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Rooms turned in 90 days out


MaineBirdBrain
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I was reading in another blog where a group would reserve a block of rooms and turn in the ones that were not sold by the 90 cutoff. There are many things that I don't understand about what I read. I am only curious about one inference. It appears that groups, be it a travel agent or whatever, have rooms held from the general public's access. Please follow my ignorant logic and try not to answer questions I am not asking. I can not see how it would be profitable for a group to put money down on a block of rooms and then lose all that money because rooms were not sold and paid for by the cutoff. I thought that the only way a room was pulled from the available room list was if someone put a deposit on that room. It appears, per what I read, that rooms can be held from the general public by groups without them losing money if those rooms are not sold by the 90 day cutoff. If that is true, it would seem that those rooms would not even be available to a PVP.

 

Here is my question: Is there any scenario where rooms are not held without deposit by a group and turned in at 90 days out... and if so, are those rooms unavailable to a PVP?

 

I asked these questions on the blog. I got a "as far as I know" answer. I am looking for a more solid answer. If what I am reading is real, then it opens a new strategy in acquiring rooms... in my mind. I get that individuals will default and lose deposits if they don't pay a reserved cruise off before the 90 cutoff. What I read appears to infer that groups release many rooms at the 90 cutoff as well.

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Why would they lose their deposit? If they are doing this I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be using ES and if you aren't using ES or equivalent then your deposit is fully refundable up to the full payment date.

 

Goodness... that is not my question.

 

Answer one is completely off topic.

 

Mods... please delete my thread.

 

It is pointless to ask a question in this place.

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I'm new to cruising/using a Travel Agent so I'm not sure if this is a good question or if it helps. Do TAs get special access or special "blocks" of rooms they can sell that, as part of their agreement with the cruise line, they have to turn in at 90 days if not sold? If this is the case, maybe those are the rooms turned in at day 90?

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So your histrionics of "Mods... please delete my thread. It is pointless to ask a question in this place." aside, :rolleyes: you gave way too much information to not get answers that are not directly what you're looking for. Be succinct if you don't want responses that aren't directly the question you seek an answer to. i.e. Your subject line was fine but then just state:

 

Is there any scenario where rooms are not held without deposit by a group and turned in at 90 days out... and if so, are those rooms unavailable to a PVP?

 

 

My answer is until the group releases the room hold, they are not available to anyone to see them as a room that can be booked. Once they are released everyone who can book a room by calling the 800 #, you looking online, travel agents and PVP's would be able to see that room as available.

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Specific room 'numbers' are NEVER held as a 'room block' - the cruise line will only contract with the agency/group to allow them to sell an agreed-upon number of rooms in various categories for specific prices. If a voyage is selling particularly well, the cruise line may 'recall' the unsold space at any time, meaning that the agency/group loses their right to sell those cabin categories at the previously-agreed-upon price.

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Travel agents set up groups with a certain number of cabins available at their group rate with whatever group amenities they include. They do not reserve specific cabin numbers. If they don't book all of the rooms allotted with the group rate by a certain time, the rate goes away. That's it. They can still book cabins in the group once the group rate expires, but it will be at whatever the current rate is that you choose. The only thing that is "released" is the rate. Again, they are not holding specific cabins. There's thousands of TAs out there. There would be no way on earth to hold actual cabin numbers for every agent that set up a group.

 

You write a book but then don't have an ounce of patience to wait for an answer. Your premise is wrong completely anyway.

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Goodness... that is not my question.

 

Answer one is completely off topic.

 

Mods... please delete my thread.

 

It is pointless to ask a question in this place.

 

 

WOW....rude much?

 

You ask a rambling question then quickly dismiss an answer and make rude demands?

 

Of course rooms are held by many TA's and groups. By 90 days if not sold, they go back into the booking process...nothing lost to anyone.

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On a cruise to Bermuda, there was a TA on our roll call, that actually stated she had a block of rooms on hold for anybody that was interested in booking with a group rate. She said there were several extended balcony rooms available on different decks, so according to her they were specific to that room category. I always thought how unfair that was to the general public not having those rooms available to everyone when they weren't actually taken yet. If not for being on the roll call forum, wouldn't have known if they were available at the time.

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Specific room 'numbers' are NEVER held as a 'room block' - the cruise line will only contract with the agency/group to allow them to sell an agreed-upon number of rooms in various categories for specific prices. If a voyage is selling particularly well, the cruise line may 'recall' the unsold space at any time, meaning that the agency/group loses their right to sell those cabin categories at the previously-agreed-upon price.

