Equinox Suites Sold Out Six-Months Out?

[OT-Miami]

Greetings Cruisers!  According to X website, there is not a single suite available for the 9-night southern Caribbean sailing 10/15/2022 on Equinox.  This seems odd to me for a sailing that is 180+ days out - am I missing something???

[hrhdhd]

No. I tried to book a cruise while onboard Apex last month, and many sailings in Nov. and Dec. had no Sky Suites available.

[Bruin Steve]

We have cruises booked for August 19 on Summit and for April 9, 2023 on Solstice (So, 6 months out and one year out), where not only suites, but EVERY category is sold out--and has been for some time....

Occasionally, a cabin or two somewhere on the ship comes back on the boards as available as someone or another decides to cancel...but always quickly snatched up.

 

Remember, a LOT of people had been booked on these itineraries for 2020, 2021 and 2022 and have rescheduled to these upcoming cruises when the earlier ones were canceled for the pandemic...plus a lot of people canceled cruises and were given FCC which had to be used within a certain time frame...plus a lot of people just haven't cruised in two years and want to get back to it already...so demand is VERY HIGH...These are not normal times...

[LGW59]

20 minutes ago, OT-Miami said:

Greetings Cruisers!  According to X website, there is not a single suite available for the 9-night southern Caribbean sailing 10/15/2022 on Equinox.  This seems odd to me for a sailing that is 180+ days out - am I missing something???

If you would consider a different ship, EDGE, as of yesterday they have 3 southern Caribbean cruises with Sky Suite availability, 11/21 - 11 day Panama Canal, 12/2 - 10 day Southern Caribbean and 12/12 - 10 day Southern Caribbean, the 12/2 & 12/12 are basically the same cruise but with just one port stop switched on each.  Good luck

[Jim_Iain]

Not really all that uncommon.    That far out Celebrity allocates blocks of room to high volume TA for group bookings.  These rooms are then returned to inventory closer to sailing. 

 

In addition it is not uncommon for people to block suites when they are first released and hold onto them until they decide which cruises they are taking.   They also come back into inventory.

 

I'm on a Summit to and from Greenland in August.   Suites as well as almost everything except inside cabins have been sold out for over a year.   This is a very popular set of cruises.

 

Best advise is call and have your name put on a Wait list for the Suite of your choice.     I just cleared a Wait list for a CS on a cruise for November of 2023 (after 3 months).

[graphicguy]

Generally speaking, Celebrity Suites are very popular, and at least recently, the Sky Suites were the first cabins to sell out.  Doesn’t surprise me they sold out.  

 

As @LGW59 and @Jim_lain mentioned, if you can be a bit flexible, there are some alternatives available.

[mfs2k]

2 hours ago, OT-Miami said:

Greetings Cruisers!  According to X website, there is not a single suite available for the 9-night southern Caribbean sailing 10/15/2022 on Equinox.  This seems odd to me for a sailing that is 180+ days out - am I missing something???

 

Not odd. 

Suites for our Oct 26, 2022 Beyond cruise have been sold out since December.  Fortunately I booked ours in October,  You may want to check again the day after the Final Payment due date. Perhaps some people will cancel. 

[thebutlerdidit]

3 hours ago, OT-Miami said:

Greetings Cruisers!  According to X website, there is not a single suite available for the 9-night southern Caribbean sailing 10/15/2022 on Equinox.  This seems odd to me for a sailing that is 180+ days out - am I missing something???

I’ll be on that sailing too. We booked in Feb of ‘21 and debated between Aqua class and Sky Suites (ultimately chose Aqua Class). The suites have been showing unavailable for quite some time. And yes, I thought it was very unusual. 

Edited April 4, 2022 by thebutlerdidit

[thebutlerdidit]

One Sky Suite has became available. I wasn’t sure if you were interested or just commenting about the oddity of suites being unavailable. 

[OT-Miami]

9 minutes ago, thebutlerdidit said:

One Sky Suite has became available. I wasn’t sure if you were interested or just commenting about the oddity of suites being unavailable. 

Thanks for the heads-up, but it looks like it went as quickly as it came - it appears to no longer be available...

 

I was actually more interested in the possibility of a move-up bid.  I'm hoping that some will be released as we approach final payment, as others have suggested.

[LGW59]

On 4/4/2022 at 10:58 AM, OT-Miami said:

Greetings Cruisers!  According to X website, there is not a single suite available for the 9-night southern Caribbean sailing 10/15/2022 on Equinox.  This seems odd to me for a sailing that is 180+ days out - am I missing something???

We are on EDGE, Nov 21, 2022, we were able to book a suite but now none are available.  Seems there is just a good deal of pent up demand. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

On 4/4/2022 at 12:15 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Not really all that uncommon.    That far out Celebrity allocates blocks of room to high volume TA for group bookings.  These rooms are then returned to inventory closer to sailing. 

 

In addition it is not uncommon for people to block suites when they are first released and hold onto them until they decide which cruises they are taking.   They also come back into inventory.

 

I'm on a Summit to and from Greenland in August.   Suites as well as almost everything except inside cabins have been sold out for over a year.   This is a very popular set of cruises.

 

Best advise is call and have your name put on a Wait list for the Suite of your choice.     I just cleared a Wait list for a CS on a cruise for November of 2023 (after 3 months).

