Every Cabin Category is waitlisted.....

[BOOKNEXTCRUISE]

We are sailing to New Zealand in 2/2010 our ship is also sold out with a wait list only. What advantage is it to Princess to not assign cabins yet? We booked a (gty) and still do not have a room. From what I am reading here does this give us a better chance of upgrade if no cabin till we get to the dock? (cabin doesn't really matter to us as we don't spend much time in it so I am just wondering).

[Colo Cruiser]

Originally Posted by BOOKNEXTCRUISE

We are sailing to New Zealand in 2/2010 our ship is also sold out with a wait list only. What advantage is it to Princess to not assign cabins yet? We booked a (gty) and still do not have a room. From what I am reading here does this give us a better chance of upgrade if no cabin till we get to the dock? (cabin doesn't really matter to us as we don't spend much time in it so I am just wondering).

Princess does a lot of moving of people/cabins in the last month or two.
They have this process down to a science and deal with soldout/oversold ships week after week year round. There is no rhyme or reason as far as upgrades and they are usually done randomly by computer.

[caribill]

Originally Posted by BOOKNEXTCRUISE

We are sailing to New Zealand in 2/2010 our ship is also sold out with a wait list only. What advantage is it to Princess to not assign cabins yet?

Chances are the ship is actually overbooked. Princess knows from experience that on the average a certain number of passengers will cancel before the cruise, even though it is past final payment. As cabins become vacant this way, they will be assigned to those with guarantees (this may involve some people already with assigned cabins being upgraded and the guarantees going into those cabins).

If enough cabins do not open up this way, Princess will make optional offers to some people with a cabin assignment to "move over" to another cruise. This offer will usually involve a significant rebate of fare and some OBC. and possibly an upgrade. If there are not enough takers, the offers will be improved until they are accepted.

In any event, sooner or later those with guaranteed bookings will have an assigned cabin, even if they do not learn about the assignment until reaching the pier on embarkation day.

This is not that different from airlines who overbook except on the airlines, if there are not enough cancellations and volunteers, the passenger without a seat assignment may not get on the booked flight and the regulations force the airline to provide some compensation.

[weberman]

I don't think anyone will ever figure out the the Mysterious Upgrade Process on Princess.

I have been upgraded on the three out four of our last cruises.

2006 Booked AB Got AB Sapphire
2007 Booked BG Got BA Emerald
2008 Booked BD Got BB Emerald
2009 Booked BG GTY Got BA Crown (this Christmas)

I guess we have been lucky.

[Pam in CA]

Originally Posted by caribill

This is not that different from airlines who overbook except on the airlines, if there are not enough cancellations and volunteers, the passenger without a seat assignment may not get on the booked flight and the regulations force the airline to provide some compensation.

My sister had an "interesting" experience recently on a BA flight from Dulles to LAX (Dulles was a stopover from Rome.) She and my brother-in-law had Princess air and he planned not to continue on to LA but fly to NY to visit their son and go to the World Series so he wasn't going to be on the flight and was willing to eat the cost. My sister checked in using both her and my BIL's boarding passes so he was on the manifest for the flight in his seat. It turns out that BA overbooked the flight. A young woman boarded late, just before the door was closing and they seated her in my BIL's empty seat. My sister said, "Sorry. I paid for this seat." They told her that if she didn't shut up, they'd throw her off the plane and proceeded to seat the woman. It turns out they'd sold the woman's seat out from under her which is why they had to find a seat for her. They offered no compensation, nothing. Just a threat to throw my sister off the plane for objecting to their using the seat without compensation. This was in Biz Class so it was a substantial amount of money that BA was refusing to make any adjustment for. I keep telling them to write BA and complain but they haven't yet.

[Toto2Kansas]

Pam, if she does write, I would love to hear the outcome on this one. Since the seat was in your BIL's name and not your sisters, I don't think she will have a leg to stand on with this, as he would have been considered a 'no show' since the ticket was in his name.

