May 2018 Alaska Cruise sold out?

We booked a May 2018 cruise tour on the Star. It's been booked for about 10 days. I go in every few days to check prices and tonight the whole ship is sold out. I did a search on sold out cruises and found that sometimes that might change the next day. I looked on Travelocity and there were plenty of rooms. Could this cruise actually be sold out this far ahead of time and what would be the reason?

Some cabins may have been assigned to TA's. Possible to be released back around final payment date if unsold and be made available again on Princess.

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I see availability on all May, 2018 voyages on the Star when I check on the Princess web site.

I've checked several times and Cruisetour EB4 on the Star on May 29 still shows to be sold out and it's the only one that I can find that is sold out.

When you book a cruise tour, there are a limited number of places available on the tour section and it fills quickly. If it's full or places reserved, the cruise tour will show as sold out. The ship isn't sold out; the tour is.

If there's a price reduction on the cruise portion, you will still pay the full amount on the cruise tour.

I've checked several times and Cruisetour EB4 on the Star on May 29 still shows to be sold out and it's the only one that I can find that is sold out.

July 24 also shows as sold out for that cruise tour. Awfully early for those two to be totally sold out. I have to wonder if someone has chartered those cruises or something of that sort.

I doubt the actual cruise on the Star is sold out yet.

I did check just the cruise portion and it isn't sold out. I've read threads where the cruise did get chartered and anybody who was already booked got bumped so that's what I was wondering might have happened.

I did check just the cruise portion and it isn't sold out. I've read threads where the cruise did get chartered and anybody who was already booked got bumped so that's what I was wondering might have happened.

Oh. If the cruise part isn't sold out then they have filled all the spots for the land tour portion. They can only accommodate so many people on the land tours. They have far more availability on the ship than in the lodges and the land transportation.

It is the land tour portion that is sold out .

Tours have limited availability when compared with

the cruise itself . Ship can be half empty but booked with a popular tour may show sold out .

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Thank you for your replies. I just couldn't understand how none of the categories were sold out last night and tonight the whole ship is plus the fact it's the only date where that has happened.

Thank you for your replies. I just couldn't understand how none of the categories were sold out last night and tonight the whole ship is plus the fact it's the only date where that has happened.

Cabin categories do not apply to the tour part. When you look at a cruise tour, there has to be both space on the tour and space on the ship. If there is space on the tour, then the ship will show cabin availability the same as if you were booking cruise only. But once the tour part is full, then it shows no availability on the entire ship.

Here's what I think might be happening...first, I'm on this cruise (different cruisetour), and the only other person signed up for the roll call so far has said she is part of a large group from a 55+ community on that same tour you are on (the EB4). She doesn't post much on the roll call, and the last post I saw from her on the Princess boards said she might need to cancel due to flight prices. So, there definitely is at least one block of available spaces booked for a group on that tour.

Also, last year when I was planning on going but had to change I watched prices and availability like a weirdo, so I noticed a pattern after a time. Each time a sale would be introduced (Red, White & Blue, Sip N Sail, etc), it seemed there were only a certain number of slots available for each sale for each tour. There were different allocations it seemed for the cruise itself. So, a tour might show sold out under Sip N Sail but then show available again after that promotion had ended.

The only way to see approximately how sold out the ship was, was to do a rather tedious deck by deck search of available cabin types on the cruise only (and yes, there were days when I'd be just bored enough to do that).

Come over and join the roll call. It's very slow right now and would be fun to have more chatter! :D

I've had that happen a few times and when I go back in to check a day or so later, all the available rooms magically reappear ... sometimes even longer. I think it must have to do with some maintenance on their website ... or due to some of the other reasons listed above.

However, I booked a rather unique itinerary for Sept 2018 and it is already sold out!! WOW!! I got in just at the right time as the remaining inside cabins were going for quadruple of what I paid for my OV cabin. Bet Princess wishes they could sell all their cruises this well ... nearly a year out and filled!! Now, watch ...they'll charter it out....hahaha!! I booked this one only after NCL redeployed a ship I was scheduled to sail on. Wouldn't that be crazy? What are the odds?? :confused:

Try selecting another cruisetour up to actually booking it. See if it is sold. It is your tour is probably full.

I would either have your TA call or if your doing it your own then call Princess and have them put you on a "waitlist" It's a small refundable deposit and then if something opens up you will get a call.

I've done this for clients that are going to Australia on a cruise / land-tour pkg.

It's next Feb /18 and they just cleared the waitlist and now are on the cruise....... In fact I had 4 cabins waitlisted and they all cleared last week.:)