Princess' Inventory Games - Regal Nov 8/15

I've been watching this voyage like a hawk as we are booked on it as GTY DW Class (a terrific deal it was and why not roll the dice as we picked it up for mere pocket change over our usual Inside and for less than Regular Balcony Obstructed. We get some daylight and ocean even if assigned Obstructed ... can be a nice change over the Inside).

 

So enough intro. When we booked, and ever since then, Deluxe Balconies have been totally Sold Out or on GTY only basis, depending on Deck and Section. Regular Balconies were getting low, Suites long sold out and there were 64 Minis left.

 

This evening, just a few days since I last did inventory, things have completely changed. Mini's are down 20, Balconies are up, and there are a bazillion Deluxe's for sale all of a sudden.

 

Some inventory was added a few days back, and that appeared to have been released from B2B block for the Nov 15th cruise (I had checked that out as well - anal I know:p). But Deluxe were sold out on both trips before. Now there are over 200 available on Nov 8th!!!!

 

We are still on GTY with our DW (there are now 30 DW for selection). Our friends could not get the DW deal from TA (I think I got the last one), but they booked a BW with another TA and tonight they got cabin assignment on Marina in BC category, so it's a pretty good score as they squeaked under the Lido cabins above and so no open deck scraping noises possible.

 

Meanwhile, I will just sit around with crossed fingers and wait and see. It just seems strange that no inventory for weeks and weeks just changed to over 200 available and it's not from releasing B2B space. I guess some kind of marketing strategy or gimmick others have speculated about on this board.

 

Any comments or insights anyone?

Final payment should be soon? Usually around final payment is when TAs need to release their holds on their unbooked cabins.

Edited July 30, 2015 by SadieN

One thing misssing from your calculations is the number of guarantees that (like yours) are sold but not assigned to a cabin.

As Paul said; plus some assigned rooms have been upgraded to higher categories to free up the entry levels.

One thing missing from your calculations is the number of guarantees that (like yours) are sold but not assigned to a cabin.

 

As Paul said; plus some assigned rooms have been upgraded to higher categories to free up the entry levels.

 

Yes, Paul, you are correct - and no one knows how many GTY's are sold. All I can go by is the open inventory of available cabins to choose from and also note categories and sections on decks where GTY's are offered still.

 

Cheryl, yes, it is true that some GTY folks have been assigned cabins now, and perhaps others upgraded for all I know. Our friends were booked as BW GTY and got assigned to a BC. We are DW GTY and not yet assigned. I imagine things are done in phases.

 

However, your point doesn't explain what has happened on Regal for that cruise.

 

Case in point: Deluxe Balconies were either sold out or on GTY only all over the ship - both for our cruise and the week after (the Nov 15th is still that way, but makes me wonder if it will change next week). Not long before I posted this item, the open cabins for selection went from 0 to 233!!! Mini's went down by 20. Regular Balconies stayed pretty steady, dropping by 6 - but they had jumped up by about 30 from 17 to 47 on the weekend. Insides have increased from about 23 to 70 this week.

 

The inventory increases prior to a couple of days ago, had mostly been in the Mini's and was due to releasing cabins blocked off for B2B bookings on the Nov 15th sailing. (I was watching both closely out of curiosity).

 

The numbers of two days ago, especially the Deluxe Balcony, are not fully explained by upgrades and assignments.

 

I'm not complaining - Princess is obviously free to market it's voyages however it sees fit.

 

I was just surprised to see such a huge change and it got me wondering just what was going on.

 

I'm thinking that the Deluxe Balcony inventory was blocked off to try and sell it as GTY, or a bunch of TA firms had significant blocks and hit a deadline to release back to Princess (can they do that?) - as another poster on here suggested.

 

Anyway, it was a shock to me (0 to over 230 overnight), and I agree much of the other changes are explainable. Example: Several prime mid-ship INSIDE cabins on all decks have come available, and likely those folks got upgraded to Balconies.

 

Sorry to be so long-winded, but there's a lot of detail to this. I'm probably the only one interested, but thought perhaps an expert on here would have seen this before and know all about it.

Edited July 31, 2015 by steelers36

Final payment should be soon? Usually around final payment is when TAs need to release their holds on their unbooked cabins.

 

Yes, we are just over the 100 day mark. FP date is August 25th.

 

Over 230 Deluxes is a LOT of inventory to be released if that is the answer.

...Case in point: Deluxe Balconies were either sold out or on GTY only all over the ship - both for our cruise and the week after (the Nov 15th is still that way, but makes me wonder if it will change next week). Not long before I posted this item, the open cabins for selection went from 0 to 233!!! ...The numbers of two days ago, especially the Deluxe Balcony, are not fully explained by upgrades and assignments.

The exact functions you speak of are a closely guarded corporate secret in the Yield Management department, so the only 'experts' on here are observationists, as you are. What you cannot tell from your observation is why those 233 cabins became available, nor do you know how many of that 233 number are technically already taken as GTY bookings. Was there a large group booking that cancelled? Was there a flurry of room grade changes by passengers just prior to final? Was there a huge upgrade into minis which previously were blocked by Yield Management as Sold rooms? Was there a larger than normal amount of GTY bookings in this category and they are simply now showing unassigned rooms? Just because you are watching 'open' inventory you do not know what percentage of those rooms are or are not actually spoken for, all you know is the cruiseline is showing some number of rooms as open. How many GTY bookings or how many blocked rooms or how many actually sold rooms is not known.

 

As Paul stated, it is likely (because of the days prior to sailing) the change was due to upgrades and assignments; but there are other reasons. Looking at the numbers will not tell you which reason. If it helps any, someone at Princess once mentioned that the average room is sold eight times on every sailing. That's a lot of moving, canceling, reassigning, shifting and upgrading.

The exact functions you speak of are a closely guarded corporate secret in the Yield Management department, so the only 'experts' on here are observationists, as you are. What you cannot tell from your observation is why those 233 cabins became available, nor do you know how many of that 233 number are technically already taken as GTY bookings TRUE. Was there a large group booking that cancelled? Possible if VERY LARGE and they all had DLX BALC, so not probable Was there a flurry of room grade changes by passengers just prior to final? Not likely at all - too many all at once - literally. Was there a huge upgrade into minis which previously were blocked by Yield Management as Sold rooms? Perhaps - and if so you are right to call it huge. But I think Minis are popular and it would mean they had only sold a handful by 100+ days out Was there a larger than normal amount of GTY bookings in this category and they are simply now showing unassigned rooms? Maybe, but it also fits a theory that people aren't booking them much - many have posted about it not being worth the upcharge and either stick with Reg Balc or go up to Mini Just because you are watching 'open' inventory you do not know what percentage of those rooms are or are not actually spoken for, all you know is the cruiseline is showing some number of rooms as open. TRUE! How many GTY bookings or how many blocked rooms or how many actually sold rooms is not known. TRUE again (and I realize this :cool:

 

As Paul stated, it is likely (because of the days prior to sailing) the change was due to upgrades and assignments (YES, I can tell some of it is due to that, but just some); but there are other reasons. Looking at the numbers will not tell you which reason. If it helps any, someone at Princess once mentioned that the average room is sold eight times on every sailing. That's a lot of moving, canceling, reassigning, shifting and upgrading.

 

Thanks for your thoughts. The most likely explanation for the bulk of it in that one category is inventory mgmt, which is a big mystery as you point out. Anyway, it's nice to see some movement going on as we approach final payment date (at which time I expect the usual changes due to dropped bookings and so forth).

Edited August 1, 2015 by steelers36