33 days out- is it normal?

[VTcruisenut]

Just looked at our cruise again- March 15th on Eurodam, Eastern Caribbean and it seems that there are plenty of cabins still available. I have noticed that the Roll Call for this cruise is pretty slow- is this normal that there are so many cabins available on a cruise that is 30-35 days out? What are the chances of being offered and upgrade if the ship is not full? This will be our 5th cruise on HAL and have never received a substantial upgrade or any OBC, so I am quite envious of those that do get them! Thank you for sharing your info!

[Krazy Kruizers]

No one knows how the upgrade/upsell fairy works.

Some people seem to be very lucky and get upgrades quite a few times.

Probably in the next few days, HAL will start to try and sell those cabins at a good rate. But who will they be offered to? Florida residents? Or everyone?

I remember a several years ago when one of our cruises out of San Diego wasn't selling well, and HAL offered great savings the last couple of weeks before the sail date for those who lived in CA. The ship filled up almost completely.

 

Hope you get a great upgrade.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Krazy Kruizers

[The-Inside-Cabin]

I am seeing more discounted last minutes fares here on the west coast. We just returned from a discounted crown princess. They sailed with 2874 people out of 3080 assuming all doubled.....so probably at least 100 empty cabins.

 

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

I wonder if the stronger dollar is impacting Canadian and European Market...I read somewhere that there is now a 20pct surcharge for Canadians.

 

 

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[catl331]

You are much more likely to get an upgrade if you have a guarantee reservation. We have gotten upgrades on all 9 of our GTY bookings and only one upsell offer on the 8 chosen cabins.

Edited February 8, 2015 by catl331

[VTcruisenut]

You are much more likely to get an upgrade if you have a guarantee reservation. We have gotten upgrades on all 9 of our GTY bookings and only one upsell offer on the 8 chosen cabins.

 

really? we always book a guarantee! this is cruise #5 and it would be nice to have some sort of "loyalty bonus"!!! I also wonder if it is because this cruise is the back side of a 14- day Western/Eastern loop that the 2nd half is not booked so heavily?

[Hlitner]

Gonna get flamed for this, but not at all surprised that HAL is not selling well in the shorter Caribbean cruise market. They have either shortened cruising distances (via the itinerary) or shortened port times (both save lots of fuel money). And HAL is not exactly a popular line with younger folks and in mid-March you are getting into the Spring Break days.

 

But look at that Eurodam itinerary. Two of the ports are beach days (Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay). San Juan is an afternoon arrival which does limit options...and San Juan is not a popular port with many cruisers. So that leaves St Thomas as the only decent full day port on a 7 day cruise. It is a recipe for low booking demand which means some great last minute prices or a partially empty ship. We sometimes wonder if the "thinking heads" at Seattle have any clue when they plan their Caribbean itineraries.

 

Getting back to the OPs cruise, it is OK for that want a beach vacation, but many of HAL's biggest fans are older cruisers who put beaches low on their list of priorities.

 

Hank

Edited February 8, 2015 by Hlitner

[cruz chic]

really? we always book a guarantee! this is cruise #5 and it would be nice to have some sort of "loyalty bonus"!!! I also wonder if it is because this cruise is the back side of a 14- day Western/Eastern loop that the 2nd half is not booked so heavily?

 

There is no loyalty bonus. Quite the opposite or so it seems. I know people say that loyalty or how much you pay figures into the equation. That has not been my experience when comparing with other cruisers on the same cruise booking guarantees. As far as upsells, I think you are more likely to see them if you book thru the cruise line. I've seen cruisers post otherwise and I know some that have a ta that is friendly with the upsell manager. No surprise you would see them in that case.

[catl331]

really?

Yes - but I just re-read your original post and noticed that you said you've never received a "substantial" upgrade. Maybe you wouldn't consider 7 of our 9 "substantial" either, as they were just a few steps within the same class. Just once we went from Inside to Outside, and once Outside to Veranda. In the latter case, we booked an H, were assigned a C at 11 days out, and then re-assigned to V at 3 days out. I think we may have been the beneficiaries of a late cancellation.

 

Only once in 17 HAL cruises have we booked direct with them - the rest were through a local TA.

Edited February 8, 2015 by catl331

[Friend100]

Gonna get flamed for this, but not at all surprised that HAL is not selling well in the shorter Caribbean cruise market. They have either shortened cruising distances (via the itinerary) or shortened port times (both save lots of fuel money). And HAL is not exactly a popular line with younger folks and in mid-March you are getting into the Spring Break days.

