Wait list?

[travelberlin]

I am interested on a couple of cruises, that only have a wait list  for the cabin category I would like to book. Could you please help me to  understand how the wait list works? I understand I have to put a deposit which will be fully refundable if I do not get the cabin. But what are the times when I would get the information if I get the cabin or not? I am asking because for those cruises I would have to fly either from Germany or South America and the flights are not always easy to get on a short notice.

Ivi

[Roland4]

Waitlists are unpredictable. I have put clients on a waitlist that cleared the next day, and others that never cleared. As a minimum, you might not find out until after the final payment date when people decide to cancel rather than make the final. If you work with a TA, ask them to contact Crystal and see how large the waitlist is. Some lines will tell you, some won't, but it never hurts to ask.

[Keith1010]

Ivi, 

 

The only waitlist I have done is for a cruise I am booked on in a category which we will go with but am on a waitlist for another category.

 

As Larry mentioned you never know what will happen.  I believe your chances are greater with a category where there are a lot of rooms.  In our case, it's not.

 

I do not believe Crystal tells you how many are ahead of you but as mentioned these are questions for your TA to ask.  Please remember most of the experience people will have is with old Crystal and processes could be different for new Crystal.

 

Keith 

 

 

[travelberlin]

Thanks Roland and Keith. Unfortunately the cabin I would be waitlisted, is in high demand because it is a single cabin with the lower supplement. I do not think the cruise would be fully booked but there are only few of those cabins and of course they are sold out. Since I have been already on those ports, I would not pay the price for two to sail alone. 
 

Ivi

[Texas Tillie]

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

Thanks Roland and Keith. Unfortunately the cabin I would be waitlisted, is in high demand because it is a single cabin with the lower supplement. I do not think the cruise would be fully booked but there are only few of those cabins and of course they are sold out. Since I have been already on those ports, I would not pay the price for two to sail alone. 
 

Ivi

 

I know on at least some of the cruises Crystal has been booking the Ocean View Doubles to singles for 150%. That's 50% of the double fare and since the single cabins have been averaging a little over 20% single supplement to the doubles, so actually not 50% on the single fare. Suppose this depends on how well the particular cruise is selling.

 

Patty

[travelberlin]

12 minutes ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

I know on at least some of the cruises Crystal has been booking the Ocean View Doubles to singles for 150%. That's 50% of the double fare and since the single cabins have been averaging a little over 20% single supplement to the doubles, so actually not 50% on the single fare. Suppose this depends on how well the particular cruise is selling.

 

Patty

I think that was a special offer on certain cruises for the year 2023. Maybe they will have something similar for next years. 
Ivi

[Texas Tillie]

18 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

I think that was a special offer on certain cruises for the year 2023. Maybe they will have something similar for next years. 
Ivi

 

I got it for a 2024 cruise but it might have had a book by date. I was hoping it would last for the ocean view doubles. I certainly don't like the idea of paying double for the exact same cabin as the single.

 

Patty

[BWIVince]

My experience parallels Patty's for the Alaska cruise I booked next year.  I don't know exactly how they calculated the fare vs. taxes off the top of my head so I can't give the exact percentage, but the veranda double I booked worked out to about 150-160% of the per person double fare.  That's a lot more than the solo cabins, but not out of whack with what old Crystal charged for solo occupancy of the verandas in the old days at least.

 

Vince

[njguy_south]

Perhaps (just perhaps) if you are on the waitlist and a solo cabin does not open, but a double cabin is not sold, they will give that to you for the same price (if waitlisted), rather than lose your cash and sail with an empty cabin that brings no revenue.  (Sort of like what other cruise lines call "guarantee," which could mean a big upgrade over the cabin you booked (or not, of course).  I am certain they will not sail with empty cabins if there are people on a waitlist.

[BWIVince]

2 minutes ago, njguy_south said:

Perhaps (just perhaps) if you are on the waitlist and a solo cabin does not open, but a double cabin is not sold, they will give that to you for the same price (if waitlisted), rather than lose your cash and sail with an empty cabin that brings no revenue.  (Sort of like what other cruise lines call "guarantee," which could mean a big upgrade over the cabin you booked (or not, of course).  I am certain they will not sail with empty cabins if there are people on a waitlist.

