How does the waitlist work on sold out cruises?

[caribill]

I know the price for me might change (and undoubtedly higher)' date=' but I'm just curious what the rate had been.[/quote']

 

Some of the online TAs will display recent entry level rates even if the ship is currently sold out.

[highheel girl]

Thanks for all the info. I just spoke to Princess and they told me the WL # is 35 so it could be a while, if they match at all.

 

It's past final payment so I don't think the turnaround will be as fast as before final payment.

 

They may just not make it on. Hmmmmmm. I guess it's just a waiting game...

 

Katherine

 

 

On our Emerald cruise 3 years ago we were waitlisted and cleared 24 hours before sailing. :eek:

Luckily we already had air booked.

[kath00]

Hmmm, what number is a good number. 34 seems like it's a good chance of getting on. The sailing is in a month.

 

They are driving to port, thank god. But do want to plan ahead!

[caribill]

Hmmm, what number is a good number. 34 seems like it's a good chance of getting on. The sailing is in a month.

 

They are driving to port, thank god. But do want to plan ahead!

 

Might not be that good a number this close to embarkation day.

 

Soon after final payment (normally 75 days before the cruise) a number of people will clear the waitlist as a number of other people will cancel instead of making a final payment.

 

However, after that cancellations are usually only for emergency reasons (health, relative dying, etc.).

 

Thus to clear from number 34 in about a month requires people in 34 cabins to have such an emergency.

[kath00]

Might not be that good a number this close to embarkation day.

 

Soon after final payment (normally 75 days before the cruise) a number of people will clear the waitlist as a number of other people will cancel instead of making a final payment.

 

However, after that cancellations are usually only for emergency reasons (health, relative dying, etc.).

 

Thus to clear from number 34 in about a month requires people in 34 cabins to have such an emergency.

 

Hmmm, bummer. I called just now and got a much more helpful Princess rep. She said they are #3 for a suite, #11 for a mini and #12 for a balcony. I know relatively speaking, the suites are not going to change as much because there are less of them. But there are a lot of minis and balconies, right? Apparently, lots of people are on the WL for an inside or OV, which they don't want so it won't impact them.

 

Is it still unlikely?

 

This is going to be a looooong month coming up, I can already feel it!

[caribill]

Hmmm, bummer. I called just now and got a much more helpful Princess rep. She said they are #3 for a suite, #11 for a mini and #12 for a balcony. I know relatively speaking, the suites are not going to change as much because there are less of them. But there are a lot of minis and balconies, right? Apparently, lots of people are on the WL for an inside or OV, which they don't want so it won't impact them.

 

Is it still unlikely?

 

This is going to be a looooong month coming up, I can already feel it!

 

Which ship? Then we can tell you how many minis and balcony cabins there are.

[kath00]

Which ship? Then we can tell you how many minis and balcony cabins there are.

 

Sapphire.

[JLC@SD]

Thus to clear from number 34 in about a month requires people in 34 cabins to have such an emergency.

34 folks that will need to use insurance .......or lose a large penalty amount of the fare .......and have to deal with cancelled / lost airfare.

 

When a wait list number is assigned, is that 34 cabins or 34th passenger (ie 17 cabins).

[caribill]

Which ship? Then we can tell you how many minis and balcony cabins there are.

 

Sapphire.

 

Mini-suites 372

 

Balcony 1044

[kath00]

34 folks that will need to use insurance .......or lose a large penalty amount of the fare .......and have to deal with cancelled / lost airfare.

 

When a wait list number is assigned, is that 34 cabins or 34th passenger (ie 17 cabins).

 

Caribil, thank you for the info. It doesn't look that hopeless from these numbers...

 

34 seems to be the # of cabins. The reason I know this is because they had a separate waitlist for the mini suites vs the suites and they gave them #34 and #35.

 

Now I am worried again! LOL.

[Mulege]

On the Grand South America cruse in 2013 it has been sold out for months and there were 500 on the wait list. However cabins have popped up periodically on the website and people NOT on the list have booked them. So much for the wait list.

[sunsetbeachgal]

kath...I hope the wait list clears! If it is for the Oct. 6 sailing, we are on it and it sounds wonderful with Fleet Week in San Francisco. GOod luck,,:)

[kath00]

kath...I hope the wait list clears! If it is for the Oct. 6 sailing, we are on it and it sounds wonderful with Fleet Week in San Francisco. GOod luck,,:)

 

Thanks, that's the one. And the 13th too although we prefer the 6th. I called today out of curiosity and guess what -- they are #37 now, not #35!! NOW HOW on Earth does that work???? They moved 2 more cabins ahead of them. :eek::eek::eek: NOT happy.

