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Do Guarantee cabins show as sold?


SetAnOpenCourse
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It is just past final payment for a cruise I'd like to take in mid-December.  I've spent a lot of time trying to choose a cabin by starting the booking on the Princess website.  There are very many cabing showing as still available.  If this is truly the case then I'd like to wait and see if the prices come down (especially since it's a Monday-Friday itinerary between Thanksgiving and Christmas).  But, I'm wondering if what I'm seeing is misleading due to the possibility that Guarantee bookings are not reflected in the cabin-selection step.  Can anyone advise?  Is it possible that there is actually little inventory, due to Gurantees not being assigned?

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I would assume after final payment they have the lowest possible category cabin set aside for a gty passenger.  That gives them  the option of selling more expensive cabins.  They might still offer gty cabins or open a few cheaper ones to see if people have an interest.  Usually after final payment cabins become available as any that were reserved but not sold by an agency are turned back in.  My current cruise is over 2 years away and some categories are virtually sold out.  The 200.00 refundable deposit probably has some affect on the number of cabins booked.

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You better be checking multiple times per day as inventory on these cruises changes fast from here on out. Soon the only selection will be guarantee, maybe a few selectable staterooms.  Prices can change fast, so when they get to your threshold, book immediately. 

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28 minutes ago, fredflint said:

I would assume after final payment they have the lowest possible category cabin set aside for a gty passenger.  That gives them  the option of selling more expensive cabins.  They might still offer gty cabins or open a few cheaper ones to see if people have an interest.

 

That is true on some cruise lines, but not on Princess.

 

On Princess GTYs are usually bookable in every category and every level unless truly sold out.

 

On some other cruise lines, the GTY are lowest inside (or better), lowest balcony (or better), etc. You do not get to pick a GTY at a level within a category.

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We usually don't book guarantees, but for several reasons we did on our 9/13 Grand Princess cruise to Alaska.  We booked an obstructed OV and we were assigned a premium OV on Lido that turned out to be wonderful - extra large with floor to ceiling windows and for this particular cruise, (cold and damp), it was better than a balcony..  We didn't get our assignment until 4 days before sailing, so who knows - someone was upgraded or canceled at the last minute.

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I don't think I know enough to answer this question, so I am going to make a comment.  I booked on 
Regal through a cruise company, guarantee cabin without much though. I was to have a procedure done on my knees after returning, but due to a schedule change , had the procedure done before the cruise.  The day before I called to see if my assignment was made and it was - as far forward as possible.  This ship was full and I was not able to make a change, so I was told on board. This required lots of walking just to get to mid ship and because of this, I made infrequent trips to the room (even when I would have preferred to go to the room).   I made the most of it, but it was a dumb mistake and not my first cruise.  Though I don''t spend much time in the cabin, I felt that the location guaranteed I didn't. 

I think that I learned that if booking through Travel agents/cruise discounters, there are lots of options of availability and ultimately you should choose what works for you.  Sometimes, the increase cost of the room is worth it.  

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No, I do not think GTY’s show as sold.  And I am surprised at how many people book them.  There is no discount. 

Each sailing can be different. I have cruised this time of year.  It looked like there was a lot of availability at final payment.  A few weeks later Princess did their thing and began assigning cabins and offering up sells.  Overnight the ship showed as much more fully booked. 

The price on that cruise never really went down in those last few weeks or months. 

In fact, since Princess is trying to make profits on upsells,  I think part of their strategy is to open up the lower cheaper categories, as I think that these are a big percentage of last minute bookings. Those who want and will pay for  better cabins and suites tend to try to book early. 

I would follow the role call and see how much talk there is about upgrades and upsells 

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On 10/5/2019 at 7:59 PM, SetAnOpenCourse said:

It is just past final payment for a cruise I'd like to take in mid-December.  I've spent a lot of time trying to choose a cabin by starting the booking on the Princess website.  There are very many cabing showing as still available.  If this is truly the case then I'd like to wait and see if the prices come down (especially since it's a Monday-Friday itinerary between Thanksgiving and Christmas).  But, I'm wondering if what I'm seeing is misleading due to the possibility that Guarantee bookings are not reflected in the cabin-selection step.  Can anyone advise?  Is it possible that there is actually little inventory, due to Gurantees not being assigned?

 

2 thoughts....

