When ships are not at 100% capacity

[Djptcp]

I think the cruise lines have already been limiting bookings all along since Covid. When we have made new reservations after 8 cancelled cruises (4 on Carnival and 4 on Holland America) the number of available cabins has seemed much less than before Covid. To fully book the ships and then have to start cutting reservations would be a nightmare and create a lot of bad will towards the cruise lines.

 

Iria64, we currently have 5 new reservations starting on Dec. 1, 2021 (4 on Holland and 1 on Carnival). The rates were the current rates for the new cruises, not old rates for cancelled cruises.

[d12j28]

10 minutes ago, iria64 said:

Here is why I think the cruise lines are still booking ships as if they would sail at full capacity.

- The companies need/want as much cash on hand as they can get.

- As final payment comes due a lot of people will cancel for various reasons.

- If the ship is still over capacity the company will then offer the opportunity to rebook at a later date with incentives.

- Very few people, if any, would then need to be bumped from a sailing.

 

I do have a question for those that have had to rebook a cancelled cruise.  Were you able to rebook at the rate on your original booking or did you have to book at the current rate for the new sailing selected?

Rebooking rates depend if you still have that same offer and whatever sailing you choose may not be the exact same price. The first one we had was under a casino rate (basically free) but when we rebooked from that being cancelled we no longer had that particular offer and went with a different casino offer. 

[LoungingMcCoy]

6 hours ago, iria64 said:

Here is why I think the cruise lines are still booking ships as if they would sail at full capacity.

- The companies need/want as much cash on hand as they can get.

- As final payment comes due a lot of people will cancel for various reasons.

- If the ship is still over capacity the company will then offer the opportunity to rebook at a later date with incentives.

- Very few people, if any, would then need to be bumped from a sailing.

 

I do have a question for those that have had to rebook a cancelled cruise.  Were you able to rebook at the rate on your original booking or did you have to book at the current rate for the new sailing selected?

When we rebooked we had to pay the difference in price, but the difference was negligible.  Since we had to rebook with a Carnival representative she gave us a casino rate (even though I told her we never use the casino lol) which may have made a difference.  I have always booked online.  The casino deal did give us an extra $200 obc.  I'm not sure how we're going to manage spending the casino obc and the obc from the cancelled cruise, but we're going to figure it out by golly.

[Theo1429]

IRIA64 we had to rebook 3 times using our TA each time we were able to get a balcony storeroom and $900 OBC

[amcankid]

4 hours ago, Theo1429 said:

IRIA64 we had to rebook 3 times using our TA each time we were able to get a balcony storeroom and $900 OBC

How the heck were you able to get 900 OBC?

$600 has been the offer they’ve been giving for canceled cruises.

I need the number for your TA!! Lol

[SNJCruisers]

7 hours ago, LoungingMcCoy said:

  I'm not sure how we're going to manage spending the casino obc and the obc from the cancelled cruise, but we're going to figure it out by golly.

If you don't want to get Cheers and use it for tips,  then go to the Cherry on Top store on the ship and buy Carnival gift cards for your next cruise.

[LoungingMcCoy]

5 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

If you don't want to get Cheers and use it for tips,  then go to the Cherry on Top store on the ship and buy Carnival gift cards for your next cruise.

You are a genius!  Thanks for the tip.

[MistyRo76]

Carnival is already managing the capacity constraints on future bookings. We have a member of our party who booked a cabin by herself with the possibility of adding someone later on. Our PVP told her that if the ship itself is at the capacity limits when she wants to add someone, she won't be able to even though her cabin could technically hold a second person. They have to make this disclaimer so no one is surprised when they are not able to add someone later on. Our cruise is still 18 months out, so I'm sure it'll be fine for now. But as we get closer it could be an issue. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by MistyRo76

[stellarose]

they are still taking reservations for Mardi Gras Christmas and New Years of this year. 

[xDisconnections]

On 4/6/2021 at 12:48 PM, BlerkOne said:

Pre-covid cruises could been verbooked and sometimes were. Some of the ways to free a cabin include offering bribes to change cabins (if just a category was overbooked) to offering bribes to switch to a different sailing. Kind of like airlines do, but not on the scale that airlines do.

Most travel sectors of hospitality overbook and they aren’t strangers to the practice. Airlines, hotels, cruise ships... it happens. Even special events are overbooked.

 

With airlines, you’re bumped. Hotels, you’re walked. Cruise ships, you’re offered a move-over offer. It’s much different with a business transient guest than a leisure guest which will also help dictate projected cancellations.

 

These are very generous at times. Princess overlooks frequently and will refund your entire cruise fare to downgrade or offer you any cruise of your choice in a similar length with a move over. Marriott will give elite members 90k points and $200 cash if walked and airlines will sometimes offer gift cards over $1000 in value to voluntarily cancel. Being relocated isn’t always bad.

Edited April 14, 2021 by xDisconnections

[BlerkOne]

4 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

Most travel sectors of hospitality overbook and they aren’t strangers to the practice. Airlines, hotels, cruise ships... it happens. Even special events are overbooked.

 

With airlines, you’re bumped. Hotels, you’re walked. Cruise ships, you’re offered a move-over offer. It’s much different with a business transient guest than a leisure guest which will also help dictate projected cancellations.

 

These are very generous at times. Princess overlooks frequently and will refund your entire cruise fare to downgrade or offer you any cruise of your choice in a similar length with a move over. Marriott will give elite members 90k points and $200 cash if walked and airlines will sometimes offer gift cards over $1000 in value to voluntarily cancel. Being relocated isn’t always bad.

Yes, somewhere I suggested someone research Princess move over offers.

[xDisconnections]

Just now, BlerkOne said:

Yes, somewhere I suggested someone research Princess move over offers.

Move overs on Princess are some of the most generous offers anyone will find. They’re no stranger to overselling and revenue optimization through yield management.

[geaux_aces]

It'll be interesting to see what # they use for capacity.  For instance, the passenger count at double occupancy on the Vista is 3934 but goes up to 4977 if every bed is used. Outside of summer and holidays, ships are already well below the max numbers because less families are using the 3 and 4 bed staterooms. If it's a % of room utilization, it's a different story.

 

Also, any thought if VIFP status will play into bumping, if that becomes necessary?  I can't see Carnival bumping a Diamond over a blue card, even if the blue card paid more for the cruise.