Options for a "Sold Out" cruise?

[cruiser3775]

I'm thinking of getting away from winter in Melbourne on a  cruise in June, July or August. Not specific on destinations, willing to look widely. I found three I like, but they are listed as sold out for balcony cabins, both direct with the ship companies and with a couple of travel agents I have used before. Is there such a thing as a waitlist? How do I get on that?

One of them has vacancies in interior cabins. I couldn't cope with interior, being a bit claustrophobic. How much chance would there be for an upgrade  if I made the booking?

If I just keep watching, maybe some vacancies will appear closer to the sailing date. I'd appreciate the advice of some frequent cruisers.

Edited February 5 by cruiser3775

[Cbtours]

1 minute ago, cruiser3775 said:

I'm thinking of getting away from winter in Melbourne on a  cruise in June, July or August. I found three I like, but they are listed as sold out for balcony cabins, both direct with the ship companies and with a couple of travel agents I have used before. Is there such a thing as a waitlist? How do I get on that?

One of them has vacancies in interior cabins. I couldn't cope with interior, being a bit claustrophobic. How much chance would there be for an upgrade  if I made the booking?

If I just keep watching, maybe some vacancies will appear closer to the sailing date. I'd appreciate the advice of some frequent cruisers.

You can def waitlist in any category you want or even in a few categories. We did ours through a PVP. Just phone Princess. (Aus)

[arxcards]

Sold out = unavailable to all. Any agent that shows as available at the same time is unlikely to be able to secure a booking.

 

Yes, you can waitlist. Even when waitlisting, it pays to go back and check regularly and put a hold on anything that becomes available. The waitlist isn't automated. There is also no way of knowing if there are 10 or more waitlisted ahead of you.

 

To waitlist, contact the cruise line or agent as if you were going to book. When they say it is sold out, request to be waitlisted. The odds of an upgrade from inside would be slim, considering everything above is sold out well before final payment. It is possible to mark the final payment date on a calendar, as that is the most likely time that passengers will cancel due to change of mind or circumstances.

[ceeceeDee]

And people do cancel ahead of the final payment date. We have friends who recently ended up cancelling four months ahead of the sail date. Definitely worth getting on a wait list and monitoring the site daily in case something comes up.

[Cbtours]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Sold out = unavailable to all. Any agent that shows as available at the same time is unlikely to be able to secure a booking.

 

Yes, you can waitlist. Even when waitlisting, it pays to go back and check regularly and put a hold on anything that becomes available. The waitlist isn't automated. There is also no way of knowing if there are 10 or more waitlisted ahead of you.

 

To waitlist, contact the cruise line or agent as if you were going to book. When they say it is sold out, request to be waitlisted. The odds of an upgrade from inside would be slim, considering everything above is sold out well before final payment. It is possible to mark the final payment date on a calendar, as that is the most likely time that passengers will cancel due to change of mind or circumstances.

We were waitlisted on two cruises, same itinerary. Circumnavigation of Aus. We scored a balcony on the first one, and then we saw drop in price so our PVP applied that too. Once the first cruise was complete led, we cancelled the waitlist on the second one.

we actually received an email from princess to tell us our waitlist was accepted

Edited February 5 by Cbtours

[mum and son]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

Yes, you can waitlist. Even when waitlisting, it pays to go back and check regularly and put a hold on anything that becomes available. The waitlist isn't automated. There is also no way of knowing if there are 10 or more waitlisted ahead of you.

 

This is the important bit. Even if you waitlist, keep checking the sites every day, especially around and beyond final payment date. When you see a cabin, grab it straight away. I have been waitlisted for cabins, or specific cabin categories on cruises and have never received a waitlist offer from the cruise line, but have found a cabin for myself online each time. It seems the cancellations go back into general inventory before they start contacting the waitlist so your chance may be better if you keep looking yourself.

[Cbtours]

2 minutes ago, mum and son said:

This is the important bit. Even if you waitlist, keep checking the sites every day, especially around and beyond final payment date. When you see a cabin, grab it straight away. I have been waitlisted for cabins, or specific cabin categories on cruises and have never received a waitlist offer from the cruise line, but have found a cabin for myself online each time. It seems the cancellations go back into general inventory before they start contacting the waitlist so your chance may be better if you keep looking yourself.