 

1....

specific to your question: there's no way to know how many guarantees, but having watched this cruise for quite some time I am with you, based on my past experience watching cabins as a cruise approaches I think it's a safe assumption that this one is underselling.  There's no doubt some guarantees floating out there but I doubt they speak for a ton of the available rooms. All that said, I could absolutely be dead wrong, there's just no way to know for sure.

 

2....

Island to Dominican, right?  I'm booked and paid in full on that cruise.  The rates have pretty flat for quite some time now but this is the lowest its been and I've been watching since I originally booked 4 months ago.  I've re-fared a couple of times.  It hasn't dropped a ton but it was never the priciest cruise.   As you pointed out it's a weird weekday schedule. 

 

I'm looking out for upsell opportunities for the same reason you're watching...it seems like it's under selling.

 

The price has dropped a couple times but it's been a while since there was a noticeable move.  I last re-fared just before final payment due date.

 

I doubt it'll drop much at this point.  I would recommend booking a room you like before you find out the guarantees are more than we're guessing and asking for a re-fare/OBC if the price drops.

 

They were a little defiant when I re-fared most recently and told my TA that they wouldn't do it again...I'm not that experienced in re-faring, so maybe if you commit at this point it's too late.  Seems silly though....I'll certainly ask if I see it drop again.

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I booked a gty twice and the aggravation of not know if it was a 3 person, 4 person, adjoining whatever drove me nuts. Lucked out once, other time told me to not repeat. 1= standard room converted to ADA but bars  EVERYWHERE 😳 and PSD couldn't move me. Wasted my balcony $$s. 2=standard balcony so I consider that lucking out but didn't know until RIGHT before heading out (not good)

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3 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

No, I do not think GTY’s show as sold.  And I am surprised at how many people book them.  There is no discount. 

 

 

Regarding your comment about being surprised how many people book them, quite often there is no other option. We are cruising from Singapore to Shanghai in April and the only option I had was to book a guarantee cabin. I always book an aft balcony cabin that we want, but all options for balconies for my April cruise were guarantees only, I assume because the cruise is heavily booked. I booked in September. We really wanted to do this cruise so had no option but to let Princess assign a balcony cabin.

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3 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

Regarding your comment about being surprised how many people book them, quite often there is no other option. We are cruising from Singapore to Shanghai in April and the only option I had was to book a guarantee cabin. I always book an aft balcony cabin that we want, but all options for balconies for my April cruise were guarantees only, I assume because the cruise is heavily booked. I booked in September. We really wanted to do this cruise so had no option but to let Princess assign a balcony cabin.

Same for us on an upcoming cruise....only Balconey GTY's were available.

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6 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

There is no discount for booking guarantees? ? 

 

Some cruise lines give a discount for a GTY, but the GTY is only for the lowest category in a type of cabin. For example, lowest category inside or lowest category balcony. So you could end up in that lowest category cabin.

 

Princess lets you book a GTY for the lowest category you are willing to accept. For example, you could book a GTY for a BA balcony knowing you will not be assigned to any of the lower category balcony cabins such as BB, BC, BD, BE, etc.). Of course if you wish to book the lowest category Balcony cabin as a GTY, you could do that.

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13 hours ago, beabunny said:

I don't think I know enough to answer this question, so I am going to make a comment.  I booked on 
Regal through a cruise company, guarantee cabin without much though. I was to have a procedure done on my knees after returning, but due to a schedule change , had the procedure done before the cruise.  The day before I called to see if my assignment was made and it was - as far forward as possible.  This ship was full and I was not able to make a change, so I was told on board. This required lots of walking just to get to mid ship and because of this, I made infrequent trips to the room (even when I would have preferred to go to the room). 

 

I think that I learned that if booking through Travel agents/cruise discounters, there are lots of options of availability and ultimately you should choose what works for you.  Sometimes, the increase cost of the room is worth it.  

 

At the time you made the GTY booking, Princess would have had the same cabins available to choose from as any TA would have.

 

Do you remember why you selected a GTY instead of a specific cabin?

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20 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

There is no discount for booking guarantees? ? 

There is no discount for booking guarantees.  Having said that, our experience has been that most times we booked guarantees we were assigned a cabin in a category higher than what we paid for (but not an upgrade to a higher category - e.g. a balcony guarantee will most likely result in a balcony assignment, not a mini-suite).  So by that experience we've been getting a discount on the higher priced cabins.   However, a guarantee sets a price that you will pay, and you may end up with a cabin that sells for that price.

