Question re TA having bought cabins that are still unsold

[CruisinFinsUp]

If this is a no-no, please delete.  

 

We are booked on a Princess cruise in January., with our own local TA.   So past final payment.   Prices are fluctuating.   I'm looking at upgrading us possibly.  On the Princess website there are various cabins available, but on a certain other TA's big box website there are additional cabins available that are not showing on the Princess website.  

 

So I'm assuming that the TA purchased a block of cabins, maybe at a group rate, who knows.   

If the TA is unable to sell the cabins, when or if are they put back to Princess?    Is there any way to access these cabins to find out pricing?  Do I call my TA?   

 

Thanks!   

[Coffeeluvr05]

I would call your TA and ask if it is available.  They would have to contact Princess just the same as the big box TA would.  It can never hurt to ask!

[Coral]

By final payment - the travel agent has to give back their group space. BTW - travel agents buy blocks of cabins within a category, not specific cabin numbers.

 

I would ask Princess if that cabin is available to book.

[CineGraphic]

That big box TA always seems to have a hold on the same blocks of cabins for every sailing.

My guess is that they do turn them over, but due to the sheer quantity they deal with, Princess probably extends how long the TA can hold on to them and doesn't force them to turn them over by the time final payment arrives.

Edited November 20, 2021 by CineGraphic

[CruisinFinsUp]

Ok thanks. Interesting about the “same block”.  I’ll check in future! 

Yes we are way past final payment which is why I thought this strange! 

 

[ihopfar]

I would guess this has nothing to do with a TA booking a block of cabins, but the fact that TA websites often show more inventory then the Princess website.   Princess may only show 10 or 20 cabins in each category, even if more are available.

 

If you see a cabin available on any site, you should be able to reach out to whomever you booked the cruise through -- Princess or TA -- and request that cabin.

[Coral]

2 hours ago, ihopfar said:

I would guess this has nothing to do with a TA booking a block of cabins, but the fact that TA websites often show more inventory then the Princess website.   Princess may only show 10 or 20 cabins in each category, even if more are available.

 

If you see a cabin available on any site, you should be able to reach out to whomever you booked the cruise through -- Princess or TA -- and request that cabin.

I would agree with this.

[CruisinFinsUp]

3 hours ago, ihopfar said:

I would guess this has nothing to do with a TA booking a block of cabins, but the fact that TA websites often show more inventory then the Princess website.   Princess may only show 10 or 20 cabins in each category, even if more are available.

 

If you see a cabin available on any site, you should be able to reach out to whomever you booked the cruise through -- Princess or TA -- and request that cabin.

In this particular case,  no deck 14 suites at all on Princess.com but about 6 on the big box TA's site so ???   
 

As we are way past final payment I thought I'd ask the experts here! 
Thanks! 

[MileHighAko]

I don’t know if things still work this way, but a few years ago we were trying to get some last minute suites and princess.com was sold out but a big box TA still had availability.  Out of luck we discovered that each night around 2AM those suites were available on princess.com for about an hour or two, but then they’d be unavailable again. Once we figured out the timing we sniped a few of the suites on princess.com during that window.  I have no idea if it still works that way, but if you’re up all hours of the night anyway, you might check. 🙂

[Marelaine]

On another cruise line,  the cabin that I wanted was not showing up as available. They were the cabins with upper berths that can accommodate 3 or 4 passengers (!). I did a dummy booking for 3 and voila! the cabins opened up. I called my vacation planner at that cruise line and he was able to sell me the cabin.

Call the cruise line and ask.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Marelaine