Fully booked cruise

[dalmoradie]

My husband and I are booked on the June 9 sailing of the Solstice to Alaska. We are booked in an Aqua Class cabin.  I made some move up bids for all the suites and on Monday night, there were exactly 2 Royal Suites, 8 Celebrity Suites and 7 Sunset Suites still available.  Today, I asked my TA to price any suite for me as I wanted to just pay for the upgrade outright.   He called me back and informed me that there are no more suites available and the sailing is all sold out.  I looked to check and the sailing is not even coming up when I do a search.

 

Is it really possible that they sold all those open suites in a couple of days?   It's still 38 days before the cruise...  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 minutes ago, dalmoradie said:

My husband and I are booked on the June 9 sailing of the Solstice to Alaska. We are booked in an Aqua Class cabin.  I made some move up bids for all the suites and on Monday night, there were exactly 2 Royal Suites, 8 Celebrity Suites and 7 Sunset Suites still available.  Today, I asked my TA to price any suite for me as I wanted to just pay for the upgrade outright.   He called me back and informed me that there are no more suites available and the sailing is all sold out.  I looked to check and the sailing is not even coming up when I do a search.

 

Is it really possible that they sold all those open suites in a couple of days?   It's still 38 days before the cruise...  

yes, they could have all sold out in the last couple of days 

[Georgia_Peaches]

It seems strange to me that all the remaining suites would sell out in just a few days but I don't have any insider knowledge on how they do things....maybe it was move up bids or maybe it's a computer error.  Keep checking!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Looks like most of the cruises in June are sold out 

Only June 2 and June 30 are showing up 

[dalmoradie]

2 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

It seems strange to me that all the remaining suites would sell out in just a few days but I don't have any insider knowledge on how they do things....maybe it was move up bids or maybe it's a computer error.  Keep checking!

 

But wouldn't the lower categories open up if it was move up bids?  and do they even award bids this far off from sailing date?

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Looks like most of the cruises in June are sold out 

Only June 2 and June 30 are showing up 

Funny...I was just looking as well.  You are right!  Mostly sold out.

[leaveitallbehind]

8 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

It seems strange to me that all the remaining suites would sell out in just a few days but I don't have any insider knowledge on how they do things....maybe it was move up bids or maybe it's a computer error.  Keep checking!

Not likely a computer error. Typically suites sell out first on most ships, and those that are available for MoveUp are sometimes held inventory early on, returned to inventory from group booking deadlines, or could be from cancelations. MoveUp is also a third party booking platform and their availability may not be real time or may have been returned to Celebrity inventory since those staterooms showed as available.  Keep in mind that you itinerary has likely been open for bookings for about 18 months,  and this close to your sailing date (38 days) it would not surprise me to see any remaining in inventory be sold by now.

Edited May 2 by leaveitallbehind

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 minutes ago, dalmoradie said:

 

But wouldn't the lower categories open up if it was move up bids?  and do they even award bids this far off from sailing date?

Yes, one would think.  After trying to do some mock bookings it appears that Celebrity's Alaska season is on the verge of sold out.  We are on Edge to Alaska May 31 and I just checked the availability for that cruise...all is sold except Veranda Guarantee or the Iconic suite and a Celebrity suite.

[Georgia_Peaches]

5 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Keep in mind that you itinerary has likely been open for bookings for about 18 months,  and this close to your sailing date (38 days) it would not surprise me to see any remaining in inventory be sold by now.

This is a very good point!  We booked our suite 14 months ago for our Alaska sailing this month.

Edited May 2 by Georgia_Peaches

[dalmoradie]

My fault for procrastinating.  I should have upgraded earlier instead of bidding when I knew there were lots of suites still open.  Lesson learned.  I'm good with our Aqua class cabin.  My husband loves Blu and our cabin location is perfect 🙂. 

[wrk2cruise]

I wonder if they had sold a bunch of GTY and when the ship actually sold out assigned the GTY's

[jelayne]

4 hours ago, dalmoradie said:

 

But wouldn't the lower categories open up if it was move up bids?  and do they even award bids this far off from sailing date?

Yes they do sometimes award bid early.  We had a sailing at early May and some  MU bids were awarded just after mid February. 

[NMTraveller]

Our Moveup bid was accepted at 45 days out.

[leaveitallbehind]

4 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

I wonder if they had sold a bunch of GTY and when the ship actually sold out assigned the GTY's

Not sure I follow. The OP is referring to MoveUp availability, not GTY assignments.

Edited May 3 by leaveitallbehind

[Ommadawn]

6 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Looks like most of the cruises in June are sold out 

Only June 2 and June 30 are showing up 

 

 

My June 23rd cruise on Solstice to Alaska is completely sold out.

[Mark_K]

5 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Not sure I follow. The OP is referring to MoveUp availability, not GTY assignments.

