How do they fill ship

[maggieb1]

I have been reading about how prices go up, not down, as cruise date gets closer. But I also am reading that they sail with full ships. So if they don't lower prices how do they fill them?

I am sailing in 4 mos and there appear to be lots of unsold cabins

[blackshirt]

Prices don’t necessarily go up, it all depends on supply and demand. If you are booked on a cruise with many cabins left, good chance prices will drop. They also run weekly “going, going, gone” sails for cruises in the next 2-3 months. There are often good deals available.

[karena1]

All I will say is this - I have 20 cruises booked all the way through April 2021.  Every single one of them has gone up, not down.  So booking early is always the way to go.

[Clarea]

11 minutes ago, maggieb1 said:

I have been reading about how prices go up, not down, as cruise date gets closer. But I also am reading that they sail with full ships. So if they don't lower prices how do they fill them?

I am sailing in 4 mos and there appear to be lots of unsold cabins

People keep paying the higher prices.

[suesnake2002]

3 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

People keep paying the higher prices.

 

Or downgrade their rooms to afford rising costs

[robandana]

Many time TAs will have cheaper prices than the RC website as they do Group Bookings. You will see this especially in the last month or so. They also offer other perks like OBC, Paid Tips, Specialty Dining...etc.

[Clarea]

3 minutes ago, robandana said:

Many time TAs will have cheaper prices than the RC website as they do Group Bookings. You will see this especially in the last month or so. They also offer other perks like OBC, Paid Tips, Specialty Dining...etc.

 

I thought the TAs had to give up any unsold group space at 120 days or so.

[Hoopster95]

46 minutes ago, maggieb1 said:

I have been reading about how prices go up, not down, as cruise date gets closer. But I also am reading that they sail with full ships. So if they don't lower prices how do they fill them?

I am sailing in 4 mos and there appear to be lots of unsold cabins

 

RCL does not sell every single cabin.... I've noticed often within about 30-45 days of sailing, unsold empty cabins are offered as free cruises to Casino Royale members. Just recently, many free Empress and Majesty cruises were offered as reported here on CC. I've witnessed this as well in recent past sailings (ie. Explorer BC Coast comes to mind).

 

Also I question "full". Full means that they have a maximum allowed with regard to lifeboat capacity. I have been on several sailings and know several people who were moved from one cabin to another "available" cabin on a "full" sailing.

 

25 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I thought the TAs had to give up any unsold group space at 120 days or so.

 

Agreed. My TA told me this when I booked Brilliance (British Isles) last year with a group rate. He said to get back to me within the next few days as he believed that sailing was being pulled from their group rates within the week. It was at about the 90-100 day mark IIRC.

Edited July 9, 2019 by Hoopster95

[Ourusualbeach]

44 minutes ago, robandana said:

Many time TAs will have cheaper prices than the RC website as they do Group Bookings. You will see this especially in the last month or so. They also offer other perks like OBC, Paid Tips, Specialty Dining...etc.

You will not see any TA with cheaper rates within 120 days as all group space is recalled at that point.

[Hoopster95]

18 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

It was at about the 90-100 day mark IIRC.

 

5 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You will not see any TA with cheaper rates within 120 days as all group space is recalled at that point.

 

I'm wrong, I'm sure Ourusualbeach is correct.

I went back in my files and counted back.... I booked at around 130-140 days.

[cb at sea]

The ship has MANY more "berths" than the number of passengers they can carry.  If ALL of the cabins that sleep 4  are booked, there will be vacant cabins on the ship....they can only accept a SET number of souls....it's a life-boat issue.  Also, not all cabins are "assigned"....many folks book "guarantee" cabins that might not be taken out of inventory until a day or so prior to the cruise.  You will find that most ships sail with as many passengers as is legal to carry.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

 

I'm wrong, I'm sure Ourusualbeach is correct.

I went back in my files and counted back.... I booked at around 130-140 days.

I only know because I have many groups set up and Royal always them back at 120 days, sometimes sooner if the ship is selling well and your group is not.  

[grandgeezer]

1 hour ago, karena1 said:

All I will say is this - I have 20 cruises booked all the way through April 2021.  Every single one of them has gone up, not down.  So booking early is always the way to go.

