Last minute booking secrets??

[Clampram]

We usually have our cruises booked way in advance but we just had to cancel a week on the Royal (12/15/18) due to a last minute ear infection with vertigo  on my part. My ear is improving but hubby has to have a meniscus repair in 2 weeks. Following that, we hope to head to FLL and get "something" with Princess.Can't book anything yet because we have to make sure that he is OK following surgery to fly/then cruise.

So, if a cruise is showing as " SOLD OUT" for a given week, does Princess open that cruise up again online  when people cancel close to the time of the cruise? How do they fill up cancelled rooms at the last minute? Is it pointless to call Princess if a cruise shows as SOLD OUT? Any such thing as a waiting list?

It looks like we may have about 1.5 to 2 weeks prior to a cruise to book something.............any input from your experiences would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, Clampram said:

We usually have our cruises booked way in advance but we just had to cancel a week on the Royal (12/15/18) due to a last minute ear infection with vertigo  on my part. My ear is improving but hubby has to have a meniscus repair in 2 weeks. Following that, we hope to head to FLL and get "something" with Princess.Can't book anything yet because we have to make sure that he is OK following surgery to fly/then cruise.

So, if a cruise is showing as " SOLD OUT" for a given week, does Princess open that cruise up again online  when people cancel close to the time of the cruise? How do they fill up cancelled rooms at the last minute? Is it pointless to call Princess if a cruise shows as SOLD OUT? Any such thing as a waiting list?

It looks like we may have about 1.5 to 2 weeks prior to a cruise to book something.............any input from your experiences would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Last minute bookings can be fun, but its best to have lots of flexibility as to the dates, ship, cruise line, cabin category, etc.  There is no way we would do a last minute booking directly with Princess (or other cruise lines) as there are many times when the best deals are to be found via certain favored cruise agencies.  In some cases the best deals are kept private (not permitted to be shown on a regular online site) and are made available to those who are on certain cruise agency e-mail lists (this is generally a free service...for those who register their e-mail with various cruise agencies). 

 

In October we did a last minute (about 2 weeks prior to the cruise) booking on the Regal through our favorite cruise agency.  The cruise we took (NYC to Ft Lauderdale)  was not sold-out...but the pricing would sometimes change from day to day and even within a single day.  We waited patiently for the deal we wanted and then immediately booked when it was available.   I actually had one of my computers on the cruise agency site and another checking for airline deals.  In the end I booked the cruise and airline within a minute of each other :).   We tend to do 1 or 2 last minute cruises every year along with other cruises that we book far in advance.  I will admit that the last minute things are a lot of fun.  Since we are very flexible (we have cruised on 15 lines) it makes the search a lot more interesting.   This past August, while looking for some last minute deals we spotted a great price on the Regal's repositioning cruise from Copenhagen to NYC and booked it within seconds :).  That turned out to be a great find since Princess also offered a terrific one-way air price (Air Canada).   The only way we spotted that deal was because of an e-mail from one of our favored cruise agencies (we actually booked with a different agency who offered even more OBC).  The deal we got was never offered on Princess's own web site...although we did use the Princess site to book our air.

 

Hank

[Colo Cruiser]

2 hours ago, Clampram said:

We usually have our cruises booked way in advance but we just had to cancel a week on the Royal (12/15/18) due to a last minute ear infection with vertigo  on my part. My ear is improving but hubby has to have a meniscus repair in 2 weeks. Following that, we hope to head to FLL and get "something" with Princess.Can't book anything yet because we have to make sure that he is OK following surgery to fly/then cruise.

So, if a cruise is showing as " SOLD OUT" for a given week, does Princess open that cruise up again online  when people cancel close to the time of the cruise? How do they fill up cancelled rooms at the last minute? Is it pointless to call Princess if a cruise shows as SOLD OUT? Any such thing as a waiting list?

It looks like we may have about 1.5 to 2 weeks prior to a cruise to book something.............any input from your experiences would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

They don't "open it" back up per se but if a cabin(s) come available then it could show up as available under whatever type cabin it is when one looks at the sailing again.

This would be if you watched the sailing 24/7 and just hope you catch something show up. Chances are it will not.

