April 23 Alaska Cruise looks 1/2 Full, Wonder why?

[PekingeseLady]

This seems really strange to me, only 57 days to sailing and it looks to me like more then 1/2 of the cabins are still available.  They've discounted the fair a little a couple of times, I think the balcony started around 2149 ea and is now 1619.  It is a very early cruise to Alaska, we'll be the only ship in ports.  I'm hoping there is still a lot of snow to see and add to the scenery.  Plus I work in the summer so this cruise is giving me the opportunity to cruise to Alaska. Timing is everything.  

 

So what do you all think?  Will we sail 1/2 full, will they lower there prices even more?

[Colo Cruiser]

7 minutes ago, PekingeseLady said:

This seems really strange to me, only 57 days to sailing and it looks to me like more then 1/2 of the cabins are still available.  They've discounted the fair a little a couple of times, I think the balcony started around 2149 ea and is now 1619.  It is a very early cruise to Alaska, we'll be the only ship in ports.  I'm hoping there is still a lot of snow to see and add to the scenery.  Plus I work in the summer so this cruise is giving me the opportunity to cruise to Alaska. Timing is everything.  

 

So what do you all think?  Will we sail 1/2 full, will they lower there prices even more?

This happens a lot..........

Princess has filling cruises down to a science. They do it every week, week in and week out.

They will start lowering prices and offering upsells upgrades etc.

There is a good chance the cruise will be sold out by the time you sail.

[Coral]

It is Alaska in April! You answered your question in your topic line.

 

I do know one person who did go then and had good weather.

[Colo Cruiser]

The 4/23 cruise is not even listed in the Standby Deals email I received last week.

Lots of other Alaska cruises listed but no Ruby.

Most of the Alaska cruises listed are in May already.

They must not be too worried about it.

[4cats4me]

For our future cruise on the Royal, it appeared  there was plenty of availability two months out and the deep discounts were extended for approx a week.  

Now, only three weeks later the ship is nearly full.  I think they book a lot of guarantees and the guarantors aren’t actually assigned a cabin until closer to sailing date.  

[jlp20]

Long ago we learned to accept the deal we had made at final payment. While I'm sure there are going to be some fantastic deals coming, I'm happy with my deal. Princess will cut prices to load the ship, period. 

[Coral]

4 minutes ago, 4cats4me said:

For our future cruise on the Royal, it appeared  there was plenty of availability two months out and the deep discounts were extended for approx a week.  

Now, only three weeks later the ship is nearly full.  I think they book a lot of guarantees and the guarantors aren’t actually assigned a cabin until closer to sailing date.  

Or more likely a lot of targeted mailings with prices lower than you can see.

[PekingeseLady]

Oh I'm happy with my rate, I had a obstructed OV and was one of those offered a upsell to balcony which I took.  I do not think the price of a balcony will fall that low.  Just curious about why so empty.  But as 4Cats4Me said the guarantees aren't assigned yet, totally explains it.  TY everyone for your answers.

[jlp20]

By the way, I must point out something I discovered many years ago. MOST people shy away from any cruise longer than 7 days due to vaction time from work. MOST people shy away from cruises that don't start/stop on a weekend. This cruise is 12 days and starts on a Tuesday.

[XBGuy]

We are booked on this cruise--in a way forward balcony cabin.  In January we rejected an upgrade to a different balcony cabin.  A few days before final payment I called princess and saved a substantial amount by refaring.  A week ago I ignored an upsell offer to a mini-suite.  We'll see if anything happens, next month.

 

We were on the Los Angeles-Alaska round trip cruise aboard the Emerald Princess, last April.  That one, being the first offering of the itinerary, of course, sailed completely full.  I don't know how much snow the OP wants to see.  We certainly saw plenty of it on the mountains.  The only snow we stepped on, as I recall, was at the top of the Mt. Roberts tram.  I found a hiking trail in Skagway.  There was snow around me, but it had completely melted off the trail.

 

I just love driving to the port and getting on the ship.  We are also booked on the same itinerary in September on the Royal Princess.

[jlp20]

17 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

We were on the Los Angeles-Alaska round trip cruise aboard the Emerald Princess, last April...

if you can recall, how far did you get into Glacier Bay?

[XBGuy]

40 minutes ago, jlp20 said:

if you can recall, how far did you get into Glacier Bay?

 

IF I CAN RECALL????????????????????

 

OK, I'm old, and I do have an occasional bout of CRS, but, c'mon, show some respect.

 

😁

 

I'm sorry jlp, I just couldn't resist

 

We sailed to the very end of Glacier Bay, and spent about 45 minutes hovering near the Margerie Glacier.

[jlp20]

2 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

IF I CAN RECALL????????????????????

 

OK, I'm old, and I do have an occasional bout of CRS, but, c'mon, show some respect.

