UK clients should have the same pricing and policies as those of us in the U.S. enjoy. Travel agents and arcain laws should not be allowed to put non- US clients in a non- competitive position. It is time for some hutspuh to be used.

 

This subject has been discussed on another board. The first thing one needs to look at are the "protection laws" in effect in the UK. Once you start looking into the legal differences throughout the world, it becomes more clear why there isn't uniform pricing. In the case of the UK, I've noticed that Oceania, in particular, offers a lot of specials to people residing in the UK that are not offered to U.S. or Canadian customers. This has been done to build their presence in the UK (it was done very successfully with Regent and is becoming successful with Oceania).

 

Really not sure why uniform pricing and policies would be looked at as something desirable.

[OctoberKat]

It is well past the time for the "big 3" RCL, CCL and NCL, to exercise their collective muscle and push hard for uniform pricing and policies within the industry and client home countries. The current state of affairs is crazy and really doesn't add dollars to the lines bottom line. Except for converting pounds to dollars, UK clients should have the same pricing and policies as those of us in the U.S. enjoy. Travel agents and arcain laws should not be allowed to put non- US clients in a non- competitive position. It is time for some hutspuh to be used.

 

This isn't how international capital works. Software and cars and most other goods are priced differently country to country. Don't see the cruise lines making any efforts to minimize profits and, yes indeed there are very big profits to be had in country- based pricing. It's not about being fair to the consumer.

Edited January 9, 2015 by OctoberKat

[pinotlover]

Not sure what the argument here is. This is no standard across the board pricing. My TA brings me deals that exists nowhere on the website. I doubt that every TA even has access to some of those deals. It may not be fair to everyone, but it's the way the system works.

 

How many of you here, with a good TA, haven't gotten a call saying would you be interested in this deal/cruise with this pricing? You won't find that deal listed on the website anywhere! Companies do marketing in a host of ways in different places to accomplish multiple strategies. One shouldn't expect them to be universal across the globe.

[G&G]

Not sure what the argument here is. This is no standard across the board pricing. My TA brings me deals that exists nowhere on the website. I doubt that every TA even has access to some of those deals. It may not be fair to everyone, but it's the way the system works.

 

How many of you here, with a good TA, haven't gotten a call saying would you be interested in this deal/cruise with this pricing? You won't find that deal listed on the website anywhere! Companies do marketing in a host of ways in different places to accomplish multiple strategies. One shouldn't expect them to be universal across the globe.

 

Good point.

 

On Wed., 01/21/15, I got an email from a TA cruise site for a sale on Oceania. The offer was book a Verandah "B" Guarantee for the price of a Inside "G" cabin. Price included free internet, prepaid tips and $200 cabin credit. This is a 10 day Caribbean next month. We booked it immediately.

 

We have sailed Oceania only for the past two years and never seen this type of offer. The offer is not on Oceania's website.