Chances of booking on a cruise with no availability currently?

Hi All! I am an experienced cruiser on other cruise lines but I’ve never sailed with Carnival before. I’m looking to book a cruise for May of this year that currently has no availability even after calling Carnival. Does anyone know of another way to find availability? Do travel agents have blocks of cabins still in their inventory this close to sailing? I am hoping to sail with friends but I think they must have booked the last two cabins on the ship! Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

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...My experience with Carnival is to always keep trying. Travel agencies usually send their reserved cabins back to inventory approximately 75-90 days before sailing. You're obviously shorter than 75 days, so all cabins should be accounted for.

...Keep calling, or set yourself up with a Carnival PVP. If you let them know what sail date and cabin category you're looking for, they may be able to keep an eye out for you. Sometimes when last minute cabins come available, the PVP's scoop them up for their clients and these cabins never appear online.

Availability CAN happen. Keep an eye out. Obviously you appreciate that you can't overthink particular cabin availability.

...My experience with Carnival is to always keep trying. Travel agencies usually send their reserved cabins back to inventory approximately 75-90 days before sailing. You're obviously shorter than 75 days, so all cabins should be accounted for.

...Keep calling, or set yourself up with a Carnival PVP. If you let them know what sail date and cabin category you're looking for, they may be able to keep an eye out for you. Sometimes when last minute cabins come available, the PVP's scoop them up for their clients and these cabins never appear online.

Agree 100%, especially about getting a PVP (personal vacation planner). Unfortunately, there are rules on here that prevent any of us from giving you the names and phone numbers of the PVP's we work with. Carnival has some really great PVP's. You'll have to Carnival yourself, and hopefully you'll be put in touch with one of the good ones. Then you'll have someone on the inside working for you. Good luck!

You have to check back frequently. I'm on a cruise that leaves this week and it changed to sold out 2.5 weeks ago. It has opened back up 3 times for a few hours each time for a single cabin. It happens although don't expect the price to be great.

Call carnival and put your name on the list. I’ve booked 2 days out on sold out ships. They maintain a list of standby passengers and will work down the list in the event of cancellations or no shows. This is usually only practical if you live in the port city since you might not know if you are going until the day if or the day before.

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Check a few times daily and hopefully something will show up.

Be prepared to take whatever you can get often at a high cost.

Thanks for the suggestions. When I called Carnival this morning the rep was less that helpful. I called again and got put on the waiting list. The new rep says he is going to keep an eye out for me. I am hoping that if someone has to cancel and I end up on the ship it’s because they’ve had something fabulous come up and not because of an emergency. It’s possible that I could get to the port just in case and just vacation there if I don’t make it on. It would be sad to watch the ship sail away without me.

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My cruise was marked as sold out for a few days about a month ago (sailing in two weeks), and then insides opened up, and now balconies are available. I think it was sold out for the time that they assigned all the rooms to us that let them pick for us?

You can even get booked within the last 24 hours of the cruise. You are under more scrutiny at check in, make sure all of your paperwork and travel documents are in order.

UPDATE: I managed to book a cabin. It’s an obstructed view balcony. I’ve never had a balcony cabin before and the price wasn’t too terrible. Thanks again for the suggestions!

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UPDATE: I managed to book a cabin. It’s an obstructed view balcony. I’ve never had a balcony cabin before and the price wasn’t too terrible. Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

 

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Congratulations and happy vacation

There's no cut off time in how late you can book a cruise?

UPDATE: I managed to book a cabin. It’s an obstructed view balcony. I’ve never had a balcony cabin before and the price wasn’t too terrible. Thanks again for the suggestions!

Congrats and enjoy your cruise and your balcony.