How do cabins disappear so quickly?

[Cruising Bill]

Can anyone explain how on the very first day the Transatlantic for Summit, November 2009 is available, all of the aft cabins on every level are already taken. Is this because deft CC'ers were poised to snatch them up, or is it travel agents, or something else?

 

Thanks!

[curiouscat]

Travel agents... large on line agencies book all the space as group space...

 

Not a great system at all...

 

CuriousCat

[Dr. Cocktail]

All of the above!

 

I have seen this happen numerous times - it all depends on how you are trying to make your booking. Generally, the worst available inventory is on the company's own site. If you called Celebrity directly, the cabins might still be there. Otherwise, I am unsure if a particular agency snatches them up or whether they're held for their best clients.

 

As an example, I am booked on Splendour in an aft veranda this summer and when I checked with RCI directly, all the cabins were sold out. When my agent who is with a large Canadian group checked, he had a choice of two aft verandas. When we were on Radiance two weeks ago, I had them check availability (long story!) , there was exactly one cabin booked - you guessed it - mine! Every other aft veranda was available.

 

Your best bet may be to try one of the larger agencies or try onboard.

[Coco Creek]

When the Equinox opened for bookings (and I did have my eye on Aft Vernanda 1206), I made sure my travel agent grabbed it as part of the rooms they reserved literally within seconds of the opening for business.

 

A few minutes later the room was mine.

[lets talk cruising]

Can anyone explain how on the very first day the Transatlantic for Summit, November 2009 is available, all of the aft cabins on every level are already taken. Is this because deft CC'ers were poised to snatch them up, or is it travel agents, or something else?

 

Thanks!

 

Certain travel agents have the ability of reserving cabins prior to them actually being released for sale. We would have requests from our customers for various cabins (especially aft) and those would be submitted to Celebrity two days prior to the release to the public. We never dissappointed any of our clients with respect to cabin choice.

[gkm]

When the Equinox opened for bookings (and I did have my eye on Aft Vernanda 1206), I made sure my travel agent grabbed it as part of the rooms they reserved literally within seconds of the opening for business.

 

A few minutes later the room was mine.

 

Welcome to the Equinox TA. There is already a very active roll call for this sailing. I hope you'll come over and join in the fun! Here's a link to the site: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=13889085#post13889085

 

Garry

[hajekfam]

I think it is a shame that big firm travel agents can book blocks of cabins before the cruiselines loyal customers. I like the way that the Equinox and Solstice first schedules opened with Captain's Club members getting first crack at the schedule. If they opened all schedules like that it would be a great usable and appreciated perk for members at no cost to the company.

[lvtotrvl1]

I think it is a shame that big firm travel agents can book blocks of cabins before the cruiselines loyal customers. I like the way that the Equinox and Solstice opened with Captain's Club members getting first crack at the schedule. If they opened all schedules like that it would be a great usable and appreciated perk for members at no cost to the company.

 

The agencies that are reserving groups also sell 80% of the cabins available on the cruise. A loyal customer may book 1 or 2 cruises per year..a large agency may book 20,000-40,000 rooms (conservative number) per year....a huge difference! RCCL and CEL rely heavily on group business to fill cabins but they do watch groups very closely. They do limit the amount of groups per agency, especially if you open them and don't sell ...they pull cabins back if the group is not selling also. Without groups, people wouldn't be finding alot of the discounts that the agencies give.

[Sky Sweet]

Just a comment about group rates - When you first book a cruise the price for a group rate may look very good but it could cost you more in the long run. That is because if you book a regular rate and the price subsequently goes down, you can request that lower price for your cabin. However, Celebrity will not do that for a group rate.

[lvtotrvl1]

Just a comment about group rates - When you first book a cruise the price for a group rate may look very good but it could cost you more in the long run. That is because if you book a regular rate and the price subsequently goes down, you can request that lower price for your cabin. However, Celebrity will not do that for a group rate.

 

Cel and RCCL both will lower a rate for a group...I've done it quite often. Most recently last week.

[Sky Sweet]

Cel and RCCL both will lower a rate for a group...I've done it quite often. Most recently last week.

 

I guess you have more clout with Celebrity and RCCL than the travel agents that I have used :)

[Desertbelle]

Cel and RCCL both will lower a rate for a group...I've done it quite often. Most recently last week.

