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Princess Hiding Cabins

DrSch

By DrSch,
in Princess Cruises

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DrSch

DrSch

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Was looking for a cabin in a particular portion of the ship the other day for 2 passengers, and all that was available was guarantee.  When I looked in the same area for 3 passengers, all of a sudden the cabins I wanted were available. Booked it with whatever I could find, and called them, and had them move me to one of the cabins I wanted.

 

 

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billco

billco

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Princess has been doing this for quite a while. Every so often someone will post this tip, which is good. Helps people get the cabin they want. I usually call my PVP and she takes care of it. Particularly useful for booking deluxe balconies. Deluxe balconies have a small couch, which can open up to a sofa bed serving three people. Princess policy of making large groups of cabins guarantee for various reasons is frustrating, but they aren't the only ones. NCL and Holland America have similar policies.

Edited by billco
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malba2366

malba2366

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12 minutes ago, DrSch said:

Was looking for a cabin in a particular portion of the ship the other day for 2 passengers, and all that was available was guarantee.  When I looked in the same area for 3 passengers, all of a sudden the cabins I wanted were available. Booked it with whatever I could find, and called them, and had them move me to one of the cabins I wanted.

 

 

 

I have noticed that a few times as well with multiple cruise lines.  Not sure for the reasoning, but if I had to guess it would be that they are trying to distribute a equal number of guests to each cabin attendant, as it takes longer to turn over a room with 4 guests vs 2.

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KreinKrunker

KreinKrunker

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Found this out when trying to book a cabin for the April 3, 2024 cruise to view the total eclipse.  Had to book a guarantee two weeks after booking opened.  Later checked availability looking for cabins for three, and found some open.  Called our travel agent, and she booked one for us in less than a minute.

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

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8 minutes ago, DrSch said:

Princess is actually doing this on thier TA booking system as well.  What ends up happening is clients are dumping their travel agents, because Princess can find them a cabin, and their TA can't. 

There is a way for travel agents to type in any cabin room number to see availability. Not all travel agents will do this though.

Edited by Coral
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DrSch

DrSch

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As a TA, (and a fairly technically savvy one) I know how to move around their booking system.  It actually wont show a cabin as available if you put in 2 guests, but if you change it to 3 it will show them.  Once you find the cabin, then after you book the cabin with an alternate cabin, you put it in on the screen where you can change the cabin, and if you are lucky it will change the cabin.  However sometimes it throws out an error code, and you have no choice but to call Princess and ask them to override it, and put the person in the cabin you want..

They are doing this on their website too, it's not just the booking system.  It's either a coding flaw, or they are trying to get the ships to be max passenger again.  This is a recent change to the booking system, never had this problem in the past that I recall

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

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6 minutes ago, DrSch said:

 

They are doing this on their website too, it's not just the booking system.  It's either a coding flaw, or they are trying to get the ships to be max passenger again.  This is a recent change to the booking system, never had this problem in the past that I recall

According to my TA - they have been doing this for years. Yes - they reserve cabins for those who have 3 in their cabins. I think the trick is to book 3 and then drop the 3rd person.

 

I am sure it is a coding flaw - they have many coding flaws!

Edited by Coral
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Itchy&Scratchy Great Review Rare

Itchy&Scratchy

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1 hour ago, Coral said:

According to my TA - they have been doing this for years. Yes - they reserve cabins for those who have 3 in their cabins. I think the trick is to book 3 and then drop the 3rd person.

which in turn means that those of us actually traveling as 3 passengers are out of luck, because the only cabins we can book are booked by a couple with a fake 3rd person...

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rocklinmom

rocklinmom

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28 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

which in turn means that those of us actually traveling as 3 passengers are out of luck, because the only cabins we can book are booked by a couple with a fake 3rd person...

Yah! I always need a triple cabin and a double cabin next to it. Not always easy and especially if I'm not seeing all of the truly available triples. 

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Wishing on a star

Wishing on a star

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Sorry, but cabins are not specially on hold for extra passengers.   That isn't the way it works.  The ships have a maximum capacity which also can limit the number of 3rd and 4th passengers.  This has been posted in the past, where families have tried to book a busy holiday cruise with lots of kids and 3rd and 4th passengers onboard.   If a cruise has reached the limit for number of children onboard, the that could be a factor.  (unless Princess has stopped doing that or really increased the number of children with their new 'family' marketing)

 

This is not discrimination of any kind.   The fact is, their 'system' has been somehow doing this with Deluxe balcony cabins for quite a while.   It is only doing this with Deluxe Balconies.  I would love to book a Deluxe Balcony for the two of us if we book another cruise soon.   But, we would have to do a work-around.

 

There have been discussions about this here.   If looking for a cabin for two, but it shows absolutely no Deluxe Balconies, then this might be what is going on.

Edited by Wishing on a star
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sunsetme

sunsetme

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this is frustrating, I called Princess yesterday, waited on hold 20 minutes. My screen showed an available cabin but she could not see it as available. she had some excuse about inventory not up to date, try tomorrow kind of thing. You would think Princess could access all available cabins.

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DrSch

DrSch

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12 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

As Shippy said, when I looked for OV deck 8, Princess offered GTY but an online site showed a lot of OV available. I booked with online so did not question Princess.

You should be able to call princess, or have your TA call princess and tell them to move you to one of the cabins that it shows you is available. 

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