Does Carnival 'hide' cabins?

[CHAPULA]

Booked OV on a 8 day Caribbean cruise in Sept, but really want to see if Lido Balconies prices drop so we can upgrade (after final payment). I check prices every day (minimum 3x a day). Yesterday morning I did mock booking for Lido balconies and know they had a minimum of 20 Lido cabins left (10 in Forward and 10 in Mid). So I figure since they have a minimum 20 left the might drop prices soon. I also checked balconies available on other decks and saw min of 20 cabins also left in almost each of them. I check yesterday afternoon and now they only show 'Panorama' as available if you want to 'choose' your cabin. None of the other decks were offered.

 

Do you think they actually booked them all in the morning or do you think they are trying to 'force' those who want balconies to book the 'guarantee' and not give them a choice of picking a room? I'm hoping they will make Lido available again. Anyone else experience this?

[snc_cam]

I too am seeing the same thing on a different cruise in Sept. I'm thinking there is a glitch somewhere since I can do a OV upgrade which shows 10 cabins are available but a mock booking shows no OVs.

[jimbo5544]

I am not sure "hide" is the best word, but they only show 20 or so cabins at a time to prevent mass short time bookings to block up space which might then inflate the pricing (old supply and demand kicking in).

[snc_cam]

Jim,

 

Yes, I am aware that they only show a small number of cabins if they have a lot open. In this case, a mock (or even real) booking shows "no cabins" are available in any rate class whereas if I look based on my "upgrade" email, there are definitely some available.

 

Steve

[jimbo5544]

Jim,

 

Yes, I am aware that they only show a small number of cabins if they have a lot open. In this case, a mock (or even real) booking shows "no cabins" are available in any rate class whereas if I look based on my "upgrade" email, there are definitely some available.

 

Steve

 

Interesting. I have never seen that. It may happen when they get to a small number of cabins available, but it is new to me.

[bar1068]

I've heard that they hide cabins on the secret decks....

[snc_cam]

and where are the secret decks? And this is more than hiding cabins. I've never seen it where there were NO cabins available from their website but can get to them via an upgrade sale.

[crusinpsychRN]

If a cabin you want is not showing as available, a PVP can check it and give you the cabin if it's available.

[luv2trvlnow]

Yes this is another Carnival glitch. We have the same thing on our November cruise. I noticed it yesterday. Can't book a cabin in any category if you choose your cabin. That stupid Panorama deck thing shows up. But you can't even click on it. You are told there are no cabins available in your selection. And this is for every selection.

 

We also have a problem with the excursions. When you check on them it says there are 63 available, but none show below with a description. You have to click on each port separately. Which is OK with me. But when you click on Grenada, it says there are 6 available but none show up. If you use the filter for price you can get 3 of them to show up. I chose $25-$500 and there is nothing but if you choose $50-$500, 3 of them show up. And all of those also fall between $25 and $500. I mean an excursion of $55 does fall between $50 and $500. But surprise it also fall falls between $25 and $500.

 

I am glad I am not a stockholder because this is a sure way to loose money. Can't book a cabin. Can't look at the excursions available for my cruise online. Hey we still don't a single excursion listed for Martinique and we sail in 106 days. Way to go Carnival!

 

Sharon

[winddawn]

Booked OV on a 8 day Caribbean cruise in Sept, but really want to see if Lido Balconies prices drop so we can upgrade (after final payment). I check prices every day (minimum 3x a day). Yesterday morning I did mock booking for Lido balconies and know they had a minimum of 20 Lido cabins left (10 in Forward and 10 in Mid). So I figure since they have a minimum 20 left the might drop prices soon. I also checked balconies available on other decks and saw min of 20 cabins also left in almost each of them. I check yesterday afternoon and now they only show 'Panorama' as available if you want to 'choose' your cabin. None of the other decks were offered.

 

Do you think they actually booked them all in the morning or do you think they are trying to 'force' those who want balconies to book the 'guarantee' and not give them a choice of picking a room? I'm hoping they will make Lido available again. Anyone else experience this?

I've noticed the same thing when looking at Lido balcony cabins on Freedom. The Lido balconies did not show any availability and the category I was looking at only showed availability one deck above Lido. Then presto, all of a sudden there was availability of quite a few cabins again on Lido in that category. I think they do that to try to fill the harder-to-fill cabins in a category. That's another reason to call instead of just booking online.

[katiel53]

I see the same thing for a Feb 1 cruise on Liberty. I know not a lot of balconies were available a few days ago, but somehow every balcony on Panorama are available and those are the only ones showing. Weird!

[Shipbound]

I've noticed the same thing when looking at Lido balcony cabins on Freedom. The Lido balconies did not show any availability and the category I was looking at only showed availability one deck above Lido. Then presto, all of a sudden there was availability of quite a few cabins again on Lido in that category. I think they do that to try to fill the harder-to-fill cabins in a category. That's another reason to call instead of just booking online.

 

Yes I agree with that, I was looking at deck 6 mid ship on the Conquest when I was on line but when I called my PVP I booked a cabin that did not show up on line. So I guess your PVP may get you the cabin and deck you want.

 

Gary

[TMac125]

I've seen similar. I was booking a 8C balcony on Dream April 2016. I picked Empress Midship & Carnival's site would only let me pick cabins at the back of the ship (but charging me the extra pp as if I was midship). So I booked one of those & then call 800# for PVP to assign me to 7320. There was no way very many for April 16 were sold for it to limit in in the wrong area like that!

[BigRed93]

Certain cabins only come up under certain price codes as well. So if you are looking at a senior rate or a military rate, they will only show what cabins are selected for that promotion at the

moment. Where if you looked under the higher price, it might show more.

At least this is what I have noticed in my searching.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[fishtaco]

Certain cabins only come up under certain price codes as well. So if you are looking at a senior rate or a military rate, they will only show what cabins are selected for that promotion at the

moment. Where if you looked under the higher price, it might show more.

At least this is what I have noticed in my searching.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

This is what i found. also when doing a mock booking during a sale and you have ES booked many cabins do not show up as available to you until the promotion is over so you need to look at it from a different computer or IP address that doesnt still have your details! You know the difference because even when you are not logged in the carnival site shows your name on the task bar, they already know your booked cabin details you only need to log in to stop others accessing/changing you details;)

[snc_cam]

I can understand the certain price codes being associated with certain rooms and I've tried different options (ES, 1/2 year sale, senior, etc) and all have the same results... :( In regards to it maintaining the information, I clear out all cookies and cache everytime I shutdown my browser (I also confirm every cookie the various websites want to put on my computer) so there is no trace of me being into the site when I restart or try a different browser.

 

And when I do use the website either logged in or not, there are different prices so it does know when I am logged in vs being an anonymous person.

 

BTW, it is still broke. :(

Edited July 19, 2014 by snc_cam

[desert sand]

I have been watching prices for an October cruise but yesterday nothing was showing up. I called my PVP and she said they are working on their system and they have a temporary glitch. I booked my October cruise last night with her. She did say it was quite full but still had rooms that I was not able to see. I booked an OV aft - love the back of the ship - for 7 days and got a price of $559 per person. I paid the cruise in full. If the price comes down before Aug. 4th, I just call her and she will reprocess and give me an OBC for the difference.

[ekekasyunx]

I've never seen it where there were NO cabins available from their website but can get to them via an upgrade sale.