 

IME with Crystal, I think the waitlists only kick in after the guarantees are already sold out...  But that said, if inventory opens up somewhere else in the ship, and Crystal wants to take reservations from a lower category to backfill them, they can definitely open up inventory as guarantee in a category they want to clear someone from the waitlist, offer them the guarantee at that rate, and then pop them into that higher category as needed...  It just happens in conjunction with the guarantee process, just not in place of it.

 

Vince

[vistaman]

I was trying to book the last part  - one week  -  of the World cruise 2025  ( 2 seadays )

waitlist   so I moved to Symphony   one day later   

for a 7 days cruise in Europe I do not oppose those single cabins 

that is the way I started on luxury cruises in 1990 : modest cabins  ( but special wines  🙃)

[travelberlin]

2 hours ago, BWIVince said:

My experience parallels Patty's for the Alaska cruise I booked next year.  I don't know exactly how they calculated the fare vs. taxes off the top of my head so I can't give the exact percentage, but the veranda double I booked worked out to about 150-160% of the per person double fare.  That's a lot more than the solo cabins, but not out of whack with what old Crystal charged for solo occupancy of the verandas in the old days at least.

 

Vince

Didn’t the Old Crystal just have around 30% supplement for solos?

Ivi

Edited September 28, 2023 by travelberlin

[BWIVince]

1 minute ago, travelberlin said:

Din’t the Old Crystal just have around 30% supplement for solos?

Ivi

 

They did, but only on the lowest grades...  It jumped up as you graduated higher in cabin grades, and even though they went with a more flexible schedule by voyage in the last couple of years pre-covid, verandah cabins were a sizable step over window cabins for most cruises.

 

Vince

[vistaman]

2 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

 

They did, but only on the lowest grades...  It jumped up as you graduated higher in cabin grades, and even though they went with a more flexible schedule by voyage in the last couple of years pre-covid, verandah cabins were a sizable step over window cabins for most cruises.

 

Vince

and even "low" PH were not double  75 and 85 % 

[njguy_south]

2 hours ago, BWIVince said:

 

IME with Crystal, I think the waitlists only kick in after the guarantees are already sold out...  But that said, if inventory opens up somewhere else in the ship, and Crystal wants to take reservations from a lower category to backfill them, they can definitely open up inventory as guarantee in a category they want to clear someone from the waitlist, offer them the guarantee at that rate, and then pop them into that higher category as needed...  It just happens in conjunction with the guarantee process, just not in place of it.

 

Vince

I didn’t realize that the new Crystal had guarantee. I’ve looked, but found I can either book or I am waitlisted. If you could direct me to some of their guarantee cruises/cabins, it would be appreciated.

[BWIVince]

33 minutes ago, vistaman said:

and even "low" PH were not double  75 and 85 % 

 

That's the way it was in 2019 on my last cruise under the previous "full" pricing schedule...  I just checked my notes and it was 130% for window cabins, 150% for verandas, 175% for what were PH's and 200% for PS and CP, but of course varied by sailing that era.

 

In 2015 it was a fixed 125% for windows, 135% for most verandas, 150% for the top verandas, 175% for PH's and 200% for PS and CP.  (The rates were fixed but capacity controlled and could vary by exception for special cruises.)

 

For giggles, I just checked Crystal's first brochure as well (1990), and it was 160% for all non penthouses, and 200% for all 3 penthouse categories.  (The lettering was different back then.)

 

Vince

[BWIVince]

29 minutes ago, njguy_south said:

I didn’t realize that the new Crystal had guarantee. I’ve looked, but found I can either book or I am waitlisted. If you could direct me to some of their guarantee cruises/cabins, it would be appreciated.

 

This kind of hides because we can't see a booking engine (temporarily) like we used to...  The guarantees aren't a separate category or listing, they're basically an option for the categories open for sale.  In many cases they may be the only option if you wanted to book a particular category, depending on the amount of oversell Crystal is doing in a particular category, if all the assignable cabins in that category had been sold but the category is still open for sale.

 

To put it another way, where it says "Request a Quote," the category is available to book by guarantee and may/likely also have cabin assignments available.  If it says "Waitlist," then all the assignments and all of the guarantees are sold out.  Until we get an online booking tool though, we won't be able to see when the cabin assignments are gone and we can only book guarantees, like we used to.

 

Hope that makes sense.  I had to ask, because I wasn't sure if guarantees were still a thing either...  But they work just like they used to.

 

Vince

Edited September 28, 2023 by BWIVince