Wait List Success or Failure

I jsut added our names to the Wait List on the Sapphire for the short December 18th cruise. I signed up for the obstructed view cabin which along with the interior cabins are all listed as wait listed. What are my chances of getting assigned a room? Higher catergories have availability. How long until they say yay or nay? What's the longest they've made people wait to know if they get to pack their suitcase?

Sometimes they won't contact you until a few days before the cruise, other times there are openings before. You can never tell when you will be contacted, it all depends on the availability of the category you booked.

A couple of years ago we were waitlisted for a Dawn Princess cruise out of San Diego. I had us waitlisted for everything from a balcony on up. We found out that we had made it on the cruise on Tuesday and we sailed the following Saturday. Oh, and we were assigned a BD standard balcony.

Are you working through a TA or directly with Princess? If you are directly with Princess you can call and ask where you are on the waitlist by number. We were #6 and moved very quickly to #2 and then sat there for a few weeks. I called Princess everyday to see where we were on the waitlist. :-)

Are the balcony cabins out of your price range? It looks like there are lots of them available. And the price you might be offered if there is an available inside or obstructed view cabin may be higher than what you're seeing as waitlisted prices.

We were recently on a waitlist for the Emerald Princess. They offered us a cabin the day final payments were due--but at a much higher price (which we knew was possible), than the waitlist price.

We did not take the cabin since it was $600 more than the original price; actually the cabin was cancelled by Princess because we didn't respond withing a certain time frame; for some reason their offer went into my junk email folder, even though everything else from Princess comes through, but we wouldn't have taken the offer anyway.

We couldn't have waited much longer than this because of the need to get air arranged--we can't wait until a week or two before the cruise.

I jsut added our names to the Wait List on the Sapphire for the short December 18th cruise. I signed up for the obstructed view cabin which along with the interior cabins are all listed as wait listed. What are my chances of getting assigned a room? Higher catergories have availability. How long until they say yay or nay? What's the longest they've made people wait to know if they get to pack their suitcase?

Chances are very good, you have 2 months.

We got the call as late as 18 hours before sailing. ;)

I called Princess today--am 27th on the wait list, I could book a higher cabin now, but since this is an "extra" vacation I think I will just wait and see what happens. The final payment for many is the 17th of this month, so that may change things. i appreciate all the help the above sent my way.

I called Princess today--am 27th on the wait list, I could book a higher cabin now, but since this is an "extra" vacation I think I will just wait and see what happens. The final payment for many is the 17th of this month, so that may change things. i appreciate all the help the above sent my way.

You are right! There will be many changes after final. ;)

Dumb Question here: What is the difference between "wait list" and "GTY" - well Ive heard a "GTY" guarantee's you a cabin at that cabin category or higher (so you know youve got at least that" but what is "wait list" does that mean theres a chance you wont get on the ship at all???

As far as I can figure out, with a guarantee you will definetely get a cabin of the category you picked, or higher, and at the price you paid. The price will not increase.

For waitlist, it means you are on a list for whatever category you picked and may or may not get a cabin; plus, the price you originally booked the waitlist at is not guaranted, and will probably be higher if you are offered a cabin. (At least that's what happened for us.) It's possible, though not likely, that you won't get a cabin at all.

wow thanks for clarifying that is how I took it to mean as well - sounds like a real gamble doesnt it -

It's not too much of a gamble, if you can travel at the last second and don't have to book a last minute flight. You do have to pay a deposit, but it is fully refunded if you don't get on the ship.

I agree, if its done right there really is no gamble. You get your money back if you don't clear. ;)

yes there is a gamble if you want to go on that cruise - im not talking about the money i realize you dont lose out there.