If a lot of Retreat cabins were sold as GTY, and the actual rooms were not yet assigned, it would look like a lot of availability for MoveUp’s because the rooms appeared unsold, when in fact there was not much availability.

[wrk2cruise]

3 hours ago, Mark_K said:

If a lot of Retreat cabins were sold as GTY, and the actual rooms were not yet assigned, it would look like a lot of availability for MoveUp’s because the rooms appeared unsold, when in fact there was not much availability.

 

This scenario would not result in open cabins in lower level categories.  Yes this is exactly what I was talking about.

[leaveitallbehind]

3 hours ago, Mark_K said:

If a lot of Retreat cabins were sold as GTY, and the actual rooms were not yet assigned, it would look like a lot of availability for MoveUp’s because the rooms appeared unsold, when in fact there was not much availability.

I get it. But there are some "ifs" involved.  I'll add one more - "If" the GTY's inventory is shown with the standard category's availability then what you suggest may occur.  But (and I fully admit I certainly could be wrong) as I understand it, GTY's are allotted out of the general inventory so they may not be shown as available with that.  I also realize that inventory is fluid and unsold inventory can, based on demand, be moved in and out of GTY offerings which can affect availability.  Then there is MoveUp.....

 

That all being said, I've given up trying to determine how cruise line's inventory algorithms and analytics work!  I just look for the best fare - LOL.

Edited May 3 by leaveitallbehind

[Blockschip]

We received a Move Up offer email yesterday for our Bermuda cruise in July, with options for upgrade to suites only (since we are already AquaClass). But suites are showing as all sold out 🙂

[commodoredave]

15 hours ago, dalmoradie said:

 

But wouldn't the lower categories open up if it was move up bids?  and do they even award bids this far off from sailing date?

There may have been people waitlisted for lower categories.

[Arizona Wildcat]

16 hours ago, dalmoradie said:

 

But wouldn't the lower categories open up if it was move up bids?  and do they even award bids this far off from sailing date?

Of course lower categories would open up with moveup bids accepted.

Bids are not usually accepted this far out.  It is likely that all suites are booked TODAY and also likely that one of more will open up as passengers often need to cancel close to sailing date for all sorts of reasons.

My TA said demand for Alaska was "off the charts".  She has no group space remaining for June and August.  Only a few cabins in July.  Several cruises nothing.  Prices high in her opinion and moving higher.

I expect as said the odd cabin to open each week.

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, Blockschip said:

We received a Move Up offer email yesterday for our Bermuda cruise in July, with options for upgrade to suites only (since we are already AquaClass). But suites are showing as all sold out 🙂

Because someone in a suite could need to cancel for personal reasons.  RC said somewhere in 1% area cancel.after final.payment.

[Oceangoer2]

16 hours ago, dalmoradie said:

My husband and I are booked on the June 9 sailing of the Solstice to Alaska. We are booked in an Aqua Class cabin.  I made some move up bids for all the suites and on Monday night, there were exactly 2 Royal Suites, 8 Celebrity Suites and 7 Sunset Suites still available.  Today, I asked my TA to price any suite for me as I wanted to just pay for the upgrade outright.   He called me back and informed me that there are no more suites available and the sailing is all sold out.  I looked to check and the sailing is not even coming up when I do a search.

 

Is it really possible that they sold all those open suites in a couple of days?   It's still 38 days before the cruise...  

It's possible they transferred all remaining cabins over to Move Up, which is a separate entity.  They start honouring bids (sometimes) within 6 weeks of the cruise which has been my experience. 

[Lastdance]

 

dalmoradie  I will never, ever book a GTY cabin again.  Each and every time a cabin became available where I would need to pay more, the supervisor could never book that cabin for me, as the system would not all it.  This happened several times in a row, so wasn’t just a coincidence at all.  You are always allowed to upgrade and pay more for a GTY, but if the system doesn’t like you...yep, you guessed it; not going to happen!  Love and Hate technology!  I cannot wait until MoveUp!  Unfortunately, this was all I could book at the time, but can’t pay more either...four different cabins; all concierge.  I suppose the revenue department is the cause???

I hope something opens up for you!  I guess Celebrity is saving the Iconic suite for me🙄

Edited May 3 by Lastdance

[dalmoradie]

On 5/3/2024 at 11:12 AM, Oceangoer2 said:

It's possible they transferred all remaining cabins over to Move Up, which is a separate entity.  They start honouring bids (sometimes) within 6 weeks of the cruise which has been my experience. 

So on Friday, exactly 30 days before sailing, I noticed that all my moveup bids showed 'expired' except for my bid to Royal Suite which still shows 'pending' but grayed out and can't modify.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this means I won it.  I have never eagerly waited for a charge to appear on my credit card as I am now.  LOL