 

Our TA also books us great rates using group rates and every time there is a price drop we get the new prices without any problems. She also seems to have those nice special cabins available. It pays to find a good TA.

[lvtotrvl1]

I guess you have more clout with Celebrity and RCCL than the travel agents that I have used :)

 

Not sure why she can't get the lower rates....now if the promo is for new bookings only, that would be different. It really has nothing to do with clout...it is the policy of the cruiseline.

[lets talk cruising]

I think it is a shame that big firm travel agents can book blocks of cabins before the cruiselines loyal customers. I like the way that the Equinox and Solstice first schedules opened with Captain's Club members getting first crack at the schedule. If they opened all schedules like that it would be a great usable and appreciated perk for members at no cost to the company.

 

Captains club actually had second crack at it. The favored agencies were able to block out their rooms prior to the initial offering.

[C-Dragons]

Captains club actually had second crack at it. The favored agencies were able to block out their rooms prior to the initial offering.

 

X does limit the amount of cabins that any agency can block. Even so, we are Captains Club members and called X when the lines opened up on March 13th and got our first choice of AFT cabins on both the Inaugural and the TA of the Equinox.

[mgg42]

This is another reason why I prefer using a TA for much of my travel planning. Sure, I can go in the airline websites and book my flights, but I always find I get better service and MUCH less hassle if I use a good TA.

 

The nature of the TA business has changed so much thanks to the internet in the last few years that there are two types: Discount and Premium.

 

Your discount TA may deal in high volume, but often tends to be rather "cookie cutter". They offer a package and get a good rate by purchasing a massive quantity and you either take it or leave it.

 

The "premium" may not get you a better deal, but they get you exactly what you want. Often times, these are the TA's that are tied to a premium credit card or the likes. I have used these regualrly, and ALWAYS seem to get what I am after.

[Sky Sweet]

When we booked our Mediterranean Cruise on Brilliance of the Seas we were able to get two D-1 aft cabins (slightly larger than Celebrity's CC cabins) with huge balconies by booking directly through Royal Caribbean, but we booked them within an hour of when that cruise became available for bookings.

 

That was in March 2007 for a June 2008 cruise. The majority of cabins for this cruise have been sold out for a long time, but six months ago it cost more for a much smaller E-1 balcony cabin than we paid for our D-1 aft cabns.

 

For these reasons, we always book as early as possible for a cruise that we anticipate will be in high demand.

[billfish]

The trick is to get a good TA that knows how to ask the right question and how to get the best rates. My last cruise we put a hold on a cabin at $800 with a local TA.

 

Thinking that the price sounded high I did some checking around and found a cabin in the same category for less than $500

[sharke]

Wow, after reading all these posts I'm feeling real lucky. On our last cruise on Century in January where we had snatched up a FV aft cabin just 2 months prior to the sailing, we decided to book another while onboard(our first time booking onboard). We chose a cruise on Summit in Dec '09 and were able to get the last aft cabin available. Not sure if it was because we booked so far in advance, were CC members, booked on board, or because we were also booking another cabin for our DD and SIL for the same cruise. Whatever it was I'm thrilled. Those aft cabins are now our favorites.:D

[Addict]

Persistence paid for off us. We have been checking daily, several times a day, rather than leave it in the hands of a travel agent or even Celebrity themselves. We even pre-registered with Celebrity to be informed when the Transatlantics would be released. Luckily, last night we managed to snatch an Aft CC cabin for Constellation in April 2009 - but it was the only one left and they had literally just been released. A Celebrity agent called us today to let us know the TAs had been released and to call them to make the booking - too late as we have already booked online and got the cabin of our choice.

 

We are very happy but it's a good job we did not rely on Celebrity agents.

[SusieV]

I just wait for them to reappear again!

 

Often, people will grab these prime cabins but not be able to go on the trip so they cancel at one point. On three of our cruises, we were able to move to one of the prime cabins cheaply or for free!

 

On our honeymoon, we started in a 2C veranda on Summit, regular size. Then we noted that 1C was the same price as 1A (this was before CC) through our agent, so we upgraded when they verified that. Then, 6135 magically popped up as available right after final payment! We were able to move there for free.

 

 

I check the Celebrity website every day by entering in the numbers of staterooms I'm interested in, and if I see one I call my TA right away. I tend to get luckier around final payment ;)

[Cruising Bill]

Thanks for all the replies! If booking on one's own, I guess the answer is to try early, and check back often.