[caribill]

Thanks, that's the one. And the 13th too although we prefer the 6th. I called today out of curiosity and guess what -- they are #37 now, not #35!! NOW HOW on Earth does that work???? They moved 2 more cabins ahead of them. :eek::eek::eek: NOT happy.

 

Did you ask Princess why?

[kath00]

Did you ask Princess why?

 

No but I will next time I call, which will probably be by week's end. ARGH.

[kath00]

Hmmm, what number is a good number. 34 seems like it's a good chance of getting on. The sailing is in a month.

 

They are driving to port, thank god. But do want to plan ahead!

 

Just wanted to do a follow up that the waitlist matched today for the Oct 6 sailing.

 

I had called just yesterday and the number they gave me was #25 (same as last Thursday). I was really disappointed since there was no movement in the number in almost a week. Then this morning I got the confirmation for the match!

 

So that was about 3 weeks on the WL and just slightly under 3 weeks to go until sailing. I saw the number sort of linger in the 30s until last week, when suddenly it was #28, 26 and then #25. Then no movement from last Thursday until today when I got the notification.

 

I hope this info helps others. This is for a fully sold out cruise after final payment, so it's a different situation than those who are WLs for specific categories but some cabins are still open. Also, it was after final payment from the getgo. Basically, we are in the final penalty stages here so I bet cancellations are really only for emergencies at this point. But apparently, that happens quite often!

 

The WL was for minis, all suites and all balconies. The room that matched was a mini in a great location. HURRAYYY!

 

Katherine

[caribill]

Just wanted to do a follow up that the waitlist matched today for the Oct 6 sailing.

 

I had called just yesterday and the number they gave me was #25 (same as last Thursday). I was really disappointed since there was no movement in the number in almost a week. Then this morning I got the confirmation for the match!

 

 

Congrats.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

[TracieABD]

Just wanted to do a follow up that the waitlist matched today for the Oct 6 sailing.

 

I had called just yesterday and the number they gave me was #25 (same as last Thursday). I was really disappointed since there was no movement in the number in almost a week. Then this morning I got the confirmation for the match!

 

So that was about 3 weeks on the WL and just slightly under 3 weeks to go until sailing. I saw the number sort of linger in the 30s until last week, when suddenly it was #28, 26 and then #25. Then no movement from last Thursday until today when I got the notification.

 

I hope this info helps others. This is for a fully sold out cruise after final payment, so it's a different situation than those who are WLs for specific categories but some cabins are still open. Also, it was after final payment from the getgo. Basically, we are in the final penalty stages here so I bet cancellations are really only for emergencies at this point. But apparently, that happens quite often!

 

The WL was for minis, all suites and all balconies. The room that matched was a mini in a great location. HURRAYYY!

 

Katherine

So glad you cleared the waiting list!

Enjoy your cruise!!!:)

[compozer]

On the Grand South America cruse in 2013 it has been sold out for months and there were 500 on the wait list. However cabins have popped up periodically on the website and people NOT on the list have booked them. So much for the wait list.

 

 

I've also wondered if this happens. On a past cruise, a friend booked and was #85 on the waitlist for a suite. Two weeks later, they got the OS.. So, were the waitlisted people just waitlisted for PH and VS suites and no one wanted the OS or were they just lucky.

 

On two of my next cruises, I'm waitlisted for the GS. I'm #1 on one in 6 weeks (don't think I will get it) and #8 (that was six months ago) on the other one which is still a long ways away. I used a TA and haven't asked her but is it her job to keep checking or will Princess let her know? I know Princess won't tell me anything. I'd really like to know if I've moved up but hate to bug my TA - she probably thinks that since I do have a suite already, that it isn't that big of a deal. But this is our 40th anniversary this year so I want to celebrate all year and really want the GS on one of them.

[kath00]

I've also wondered if this happens. On a past cruise, a friend booked and was #85 on the waitlist for a suite. Two weeks later, they got the OS.. So, were the waitlisted people just waitlisted for PH and VS suites and no one wanted the OS or were they just lucky.