 

Travel agents set up groups with a certain number of cabins available at their group rate with whatever group amenities they include. They do not reserve specific cabin numbers. If they don't book all of the rooms allotted with the group rate by a certain time, the rate goes away. That's it. They can still book cabins in the group once the group rate expires, but it will be at whatever the current rate is that you choose. The only thing that is "released" is the rate. Again, they are not holding specific cabins. There's thousands of TAs out there. There would be no way on earth to hold actual cabin numbers for every agent that set up a group.

 

You write a book but then don't have an ounce of patience to wait for an answer. Your premise is wrong completely anyway.

 

Maybe there are different levels/tiers of agencies and they get different allotments? I only say this because we use a big box company to book our cruises (rhymes with boscoe) and when we select the category, the site shows specific cabin numbers you can pick from. If all they have are guarantees, that is what is shown. And, if you want a specifc cabin that doesn't show in their inventory, you can call and request that cabin. Or, at least I could for a Celebrity Infinity cruise (I wanted one of the sweet 16 and got it)!

 

Doesn't answer the OPs question but we seem to have diverged from that a bit anyway :D

 

ML

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Maybe there are different levels/tiers of agencies and they get different allotments? I only say this because we use a big box company to book our cruises (rhymes with boscoe) and when we select the category, the site shows specific cabin numbers you can pick from. If all they have are guarantees, that is what is shown. And, if you want a specifc cabin that doesn't show in their inventory, you can call and request that cabin. Or, at least I could for a Celebrity Infinity cruise (I wanted one of the sweet 16 and got it)!

 

Doesn't answer the OPs question but we seem to have diverged from that a bit anyway :D

 

ML

 

That's interesting to know about the big box company, I too have looked at their available cabins and thought they were very limited in choices. Nice to know you can call in and request other cabins and maybe get a good deal. I just thought they were offering some of the less desirable cabins that normally don't sell as quickly for the better pricing. Thanks for the info.!

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Maybe there are different levels/tiers of agencies and they get different allotments? I only say this because we use a big box company to book our cruises (rhymes with boscoe) and when we select the category, the site shows specific cabin numbers you can pick from. If all they have are guarantees, that is what is shown. And, if you want a specifc cabin that doesn't show in their inventory, you can call and request that cabin. Or, at least I could for a Celebrity Infinity cruise (I wanted one of the sweet 16 and got it)!

 

Doesn't answer the OPs question but we seem to have diverged from that a bit anyway :D

 

ML

 

No it doesn't answer the OPs question but he/she bowed out rudely a long time ago, so we can discuss this without the nasty input. lol

 

As far as I know, the TAs all work the same. Not holding specific cabins but rather specific group rates for a certain allotment of rooms for a period of time. I know about the site you use. We use one too (rhymes with fusesonly) and they offer the same rates as Carnival down to the penny for every sailing and rate. One thing I have noticed is that certain cabins that don't show up on Carnival's website, do show up on their website. Which is why when I'm searching for rooms, I always use their site to pick what I want. I also use a smaller TA operation and he can see certain rooms that don't show up on the Carnival website. With the smaller operation, he has told us that he cannot book specialty cabins such as wrap balcony and grand scenic oceanviews, etc. using a lower deposit if the group rate initially offers one. I don't know what gives in that regard, but that's been my experience.

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I was reading in another blog where a group would reserve a block of rooms and turn in the ones that were not sold by the 90 cutoff. There are many things that I don't understand about what I read. I am only curious about one inference. It appears that groups, be it a travel agent or whatever, have rooms held from the general public's access. Please follow my ignorant logic and try not to answer questions I am not asking. I can not see how it would be profitable for a group to put money down on a block of rooms and then lose all that money because rooms were not sold and paid for by the cutoff. I thought that the only way a room was pulled from the available room list was if someone put a deposit on that room. It appears, per what I read, that rooms can be held from the general public by groups without them losing money if those rooms are not sold by the 90 day cutoff. If that is true, it would seem that those rooms would not even be available to a PVP.

 

Here is my question: Is there any scenario where rooms are not held without deposit by a group and turned in at 90 days out... and if so, are those rooms unavailable to a PVP?

