Any way to get on a sold out Cruise? (Carnival Celebration)

[PizzaSteve50]

I was asked to make a presentation for a business group that's all cruising together...but the cruise is sold out (Celebration 1/21/24)

 

It was suggested that I check back every morning for cancellations, but that feels iffy.

 

Any other tips for figuring this out?

[Hlitner]

32 minutes ago, PizzaSteve50 said:

I was asked to make a presentation for a business group that's all cruising together...but the cruise is sold out (Celebration 1/21/24)

 

It was suggested that I check back every morning for cancellations, but that feels iffy.

 

Any other tips for figuring this out?

Strange that all the January Celebration cruises show as sold-out.  Perhaps a call to Carnival can get you some answers.

[BlueRiband]

If this is a business group did they use a corporate or group TA to book? Might that same TA also be able to assist you?

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, PizzaSteve50 said:

I was asked to make a presentation for a business group that's all cruising together...but the cruise is sold out (Celebration 1/21/24)

 

It was suggested that I check back every morning for cancellations, but that feels iffy.

 

Any other tips for figuring this out?

If you work for someone who has a lot of influence that would be a help.

[sanger727]

I think they do wait lists

[new_cruiser]

You should ask on the Carnival board because this is about a specific cruise line's policies/procedures. (The post may get moved there anyway.)

 

The cruise is past final payment so cancelations won't get their money back and are quite unlikely at this point so there's not much chance.

[navybankerteacher]

53 minutes ago, new_cruiser said:

You should ask on the Carnival board because this is about a specific cruise line's policies/procedures. (The post may get moved there anyway.)

 

The cruise is past final payment so cancelations won't get their money back and are quite unlikely at this point so there's not much chance.

There are always a few who booked and insure with “cancel for any reason” coverage, and then some last minute cancellations are almost a certainty when a thousand or so cabins are involved.  Keep checking or availability - perhaps with the help of an agent.

[GeezerCouple]

48 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

There are always a few who booked and insure with “cancel for any reason” coverage, and then some last minute cancellations are almost a certainty when a thousand or so cabins are involved.  Keep checking or availability - perhaps with the help of an agent.

 

See if the organizer of the business group can be in touch with the cruise line, especially if they have a large-ish group.  That might be the best chance to get any last-minute availability.

 

Also, it isn't only the CFAR cancellations that are last minute.  We always get CFAR just in case, but none of our claims have used that (yet!).

But we've had two last-minute cancellations due to illiness, one just under 2 weeks before our departure date (DH medical emergency) and one less than a week (MIL medical emergency).

"It happens".

The trick is to maximize the chances of getting it IF it happens!

 

Good luck!

 

GC

[LHT28]

19 hours ago, PizzaSteve50 said:

I was asked to make a presentation for a business group that's all cruising together...but the cruise is sold out (Celebration 1/21/24)

 

It was suggested that I check back every morning for cancellations, but that feels iffy.

 

Any other tips for figuring this out?

If they asked you  they should supply a cabin for you

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

If they asked you  they should supply a cabin for you

Wouldn’t that depend upon who the “they” was who asked?   Very often “they” are delighted to add no-cost features to their program, but tend to become somewhat more selective when there are expenses involved.

[donaldsc]

Find a GOOD TA and present your problem to them.  Your problem will be to find one who will be willing to do a bit of work for what they will assume is a one shot booking.

 

DON

[BruceMuzz]

There are two methods for determining a sold out cruise:

1. All available beds are occupied.

2. Some Lifeboat maximum allocations have been reached.

 

As mentioned earlier, cancellations are nearly guaranteed to happen.

On a typical mass market cruise departing a US Port, at least 1% of the cabins cancel by the day of departure. 1% doesn’t seem like much - until you count the thousands of cabins on the ship.

You just need to check availability at the right time.

[navybankerteacher]

37 minutes ago, BruceMuzz said:

There are two methods for determining a sold out cruise:

1. All available beds are occupied.

2. Some Lifeboat maximum allocations have been reached.

 

As mentioned earlier, cancellations are nearly guaranteed to happen.

On a typical mass market cruise departing a US Port, at least 1% of the cabins cancel by the day of departure. 1% doesn’t seem like much - until you count the thousands of cabins on the ship.

You just need to check availability at the right time.

Thank you for injecting some real life information.