Last minute cruise booking

[Chiefdog]

2 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

 

Booking capacity on a ship is not measured in terms of a "quota". The maximum capacity for a ship is based on total lifeboat capacity, and this capacity will be reached by a booked mix of passenger load in double and higher occupancy staterooms and suites.  In that respect it is possible to have unoccupied double occupancy staterooms if the total mix of passengers with higher occupancy staterooms on a given sailing reaches the ship's maximum capacity. 

 

In that case that would mean that more people are traveling in staterooms configured to hold 3-4 passengers compared to standard double capacity bookings, but that would be rare.  And more typically the 3rd or 4th passenger in a stateroom is a child, who while possibly spending money on a soda package, is not contributing to the alcohol packages or gambling.

 

All of the ancillary on board purchases you mention are indeed profitable to the cruise lines - in particular the casinos and drink packages.  Excursions and on board shops (with the exception perhaps of the ship gift shop), spa, and photographers, are all 3rd party contracted from which the cruise lines receive a % of the revenue generated by them. 

 

But a cruise line will not intentionally leave rooms unsold if at less than maximum capacity based on the notion of a "quota".

 

By quota I was referring to the maximum amount. Thanks for the info. 

[Chiefdog]

15 minutes ago, iancal said:

We are retired and do a fair amount of longer, spontaneous land travel.

 

Buying late booking cruises is a little different for us.  First of all, we are not married to any one cruise line.  We do have a limiting factor inasmuch as we want a balcony cabin.  This can sometimes limit our choices.  

 

Our big plus is that we do not really care that much if we snag the cruise or not.  We always have alternate plans.  If the offer is good, we take it.  If the prices don't go down, or increase, we are just as happy to walk away.  We approach AI's in exactly the same way.   There is always next season, or the back end of the season instead of the front.

 

We were not able to do this pre retirement.  Now we can...and we do.

I think the same way as you do! We are always satisfied with land treks. I am now debating on whether to book a cruise year in advance. If the price of a cruise goes down, do you know if the cruise Co. will also adjust the price? Do you know from experience if it would be a better to book ahead while on a cruise? 

[leaveitallbehind]

7 minutes ago, Chiefdog said:

By quota I was referring to the maximum amount. Thanks for the info. 

...just wanted to be clear about what you meant by the term "quota".

[iancal]

The only cruise that we have booked in advance was our South American cruise.  We did that because Princess ran a one day special that essentially provided us with Canadian dollars at par.  And surprising it was a real sale which is probably why it only lasted for one day.  Plus, we were doing air on points, buying internal flights, etc.

 

When we first retired six/seven years ago we traveled for six months.  We did  five cruises, all late booking.  Two in Europe, a TA,  a Caribbean over Christmas, and them another Caribbean over March break/Easter

 

One of the reasons we are not doing as many is that we now spend winters traveling in SE Asia.  Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam.

We are not interested in the Singapore-HK run because the port stops either do not appeal to us.  Either too touristy, too short, or too far from the attractions.  We did try to pick up a last minute going the other way to India and the Gulf states.  At the time there was no eVisa for India.  We were not prepared to take our passports to the KL embassy and hope that they were returning in time to make a flight to Singapore and catch the ship.  Europe is better for last minutes.  Lots of choices and no matter where you are you can get to a port fairly inexpensively.  It is almost like MIA/FLL.   There always seems to be an offer.  We have probably done about five late bookings in Europe, many more in FLL/MIA, and Alaska.

 

If the deal is not on the table we walk.  They are like buses.  If you miss one, another will be along in a little while!  I think that the trick is to understand what a good price is, if you need air shop for that at the same time, and never get your heart set on taking a specific cruise on a specific ship at a specific time.

Edited April 13, 2019 by iancal

[Mike981]

I believe I speak for many when I say, "I'm jealous of those who can drive to their cruise port."

[Chiefdog]

5 hours ago, iancal said:

The only cruise that we have booked in advance was our South American cruise.  We did that because Princess ran a one day special that essentially provided us with Canadian dollars at par.  And surprising it was a real sale which is probably why it only lasted for one day.  Plus, we were doing air on points, buying internal flights, etc.

 

When we first retired six/seven years ago we traveled for six months.  We did  five cruises, all late booking.  Two in Europe, a TA,  a Caribbean over Christmas, and them another Caribbean over March break/Easter

 

One of the reasons we are not doing as many is that we now spend winters traveling in SE Asia.  Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam.

We are not interested in the Singapore-HK run because the port stops either do not appeal to us.  Either too touristy, too short, or too far from the attractions.  We did try to pick up a last minute going the other way to India and the Gulf states.  At the time there was no eVisa for India.  We were not prepared to take our passports to the KL embassy and hope that they were returning in time to make a flight to Singapore and catch the ship.  Europe is better for last minutes.  Lots of choices and no matter where you are you can get to a port fairly inexpensively.  It is almost like MIA/FLL.   There always seems to be an offer.  We have probably done about five late bookings in Europe, many more in FLL/MIA, and Alaska.

 

If the deal is not on the table we walk.  They are like buses.  If you miss one, another will be along in a little while!  I think that the trick is to understand what a good price is, if you need air shop for that at the same time, and never get your heart set on taking a specific cruise on a specific ship at a specific time.

How exciting your retirement has been!  I think the best advice you gave is “never take a specific ship at a specific time.”  Thank you for all this helpful information. 

[Chiefdog]

4 hours ago, Mike981 said:

I believe I speak for many when I say, "I'm jealous of those who can drive to their cruise port."

Yes,  if you want to do something on the spur of the moment. But after awhile the iteneraries are all the same, so you need to fly to experience something new.