 

I'm sorry jlp, I just couldn't resist

Not what it sounded. This will be our 14Th cruise and I can recall a good 95% of what we saw and did on those trips. On what cruise is a different story. 

[fishin' musician]

Due to the warm currents, snow (and freezing temp) is not very common in the SE Alaska ports.  Winters here in the upper midwest are far more brutal.

[Coral]

6 minutes ago, fishin' musician said:

Due to the warm currents, snow (and freezing temp) is not very common in the SE Alaska ports.  Winters here in the upper midwest are far more brutal.

This winter in the midwest has been pure brutal!

[Katwoman007]

April? I thought they started in May for Alaska. That could be a reason? Very early in the season and I am expecting it to be cool at the end of May. 🙂 I planned ours based on when our kids get out of school and the grandparents could watch them before ALL the kids get on the boat too! haha Have fun! I cannot wait for ours!

[jlp20]

8 minutes ago, Katwoman007 said:

April? I thought they started in May for Alaska. That could be a reason? Very early in the season and I am expecting it to be cool at the end of May. 

For the three Alaskan ports, history shows a low in the 40's and very little rain for April. 

[Katwoman007]

1 hour ago, jlp20 said:

For the three Alaskan ports, history shows a low in the 40's and very little rain for April. 

That is freezing for me here in SoCal. hehehe We are ready with layers come end of May! 😉

[victory2020]

There are 2 12 day R/T cruises ( Ruby & Star)to Alaska from LA within a week. I'm sure that's why they are slow to fill up, especially since it's  so early  in the season, & relatively a new itinerary.

[XBGuy]

14 hours ago, victory2020 said:

There are 2 12 day R/T cruises ( Ruby & Star)to Alaska from LA within a week. I'm sure that's why they are slow to fill up, especially since it's  so early  in the season, & relatively a new itinerary.

 

Well, duh.  I had completely forgotten (or ignored) the fact that Princess has almost twice the number of cabins to sell this year vs. last year.  The Ruby Princess (this year) is a sister ship to the Emerald Princess (last year).  The Star Princess (this year) has a few less cabins, but it is, still, pretty close to the other two.

 

Excellent observation, Victory.  

[Coral]

18 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

Well, duh.  I had completely forgotten (or ignored) the fact that Princess has almost twice the number of cabins to sell this year vs. last year.  The Ruby Princess (this year) is a sister ship to the Emerald Princess (last year).  The Star Princess (this year) has a few less cabins, but it is, still, pretty close to the other two.

 

Excellent observation, Victory.  

The other reason is that when Princess did their first cruise last year, it was really popular as people who don't fly and out of LA, jumped on the bandwagon. Those unique individuals did this cruise last year. I doubt many would do it again. These individuals are not ones that would do it out of San Francisco during the normal summer months because it would involve getting to SFO.

[Thrak]

21 hours ago, jlp20 said:

By the way, I must point out something I discovered many years ago. MOST people shy away from any cruise longer than 7 days due to vaction time from work. MOST people shy away from cruises that don't start/stop on a weekend. This cruise is 12 days and starts on a Tuesday.

 

Glad we aren't "most" people. 🙂 7 days is a pretty short cruise - we prefer at least 10 days at minimum. (We did take a 7 day cruise last November but it was one we kind of tacked onto the front of a 19 day cruise as a bonus.) Everyday is Saturday or Sunday. Retirement is the best job ever. 😎

[Thrak]

16 hours ago, Katwoman007 said:

That is freezing for me here in SoCal. hehehe We are ready with layers come end of May! 😉

 

I consider 40 degrees Fahrenheit to be "sub arctic"! It actually froze here a couple of times recently. OMG! I don't like cold and don't know how folks manage in the northeast. It's going to be very different for us in Alta Norway in late October on our Norther Lights cruise.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Thrak

[XBGuy]

59 minutes ago, Coral said:

The other reason is that when Princess did their first cruise last year, it was really popular as people who don't fly and out of LA, jumped on the bandwagon. Those unique individuals did this cruise last year. I doubt many would do it again. These individuals are not ones that would do it out of San Francisco during the normal summer months because it would involve getting to SFO.

 

Yes, some truth to that Coral.

 

Then there are  the not "many" people like us.  We took the Emerald Princess on last April's cruise.  Not only are we booked on the Ruby Princess this April but. also, on the Royal Princess in September.  Somehow, we messed up and did not take the Star Princess cruise, last September.

 

😉

[Katwoman007]

58 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

I consider 40 degrees Fahrenheit to be "sub arctic"! It actually froze here a couple of times recently. OMG! I don't like cold and don't know how folks manage in the northeast. It's going to be very different for us in Alta Norway in late October on our Norther Lights cruise.

I am in SoCal and we had SNOW!! I mean, it did not stick, but what in the crazy world is this? We said that it was just getting us ready for what we need for layers for Alaska. 😄