 

But look at that Eurodam itinerary. Two of the ports are beach days (Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay). San Juan is an afternoon arrival which does limit options...and San Juan is not a popular port with many cruisers. So that leaves St Thomas as the only decent full day port on a 7 day cruise. It is a recipe for low booking demand which means some great last minute prices or a partially empty ship. We sometimes wonder if the "thinking heads" at Seattle have any clue when they plan their Caribbean

 

I agree. Spring break with lots of families they will look for Royal Caribbean, Princess, Carnival, Norwegian or Disney first. HAL isn't in their short list. But for us it is fine too because that's when we can find value on HAL.

[IRL_Joanie]

Early last week there was an article on Yahoo News about Carnival Dividends being couple cents lower than previously expected, and the reason.

 

I cannot remember the exact words, nor find the article now, so will paraphrase what I read.

 

According to the spokesman for Carnival (Reaching across all the Lines under the Carnival Brands) the reason that not only the dividends being lower for the quarter cited, but also the fact that there are more staterooms available is because there are so many more cruise ships cruising the Caribbean, and many with the larger capacity. He went on to say something to the effect that it is harder to sell when so many have already been to the same itineraries before.

 

So it seems that unless the cruise lines find not only different itineraries, but also have fewer cruise ships or at least ships with lower capacity, then those of us who cruise more than once will have a greater chance of not only cheaper cruises (sales) but also stateroom category choices.

 

Joanie

Edited February 8, 2015 by IRL_Joanie

[Hlitner]

Joanie brings up a good topic. But there are a very limited number of ports reachable on a typical 7 day cruise from Florida ports. And, many of the better ports are a longer distance from Florida and can only be accessed if cruise lines increase their cruising speed (say from 16 knots to 22 knots) or reduce the number of ports on the cruise. But increasing the cruising speed can add over 20% to the total cost of fuel, and reducing port days (even short port days) is not a popular option with many shorter cruise customers.

 

So one answer it to offer longer cruises, but many lines have found there are just not enough customers to fill those ships. Our favorite Caribbean itinerary is the 14 day Celebrity Eclipse cruise which is a true 14 day cruise (not back to back) with 8 ports...including many in the southern Caribbean. Princess used to have a similar 14 day cruise (on the Grand Princess) but ditched that itinerary in favor of just doing back-to-back 7 day cruises (with the same ole ports). Other cruise lines (like HAL and RCI) do offer some decent itineraries on 10-11 day cruises.

 

But if you limit yourself to 7 days then your options are also very limited. One solution is to do a 7 day cruise out of San Juan, which does get you to some interesting ports, but also means that you might only get one sea day.

 

Hank

[RedmondCruiser]

What happens in "Ships Inventory" tends to be a closely guarded secret. More than likely upgrades are done by a computer program.

 

Sometimes it may appear that there are six cabins available in one category. In actuality there may only be one. The rest go to guarantees. HAL is going more and more toward upsells, and some are very attractive offers.

 

Good luck and have a great cruise.

[dhill]

TO many ships and to big of ships flooding the market there are only so many people who are going to take a cruise so the pie is getting cut thinner and thinner.It will be interesting to see where this ends up at with more and more Mega ships being built where will they get the people to fill them?

[Dave in NJ]

With regard to upsells, there seems to be a common thought that you have to wait for one to be offered. Not the case, you can always initiate that conversation yourself direct or through your TA; I've had some very attractive upsell offers made after I asked what was available.

[zookiebird]

With regard to upsells, there seems to be a common thought that you have to wait for one to be offered. Not the case, you can always initiate that conversation yourself direct or through your TA; I've had some very attractive upsell offers made after I asked what was available.

 

I agree with Dave. No harm in asking, we do it all the time. Sometimes we've been lucky. The worst that can happen is they say no and we're "stuck" with the cabin we already have booked.

[whogo]

Just looked at our cruise again- March 15th on Eurodam, Eastern Caribbean and it seems that there are plenty of cabins still available.

I do not think you can tell how many cabins are available. Once guarantee cabins are assigned there may be very few left.