Princess can oversell the cruise so they can make sure they sail full. They have the whole process down to a science and do it week in and week out. They will offer moreover offers and have cancelations etc.

Just because it says sold out does not mean the sailing is oversold.

 

The best way is to waitlist for the cruise and for a specific cabin cat unless you are willing to accept any cabin type then waitlist for numerous cabin categories.

It's a $200 refundable deposit. You can place yourself on as many cabin cats as you want under the waitlist.

If one opens up you do not have to take it. You can then cancel and get back your deposit.

We have done this a few times and have only NOT cleared once. We have turned some down as well.

The only drawback would be the price. Thats up to Princess to set when you clear the waitlist.

[dog]

I've had this exact situation happen. I could not make final payment-waiting for medical results. A few weeks later I was given ok to travel, so rebooked ( price drop, but lost OBC), paid in full. Then 1 week after that noticed a large price drop and had my TA  call Princess to refare-kept cabin and OBC, saving a LOT of money. Three days later the cruise was sold out except for interior cabins. So you take your chance by waiting to book. I have been able to have my balcony cabin refared at a large savings to me on two cruises now, AFTER FINAL PAYMENT.

[RKSue]

The only question I ask of you Hank is the total price savings. I realize I can book with another site and get some OBC but pay a bit more or the same price for a cabin but by the time I add and subtract OBC from price I haven’t found a huge savings. I do know that there are discount sites that buy out the extra inventory for a low price and sell it for less. I usually book direct as I like calling the cruise line and asking about information on my cruise. If you don’t book direct and prices go down you are at the mercy of the TA. I just go a great deal direct from Princess. 

[speakeasy]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

That would be a major violation of the CC Board rules.  The truth is that there are many decent high volume cruise agencies who are in competition with each other.  The agencies/agents we use are aware that we always "shop around" for the best deals and we think this keeps them on their toes and usually gets us a very good deal.  You can simply Google "discount cruise agencies' or something similar and then start doing some due diligence.  Read their policies, check their record with the Better Business Bureau (this is free and online), and Google the agencies name to see if any negative (or positive) things pop up.  There are some folks that use one or more of the major "big box stores" who also will generally enhance bookings with some extras.   Many decent agencies now charge an extra cancelation penalty and you would want to know about this in advance (it will be in their policies).  The reason these penalties have become common place is because too many cruisers would play games by booking multiple cruises (often for the same date) with the intent of later canceling most or all of the bookings.  

 

When you find a cruise and cabin category that has your interest, price it out with a least 3 or 4 decent agencies (most of the time this can be done online or with a quick phone call) and then compare their deal with what is offered on the cruise line's own web site.  I will admit that having booked far more then 100 cruises (with 15 cruise lines) we have only found one case where a cruise line actually had the best deal :).  Most of the time we expect to save 7-10% (and sometimes more) by using a decent high volume cruise agency.  The savings will often come from On Board Credits, prepaid gratuities, and other perks.

 

Hank

Thank you for spending so much time to answer my question. Most of our cruises are booked anywhere from 6 weeks to a week out and we always do it through the cruise line. I will be a better shopper now! Once, again, I really appreciate your advice. Thanks.

[Hlitner]

30 minutes ago, speakeasy said:

Thank you for spending so much time to answer my question. Most of our cruises are booked anywhere from 6 weeks to a week out and we always do it through the cruise line. I will be a better shopper now! Once, again, I really appreciate your advice. Thanks.

Ahhh, so we are talking about last minute bookings which are a world unto themselves.  Sometimes the really great deals are not found onlne but are privately disseminated by certain cruise agencies and consortium's favored by specific cruise lines.   We once snagged an amazing Regal Princess cruise when we paid $1200 (total cost for 2 including all taxes/fees) for a 10 day cruise in a high category balcony.  And we also got a few hundred in on board credit for that cruise.  We stumbled on it by pure luck.  We had spotted a good price (but not that good) in an e-mail from one of our favorite cruise agencies.  I called them to ask a question (since the cruise was only 10 days away) and they had just received a FAX from the cruise line with the even better offer (which we booked).  I am no expert on these last minute deals, but most of our great last minute bookings have been more luck then anything else.  This past October we booked another last minute Regal Cruise and I kept looking at pricing (from two cruise agencies) several times a day until I saw what I wanted.  On that particular cruise the pricing was changing several times a day (I have never seen that before).  We only do that kind of last minute thing for fun as there is never a guarantee that we will even get on the cruise....or can find a decent air price at the last minute.