Totally agree to keep checking yourself too. I was just saying my PVP was a great help

[mum and son]

7 minutes ago, Cbtours said:

Totally agree to keep checking yourself too. I was just saying my PVP was a great help

I completely agree - use all the avenues, especially when you have a great PVP. Cabin stalking is a bit of a hobby of mine... I can't help myself 😁.

[MicCanberra]

I have found wait listing for a particular cabin category involves a lot of waiting, not much gain. Pick another category or j7st keep checking up until final payment.

[Cbtours]

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I have found wait listing for a particular cabin category involves a lot of waiting, not much gain. Pick another category or j7st keep checking up until final payment.

Our PVP waitlisted us in every category to cover all bases. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Sometimes they show "Sold Out" when they are messing about with pricing or itineraries - the upcoming world cruise, and it's various sectors, is showing sold out at the moment but I'm pretty sure it isn't and as soon as they announce the revised itinerary it will be available to book again

[cruiser3775]

This is an interesting exercise. Following your advice, I have been looking every day at two Australian and one US cruise travel agents for a "sold out" cruise in August.  Their prices are much the same. But everyday, they have one or two available cabins listed, obviously when someone cancels. Sometimes these disappear within a couple of hours, so you need to check back often.  So far, I haven't found a cabin in a location I would be interested in.  But I'm enjoying the search.

[cruiser3775]

Update:

I didn't go for the waitlist, just kept checking back. It took me nine days of checking every day, but I booked today.   Every day there were three or so cabins, but most of them were not popular for a reason - their locations right under the pool or above the galley for example. Today, I found a balcony aft cabin in a good location had appeared on one of the good TAs, and booked it straight away.  So pleased to get a cabin on an almost "sold out" cruise, and thanks everyone for the hints.

[icat2000]

I check every day when looking for a cruise that sold out or sold out in category I want. Most times it pays off. 

[Jean C]

Me too, even when I'm happy with my cabin selection I still check every day, especially fares and deals before the deposit forfeit date, then get straight on to my (useless) PVP.  Have saved thousands that way, even a hundy or so is better in my pocket than theirs.  Glad @cruiser3775 got themselves a good cabin 🛳 🍹 

[ceeceeDee]

7 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Me too, even when I'm happy with my cabin selection I still check every day, especially fares and deals before the deposit forfeit date, then get straight on to my (useless) PVP.  Have saved thousands that way, even a hundy or so is better in my pocket than theirs.  Glad @cruiser3775 got themselves a good cabin 🛳 🍹 

Yep, did the same for our next cruise and ended up saving $1080 for the exact same cabin as we originally booked. Pays to be vigilant.

[cruiser3775]

I will keep checking back for prices as we get closer to the sailing date.  My final payment is due mid May, so might find a better deal early May. 

[Jean C]

Hi all, a query on behalf of someone else re wait listing.  My daughter and SIL, along with 5 other couples have booked a cruise for 2025.  Most couples got balconies next to each other or in the same general area.

 

One couple booked just after the main group and could only get a window cabin on a different deck. Although at the time of booking they requested to be wait listed for a balcony, it was never logged in the "system", they said the request couldn't be added for some reason.

 

A balcony cabin has now become available but in the meantime fares have gone up and it's significantly more than what the others paid.

 

My query with wait listing is this - do you waitlist at the price you would have paid had the desired cabin category been available when you originally booked, or are you stuck with the current rate when the desired cabin becomes available?

 

Many thanks in advance 😊

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

I'm fairly certain you're stuck with whatever the fare is when the cabin becomes available. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 2/19/2024 at 6:14 PM, icat2000 said:

I check every day when looking for a cruise that sold out or sold out in category I want. Most times it pays off. 

I'd been checking a 2025 Princess cruise I wanted for a couple of months for a balcony cabin but nothing showed up online. Just on the off chance I rang my PVP, expecting to be put on a waitlist but she miraculously found me a cabin.A very nice cabin in fact. I'm very happy about that.