Does this cruise have a large group on it?

[Tudy]

Looking at booking Equinox September 11, 2025.  I noticed that a significant amount of cabins are already booked. Does anyone know if there is a large group on this sailing?

 

I know some point I saw a link to go to find out, but I couldn't find it when I searched. I also googled it without success.

[leaveitallbehind]

Google your ship and cruise date questioning large groups on board.  You can also search the more obvious groups that typically book on cruise ships and see what dates and ships they have published.  Otherwise I know of no other way to confirm a group booking.  And unless it's a published charter, which will show the entire itinerary as unavailable or closed, the cruise lines will not release any information either.

 

Most cruise lines are booking fast and full these days so the likelihood is that you are just looking at a rapidly booking itinerary.

Edited August 7 by leaveitallbehind

[Jeremiah1212]

31 minutes ago, Tudy said:

Looking at booking Equinox September 11, 2025.  I noticed that a significant amount of cabins are already booked. Does anyone know if there is a large group on this sailing?

 

I know some point I saw a link to go to find out, but I couldn't find it when I searched. I also googled it without success.

 

No, they just have the 3/4 capacity cabins blocked out from double occupancy bookings. 

[Tudy]

Thank you!

[leaveitallbehind]

I should also add that not all available inventory is always shown.  A lot is allotted both internally and to TA's for their own group bookings, which will be released back to the cruise lines at a later date based on how they sell, which can then be available for individual bookings.  There also can be inventory held back for later release based on selling pace.  All controlled by booking algorithms. 

 

 

 

Edited August 7 by leaveitallbehind

[Jeremiah1212]

7 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

I should also add that not all available inventory is always shown.  A lot is allotted both internally and to TA's for their own group bookings, which will be released back to the cruise lines at a later date based on how they sell, which can then be available for individual bookings.  There also can be inventory held back for later release based on selling pace.  All controlled by booking algorithms. 

 

This gets posted all the time and it is not correct. TA group inventory does not pertain to specific cabins. You hold a certain number of cabins in the group and can sell any cabin within the category held at the group rate. 

[Tudy]

1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

This gets posted all the time and it is not correct. TA group inventory does not pertain to specific cabins. You hold a certain number of cabins in the group and can sell any cabin within the category held at the group rate. 

How long will they hold the quad rooms? Is it possible to book a quad now with only 2 people?

 

Edited August 7 by Tudy
clarification

[Jeremiah1212]

57 minutes ago, Tudy said:

How long will they hold the quad rooms? Is it possible to book a quad now with only 2 people?

 

 

No way to tell unfortunately. You cannot book doubles into a triple or quad right now. It's a nonsense approach. There is absolutely no reason to hold a ton of cabins for 3's and 4's during September on a 9nt cruise. 

[canderson]

2 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

This gets posted all the time and it is not correct. TA group inventory does not pertain to specific cabins. You hold a certain number of cabins in the group and can sell any cabin within the category held at the group rate. 

I recall you saying this before.

 

So if all but 100 cabins in a category are already filled with real contracted bodies, you see all 100 of them on Celebrity's site as available individual cabins -- even though there are TAs holding x number of cabins in that category?  How the heck does THAT work?  What if 100 customers called Celebrity (or went online) and booked those 100 cabins?  Where did the TA's group booking cabins just go if they weren't already blocked out in another way?

 

[Jeremiah1212]

4 minutes ago, canderson said:

I recall you saying this before.

 

So if all but 100 cabins in a category are already filled with real contracted bodies, you see all 100 of them on Celebrity's site as available individual cabins -- even though there are TAs holding x number of cabins in that category?  How the heck does THAT work?  What if 100 customers called Celebrity (or went online) and booked those 100 cabins?  Where did the TA's group booking cabins just go if they weren't already blocked out in another way?

 

 

Not sure I'm following your example, but they do constant inventory reviews. 

 

TA 1 has 5 A2 cabins

TA 2 has 10 A2 cabins 

TA 3 has 15 A2 cabins 

 

30 A2 cabins are held in group space. Celebrity knows this number. The TA's can sell and book any A2 cabin that is open. If the total number of A2 cabins available drops down to near ~30, that's when Celebrity is going to tell the TA that they have pulled back their group space and it isn't theirs to sell anymore. They do give a small amount of time as a last ditch effort to finalize your bookings and fill your group. That is really the only time you would see a category close then reopen again. Ultimately to answer your question, Celebrity can take them back whenever they want.

 

A lot of group booking space is also just reservations transferred into an existing group. For instance, you book on your own, transfer to a TA, and they see if they can offer something better by adding them into an existing group. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. There are all sorts variables and rules. 

[canderson]

17 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Not sure I'm following your example, but they do constant inventory reviews.

Actually, I set up the example poorly, but I think your explanation has finally resolved a longstanding question.  See if I (finally) have this right:

 

 

So what you see on the public X site as available cabins in a particular category includes any non-cabin-specific TA group space in that category.  The cabins in a given category shown as open on the X website could be part of available category group space still allotted to one or more TA's groups .. or still held by Celebrity.

 

If inventory starts to get tight in a category, Celebrity will begin to pull back any previously allotted group space in that category from TAs so as to provide some inventory for Celebrity to sell 'retail'.  I suspect I don't want to know how they decide who gets hit first ...

 

 

Only unless X had some reason of their own (whatever that might be) to show cabins blocked out as unavailable that are really unbooked by real pax would it appear that way online.

