So Many Cabins Still Available

We are sailing on the 12/2 Escape. I have been checking pretty regularly for available cabins (mainly for The Haven) and in my boredom today, decided to actually count the number still available. It totaled almost 300 cabins. And this was across all cabin levels, inside, oceanview and balcony. There were only four categories that listed as guarantee only. I have never actually gone online and physically counted the available cabins on any previous cruise. Is this a normal amount to still be out there with less than two weeks to go? You hear so much of "the ship is full" comment from Guest Services (and usually there's a sign on the desk).

This is completely out of curiosity on my part. I wouldn't be opposed at all to an emptier than normal ship (makes everything easier, booking dinner, loungers, etc). Could this be totally because of the not so desirable itinerary change due to the hurricanes? Thanks for any enlightenment you guys can shed.

**I'll also add there has been no large pricing change for this cruise. Since final payment, the only drop I have seen for balcony level is $20.

We are sailing that week. It makes me happy! Thanks for the info.

This is one of the lowest demand time frames, over many many years. Always these cruises can be picked up on the price dump rack, which is now the case with no single supplement, so half price for those cruisers. I'm actually going to pick up either the Escape or Getaway this weekend, since it's a great solo rate. :)

first two weeks of december are always quiet and always excellent deals since no one wants to be away that time of year with the holidays.

htey will fill quite a few with last minute cruisers. they will fill upgrade requests then give the inside rooms away for a song, usually offer solo supplement too.

A lot of potential cruisers still think the Caribbean ports are closed from the hurricanes.....and while 300 cabins may seem like a lot, many will fill with last-minute cruisers, and it's also possible that there are many 3 and 4 occupant cabins....the ship can only accept a finite number of guests!

Looks like some folks will get upgrades closer to the minimum bid on that cruise.

We used to take the kids to Disney World during the first two weeks of December. It is empty. Was awesome.

If my wife would not spend the entire time from Thanksgiving to Christmas cooking and wrapping, we would surely be cruising.

gem is showing december availability too, even haven etc. all cabins have some availability

The Escape has 2092 cabins, having 300 left 2 weeks before sailing is not really a number that can't be filled.

Ok, how can you count the cabins not booked?

I get the last minute selling thing but still 200 plus cabins for a sailing a week and a half away? That's a lot of last minute cabins to dump. You'll have to report back.

This is the slowest time of year at most all resorts. You can get a room in Vegas for almost nothing. They even shut down a lot of the shows, since the town is pretty empty. 300 cabins is only 15% of the cabins on board. I'm sure Vegas would love to have that occupancy rate during this season. By the cruise, most of those will be sold too( at a discount).

We are sailing on the 12/2 Escape. I have been checking pretty regularly for available cabins (mainly for The Haven) and in my boredom today, decided to actually count the number still available. It totaled almost 300 cabins. And this was across all cabin levels, inside, oceanview and balcony. There were only four categories that listed as guarantee only. I have never actually gone online and physically counted the available cabins on any previous cruise. Is this a normal amount to still be out there with less than two weeks to go? You hear so much of "the ship is full" comment from Guest Services (and usually there's a sign on the desk).

 

This is completely out of curiosity on my part. I wouldn't be opposed at all to an emptier than normal ship (makes everything easier, booking dinner, loungers, etc). Could this be totally because of the not so desirable itinerary change due to the hurricanes? Thanks for any enlightenment you guys can shed.

 

**I'll also add there has been no large pricing change for this cruise. Since final payment, the only drop I have seen for balcony level is $20.

How many GTY cabin have been sold still to be assigned out of the 300 ??

Ok, how can you count the cabins not booked?

Most any cruise travel website (not necessarily the specific cruiseline website itself) will show you all available cabins in each category and sub category. Do a cruise search for the specific date and ship you're interested in and it should show you all that's available. I will add this gets a bit more accurate the closer you get to the date when all sites are able to list all available cabins. A few sites only show you 10 cabins at a time so look around at several sites.

How many GTY cabin have been sold still to be assigned out of the 300 ??

This is the one variable you cannot see. My guess would be those have probably already been assigned at this point, but, that is only a guess. It will only show "Guar" for the specific sub-category. For example, on our cruise, the only ones that show guarantee is BE, BF, IF and 0B (first letter indicates category). BE and BF being guarantee cabins is out of a total of 11 different types of balconies. What's most surprising to me is there are still 14 aft balconies available. This is kind of unheard of.

Yes it could. We were on Escape last year the week after Thanksgiving, usually a low week. It was packed I thought. I was surprised as ships have usually been under capacity this week every time we've sailed. We choose this week because of that and the lower prices. This year's Jade cruise had a fabulous itinerary to boot.....before the hurricanes came.

Will be interesting to see how full our 11-27 Jade cruise is. I wouldn't be there except they had my final payment when the itinerary changed.

I got a crazzzzy good last minute deal as a solo around that time last year. I didn't realize it was the norm. I think I may have to plan some vacation time around this when I look to plan my travel in 2019!

"If my wife would not spend the entire time from Thanksgiving to Christmas cooking and wrapping"

that's just insane. why people do this i will never understand. who needs all that food?

The same vacancy factors and unsold # of cabins across almost all categories were true on several Breakaway sailings last month & earlier this month, until the Gem had a little trouble ... and, some promptly rebooked. Last minute solo booking w/o supplement were a steal and quite a few happily upgraded to balcony GTY.

Hey, let's keep this a semi secret here on CC, we don't want "everyone" to know about it & we "lose" the insider's advantage ;p

I get the last minute selling thing but still 200 plus cabins for a sailing a week and a half away? That's a lot of last minute cabins to dump. You'll have to report back.

You are making assumptions and not realizing there is a whole pool of last minute bookings with travel industry qualifiers. I late book almost exclusively, often less than a week prior. Looking to pick up either the Getaway or Escape this weekend, as example. Probably will stay on, if some other itineraries of interest don't dump. I can, pack and plan within 24 hours, if I have to. :)

I'm on that cruise, too. Couldn't pass up the deal even though the ports are less than desirable (except Cayman, I'm looking forward to getting back to that one.)

I certainly wouldn't mind if there were 500 fewer people on the ship than capacity. That'd make for a little extra room on board... and maybe there will be a few loungers without towels occupying them all day.

Question how does one go about finding out how many cabins are left on a particular cruise date??

Question how does one go about finding out how many cabins are left on a particular cruise date??

Check post #13 in this thread.