 

I asked these questions on the blog. I got a "as far as I know" answer. I am looking for a more solid answer. If what I am reading is real, then it opens a new strategy in acquiring rooms... in my mind. I get that individuals will default and lose deposits if they don't pay a reserved cruise off before the 90 cutoff. What I read appears to infer that groups release many rooms at the 90 cutoff as well.

Far as I know....

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No it doesn't answer the OPs question but he/she bowed out rudely a long time ago, so we can discuss this without the nasty input. lol

 

As far as I know, the TAs all work the same. Not holding specific cabins but rather specific group rates for a certain allotment of rooms for a period of time. I know about the site you use. We use one too (rhymes with fusesonly) and they offer the same rates as Carnival down to the penny for every sailing and rate. One thing I have noticed is that certain cabins that don't show up on Carnival's website, do show up on their website. Which is why when I'm searching for rooms, I always use their site to pick what I want. I also use a smaller TA operation and he can see certain rooms that don't show up on the Carnival website. With the smaller operation, he has told us that he cannot book specialty cabins such as wrap balcony and grand scenic oceanviews, etc. using a lower deposit if the group rate initially offers one. I don't know what gives in that regard, but that's been my experience.

 

 

i have booked with my Carnival PVP reserving cabins that DO NOT show up on CCLs website as "available." CCLs website only shows as available what CCL is seeking to sell at any given moment.

 

call your PVP is you want a specific room and if it's available, grab it.

 

i have booked cabins the day a cruise is released and pretty much have complete selection available.

 

you can also book through CCL and then transfer your booking to your preferred TA (within a specific timeframe). like a boscoe or others. you can then get the benefits of booking with your preferred TA, like OBCs and whatever they offer (boscoe offers gift cards and more). all your changes, if any, to your cruise must be done with your TA then. you lose the rights to work with CCL directly to resolve any issues for your cruise (so is my understanding. please correct me if i am wrong here).

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That's interesting to know about the big box company, I too have looked at their available cabins and thought they were very limited in choices. Nice to know you can call in and request other cabins and maybe get a good deal. I just thought they were offering some of the less desirable cabins that normally don't sell as quickly for the better pricing. Thanks for the info.!

 

That's interesting too. When did you last try that site? They have made some big changes the last year or 2. When I go look at available cabins, they show the deck plan with available cabins sort of brighter on the display--you can see exactly where they are, very much like when you go to the cruise line site. I think in the past, they didn't have all cruise lines, and listed just by number but I might have that wrong.

 

So, I think they offer all categories (well, all I care about, maybe the penthouse or things like that aren't available?) and they have great OBC (or sometimes a gift card, which I don't like as much). And sometimes they have "members only" special group deals, which are very cost effective. We got one for our cruise in Australia earlier this year.

 

So many choices, so little money :D

 

ML

 

PS: Also meant to say you don't have to be a member to use their site to check cabin availability and cost. At a cetain point, fairly deep in the process, you do need to enetr your membership #. And you will see what perks they are offering.

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I am a group organizer but am also very familiar with the TA side because I am related to my TA. When we open a group, we essentially choose various cabin categories to have in the group as guarantee cabins. For example, the group I am leading right now is smaller so we started with 8 4Bs and 8 8Bs. These are exactly like guarantee cabins until they are fully booked. The group members can hold one of these 16 cabins for 25pp until the end of the 90 days, or they can fully book. We book each under the promo which is best for them, and aren't bound to the negotiated group prices. Each still gets the group amenity. In my experience so far, most of the available rates also allow for the amenities, so many of our group have the group OBC as well as ones associated with thier individual promos. When we book anyone in categories other than those 2 we held, they just add onto our group and the initially held cabins stay in place until the hold expires.

 

Anyway, the only thing that changes at 90 days is that any non full deposit cabins held, expire. We are still able to book people into our group and have all rates to choose from.

 

Our group rate doesnt have a reduced deposit, but some of our members have reduced deposits due to booking under promos that offered that. Those promos don't always include all cabin categories so its a toss-up and for as closely as I have watched, the particulars of which categories and occupancy are excluded changes often. Cove balconies for 4 seemed to never be included, but insides for 3 seemed to fluctuate. I waited and finally booked a cabin for 3 with the recent 75pp deposit after it wouldnt allow the same for half price deposit promo that had been running for weeks.

 

That doesnt answer the OPs question, but might clear up some of the other uncertainties. If it only serves to annoy you, I do apologize.

 

Sent from my SM-N920V using Forums mobile app

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