I have noted that Princess will try to keep the lowest priced cabin available up to close to sailing to entice more passengers to take the cruise.  It is a business thing, if they keep one available then they can legitimately advertise the low price, and many people will choose a specific cabin in a higher priced location.

 

When searching for that low price keep in mind that offers made after final payment (45 days prior to cruise) are for new bookings only.  They are intended to fill the ship, not give existing booked customers a lower price,

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18 hours ago, Times Prince said:

 

When searching for that low price keep in mind that offers made after final payment (45 days prior to cruise) are for new bookings only.  They are intended to fill the ship, not give existing booked customers a lower price,

Price actually did drop again either today or yesterday; I just checked.  OP might want to move on it.  It would be a $78 difference for me.  Princess did apparently tighten up and were more difficult to my TA the last time, declaring outright that they would NOT do it again on this cruise.  My TA is my sister in law so I have total visibility into the process from her side.  They say it's because they've already cut commission checks.  I'm probably just going to leave well enough alone.

 

While I generally expect companies to honor price drops and not punish me for purchasing early, especially if the product hasn't even been delivered yet, with cruises/hospitality there's definitely a tipping point where if you're willing to wait it out, risk an undesirable location or being shut out entirely, it's fair enough that there's a financial benefit. As someone generally not willing to take that risk I don't expect to be refunded for any difference once we've gotten into that zone.  I'm not sure where the line in the sand is.  We're 67 days out today and even though the $78 savings exceeds the current $50 cancellation penalty (which goes to 50% at 45 days), given my deposit is also technically non-refundable (even though it's FCD) and they've already basically said they're going to fight back if I ask again, I don't think I'm going to bother at this point. 

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I have been talking to my Princess Travel rep and I had a question for him about this. I had seen that there was a price drop for a guaranteed cabin in a class, although they ALL said sold. Sure enough, he was able to refair me, AND give me a pick of cabins that were listed as SOLD. No waiting for a mystery cabin assignment. I usually deal with the same travel people through Princess, so I am not sure how it always works, but you could always call and make a relationship with one and ask! He was also able to get me the 3 for free WITH a refundable deposit vs non refundable that is being advertised. You never know till you ask. 🙂

 

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1 hour ago, Katwoman007 said:

I have been talking to my Princess Travel rep and I had a question for him about this. I had seen that there was a price drop for a guaranteed cabin in a class, although they ALL said sold. Sure enough, he was able to refair me, AND give me a pick of cabins that were listed as SOLD. No waiting for a mystery cabin assignment. I usually deal with the same travel people through Princess, so I am not sure how it always works, but you could always call and make a relationship with one and ask! He was also able to get me the 3 for free WITH a refundable deposit vs non refundable that is being advertised. You never know till you ask. 🙂

 

Princess always keeps cabins behind the scenes whether the website says sold or not in order to satisfy some of the GTY's etc.

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On 10/9/2019 at 5:09 PM, caribill said:

 

At the time you made the GTY booking, Princess would have had the same cabins available to choose from as any TA would have.

 

Do you remember why you selected a GTY instead of a specific cabin?

When a cabin category is almost sold out the guarantee is the only cabin offered in that category.

Edited by OzKiwiJJ
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On 10/6/2019 at 6:57 AM, mek said:

We usually don't book guarantees, but for several reasons we did on our 9/13 Grand Princess cruise to Alaska.  We booked an obstructed OV and we were assigned a premium OV on Lido that turned out to be wonderful - extra large with floor to ceiling windows and for this particular cruise, (cold and damp), it was better than a balcony..  We didn't get our assignment until 4 days before sailing, so who knows - someone was upgraded or canceled at the last minute.

I love those premium ocean views on the Grand! Really great cabins.

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1 hour ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Princess always keeps cabins behind the scenes whether the website says sold or not in order to satisfy some of the GTY's etc.


I do understand that, as they have to be able to fulfill what they are selling. I was just saying the  princess TA was able to get me one without dealing with the GTY that was the only option now of that cabin type. Plus at the lower rate of the current offers, which are probably lower due to only having room unknown when you book. 😄

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