Blocked out of cabins previously looked at, but still in system...

[Buckimion]

I've been running mock bookings to prepare for putting deposits on B2B cruises after the 1st, but I'm finding that those that I previously looked at are now listed as sold out, even though they are still shown as available in higher categories*. Is there a 'lock' on cabins at my original price and does it clear after 'X' amount of time? I did not put any hold on the cabins right now. Do I need to try a PVP?

 

*Example: Booking certain ships for a "window" bumps me to a balcony. Window cabins are now showing as "sold out" but switching to a higher balcony price gets the same cabin as originally listed.

Edited December 24, 2023 by Buckimion

[jsglow]

You're best to call. A 'Sold Out' category generally means all cabins of that broadly defined class (say, Oceanview) are already sold. The computer may bump you to a different class automatically to simply facilitate availability.

 

Are the B2B cruises you are hoping to book scheduled to sail just after January 1, 2024? If so, I'm not surprised one bit that availability is EXTREMELY limited. Don't count on getting the same cabin for both legs. Call 1-800 today.  Good luck.  

[Buckimion]

Looking at fall of 2025 and no less than 2 different ships. 😧 (Paradise, Liberty, plus other cabins on Dream, Firenze -  both legs on all ships. Could be more, but those are the ones I keep coming back to.) I'm certain I'm locked out of any cabin I seriously considered because I stopped just short of holding the cruise but was on the final 'total' pages. But I've cleared cache and used other devices without luck. (Could be following my VIFP number, but 😕.)

[Pyrate13]

My pvp once told me that if you do a mock booking the cabin you selected will be blocked in the system, even if you never did the final step. They usually come back online a day or two later unless someone else selects it, and then it's blocked again. Just a possibility.

[mz-s]

If you do a mock booking, go back in the system and select a different room. Don't just abandon that booking and create a new one. That should prevent the room you took in the mock booking from being blocked in the system.

 

This is one reason why a lot of "sold out" cruises still appear in searches etc. They're not actually sold out - it's just that people have so many rooms in their carts.

 

I don't think the system blocks rooms for a day or two. It is probably closer to an hour or even less.

Edited December 24, 2023 by mz-s

[Buckimion]

A follow up...after being locked out for about 48 hours, the messages last night changed to "Call us" for booking and was completely clear this morning. 🚢

[staceyglow]

4 hours ago, Buckimion said:

A follow up...after being locked out for about 48 hours, the messages last night changed to "Call us" for booking and was completely clear this morning. 🚢

Glad it worked out for you. Going forward, I would highly recommend getting a PVP. They can look at all of the cabins at any time. 

[Buckimion]

That was my last resort, but the last time I used a PVP, he booked me into a mobility accessible room instead of a fully handicapped room and I was still green enough not to know the difference until it was too late. Not a pleasant trip.  😠

[staceyglow]

1 hour ago, Buckimion said:

That was my last resort, but the last time I used a PVP, he booked me into a mobility accessible room instead of a fully handicapped room and I was still green enough not to know the difference until it was too late. Not a pleasant trip.  😠

You had one bad experience, and I can am sorry that happened to you. But the overwhelming majority of PVP's are going to be better than trying to book on your own. Mine has worked for Carnival for two decades and really knows her stuff. 

[ontheweb]

18 hours ago, staceyglow said:

You had one bad experience, and I can am sorry that happened to you. But the overwhelming majority of PVP's are going to be better than trying to book on your own. Mine has worked for Carnival for two decades and really knows her stuff. 

And how many of them percentage wise do you think have worked for Carnival for 2 decades and know their stuff?

[mz-s]

14 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

And how many of them percentage wise do you think have worked for Carnival for 2 decades and know their stuff?

 

Considering the number of PVPs I've been passed around between (3 during the COVID shutdown alone), very few. The chances of you getting assigned one of the gold star PVPs when you call Carnival and ask for one is probably pretty low.

[ontheweb]

2 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Considering the number of PVPs I've been passed around between (3 during the COVID shutdown alone), very few. The chances of you getting assigned one of the gold star PVPs when you call Carnival and ask for one is probably pretty low.

And those few probably have a full load of passengers who stay loyal to them making them less likely to be PVPs assigned by Carnival.

 

Good point about the turnover in personnel caused by Covid.

[staceyglow]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

And how many of them percentage wise do you think have worked for Carnival for 2 decades and know their stuff?

Not all of them, but I can guarantee you that all of them have more experience than a person who books their own cruise a couple of times a year.

[CruiseHealing]

Our first PVP we used was is 2010.  Our personalities really clicked (I was an outside sales rep then, currently being retired). He is now an Elite PVP and he is extremely busy.  He has done some magic for us a few times.  
 

Example: when Carnival appeared to be ready to start sailing during COVID I called him to see if he could get us on the Horizon for the July 4, 2021 sailing (Carnival’s first sailing out of Florida). The website was not letting you book because they had limited the booking to 50% occupancy. I called him and talked about the difficulties trying to book this cruise. He asked me for a list of cabins we were interested in. I gave him the cabin numbers based on my first choice.  After about 20 minutes later he called me to tell us we were booked in our first choice cabin.  We did this less than 10 days before sailing.  What an exciting time. I met Christine Duffy on the cruise and told her about this experience.

 

If you like your PVP, learn to work with them.  The senior ones know a lot of people behind the scenes to you get things done.