Sold Out Princess Cruises the New Norm?

[startedwithamouse]

Since October, six out of seven of our last few Princess cruises have been sold out, including two this week.

 

What are other cruisers experiences?

 

Are most ships sailing at full capacity in other regions?  We sail out of LA, maybe not enough supply here?

 

With this high demand for cruises, will we see more increases in fares?

Edited April 3 by startedwithamouse

[mwolever]

I have noticed the same thing. I'll admit that it is surprising on any line to see this much "sold out." Does it translate to "over crowded?". I sure hope not. 

[azbirdmom]

Yes, our upcoming cruise on the Enchanted has been sold out for a while as have been the ones before it.  Not sure if it's the new norm but I have been noticing that some cruises do seem to be showing as sold out well before the sail date.

[memoak]

We are sailing out of Vancouver next week and it has been showing as sold out for about 2 weeks

[Paula_MacFan]

Our Alaska May/June cruise has shown sold out for months. Right after bidding opened up one cabin in each category opened up for a few days, but now shows sold out again. I chalked the brief window up to the final payment date thinning the herd, and bidding adjustments being made. But all the online anecdotal evidence I've seen points to very strong seasonal bookings, at least for Alaska.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Bookings are up some 30%.  Many of those for 2025.  Cruises to Alaska and out of Florida area likely to sail at 90%+ cabin occupancy.

You have not indicated how far out?  Remember there historically been lots of cancelled cabins before final.payment date and groups need to release any unsold cabins about that time frame as well.

[JimmyVWine]

12 minutes ago, mwolever said:

Does it translate to "over crowded?". I sure hope not. 

Probably not.  Most cruises that you have been on have been "Sold Out" by the time they throw lines.  They just might not be sold out months in advance.  So the total number of people on the ship shouldn't be changing.  Just the timing by which people know that capacity has been reached.  There are restrictions as to how many people are allowed on any given ship for safety reasons.  So a sailing that sells our as a result of a last minute "Drop and Go" sale will have the same number of guests as a sailing that sells out a year ahead of time.  Capacity is capacity. 

[startedwithamouse]

18 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Bookings are up some 30%.  Many of those for 2025.  Cruises to Alaska and out of Florida area likely to sail at 90%+ cabin occupancy.

You have not indicated how far out?  Remember there historically been lots of cancelled cabins before final.payment date and groups need to release any unsold cabins about that time frame as well.

We usually book GTY cabins and drop and go fares. 

 

Discovery this week had been sold out for awhile in our category. 

 

Sapphire had HEAPS of availability just over a month ago when we booked, now sold out.

 

Are future cruise onboard sales making us "an offer we can't refuse" the culprit?  

[kywildcatfanone]

Yes, the new norm

[shakuyi]

only a norm while everyone gets the travel kick done....probably a few years until things settle more.

[Princessfan20]

I was wondering how much is pent up travel demands and how much is due to Princess's new cabin management program where they have a bidding system and are maybe holding cabins back so they do not have to reduce their price.

.

It seems to me there are other things going because cruises that use to be hard to hard to fill seem to be full very soon after they go on sale.

Edited April 3 by Princessfan20

[CruisinFinsUp]

I've been watching quite a few spring 2024 Caribbean cruises as we have been hoping for a last minute getaway, dependent on family member's ongoing recovery from a health issue.  We need to book 2-3 weeks out.  

 

Approx 4-5 weeks prior to the cruise, I'm observing that the cruise moves from a few cabins available in most categories, to some categories selling out, to the entire ship marked "sold out" - all within a few days.    

 

I'm guessing that the bids for upgrades are being processed, causing some categories to sell out.  

 

I'm wondering if Princess is doing any last minute sales, possibly for regional close to port residents (mostly Florida is what I've been monitoring)  thus selling out whatever is remaining. 

 

Good for those folks getting a cruise, but frustrating for us as there really are no last minute options available anymore!     

 

 

[karatemom2]

I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the cabins they may reserve or set aside for travel agents to sell? We are taking a Norwegian Fjords cruise this summer that seems to be very popular - a great itinerary. It has appeared to be virtually sold out for months with almost no cabin availability, but when I checked again this week just out of curiosity, quite a few cabins that had not been showing as available before were suddenly open.

 

We are now within 90 days of the cruise, so I'm just wondering if by a certain time a travel agent has not sold them they revert back to Princess. Or maybe it is people who cancel at 90 days for a refund?

 

It's a mystery to me - but ships do indeed seem to be sailing at or near capacity these days.