 

Always and never should not be used in discussing cruise pricing, there are exceptions pretty regularly. I remember reading, a week or so that someone got a Crown Loft suite for less than $1500 p.p. and it sails in August. Our last transatlantic, a couple of years ago, we paid $600 p.p. for a balcony on Celebrity, booking six weeks before departure. There are postings about last minute deals on all the boards.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, maggieb1 said:

I am sailing in 4 mos and there appear to be lots of unsold cabins

Price tend to go up until final payment in the US (typically 90 days) but then, if there's lots of vacancies, discounting starts. The biggest drops are usually 60-70 days out. By about 30 days out very little is left. The last RCCL SEC filling, listed a 108% occupancy rate (this varies across lines and ships).

[stevea36]

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I thought the TAs had to give up any unsold group space at 120 days or so.

Bob, you are correct, all group space must be released at 120 days.

[Luke104]

I have to differ from most. I live in Florida, travel solo and available to cruise within 24 hours. Most of my sailings came at rock bottom pricing by waiting very close to sailing date. Of course that comes at a cost on cabin selection, at which I don't really care. It's only to sleep and shower. 

[neverbeenhere]

Almost always the cruise line will tell passengers that the ship is sailing full and that there are no available staterooms.  One reason is that they don’t want passengers demanding upgraded staterooms while on the ship. 

 

This is almost never the entire truth, ships sail all of the time without the maximum passengers they are allowed. They, of course, make every effort to entice someone to book staterooms up until the last possible hour, but it doesn’t always work. 

 

No matter the plan, supply and demand still rule the cruise pricing world. 

[thrifty99]

Prices move around... not always up.  I track some prices of cruises after I book them.  Here is an example from our Harmony cruise we were on in April that was booked back in June of 2017.  I tracked the price for this cruise over the next several months after booking and here is how it moved around.

 

Apr 14, 2019 Harmony of Seas Eastern Caribbean Ocean View Balcony

Departing from Fort Lauderdale

Booked June 6, 2017:  $1,784.90 plus $100 OBC

6-19-17:  $1,785

7-3-17: $3,080

7-12-17:  $1,826 +$100 OBC 

7-17-17 & 8-4-17: $2,743 +$100 OBC

9-26-17:  $2751 +$100 OBC 

2-19-18:  $2556 +$100 OBC 

Jan 2019: did not note the actual price but I had checked and it was around $3,500.

 

Note this was for 2 people and included the Diamond balcony discount and were for non-refundable deposits.  

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Luke104 said:

I have to differ from most. I live in Florida, travel solo and available to cruise within 24 hours. Most of my sailings came at rock bottom pricing by waiting very close to sailing date. Of course that comes at a cost on cabin selection, at which I don't really care. It's only to sleep and shower. 

 

In your exact same position and really don't see a whole lot of that.  In some cases,  it almost felt like they knew I really wanted to go, so sky's the limit. 

 

This is just my experience 😉

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

In your exact same position and really don't see a whole lot of that. 

Depends on the one's definition of "close to sailing date", time of year and ship.

[coaster]

Empress and Majesty had or still do have many sailings  with no single supplement. My Empress sailing next month is sold out. There will be many cabins with just one passenger though.  A sold out cruise, but  a sailing under capacity. 

[Joseph2017China]

Ships do not sail full!!!! During the off season, you can always book up to the last minute.  However, it's not about filling cabins, it's about collecting revenue.  So, say it is a slow week, the cruise needs to make revenue.  So they know, only X number of people will book in the last 2 months.  You take the expected number of people, and set prices to meat the revenue target.  They don't lower prices to fill rooms, but set prices to meet a target $$$$

[fred30]

14 hours ago, maggieb1 said:

 

I am sailing in 4 mos and there appear to be lots of unsold cabins

 

One big way they fill the ship in the last few months is with up-sells.   They can make a lot of money with a chain of up-sells filling all those higher priced cabins rather quickly.  Then they are left with a lot of lower priced cabins just waiting for the last minute bargain hunters.

 

 

[ryano]

14 hours ago, karena1 said:

 I have 20 cruises booked all the way through April 2021. 

 

Wow!!!!!!  Life goals for me!  LOL    I booked my Harmony cruise over 500 days out.  It too only went up up up, almost a grand over what I booked it at.

Edited July 10, 2019 by ryano

[BunnyHutt]

Those in the travel industry can often get smokin’ hot deals using “Interline” rates on last minute cruises.... alas, my family doesn’t have that kind of flexibility. Someday, sigh.