Celebrity blocking 3/4 person occupancy rooms when trying to book for party of 2

[flickchick]

A question for experienced Celebrity cruisers -

 

We have been on 20+ cruises on several lines including NCL, RCCL, Princess and Carnival, but never Celebrity.

 

Recently, when booking our first Celebrity cruise, we ran into a situation attempting to choose connecting cabins for two parties of two (my spouse and I and my in-laws). Although the cruise isn't until June of 2019, we noticed that multiple cabins were already showing as unavailable. In fact, it was basically every other cabin on the deck - as in the two person occupancy cabin was open but the three+ person occupancy was unavailable.

 

In speaking to a travel agent, we were told it is common for Celebrity to do this type of thing with their inventory in order to maximize their revenues on the 3+ person cabins. This is something we have never seen on other cruise lines, and were quite surprised about it.

 

So, my question is - have any of you experienced Celebrity cruisers encountered this same issue? If so, is there some sort of standard for when these higher occupancy cabins open up for booking? We ended up selecting two cabins with a 3 person cabin in between, but this is not ideal since we like the convenience of adjoining rooms in case our parents need assistance with something.

 

Any guidance provided is greatly appreciated!

 

Happy Cruising - Chris

[1025cruise]

I think this is a common trend. If they book a couple into a cabin that can accommodate more, then a family that needs the additional space can't book it. My guess is that they won't be available for booking by a couple until after final payment.

[Cruise Raider]

A question for experienced Celebrity cruisers -

 

We have been on 20+ cruises on several lines including NCL, RCCL, Princess and Carnival, but never Celebrity.

 

Recently, when booking our first Celebrity cruise, we ran into a situation attempting to choose connecting cabins for two parties of two (my spouse and I and my in-laws). Although the cruise isn't until June of 2019, we noticed that multiple cabins were already showing as unavailable. In fact, it was basically every other cabin on the deck - as in the two person occupancy cabin was open but the three+ person occupancy was unavailable.

 

In speaking to a travel agent, we were told it is common for Celebrity to do this type of thing with their inventory in order to maximize their revenues on the 3+ person cabins. This is something we have never seen on other cruise lines, and were quite surprised about it.

 

So, my question is - have any of you experienced Celebrity cruisers encountered this same issue? If so, is there some sort of standard for when these higher occupancy cabins open up for booking? We ended up selecting two cabins with a 3 person cabin in between, but this is not ideal since we like the convenience of adjoining rooms in case our parents need assistance with something.

 

Any guidance provided is greatly appreciated!

 

Happy Cruising - Chris

 

Even though they might be blocked online, if you call in, either to your travel agent or to Celebrity, they will most likely allow a couple to book that cabin....they always have for me, anyway. I would just explain the situation and I am sure you can book two cabins adjacent to one another without any issue. We oftentimes book 2 or 3 sailings with Celebrity every year and a few times, we booked as soon as the itinerary was made available (so, way ahead of time) and have never had a problem getting the cabin we chose, even when it is listed as a cabin that will hold 3 or 4 passengers. Since you already booked, just stay in the same category to avoid any additional charges.

The only restrictions I have heard of when booking a cabin for a couple is for the family veranda cabins....as there are only a couple / few of these on each ship and sleep up to 5 pax. They are blocked until shortly before the sail date if not booked adn then become available to whomever plunks their money down first.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

To me, it makes no sense for Celebrity to block cabins that will accommodate 4 guests until after final payment. I just did a dummy booking on Reflection for January 18, 2019 and there are a number of ocean view cabins available that are connecting and will hold 4 guests.

[mrsgoggins]

I prefer cabins with the sofa by the window rather than a bed. Once I realised that these are the cabins that sleep 3 or 4 on S class ships, I made a point of requesting what I wanted when booking and got it.

[sippican]

As advised by another poster, all you have to do is call. They will usually override this if you explain thet you are travelling together. (Whoever the travel agent was that you spoke to, should have known this!)

Sounds like you booked yourself, but if you booked through a travel agency, they will need to do it for you. Keep trying until you are successful.

[the_dylaness]

We recently booked a Celebrity cruise through our TA; we needed connecting cabins which are not plentiful. We weren't sure if our second room was going to have 2 or 3 people, but they would not let us book the 3 person cabin without 3 so we just booked for three and figured we'll see what happens when it gets closer.

 

I don't necessarily want to say I wish they would hold connecting cabins for families, but it does make it really difficult, as many of the connecting cabins we wanted to book had only one of the two cabins booked (so clearly not by someone who needed a connecting cabin.) Maybe making more connecting rooms available? The family verandah would be PERFECT (we often travel with our two small children plus either a nanny or my mom) but the single bathroom is just not adequate. Even a very small half bath would make it much more usable, and maybe split the bathroom like they do on Disney (toilet in one room with a sink, shower/bath and sink in another.)

[twincheryl]

We booked onboard Millennium for Eclipse in August 2018 and were unable to get connecting Sunset View veranda cabins because of this issue. We booked 3 cabins at the same time and were told that 6310 was not able to be booked since it was for 3+ passengers. We booked 6306, 6038, but had to skip one and book 6312.

 

Per above comments, I thought it might be a good idea for me to try to call and see if they'd release that 6310 cabin. Much to my surprise, THEY DID! Very easy and received the confirmation email right away.

[RickT]

I've never seen nor experienced this. We almost always book a 4 person cabin (only booking 2 people) as we like the bed by the bathroom. Are you using the X website or a third party site?

[Sammigar]

I always book way early, as soon as itineraries are announced and have never had an issue, and we've definitely stayed in cabins with a sofa bed. It may be certain ships or certain itineraries, but we've never run into being blocked from a 3/4 person cabin because we're two travelers.

[miched]

I don’t know what category you are trying to book. If it is a AQ (Aqua Class) then the booking will be blocked because there is only two allowed per cabin.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🛳🇺🇸🌅

[twincheryl]

We booked onboard Millennium for Eclipse in August 2018 and were unable to get connecting Sunset View veranda cabins because of this issue. We booked 3 cabins at the same time and were told that 6310 was not able to be booked since it was for 3+ passengers. We booked 6306, 6038, but had to skip one and book 6312.

 

 

 

Per above comments, I thought it might be a good idea for me to try to call and see if they'd release that 6310 cabin. Much to my surprise, THEY DID! Very easy and received the confirmation email right away.

 

 

 

We are three solos... never had problems on Royal, but when we tried to book onboard OR online, ran into the same issue with that one Sunset Veranda balcony. When we booked onboard the rep said he would waitlist the 6310 cabin and that they might open it up closer to sailing. He even got someone to try to help him override the issue, but no luck. Today the phone Capt Club person said she was able to override... so who knows?

 

 

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[Ramona760]

If you are trying to book through Celebrity's website they are the absolute worst user friendly site. If you are Costco members, sometimes they let you request a cabin that is not shown as available (there is a tab online) and will let you book it if it is not sold. Sometimes I will shop there for availability and then shop best price and call the TA knowing that cabin is not booked.

[cherburt]

We booked 2 adjoining rooms, 2 in each room. The room we choose is for 4 and we had no problem booking.

 

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[cruisin lady ca]

We prefer cabins with the bed near the bathroom. That is the configuration for cabins that sleep three or four people. We have never had a problem booking this type of cabin for two people on any of the cruises we have taken. We've sailed on Equinox and Reflection, and are booked on Eclipse in 2019 in a variety of categories (2B, 1A, C2).

[CI66774]

As others have posted, just call and it will be resolved.