 

 

Now for the confusion:

 

The first reason that I may have had my head incorrectly? wrapped around this for some years is because there was group of us using the same TA to book a dozen or more cabins in one of the M class ships for a westbound TA every year.  This TA would acquire group space in the old M class C1 and FV cabins for these Transatlantic cruises, and we'd all become part of that particular group.

 

Nothing unusual about that so far, I know, but ...

... this TA would somehow always be able to accommodate our group every year with a dozen or more cabins in the back (and I mean stern) of the ship.  At the time, these were VERY popular cabins (especially the FV, which my wife and I always booked for just the two of us, the TA using a bit of slight of hand at which X always winked).  Granted, this was some years back, but worked year in and year out.  It seemed at that time that this particular TA was actually holding specific cabins for the group.  This was prior to the time that the public had any access to X's inventory.

 

 

I can also say that even with ZERO inventory showing at X's public online site in a given category, there are TAs out there who will most definitely sell you a cabin in that category.  I just recently experienced this with a WB TA for Fall 2025 where X shows zero Retreat cabins available, but a well known and reputable TA was prepared to sell me a Sky Suite on that cruise.  So was this part of a group, or ???  We also wonder if the inventory we see online differs significantly from that which your TAs see as available.  That doesn't seem to fit the model we agreed to, above.

 

 

[leaveitallbehind]

4 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

This gets posted all the time and it is not correct. TA group inventory does not pertain to specific cabins. You hold a certain number of cabins in the group and can sell any cabin within the category held at the group rate. 

Not sure why you quoted me. Go back and check - I never said it pertains to specific staterooms.  It absolutely pertains, however, to stateroom categories. And the return to the cruise lines is typically around 120 days prior to sailing, at which point the cruise line can release these categories back into general inventory for individual sales. And you are correct as to how group category staterooms are sold by TA's.  But that was not the question, nor was it to which I was originally responding.

Edited August 7 by leaveitallbehind

[Jeremiah1212]

45 minutes ago, canderson said:

Actually, I set up the example poorly, but I think your explanation has finally resolved a longstanding question.  See if I (finally) have this right:

 

 

So what you see on the public X site as available cabins in a particular category includes any non-cabin-specific TA group space in that category.  The cabins in a given category shown as open on the X website could be part of available category group space still allotted to one or more TA's groups .. or still held by Celebrity.

 

If inventory starts to get tight in a category, Celebrity will begin to pull back any previously allotted group space in that category from TAs so as to provide some inventory for Celebrity to sell 'retail'.  I suspect I don't want to know how they decide who gets hit first ...

 

 

That is correct.

 

45 minutes ago, canderson said:

 

Nothing unusual about that so far, I know, but ...

... this TA would somehow always be able to accommodate our group every year with a dozen or more cabins in the back (and I mean stern) of the ship.  At the time, these were VERY popular cabins (especially the FV, which my wife and I always booked for just the two of us, the TA using a bit of slight of hand at which X always winked).  Granted, this was some years back, but worked year in and year out.  It seemed at that time that this particular TA was actually holding specific cabins for the group.  This was prior to the time that the public had any access to X's inventory.

 

Sounds like they used a different type of group for that. It's not really all that different, but if you have a group of individuals traveling together (8 or more staterooms - although this may be changed in years past) that is also considered a group, it just works slightly different. But in this case they would be reserving specific cabins. When the itinerary was release they probably just grabbed the cabins they wanted. 

 

45 minutes ago, canderson said:

 

I can also say that even with ZERO inventory showing at X's public online site in a given category, there are TAs out there who will most definitely sell you a cabin in that category.  I just recently experienced this with a WB TA for Fall 2025 where X shows zero Retreat cabins available, but a well known and reputable TA was prepared to sell me a Sky Suite on that cruise.  So was this part of a group, or ???  We also wonder if the inventory we see online differs significantly from that which your TAs see as available.  That doesn't seem to fit the model we agreed to, above.

 

Groups in Retreat are pretty uncommon. If Retreat is sold out I also can't imagine Celebrity would allow unsold group space to dangle. TA's can hold cabins for quite some time if you ask nicely. Did they give you an option of several cabins or just one? I know Connie, Apex and Equinox are all occasionally showing sold out in Retreat for next fall transx but if one pops up there is nothing stopping you from holding it. 

 

To add another layer, the big big TA's with thousands of bookings have their own negotiated types of groups too...

[canderson]

30 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

Sounds like they used a different type of group for that. It's not really all that different, but if you have a group of individuals traveling together (8 or more staterooms - although this may be changed in years past) that is also considered a group, it just works slightly different. But in this case they would be reserving specific cabins. When the itinerary was release they probably just grabbed the cabins they wanted.

 

...

 

Did they give you an option of several cabins or just one? I know Connie, Apex and Equinox are all occasionally showing sold out in Retreat for next fall transx but if one pops up there is nothing stopping you from holding it. 

 

So it is a bit more complex than it first appears!

 

As to the first paragraph above, we were an 'unofficial' group (once known here as the Night Owls, but also internally known as the 'aft rats').  So we didn't book these Transatlantic trips AS a group, but we were a reliable sell for the TA that set us up every year.  So there is some mechanism for a TA to block out a set of specific cabins for a group after all?  Does the TA have to put down any $ to do so, or is there a different rate provided for the cabins to the TA that covers the convenience, or ???

 

As to the second paragraph, there was just a single SS being offered (not guarantee, and had an actual cabin number) concurrent with zero Retreat inventory showing on the public X site.  Took that stroke of luck while it was offered.

 

30 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

To add another layer, the big big TA's with thousands of bookings have their own negotiated types of groups too...

 

I probably don't wanna know!