 

On two of my next cruises, I'm waitlisted for the GS. I'm #1 on one in 6 weeks (don't think I will get it) and #8 (that was six months ago) on the other one which is still a long ways away. I used a TA and haven't asked her but is it her job to keep checking or will Princess let her know? I know Princess won't tell me anything. I'd really like to know if I've moved up but hate to bug my TA - she probably thinks that since I do have a suite already, that it isn't that big of a deal. But this is our 40th anniversary this year so I want to celebrate all year and really want the GS on one of them.

 

I think your friends must have been #85 overall on the waitlist for the whole ship, any category. But they may have been #1 or #2 for OS. Princess just never tells you the actual # you are for a category (except one agent who told me 2-3 weeks ago what while I was #35 overall, I was #3 for suites!).

 

Your TA doesn't have to check. When the WL matches, Princess sends out an email to his/her agency that gives the info. Then he/she has to get that to you and you have 48h to accept it or not. However, if you would like your TA to find out what # you are on the WL now, I would just email him/her and ask. She probably calls Princess a few times a day for other ressies anyway. She can just ask one of the times she calls. It takes under 5 minutes.

 

However, I would definitely not expect her to be calling Princess daily for you. Plus it really doesn't help. It's not like anyone can expedite the match anyway! If it happens, it happens. If not, nothing she says or does will help as far as I understand. For you, since there is only 1 GS, you need the party in that room to cancel in order to make that happen. That's not likely for a cruise just a few weeks away but possible if the cruise is before final payment.

 

Katherine

[compozer]

However, I would definitely not expect her to be calling Princess daily for you. Plus it really doesn't help. It's not like anyone can expedite the match anyway! If it happens, it happens. If not, nothing she says or does will help as far as I understand. For you, since there is only 1 GS, you need the party in that room to cancel in order to make that happen. That's not likely for a cruise just a few weeks away but possible if the cruise is before final payment.

 

Katherine

 

I don't expect her to call daily or even weekly and I've known since day one that my chances are very slim to none about getting the GS.

[kath00]

More feedback on my sold out cruise...

 

Shortly after I matched an AC mini, I saw an AA come up on Princess.com. It was there in the afternoon one day and the next day until around noon. Then it disappeared. I have been checking this sailing obsessively about 10-12x a day since we were placed on the WL and this is the ONLY time I saw a cabin come up on princess.com.

 

My guess is that they have fulfilled the WL people for Mini's and put the available room into the general pool for people to book. Then someone booked it and now it's gone again.

 

Also, I looked back over pricing for this cruise and they basically charged me FIT pricing once my WL match happened. Same for the AA that came up later that day. I am a past passenger and they allowed absolutely no discounts. I asked 2x in the span of the next few days. So clearly once the ship is sold out, they have no impetus to give any sort of discount, not even the past passenger rate! Very disappointing, but I am happy I am on the sailing so what can I say?

 

Hope this info helps others.

[caribill]

So clearly once the ship is sold out, they have no impetus to give any sort of discount, not even the past passenger rate!

 

Not all voyages have a lower past passenger rate, even when the ship is not sold out.

 

Sometimes the past passenger rate is until a fixed date after a cruise itinerary first is being sold, so it would then not apply to later bookings which could be months before the sailing date.

[Coral]

More feedback on my sold out cruise...

 

Shortly after I matched an AC mini, I saw an AA come up on Princess.com. It was there in the afternoon one day and the next day until around noon. Then it disappeared. I have been checking this sailing obsessively about 10-12x a day since we were placed on the WL and this is the ONLY time I saw a cabin come up on princess.com.

 

My guess is that they have fulfilled the WL people for Mini's and put the available room into the general pool for people to book. Then someone booked it and now it's gone again.

 

.

 

Not necessairly true. Unfortunately.

 

I was wait listed for a mini suite this past spring (had a balcony). Princess never contacted me and I saw a mini suite open. So I called and was able to get it. A few weeks ago, the mini suite that matched my next 2 cruises came up and I called to change and they said on the phone "do you still want to be wait listed for a mini suite?". I then politely said "thanks but I already found one myself".

 

Sometimes they bypass the wait list list and post them. Their wait list protocol needs some help IMO.

[Anniesails]

Just wanted to tell you all how grateful I am that you are all so willing to share your info and experiences. I truly have gotten an education on these boards and made my cruising experience all the better. Happy voyages :D