No Balcony Rooms left??? Symphony Oct. 17, 2020

[jetta8300]

We are sailing on the Symphony of the Seas, Oct 17 2020.  This is a LONG way away, yet there are NO outside balcony rooms left for 3-4 people.  There are central park or boardwalk balconies left, yet not one outside balcony on the ship.  We booked a few months ago (we are checking for other family members) and there were almost zero cabins booked last month, and tons of availability.  The sailing before and after also have almost all of these cabins still available.  

 

This scares me, that some huge group booked up the entire ship.  I have looked to see if there is some sort of event going on and I cannot find anything.  Does anyone else find this odd?  It looks like there are tons of rooms on the ship that can fit more than 2 people, and it's a year and a half away.  All booked.

[Ourusualbeach]

You can book an Oceanview guarantee balcony.  

Edited July 6, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[jetta8300]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You can book an Oceanview guarantee balcony.  

 

I'm not seeing where I can book a guarantee balcony... but We are definitely not into booking guarantee cabins.  But I guess i'm more just asking if anyone else thinks this is strange.  That far out, not being able to choose one oceanview balcony on the entire ship all of a sudden.  

[taglovestocruise]

As of right now 14166 is open for three, no cabins for 4. Lots of balconys for two. Might look at a balcony for 2 with a across the hall interior for the kids. Sometimes  a balcony and a interior are the same or cheaper then a balcony for 4.

[taglovestocruise]

It is not about how many can fit but how the muster stations are filling.  A muster station can be full with lots of open cabins that hold four but are only available for double occupancy. 

[jetta8300]

3 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

As of right now 14166 is open for three, no cabins for 4. Lots of balconys for two. Might look at a balcony for 2 with a across the hall interior for the kids. Sometimes  a balcony and a interior are the same or cheaper then a balcony for 4.

 

I believe that cabin doesn't show up on the RCI website because it's a handicap cabin, which I wouldn't want to take anyway.  (I saw one available on a different website that was handicap) Some of the kids are young, so booking two cabins would split the parents up, its just not ideal.  There are some junior suites left so that is an option.  But it was just concerning even if they don't end up booking, why this is happening.  There is also very limited availability with specialty dining, and it's a year and a half away.  I'm just wondering if a huge group booked the ship.

[mom2tcdx2]

I guess that really depends on how many actual cabins they have that will hold 3 or 4 people to begin with. Though it seems a bit far off to not have much choices, but again I don't know how many they have to start with.  

[brillohead]

Looks like the week BEFORE that has a group cruising for poker:

https://www.*****.com/cruise/7-night-caribbean-cruise/sat-oct-10-2020

[brillohead]

Just now, brillohead said:

Looks like the week BEFORE that has a group cruising for poker:

https://www.*****.com/cruise/7-night-caribbean-cruise/sat-oct-10-2020

Wow, didn't know that would get bleeped out.  

It was "card player cruises" in the starred section....

 

[Iamcruzin]

With Kids sail free promos I would suspect that the rooms that accommodate 3 to 4 passengers would fill quickly. However I wouldn’t think October would be prime time for family cruising.

[Beav1279]

There are some Ultra Spacious Oceanview rooms that will fit 4 still available on deck 11. It is totally weird that there aren't any balconies available but I wonder if this ship doesn't have many that fit 4 in the first place? Weird... but I'd love to find out the answer!

[banzaii]

I would call RCCL and ask them. 

 

Sometimes cabins are snapped up during sales by the large TAs who later trickle feed that stock to market.

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, banzaii said:

I would call RCCL and ask them. 

 

Sometimes cabins are snapped up during sales by the large TAs who later trickle feed that stock to market.

The only way TA’s can hold cabins is as part of group space.  Even then they do not hold at the cabin level but at the category level.  Group space pricing is set by Royal and is independent of sales.  

 

Any cabins booked during sales must be fully deposited and  named bookings.  Travel agents do not snap up cabins during sales unless they have clients that are actually booking them.  

[banzaii]

29 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The only way TA’s can hold cabins is as part of group space.  Even then they do not hold at the cabin level but at the category level.  Group space pricing is set by Royal and is independent of sales.  

 

Any cabins booked during sales must be fully deposited and  named bookings.  Travel agents do not snap up cabins during sales unless they have clients that are actually booking them.  

I stand corrected.

 

I have however had success calling RCCL who were able to source a 4 berth balcony cabin that had been until that point, "held" by a TA.  Just saying.

[Ourusualbeach]

4 hours ago, banzaii said:

I stand corrected.

 

I have however had success calling RCCL who were able to source a 4 berth balcony cabin that had been until that point, "held" by a TA.  Just saying.

That may have been a short term hold placed on a cabin by a TA for a client. Similar to when customers used to be able to place 24 courtesy holds on cabins.  TA’s still have that ability and can actually hold cabins for longer than that, I’ve seen a week in some cases.

[jetta8300]

Thanks everyone for all of your replies.  There are a ton of cabins on the ship that hold at least 3, so that's why it's strange.  when I look at the deck plans, the rooms with sofabeds have a triangle on them, and there are TONS of them, almost half the rooms on some decks.  And the sailings before and after both have tons of these rooms open.  So that's why I'm extremely confused, and when I looked a few weeks ago, we basically had the pick of the entire ship.  So something strange is going on.  And I also wouldn't think October would be prime time for family cruising.

[Ourusualbeach]

34 minutes ago, jetta8300 said:

Thanks everyone for all of your replies.  There are a ton of cabins on the ship that hold at least 3, so that's why it's strange.  when I look at the deck plans, the rooms with sofabeds have a triangle on them, and there are TONS of them, almost half the rooms on some decks.  And the sailings before and after both have tons of these rooms open.  So that's why I'm extremely confused, and when I looked a few weeks ago, we basically had the pick of the entire ship.  So something strange is going on.  And I also wouldn't think October would be prime time for family cruising.

I agree that something is going on.  As a TA I can book guaranteed balconies and they are showing 10+ available (the max that they show) so there are lots available.

 

They may be in the process of allocating guarantees or some other juggling and  the actual cabins may still open up for sale later.  Keep watching.