[Thumper69]

Pam,

I don't think there is any validity for a refund as he was officially a no-show and for only a portion of the flight. I am surprised that your sister didn't get into strife with security using a boarding pass that there was NO passenger for, this would raise red flags to security. I think they were a little annoyed that's why they threatening to throw your sister off the plane, which I think was a little over the top. People skills can go a long way.

Anthony

[laughing husky]

Mimg Pao....Lynn....Hope you write a review and post it on CC....I can hardly wait....

[Mimg Pao]

Originally Posted by laughing husky

Mimg Pao....Lynn....Hope you write a review and post it on CC....I can hardly wait....

Laughing Husky - Alanmal who is on the Dec. 2nd inaugural sail from Singapore to Shanghai has promised to post "live".

It will be interesting to see who is on board when the ship sails from Shanghai and I will post that - probably on your roll call. Don't think I will have time for a full review while on board.

Incidentally, you show your sailing from Jan. 18 - I thought it was Jan. 19

Lynne

[Pam in CA]

Originally Posted by Thumper69

I don't think there is any validity for a refund as he was officially a no-show and for only a portion of the flight. I am surprised that your sister didn't get into strife with security using a boarding pass that there was NO passenger for, this would raise red flags to security. I think they were a little annoyed that's why they threatening to throw your sister off the plane, which I think was a little over the top. People skills can go a long way.

Anthony, not true. We've done this MANY times, i.e., bought and paid for an empty seat. My nephew was returning from the same cruise and being a big guy (very tall and somewhat wide), my sister bought two coach seats for him. He boarded with two boarding passes in Rome on a flight direct to LAX. I've done it many times myself when I flew coach; we called it "poor man's business class." People do it all the time. No one batted an eye when my sister checked in with both boarding passes. And yes, they went way over the top threating an elderly lady because she objects to their using a paid for seat. I suspect the young woman who was given the seat checked in late and lost her seat. The airlines have the right to do that if you don't check in on time. Someone somewhere was accommodating an attractive young woman and the result was harrassment of an older one.

[Toto2Kansas]

Pam, true you can purchase two seats, I have known many people to do that in the past instead of purchasing business class. But wouldn't both those seats have to be in the same name? That is what is confusing to me, if the seats were both purchased in your sisters name, then I see a problem here. But not with the tickets purchased in two different names as that would make the second person a no show. I am surprised they allowed her to check in with both boarding passes since they weren't both in her name. But I do agree, threatening her was out of line, totally.

[Thumper69]

I have to agree with Toto here two boarding passes with same name. Purchase of seats for oversize passenger would be considered OK. But boarding pass with NO passenger with the assumption of possible checked luggage would alarm me and I'm not security. Also you can't sit on 2 business class seats at the same time like you can in economy, the armrests don't move.

I agree threatening an old lady doesn't cut it. A courteous explanation of why they needed the seat probably would have sufficed and made everyone happy.

Anthony

[robgvic]

Pam,I usualy totally respect your views but this one totally shocks me. I am also shocked the BA didnt catch what was going on. Did the crew ask where her husband was? If not they may have delayed the flight to check where he was and to check if luggage had been checked. Why did she check in for both seats instead of taking a seat that someone could have used. I can see buying two seats for a "larger" person but both seats would be in the same name. Why didnt they cancel the son's 2 seat and have him move up with Mom?

[laughing husky]

Lynn, I am so glad that you will let us know jow it is....Many months ago they originally posted the cruise as Jan 18....Then they changed it. Don't know if it was a typo or not but it changed a couple of days or so after I booked it...I suspect that it was a typo....

[crischickie]

Originally Posted by Pam in CA

This isn't at all unusual on Princess. Perhaps other cruiselines but not Princess. My 16-day cruise in January has been waitlisted for a couple of months with only a few insides available. Most of my cruises are fully-booked months, if not years in advance. For instance, my 31-day Sapphire cruise last year was sold out more than 18 months before sailing. There was still an occasional cabin available as people changed their minds or cancelled but for all intents and purposes, it was sold out.

How true. I've been on Princess' list for 8 years to call when they have last minute cancellations and need to fill the ship and I am still waiting for my first call.