balconeys, Alaska 2007

[misspuss]

I was just on the HAL site last night,looking for a Alaska cruise for next year. I checked from May to Sept. and ALL of the balconey cabins were listed as "closed" That can't be right, can it???? Could this be a glich on the HAL site? Maybe all the balcony cabins have been snaped up by T.A.s? Surely the balconys couldn't all be gone a year ahead of time????
Thank you all for any wisdom you can lend me.
Sue

[grannynurse]

There have been several posts on this subject during the last month. Speculation is that they are reserved for "cruise-tour" guests. Do a search on CC for suite and balcony cabins for summer 2007.
GN

[RuthC]

Every balcony on every ship on every sailing? Or only every suite? (Only? :rolleyes: )
It's been posted several times that the suites are held back for cruise/tour passengers, but not that the non-suite balcony cabins were, too.

If you mean the suites, then that's your answer. But if you mean all balconies---including the non-suite ones---then there's something else going on.

[misspuss]

Thank you for the answers. I hoped it would be something like that.
I didn't look at EVERY cruise. I looked at mostly the northbound cruises for May, June and July and got so discoraged that I started checking at random throughout the rest of the seasion. Do you think, later in the year that some balconys will open up for thaose of us that do not want the tour. I am sorry if this has been discussed before, I am new to the HAL boards
Sue

[RuthC]

What you're saying makes sense because northbound has great opportunity to send people off on a land tour at the end; so does southbound for pick-ups at the start. The round-trips out of Vancouver also pick up/drop off passengers after three days. I don't know if the Seattle round-trips do, too.

It's posted every year that eventually the suites are opened for cruise-only booking when HAL figures out that not every land-tour passenger wants a suite. By then many potential passengers have gone to other lines.
That's why I asked "every balcony". My understanding was the suites were blocked off, but the other balcony cabins are available.

In any case, yes, there should be something opened up some time in the future.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hal has been doing this for the last couple of years. HAL is under the impression that everyone who goes on a cruise tour, whether it be north or south, they will want some type of balcony cabin. Which isn't true!!

We fought tooth and nail last May and June to open a suite cabin for us for June 2006 - doing back-to-backs. Finally after our TA made many calls to HAL they gave in and opened a suite for us.

We noticed on both cruises, very, very few of the people who had taken the land tours did not book suites!!!

[rfbdorf]

We booked a VA cabin on the O-dam for a round-trip from Seattle next summer. We need a HC cabin, and got the one we asked for the day they opened for bookings.
- Richard

[MercedMike]

My DW the TA has verified directly with HAL that at this time all balconies in Alaska are being held for cruise/tour bookings. At some time in the future it is very likely that they will open them up for other cruisers, and there is a waitlist available now. She was told by HAL that if you waitlist now there is a good probability that you can get a balcony cabin when they become available.

Or -- (my idea, not hers) you COULD book a cruise/tour, and then at final payment date cancel the land portion ... ???

>:-)