[bobbisailsolo]

This is just my opinion, but if you book thru a travel agent, you may get an upgrade up front. If you book thru a HAL agent you may get a minor upgrade on a guarantee. Normally if you choose your own cabin, I dont thnik there are many upgrades. On my guarantees, Ive just been moved to a better position on the ship. Once my upgrade put me in a better position, but it was a handicap accessable cabin, which i didnt care for. I ended up paying extra on board to move to a different cabin...lol

[VTcruisenut]

Yes - but I just re-read your original post and noticed that you said you've never received a "substantial" upgrade. Maybe you wouldn't consider 7 of our 9 "substantial" either, as they were just a few steps within the same class. Just once we went from Inside to Outside, and once Outside to Veranda. In the latter case, we booked an H, were assigned a C at 11 days out, and then re-assigned to V at 3 days out. I think we may have been the beneficiaries of a late cancellation.

 

Only once in 17 HAL cruises have we booked direct with them - the rest were through a local TA.

 

I guess I shouldn't have used "substantial" maybe any upgrade, would be more appropriate. We always book guarantee, I booked it myself on their website. We always book and inside cabin and have never been offered anything in an upsell or an upgrade. I just wondered if it only happens with people who use TA. I am excited to be going PERIOD as it has been 4 years, and we are very happy with the "beach" days because on our previous cruises we have spent money on shore excursions that ended up being glorified rides around the island in a modified truck and stopping at trinket vendors. I will be estatic to get out of this below zero weather and on a beach! You all have great imput and I appreciate it very much!

[PathfinderEss]

I guess I shouldn't have used "substantial" maybe any upgrade, would be more appropriate. We always book guarantee, I booked it myself on their website. We always book and inside cabin and have never been offered anything in an upsell or an upgrade. I just wondered if it only happens with people who use TA. I am excited to be going PERIOD as it has been 4 years, and we are very happy with the "beach" days because on our previous cruises we have spent money on shore excursions that ended up being glorified rides around the island in a modified truck and stopping at trinket vendors. I will be estatic to get out of this below zero weather and on a beach! You all have great imput and I appreciate it very much!

 

I wonder why you think your going to get an upgrade by booking guarantee's and is that why you book guarantee's? Booking a guarantee says your going to get a cabin in the category you picked or MAYBE a better cabin category. No promises, maybe if you want a better cabin, you should book a better cabin, just a thought.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

On my last 3 HAL cruises I booked a specific cabin with obstructed views. In every case, about 2 weeks before sailing, I was offered an upgrade to a full view or in one case, a vista suite for about 50pct of the original price differential.

 

I think your only hope for a free upgrade is to book a GUAR...

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Does anyone know if cruise line employees can travel standby for free or at huge discounts? When I worked for major airline we would never upgrade people into international business or first unless oversold in back....would rather fly those seats empty rather than have some guy who paid $17K for a ticket sit next to someone who waited till last second and got a deal. However, employees could fly free up front space a because they were told to keep their mouths shut about their status...

Edited February 8, 2015 by Pete and Judy

[take us away]

We have cruised HAL for many years and have had a myriad of upgrade and upsell offers. We always use a TA and our best upgrade was the day before the cruise sailed to a suite. We usually turn down the upsell offers as we select the cabin location we want and they will often not tell you where the upsell cabin is located. Example: we booked a mid-ship, outside cabin and they offer an upsell to a veranda cabin - but no clue where it would be located even after repeated requests for location or at least category. Not always but occasionally they 'sweeten' the pot to induce us to accept. We can usually keep the 'sweetening' such as more OBC, and not accept the upsell.

[VTcruisenut]

I wonder why you think your going to get an upgrade by booking guarantee's and is that why you book guarantee's? Booking a guarantee says your going to get a cabin in the category you picked or MAYBE a better cabin category. No promises, maybe if you want a better cabin, you should book a better cabin, just a thought.

 

I guess my thought is, if these upgrades and freebies are really happening- and people post on here all the time they do- it would seem it would happen to us or someone we at least know personally at some point, but it hasn't.. It's like buying a lottery ticket, you by what you can afford and hope you win big!

 

Didn't mean to prick any feathers..............I guess I will just go back to reading posts instead of trying to ask intelligent questions.

[DavyJoneses]

I am seeing more discounted last minutes fares here on the west coast. We just returned from a discounted crown princess. They sailed with 2874 people out of 3080 assuming all doubled.....so probably at least 100 empty cabins.

 

 

 

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I agree...we seem to be getting more emails about last minute cruises.