We are on a wait list for December. Good to know they actually work. 

[thebutlerdidit]

4 hours ago, OT-Miami said:

Thanks for the heads-up, but it looks like it went as quickly as it came - it appears to no longer be available...

 

I was actually more interested in the possibility of a move-up bid.  I'm hoping that some will be released as we approach final payment, as others have suggested.

I’m not sure how you check availability, but I still see SS 2134 available on the app for the TA I use. It’’s Handicapped Accessible though. In any case, good luck on obtaining an upgrade when and if they become available. 

[Dr. Cocktail]

I had been reluctant to return to cruising but finally decided to take  the plunge as the Cruise with Constipation (well, it was something like that ....) offer was ending on March 31st.  I wanted a Suite, selected an Equinox sailing ... and found out that it was sold out. As I expanded my search I was shocked to see that they were ALL sold out.

 

So I didn't turn to my travel agent, I didn't turn to Cruise Critic (sorry!), I simply kept the Celebrity webpage open and searched .... and searched ... and searched numerous times a day for two weeks.

 

I grabbed a suite the second it became available  (you would have thought that I found a $100 bill on the sidewalk as opposed to a bill for $11 000, but still ....) even though the cabin  was good but not "ideal". No problem ... I continued the process and ended up with what would have been one of my first choices!

 

Short story long ... keep trying!!!

Edited April 7, 2022 by Dr. Cocktail

[Lastdance]

37 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

I had been reluctant to return to cruising but finally decided to take  the plunge as the Cruise with Constipation (well, it was something like that ....) offer was ending on March 31st.  I wanted a Suite, selected an Equinox sailing ... and found out that it was sold out. As I expanded my search I was shocked to see that they were ALL sold out.

 

So I didn't turn to my travel agent, I didn't turn to Cruise Critic (sorry!), I simply kept the Celebrity webpage open and searched .... and searched ... and searched numerous times a day for two weeks.

 

I grabbed a suite the second it became available  (you would have thought that I found a $100 bill on the sidewalk as opposed to a bill for $11 000, but still ....) even though the cabin  was good but not "ideal". No problem ... I continued the process and ended up with what would have been one of my first choices!

 

Short story long ... keep trying!!!

Persistence is the key, especially with demand so high  with FCC's and supply low...good for you!

Edited April 7, 2022 by Lastdance

[Dr. Cocktail]

5 hours ago, Lastdance said:

Persistence is the key, especially with demand so high  with FCC's and supply low...good for you!

100% agreed and thanks!   I frequently feel that people would rather spend their time publicly keening and wailing (OK, so I exaggerate...) as opposed to applying some elbow grease (or persistent light finger touch on their keyboard!)

[jagoffee]

On 4/4/2022 at 11:15 AM, Jim_Iain said:

Not really all that uncommon.    That far out Celebrity allocates blocks of room to high volume TA for group bookings.  These rooms are then returned to inventory closer to sailing. 

 

.

I totally agree that it is not uncommon.  Prior to the shutdown, I saw it a lot on my booked cruises.  

 

I have often wondered about the possibility of Celebrity blocking/holding  particular suites (by cabin number) for high volume TA without it having a deposit and being assigned to an individual.

How confident are you in that statement?

 

Enjoy your current cruise.  I have not started reading your report, yet.  Lookj

ing forward to following along.

[OT-Miami]

17 hours ago, thebutlerdidit said:

I’m not sure how you check availability, but I still see SS 2134 available on the app for the TA I use. It’’s Handicapped Accessible though. In any case, good luck on obtaining an upgrade when and if they become available. 

You are correct SS 2134 is showing as available.  I don't normally include accessible cabins in my search; I wouldn't want to take an accessible cabin from someone who really needs one.

[Dolebludger]

I’ve been told that the accommodations that sell out the quickest are the best and most expensive (Retreat) and the cheapest (Inside). We feel that the Retreat is generally a good value compared with lux lines — and just as good. I guess many others feel the same — thus Retreat suites do sell out quickly. I wish X would make more Retreat suites available on the next makeover.

[George C]

Our beyond cruise in November showed no sky suites a couple of days ago , now they show, I would keep checking. They are now 1k more per person then we paid a few months ago.

[RMac713]

I booked our July equinox cruise in February. There was only one SS and it was accessible.  I booked a CS for what I realize now was a real deal (I have priced them out since for much more).  All the suites are gone for that sailing now.

 

[Dolebludger]

There is probably a huge demand for Celebrity suites now, as people figure out that they are a good alternative to lux cruises — which have priced themselves out of our market. 

[kikitaz]

On 4/4/2022 at 11:15 AM, Jim_Iain said:

Not really all that uncommon.    That far out Celebrity allocates blocks of room to high volume TA for group bookings.  These rooms are then returned to inventory closer to sailing. 

 

In addition it is not uncommon for people to block suites when they are first released and hold onto them until they decide which cruises they are taking.   They also come back into inventory.

 

I'm on a Summit to and from Greenland in August.   Suites as well as almost everything except inside cabins have been sold out for over a year.   This is a very popular set of cruises.

 

Best advise is call and have your name put on a Wait list for the Suite of your choice.     I just cleared a Wait list for a CS on a cruise for November of 2023 (after 3 months).

Jim, do you use a TA or call a vacation planner at Celebrity to get your name on a wait list for a suite?  Thank you!