 

Hank

[Colo Cruiser]

4 hours ago, RKSue said:

The only question I ask of you Hank is the total price savings. I realize I can book with another site and get some OBC but pay a bit more or the same price for a cabin but by the time I add and subtract OBC from price I haven’t found a huge savings. I do know that there are discount sites that buy out the extra inventory for a low price and sell it for less. I usually book direct as I like calling the cruise line and asking about information on my cruise. If you don’t book direct and prices go down you are at the mercy of the TA. I just go a great deal direct from Princess. 

Booking with a good TA will give you 8% to 12% off the Princess price.

They don't play games by raising the price of the cruise and offering additional OBC -free grats etc.

If there is a promo involved you still get to keep all those perks. OBC-free gratuities-etc.

I get the cash savings consistently. Not sure about discount sites buying inventory as you mentioned

If the price drops they will attempt to get the lower fare. It's no different than you working directly with Princess.

Princess usually sells out their cruises. Don't think they need to do much deep discounting.

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, RKSue said:

The only question I ask of you Hank is the total price savings. I realize I can book with another site and get some OBC but pay a bit more or the same price for a cabin but by the time I add and subtract OBC from price I haven’t found a huge savings. I do know that there are discount sites that buy out the extra inventory for a low price and sell it for less. I usually book direct as I like calling the cruise line and asking about information on my cruise. If you don’t book direct and prices go down you are at the mercy of the TA. I just go a great deal direct from Princess. 

The cruise agencies we use are not in the business of "buying extra inventory" but rather function as very skilled booking agents.  Because of various arrangements with the cruise lines (sometimes through consortiums) and internal cost controls they are able to offer significant perks not usually available by booking direct.  Princess is actually one of the easier cruise lines for travel/cruise agencies because they often allow discounting of the actual cruise price.  Our savings on most Princess cruises will be at least 10% when compared to what we would get by booking direct.  Another nice thing about Princess is that the company allows "stacking" of On Board Credits.  In simple terms you can get multiple OBCs for many reasons.  We have actually taken some Princess cruises where we had over $2000 in OBCs!  I currently have only one cruise booked with Princess and that cost us slightly less than $8000 (for a nice balcony on a 25 day cruise).  In addition, we will get On Board Credits of $2300 ($500 of that is due to our Stockholder credit and my Veterans Credit).  Over $700 of that OBC comes from our cruise agency (you would not be able to get this if booking direct) and some comes directly from Princess.  Other cruise lines such as Seabourn  and Crystal often make it difficult to agencies to offer great deals...although there is still money to be saved.

 

If there is a price drop, prior to the final payment date, it is a simple matter to send a quick e-mail (its easier then a phone call) to our cruise agent and we will usually have the price adjusted within a few hours.  The thing about price drops is that its often let the buyer beware because nobody else will tell you.  So smart cruisers are constantly monitoring the price and available promotions for their cruise.  Some travel/cruise agents will try to keep up with price changes, but in most cases it will be up to the cruiser to spot the better deals and notify their agent/agency.  

 

There is no mystery to using cruise and travel agents.  In fact, we have been told (by a future cruise agent for another cruise line) that as much as 80% of all cruise bookings are done by cruise/travel agencies.  Everyone seems to want in on the action of the cruise industry.  Even the major Big Box stores all have travel departments where they sell cruises (and usually give decent OBCs, gift cards, etc).  There is even one pretty popular web site where you can submit (anonymously) details of a cruise you want to book and your request will be bid-on by multiple agencies.  Once you see who gives you the best offer you can contact them directly to do the booking.  My point is that there are many ways to save money (often 10% or more) for those who take the time to do their homework and shop around among reputable agencies.

 

Hank