[memoak]

1 minute ago, karatemom2 said:

I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the cabins they may reserve or set aside for travel agents to sell? We are taking a Norwegian Fjords cruise this summer that seems to be very popular - a great itinerary. It has appeared to be virtually sold out for months with almost no cabin availability, but when I checked again this week just out of curiosity, quite a few cabins that had not been showing as available before were suddenly open.

 

We are now within 90 days of the cruise, so I'm just wondering if by a certain time a travel agent has not sold them they revert back to Princess. Or maybe it is people who cancel at 90 days for a refund?

 

It's a mystery to me - but ships do indeed seem to be sailing at or near capacity these days.

Many times some TA group blocks that they do not sell out will be returned to Princess after final payment 

[dockman]

I would guess that a soaring stock market and 401ks added to increases in home equity along with an aging population who more and more are tired of all the hassles and rising costs  of land based travel are signficant factors. 

 

Add in more new ships designed to appeal to a wider variety of age groups that bring in more younger cruisers and expanded demographics. 

 

Also the increasing numbers of people who work online from most anywhere with a decent wifi connection makes cruises more attractive to more people.....and of course many people who cancelled cruises during the covid years provide a lot of pent up demand as well as future credits etc.

 

All good news for the cruise industry especially if they don't get too carried away with pricing and/or reducing services and quality of the cruise experience.

 

 

 

 

[Projunior]

When the cabins aren't selling count on the Princess Players Club to fill up the ship by giving them away to casino denizens.

[SCX22]

Princess needs a leaner cabin management system.  Cruises show as sold out, but around the 60 to 30 days before embarkation cabins all of a sudden become available.  Princess is then left to sell these cabins at a discounted rate (which CCL has threatened to retreat from).  The trend is that the Princess sailings do sell out but a certain percentage comes from Drop and Go.  The sailings aren't truly sold out  months/a year in advance like RCCL or X. 

 

Example is the solar eclipse cruises...in February, cabins suddenly became available.

[Gail & Dan]

Partially do to other cruise lines and there over charging people move to another line 

also with the refundable deposit people book multiple cruises and then cancel on final payment 

 

Princes cant change that unless its a non refundable deposit maybe 

 

Dan

[Mark_K]

7 minutes ago, Gail & Dan said:

Partially do to other cruise lines and there over charging people move to another line 

also with the refundable deposit people book multiple cruises and then cancel on final payment 

 

Princes cant change that unless its a non refundable deposit maybe 

 

Dan

Celebrity charges more for a cabin with a refundable deposit.  Unless there’s a sale or a TA special the nonrefundable deposit starts at $500/pp.

[memoak]

Certain cabin types sell out really fast like aft suites. If you want one you have to book early 

[Gail & Dan]

2 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

Celebrity charges more for a cabin with a refundable deposit.  Unless there’s a sale or a TA special the nonrefundable deposit starts at $500/pp.

Sailed With Celebrity Lots Never had a nonrefundable deposit personally do not recall extra cost for that ? Celebrity also bills for the MDR Food like prime rib etc ! 

[Mark_K]

34 minutes ago, Gail & Dan said:

Sailed With Celebrity Lots Never had a nonrefundable deposit personally do not recall extra cost for that ? Celebrity also bills for the MDR Food like prime rib etc ! 

It’s new within the last year or two.  This is what shows up near the end of the booking process:

 

 

[Gail & Dan]

yes I  saw that as well a great reason to go with another line

there far to costly and include much less your quite right here 

 

Edited April 3 by Gail & Dan

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Projunior said:

When the cabins aren't selling count on the Princess Players Club to fill up the ship by giving them away to casino denizens.

You say casino denizens like it is a bad thing. By the way the offers are going backwards. Instead of getting free balconies and $1,000 per person free play we now see $250-$400 and sometime only free insides. The line wants us on board because they know if we hit something big we will celebrate at speciality restaurants and buy jewelry 

[SCX22]

Princess started with non-refundable deposits last year.  The lowest location category in each meta category, is sold with non refundable deposits and GTY.  Theoretically, all the forward cabins are for reserved for these fares, but any cabin category above what what booked can be assigned.  Some of the fares have non refundable deposits and are due in full upon booking when booking Future Cruise Desk specials while on board.  When booking Drop and Go, final payment has passed so it's a moot point.

 

Princess now also holds back some cabin inventory for bid to upgrade.  Also, when someone wins their bid to upgrade, the cabin they vacated becomes available.

 

Point being, these two aspects adds to the clumsiness of Princess cabin inventory program.  Management should make this program leaner to maximize revenue.  Ships can be sailing full but cabin revenue can't be maximized if they are selling cabins at discounted Drop and Go rates.